You Can Stay in a Luxe Cabin at a Former Brickyard in the Catskills this Summer

Photo by Jane Beiles

You’ve heard of glamping, and maybe you’re itching to book your own luxury Airstream on the Cape this summer. As travel seems (finally) possible again, what about laying your head in a luxe cabin? Sure, “glabining”—the term for staying in a glam cabin I just made up—doesn’t roll off the tongue easily. What is easy, though, is picturing yourself wandering out of your cushy cabin to explore the industrial ruin-spotted landscape of a former brick manufactory on New York’s Hudson River, about three-and-a-half hours from Boston. All that and more will be available to you when the new Hutton Brickyards Hotel, complete with 30 cabins, an open-air restaurant, spa, and bucolic grounds that sprawl across 76 acres, opens on May 15 in Kingston, New York.

The destination is the latest hotel from Provincetown-based Salt Hotels, the group behind Salt House Inn and Eben House. Like Eben House, Hutton Brickyards melds a historic past with the present. The Hutton Brick Works Company manufactured bricks at the hotel’s site from 1865 to 1980 and hauled them down the Hudson to New York City and elsewhere. Real estate developer Karl Slovin purchased the property about eight years ago and restored some of the historic factory buildings into open-air event pavilions that have hosted everything from weddings to performances, including a concert by Bob Dylan. When it came time to add a permanent hospitality element, Slovin and Salt partnered to boost the bucolic beauty with luxe digs.

Photo by Jane Beiles

In an area where train tracks dominate most of the Hudson’s shores, here guests can relax at an idyllic spot right on the water and watch the enormous barges moseying by.

Bordered by a soon-to-open 520-acre state park and featuring about three miles of forest paths for hiking, the hotel is also a ten-minute drive from the vibrant restaurants and art scene of Kingston. Adventurers looking to explore the industrial-era past can soak up sights of the three historic steel-frame kiln sheds and a giant crane that arches out over the river.

“It’s the only Lidgerwood crane that’s still in existence, and this is what would load the barges full of bricks to head back to New York City,” says Kevin O’Shea, co-founder and chief creative officer of Salt Hotels. “There are some interesting remnants on some of the hiking trails that we’ve crafted that show all of the machinery that was involved in pulling the clay from the mountainside there down to the actual brick factory. The history is woven throughout the experience and then we’ve juxtaposed the historic buildings with these sort of modernist cabin structures.”

Photo by Jane Beiles

New York-based firm Kristina Dousharm Architecture designed the 20 king cabins and 10 queen cabins—each a 300 square-foot striking metal structure with a glass wall that offers sights of sunsets on the river or layered views of the water and the surrounding nature. O’Shea collaborated on the dreamy, sun-soaked interiors, with the king cabins drawing inspiration from a pared-back Shaker aesthetic. The fully heated and air-conditioned jewel boxes feature walk-in showers, spa-style bath products, and custom mattresses swathed in luxury bedding. The offices of the original factory also find new life as the Cottage, a two-bedroom penthouse with a claw foot soaking tub, wet bar, and its own private garden.

The cabins dot the rolling landscape, with a few clusters for those traveling in groups. Cabin decks and fire pits along the water are perfect for evening s’mores and cocktails, while archery, croquet, and even an open-air hilltop fitness area help pass the time. And at the end of the day, guests can enjoy local and seasonally-inspired dishes at the River Pavilion, a 170-seat open-air (but roofed) restaurant.

Photo by Jane Beiles

For such a historic site, though, other frills find a foundation in the here-and-now. Using your phone or the in-room tablet, you can order rooms service or have an afternoon picnic basket set up on the hiking trails. Electric buggies deliver breakfasts—coffees, teas, savory items, and pastries sweetened with honey from the on-site apiary—right to your cabin door. And if you don’t feel like hoofing it, one of those same buggies can whisk you to the onsite-spa and elsewhere around the sprawling grounds.

Whether you get your boots muddy or stick to mud masks at the spa, what’s the best lo-fi feature? Come cocktail hour, raise a flag at your cabin for a visit by the craft cocktail cart, which comes bearing bites of specialty snacks and charcuterie. It’s enough to have you heading to the river to drink in cocktails coupled with views all night long.

Introductory rates start at $195 a night. Visit huttonbrickyards.com for details.