Location: Gardiner, Hudson Valley
Step onto this picturesque Auberge 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. It’s that pretty. And for all its comforts, which are considerable—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 New 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). It’s easy to continue drinking in the beauty of the place from the 65 rooms, all freestanding cabins, cottages, and suites, particularly in summer when wildflower-filled meadows, outdoor experiences, and mountain views are at their peak. —J.A.
The pool scene: Open for the season since May 22, the outdoor pool overlooks wildflower meadows and the Sawangunk Ridge, boasting one of the Hudson Valley’s most picturesque swim settings. Guests can order cocktails and light bites from the seasonal Dew Bar, open through September 30, while soaking up mountain views from sunrise to sunset.