The Best Weekend Resorts Near NYC
When it comes to resorts in New York, some of the most alluring escapes lie just a few hours from the clamor of New York City—places with misty lakeside mornings, candlelit dinners, and outdoor tubs under the stars are closer than you think. Whether you're craving the Atlantic breeze in Montauk, a lakeside retreat in the Adirondacks, or a cozy, chic hideaway in the Catskills, these destinations offer the kind of curated comfort and natural beauty that makes a quick weekend trip feel worlds away. Here are the best resorts in New York for a refined, restorative getaway within easy reach of NYC.
How far are these resorts from New York City, and how long does it typically take to get there?
Each resort mentioned is comfortably within driving distance from NYC, generally ranging from an hour and a half to four hours by car. Hudson Valley gems like Wildflower Farms or Cedar Lakes Estate are about 90 minutes away, while Mirror Lake Inn, nestled in the Adirondacks, sit closer to the four-hour mark. Travel times vary depending on traffic, especially on weekends and holidays, so planning your departure during off-peak hours can make all the difference.
What's the difference between a resort and a hotel?
While all resorts are hotels, not all hotels are resorts. A hotel typically offers accommodations and basic amenities—think comfortable rooms, maybe a restaurant or gym. A resort, on the other hand, is designed to be a self-contained getaway, often set on expansive grounds with a variety of recreational options like pools, spas, golf courses, hiking trails, or private beaches. Resorts encourage guests to stay on-site and immerse themselves in relaxation or activities without needing to venture far. In essence, a resort offers a full experience, blending luxury lodging with leisure and wellness offerings tailored to your escape from everyday life.
What is the best time of year to visit these resorts?
New York’s diverse landscapes mean each season is a sight to behold. Spring awakens the Hudson Valley with blossoms and gentle hikes; summer begs for lakeside lounging and beach escapes in Montauk; fall is famous for its lively foliage in the Catskills and Adirondacks—truly a bucket-list spectacle; and winter turns many resorts into cozy, snowy retreats perfect for skiing, spa days, and fireside cocktails. If you’re chasing quiet luxury, consider traveling during shoulder seasons like late spring or early fall when crowds thin but the scenery still dazzles.
How do we choose the best resorts in New York?
Every hotel review on this list has been written by a Condé Nast Traveler journalist who knows the destination and has visited that property. When choosing hotels, our editors consider properties across price points that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination, keeping design, location, service, and sustainability credentials top of mind.
Gurney’s MontaukhotelGurney’s Montauk
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Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2025Roughly a three-hour drive or train ride from NYC, this luxury seaside retreat is home to rugged surf and refined design. Gurney’s is one of the only year-round resorts perched right on a natural beach in the Hamptons, where every sunrise unfolds against a backdrop of rolling waves. Whether it’s beach bonfires or ocean-view spa days, everything here feels centered on the sea. The only luxury hotel in the Hamptons that is located right on a private beach, Gurney’s is the epitome of summer vacationing, offering warm sun, an excellent seaside food and drink program, a destination spa, and fabulous people watching. The style is minimalist and sleek, which helps to draw your attention to the real focal point: the ocean waves. All rooms come with access to The Beach Club, which is, frankly, the best perk of them all. —Lara Kramer
Noe DeWitt/Auberge CollectionhotelWildflower Farms, Auberge Resorts Collection
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Hot List 2023 Readers' Choice Awards 2023, 2024Step onto this picturesque Auberge Resorts Collection campus, in a meadow in the shadow of New York’s iconic Shawangunk Mountains, and you feel almost as if you’ve entered the world of a Hudson River School painting. Just 90 minutes from New York City, it has all the considerable comforts—the instant it opened its doors, it became the premier luxury escape in the Catskills—the hotel rightly recognizes that nature is its greatest amenity. Located on a 140-acre site that was once a tree nursery and a dairy farm, Wildflower leans into the region’s agricultural heritage with a working farm that supplies ingredients for cooking classes, the menu of the hotel’s progressive American restaurant, Clay, and many of the treatments at the excellent spa, Thistle. Guests can swing by to tour the crops, feed the animals, and collect eggs from the chicken coop (to take home or pass along to the kitchen staff at Clay to prepare for breakfast). There's an extensive network of forest trails for visitors to explore on their own or to visit with a guide for ramp planting or forest-bathing experiences. And it’s easy to continue taking in the beauty of the place from the 65 rooms—all freestanding cabins, cottages, and suites. In addition to offering fireplaces, well-curated minibars, and a stylishly warm, natural design aesthetic, they have extensive private terraces and floor-to-ceiling windows framing a view of woods, meadows, or mountains. —Jesse Ashlock
