Tag: Catskills View All Tags
Catskills
Kate's Lazy Meadow Has Psychedelic WiFi
May 12, 2008 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments
A few years back we were quite intrigued to discover B52s singer Kate Pierson had opened up a motel, but the NY Times has only just caught on to Kate's Lazy Meadow Motel not far from Woodstock on Route 28, near the Catskills. Their weekend review agreed with our thinking that it's a cool middle-of-nowhere stay with a bit of weirdness thrown in for good measure.
Kate's Lazy Meadow has nine rooms of various sizes, including two new suites (named Sakajawia and Annie Oakley) that are in stand-alone cabins. The rooms in the main motel building are all fully renovated and all except two of them include a kitchenette.
The NY Times reviewer got Room 4, the Psychedelic Gnome Room, and sounded heartily satisfied with the place, including the autumn forest wallpaper scenes. They also mentioned that WiFi is available in every room--but cell phones don't work out there.
The rates vary according to the rooms. The cheapest two (without kitchenette) are $150 mid-week, and the most expensive suite (with two bedrooms) is $225 mid-week and $275 on weekends. Sounds like the kind of place you sometimes need sunglasses inside, but it's a good overnight stop. Weird, but good.
[Photo: csunstein]
Meet the Innkeeper
The Villa at Saugerties: A B&B with a Boutique Hotel Feel and Playgirl Connections
December 26, 2007 at 2:35 PM | 1 Comment
This is one Meet the Innkeeper series that we would love to do. The Villa at Saugerties, a bed and breakfast in the Catskills in New York, is run by Aimee Szparaga & her ex-boyfriend Richard Nocera. Szparaga was actually the former editor of the Playgirl magazine as well as Time Out New York. Thanks to a recent Page Six post we found out she's now engaged and impregnated by former Gotham 100 bachelor Steve Scher, a restaurateur. Could there be a second edition of Inn Love here?
Anyways her B&B seems to be the opposite of cheesy beefcake layouts.
Situated in a 1929 Mediterranean-style country house, the Villa is open year round to visitors who crave the intimacy and tranquility of a bed and breakfast, but the flair of an upscale boutique hotel. Graceful landscaping, superior amenities, Modern 20th Century design and attention to detail ensure that guests experience the best of the country at city standards.
Of course, Aimee hasn't turned into one of those little old ladies running a B&B. Indeed in a WSJ article from 2002 she mentioned that she liked to "greet guests in a bikini."
We gave the Villa at Saugerties a nod last year around this time when we declared the Catskills an anti-Hamptons alternative. Since then, the reviews on the place have held steady although one guest said that the innkeeper was not around the first two days of their stay and another mentioned how Aimee seemed to be in over her head. Ah yes, so much like Chateau La Rue.
