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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.

Saugerties Hotel Reviews

The Villas at Saugerties :: The Anti-Hamptons Alternative

December 12, 2006 at 4:21 PM | 0 Comments

Not long ago, the mainstream media declared that the Catskills are the new Hamptons, where over-it New Yorkers go to ditch Times Square for fresh air and where they can switch out the horribly hollow "supermodels in Bungalow 8" for "supermodels in shabby chic farm house" scenario.

But the truth is: you get more square feet for the dollar, the Hudson Valley wineries are nearby and not bad. The farm produce is excellent (as is the artisanal goat cheese), and you're in close proximity to the crib of the new Governor, Elliot Spitzer.

Up here, Saugerties is the lesser-known little sister to the first-born funky town of Woodstock, the East Coast's answer to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury. Yea, you'll get a lot of coffee houses, Grateful Deadheads, Birkenstock-wearing Yasgur's Farmers and maybe even some wise old twenty-somethings making a pilgrimage to see what inspired the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, CSNY and a whole generation of afros, bellbottoms, free love, and counter culture.

But when the party's over, you can head back to Saugerties and splay out on comfy bed in your stylish room at The Villa at Saugerties, run by NYC "ex-pats" Aimee Szparaga (formerly an editor at Playgirl and Time Out New York) and her boyfriend, artist Richard Nocera. A B&B with a pronounced Manhattan chic, its five rooms - each with its own name and attendant sensibility - comes with its own a/c, wi-fi hook-up, satellite tv, and "350 thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets."  

The prices are reasonable by New York City standards: as low as $135 off season. But check the fine print on the "Rates" page of the website. Certain stretches during 2007 will require a four-day minimum.

Since it's a B&B, you'll get a hot fresh breakfast in the morning but it's also got a stylish hotel with a good looking pool (wait for summer, please!) Ski bunnies can access nearby Hunter, while during the summer there's farmer's markets.

And there's no shortage of yoga, spas, and even a Buddhist monastery. Perfect for the Richard Gere in all of us.

Related Stories:
· The Villa at Saugerties reviews [HotelChatter]