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Read McKendreehotelMarram Montauk
$$At the eastern end of Montauk, approximately three hours from Manhattan, the neutral-hued Marram is the definition of barefoot luxury—quite literally, as most guests at this low-slung beachfront hotel are either shoeless or in designer sandals as they bounce between pool deck yoga classes, surf lessons, and evening bonfires on the sand. The 96-room property is done entirely in warm woods and off-white concrete, with touches of natural materials throughout the indoor/outdoor design. It’s this refined, gone-to-the-beach vibe that draws young families and couples out from the city all summer long. The vibe is decidedly casual, refreshing for a beach town that has been increasingly buzzy as of late—Marram harkens to a time when surfers and artists outnumbered the beach party crowds. —Megan Spurrell
Courtesy The DeBrucehotelThe DeBruce
$$$ | Hot List 2018A sister property to North Branch Inn and Arnold House, The DeBruce is about two hours northwest of Manhattan, and is the escape-the-city retreat that's big with weekenders and people looking to populate their Instagram. It’s the sort of old-school mountain resort you don’t see much of these days, a place where you can fly fish, or hike on private trails, or sit by the fire slowly draining a bottle of wine, or swim in the pool, or just nap, gloriously. —Paul Brady
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Courtesy Shou Sugi Ban HousehotelShou Sugi Ban House
$$$ | Hot List 2020 Readers' Choice Awards 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025Just a two-hour drive from New York City, the first wellness retreat in the Hamptons has a kick-off-the-espadrilles-and-down-a-tumeric-juice carefreeness, because its philosophy is thrillingly simple: Focus on the basics of self-care by tapping into what cofounder Amy Cherry-Abitbol likes to call intuitive wellness. It’s just what high-strung visitors to the area need. The point of Shou Sugi Ban House isn’t to break anyone down, military- or medical-style, but rather to create a space—in sun-flooded barns and blond-wood studios with deep-soaking Japanese tubs—that is a recipe for happiness. There’s gentle morning yoga and strolls on the beach, though if lounging by the pool feels like the right speed, that’s fine too. The point is to indulge in all the things that are good for us (including that third slice of Danish seeded bread with plum preserves at breakfast), so that we can learn to live the way we all want to—and feel better for it. —Erin Florio
Lawrence Braun/Eastwind Oliverea ValleyhotelEastwind Oliverea Valley
$$Roughly two and a half to three hours from NYC, this cozy getaway is designed for vintage lovers and hygge seekers—and is almost guaranteed to make it onto your Instagram feed. Tucked deeper into nature than its older sibling in Windham, Eastwind Oliverea Valley derives its special sauce from its harmony with its surroundings, complementing rather than taking away from the landscape. Its woodfire-warmed lounge, sauna, and proximity to ski slopes make for ideal wintertime companions, but come summer, a pool, outdoor yoga, and even DJ sets will draw the crowds. A small but excellent seasonal food menu and cocktail list round out its offerings. —Arati Menon
Lawrence BraunhotelKenoza Hall
$$Kenoza is the crown jewel in a network of hotels operated by Foster Supply Hospitality that shine a light on the woolly wonders of Sullivan County and the western Catskills. Around two hours out from the city and occupying a historic, rambling, early-20th-century boarding house with extensive grounds (including a swatch of woods and a stretch of lakefront), an excellent restaurant, and a first-rate spa, it’s a genteel way to soak up the rustic, still-somewhat-untamed beauty of this area. The 22 guest rooms in the main inn are comfortable, though not huge. All have great views, some of nearby Kenoza Lake, and large soaking tubs; some have porches. From the sinks to the wall sconces, there are elegant details that summon the building’s Victorian roots. And 10 minimalist but rustic bungalows are more generously proportioned, with gas stoves and private porches with swings. —J.A.
