Finding accommodation for a big group trip usually means compromise: someone sleeps on a sofa bed, someone's stuck near the front door, and the whole thing costs a fortune. Condé Nast Traveler recently made the case for a better option in upstate New York: Schoonmaker Retreat, a two-house estate in High Falls, Ulster County, that hosted six couples for an October weekend without a single bedroom squabble.
The property sits in the Rosendale-Marbletown area of the Hudson Valley, with a creek running through the grounds and the property's best feature: a cedar barrel hot tub and sauna set right beside the water, strung with fairy lights. Guests even took cold plunges in the creek itself. There are two historic buildings to book — the larger, more contemporary Schoonmaker House, and the Coach House, a rustic-chic creekside building with roots dating to the Revolutionary War, when it served as a fort. Every couple got their own bedroom, kitted out in cottagecore style with vintage finds, and the writer reports all twelve beds passed the comfort test.
The surrounding area turned out to be the real revelation. High Falls, Rosendale and Accord are quieter alternatives to the usual Catskills circuit, and the itinerary reads like a perfect small-town weekend: wood-fired pizza at Ollie's Pizza in a renovated barn, a hike up Joppenbergh Mountain in Rosendale, lunch beside the creek at Creekside Bar and Bistro, then cider and live music at Westwind Orchard in Accord. Dinner at Accord Social, followed by s'mores at one of the property's two firepits, closed out the Saturday. Rain on Sunday proved no disaster — the group split off to vintage shops like Clubhouse Vintage and Soiled Dove, plus Postmark Books, or made the 20-minute drive to Kingston.
A few practical notes for would-be bookers: the kitchen in the main house is well enough stocked for family-style cooking for twelve, with two long dining tables seating six each, outdoor grills, and counter space for cocktail competitions. There's no kitchen in the Coach House, but it does have modern touches like an automatic water dispenser. Dog owners will like this part: pets stay free.
This is a story for anyone who has ever tried to organise a group holiday and watched it collapse under its own logistics. The formula here — separate houses so people can spread out, a communal kitchen and tables so everyone can regather, and a hot tub that works equally well in sunshine or fog — is worth copying whether or not you book this specific property. And the High Falls area, with its orchards, mountain trails and secondhand shops, is a genuinely appealing patch of the Hudson Valley for a leaf-peeping autumn break.
