If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD791.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
The Chatwal Lodge is your wholesome Catskills haven, resting quietly on an 18,000-acre wildlife reserve in Sullivan County, that dates back to the 19th century. This rustic, all-American hideaway is poised for rural adventures filling sun-dosed days with lake swims, riverside fly fishing, and bird-spotting hikes before winter hibernation cues soul-warming family board games and alpine adventures. And pastimes aren’t all that change with the seasons – an ever-evolving menu of farm-to-fork dishes add a cozy touch to this already homey hideaway.
Smith Extra
Get this when you book through us:
A welcome drink each; SilverSmiths also get a fruit platter and bottle of champagne, as do GoldSmiths, who get $50 credit on top
11am, and check-in is at 4pm. Both are flexible, on request and subject to availability.
Prices
Double rooms from £705.75 ($904), including tax at 13 per cent.
More details
Rates include breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as daily activities around the reserve.
Also
The accessible Eagle Watch Suite is fitted with a roll-in shower, lowered sinks, widened 32-inch doorframes, telecommunication devices, closed-captioning TVs and lowered viewports for guests with limited mobility and hearing.
At the hotel
18,000-acre private reserve, with hiking trails, lakes and fly fishing streams; recreational and fitness center; bikes to borrow and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, Bose stereo, minibar, tea- and coffee-making kit, free bottled water, hairdryer and Malin + Goetz bath products.
Our favourite rooms
Make the most of the estate’s rural riches with the Treehouse – a 15-foot high, two-bedroom lodge that puts you at one with the canopy. To catch the evening rays, the Sunset Suite has a west-facing terrace that overlooks the lake; or opt to stay right by its lapping shore in the Water’s Edge Suite. For families or friends, the hotel's connecting suites are ideal.
Poolside
There aren’t any pools here, but there’s a private lake on the estate where you can take out the kayaks and canoes.
Spa
If you’re craving some self-care, in-room treatments can be arranged on request.
Packing tips
The hotel can provide basic kit if you want to try fly fishing.
Also
Yoga classes and personal training sessions are held at the hotel’s fitness center, which is kitted out with Peloton bikes, treadmills and weights for the exercise buffs.
Little Smiths are more than welcome at Chatwal Lodge, with plenty of activities going to keep them entertained.
Best for
All ages are welcome and your surroundings are adventure-ready, so older children may enjoy them a little more.
Recommended rooms
The Elk Retreat and Treehouse both have two bedrooms. If you’ve got teens in tow, we’d suggest Elk, as it’s the more spacious of the two.
Activities
Chatwal Lodge has a lengthy list of family-friendly activities that fill days throughout the seasons. Whether it’s archery sessions, stargazing, baking classes, arts and crafts, or bowling and billiards at the rec center, there’s something to keep everyone happy.
Meals
Dishes are tailored to your preferences, so if your little ones are on the pickier side, they should still be able to enjoy the restaurant’s fresh fare. With notice, you can also order a picnic to take out with you for the day.
No need to pack
The hotel has a selection of games you can borrow, plus there's plenty of things to do around the grounds to keep Little Smiths entertained.
Sustainability efforts
You won’t find any single-use plastic around Chatwal Lodge, and the restaurant works closely with local suppliers to help limit food miles and help support nearby farmers.
Grab a table by the fireside in the Garden Bar & Lounge.
Dress Code
Keep things laidback here, your coziest get-up will do just fine.
Hotel restaurant
With all these grounds, it’s only right that the lodge’s Rustic Grill restaurant dishes plates cooked with the freshest of ingredients, many of which are grown onsite. Menus will change with the seasons, but they’re usually packed with amped-up American comfort food (the steak is especially noteworthy). And this is also where you'll find daily breakfast spreads, ready to fuel adventurers.
Hotel bar
There’s an enticing selection of drinks at the Rustic Grill, but for toasty fireside tipples, head to the Garden Bar & Lounge, where mixologists shake up whatever tickles your fancy and dish light bites brimming with flavor.
Last orders
Breakfast is served between 8am and 10am, lunch is noon to 3pm and dinner is dished from 6pm to 9pm. The Garden Bar & Lounge pours from 5pm to 8pm.
The Chatwal Lodge sits on a private 18,000-acre wildlife reserve near White Lake, a small hamlet in the Catskill Mountains’ Sullivan County.
Planes
Sullivan County Airport is a 20-minute drive away, but it’s usually only domestic flights touching down; if you are arriving into Sullivan, private transfers can be arranged on request. New York Stewart International, with direct flights to Reykjavik and onward connections to Europe, is 80 minutes from the Chatwal Lodge by road. For other international arrivals, New York’s larger hubs, such as JFK or Newark, are each around two hours away by car.
Trains
Take the Amtrak train from New York City’s Penn Station to Middletown, a 45-minute drive from the hotel. Private transfers can be arranged for around $80 each way.
Automobiles
If you’re planning on exploring more of the Catskills, a car will serve you well. There are rental booths at the airports, and places to pick up a set of wheels in nearby Monticello, a 30-minute drive from the Lodge.
Worth getting out of bed for
Navigate Chatwal Lodge’s 18,000 acres and network of private hiking trails by bike, on foot or while bird-watching. There are also stables nearby, for private or group horseback riding lessons. Waterbabies can take to the estate’s lake for a spot of swimming, boating, canoeing, kayaking and paddleboarding before drying off on the sun-soaked deck. If you’re looking to go fly fishing in these trout-rich rivers, guides are on hand to hone your technique. Back by the lodge, the recreational center is open round-the-clock and is tricked out with duckpin bowling, billiards, shuffleboard, ping pong, board and card games, as well as a small cinema. Bethel was the site of the Woodstock Festival, and the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is just 20 minutes up the road, where you’ll find an onsite museum dedicated to the town’s storied Sixties, and a program of festivals and concerts.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this soul-soothing stay in Upstate New York and unpacked their waders and wellies, a full account of their bucolic break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside the Chatwal Lodge in the Catskills…
Grand gates greet your arrival at the Chatwal Lodge – a 14-room estate in the northeastern corner of Upstate New York’s Catskills. The reserve was originally owned by Chester Chapin, who came to Sullivan County in 1891 with a bank full of buck and a dozen elks (yes, you read that right). Since then, the land has passed between hands, before the lodge’s current owner began carefully restoring its houses to replicate the Adirondacks Great Camps, a storied holiday spot for the Gilded Age’s elite. Wood-carved interiors make for a cozy setting; but its 18,000 acres are where you’ll spend most of your days, relishing personalized adventures, or taking dreamy summer swims in the estate’s balmy lake. Plus, there are smaller, trout-filled tributaries where you’re guaranteed a good catch. Top things off with a plate full of fresh fare and a fireside cocktail, and you’ll be feeling safely ensconced with the high life in no time.