Courtesy The Otesaga Resort HotelhotelThe Otesaga Resort Hotel
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025Built in 1909 as a lakeside retreat framed by Federal-style architecture, The Otesaga has hosted generations of guests along the serene shores of Otsego Lake. About a four-hour drive north from New York City, its stately portico, supported by soaring 30-foot columns, gazes over manicured lawns toward the water, lending every visit a cinematic air of timeless elegance. Strolling across its polished floors, you might glimpse artful touches—vintage prints, a hint of wood-carved grace—whispering stories of literary gatherings and summer solstice dances.
hotelScribner's Catskill Lodge
$$ | Hot List 2017 Readers' Choice Awards 2017Just under two and a half hours from New York City by car, Scribner's is impossible to miss, its all-black wood exterior bold on a sloping hillside at the tail end of Hunter, New York's Main Street. From the lobby and recreation areas to the rooms, the design is pure Scoutcore with green-and-blue plaid carpet, pennant flags, and shelves loaded with novels. The crowd dresses to match—you might see young parents in denim and flannels gathered around the outdoor firepit, or groups of 30-something city slickers in Carhartt shooting pool—and you get the feeling that those Birkenstocks and Blundstones are pulling double duty now that their owners are upstate for a weekend. It's cozy, but never rambunctious; a couple sipping neat whiskeys beside an Australian Shepherd on the patio is on a similar wavelength to the guest slouched in a leather chair, engrossed in their book (or the Scribner Hollow Post “newspaper” left in every room, which actually has some pretty good articles on nearby makers and food). —M.S.
Jennifer Angeloro/Mirbeau Inn & Spa SkaneateleshotelMirbeau Inn & Spa
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025Walking into Mirbeau is like stepping into Provence’s embrace—Monet-style gardens, koi ponds, and pastel façades beside a glassy Upstate lake. It's a quiet palette of European romance transplanted to Central New York, where garden shadows blend with hushed breath. Although Mirbeau is just a four-hour drive from the concrete jungle, once you're on the grounds, you'll feel like you've escaped to Europe. Think golden buildings (which look like Provençal cottages) with overflowing flower boxes and blue painted windows, clustered in a garden with its very own Monet bridge and koi pond. The interior is just as charming—the bar area looks like someone’s home library, peppered with cushy sofas and bookshelves. —Bridget Hallinan
Getty/Courtesy Mohonk Mountain HousehotelMohonk Mountain House
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025Mohonk Mountain House is the purest form of relaxation, and you can make as much of everything it offers as you like. And, it's just two hours from the city. A secluded sanctuary, the hotel itself resides on a spectacular mountain preserve and looks out onto a large lake. Rooms are homey and classic, with porches outfitted with rocking chairs. Mohonk provides a daily schedule with something to do at any and every hour. Best of all, there's something for everyone, from yoga to golf, archery to horseback riding, and even wine tasting. Food is included in your daily room rate, and there's daily afternoon tea and cookies, as well as a library (complete with complementary reading glasses, just in case you've misplaced yours) where you can read the paper in front of a warm fire. —Sigrid Dilley
SampaioWalz/Cedar Lakes EstatehotelCedar Lakes Estate
Readers' Choice Awards 2024Imagine a luxe summer camp come to life: deep in the Hudson Valley's Black Dirt Region, Cedar Lakes Estate sprawls across 500 fragrant acres of pines, lakes, and wild meadows. Once a childhood playground for its owners, today it unfolds like a living painting—cottages clustered like storybook homes, trails cutting through misty morning light, and every corner curated for quiet delight. This hidden gem is just 90 minutes—and a world away—from Manhattan, depending on traffic. It's the kind of place where you might wander down a ropes-course trail, linger by a lodge lounge with a forest hush overhead, or end your day beneath a star-spangled pine canopy.
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