Wildflower Farms, Upstate New York: the perfect place to reset and rewild away from the city
It can be hard — when you’re stuck in the thick of New York City’s thrum — to find a little bit of peace and quiet. Early morning in Central Park? Sometimes, yes, you can have it all to yourself. Or first thing wandering the West Village? Perhaps. But really, for pure stillness, and countryside fresh air, you need to head out of town. Specifically, up to that stretch of soft folding hills where the Hudson River Valley meets the mountainous landscape of the Catskills in Upstate New York.
Here, tucked away in a beautiful pocket of acreage (140 to be exact), is Wildflower Farms. It’s top tier in terms of hospitality — and part of the Auberge group, who know exactly what they’re doing when it comes to good hotels with excellent service and smart design to boot — but while popular with urbanites and city flee-ers, it’s easy to carve out your own space, and with a slow pace to follow too.
Where is it?
About an hour and a half drive from Manhattan, on the western side of the Hudson River well up into New York State. Then down a windy track (past a cute red truck and the vegetable garden), far enough removed from any bigger roads with noisy cars. Speaking of cars, you do ideally need one. Once you’re there, you won’t want to leave but if you do fancy a bit of town hopping, art snooping and antique shopping – there are a handful of very charming spots nearby – so it helps to have one.
Read our guide to Upstate New York here
Style
Wilflower Farms is focused on celebrating nature — blending into the beauty of the once-dairy farm and tree nursery and tuning into the seasons. So much so that owners Phillip and Kristin Rapoport (and former residents of nearby Gardiner) brought in interior design firm Ward and Gray and architects Electric Bowery to craft up a cluster of bucolic wood-clad structures to sprinkle across the estate.
Clean, contemporary and certainly cosy, each cabin was built to slip into the flora and fauna: with floor-to-ceiling windows for sunrise and misty moments over the Shawangunk Mountains, or Gunks to the locals, decked patios, and Adirondack chairs for bone broth sipping.
Come alone, with a close friend or your young ones in tow: rooms are wide sweeping with beds big enough for all (the sheets…), velvet sofas with quilted blankets for curling up under and tubs so deep it takes a large leap to get in. But no expense has been spared either, this is a very smart spot to bed down with a price tag of close to £1,000 a night, so we appreciate that details, big and small, were intentionally taken into consideration.
Which room?
Less a room and more a little cabin to yourself. Each and every bungalow, cottage and suite (there are 65) is free-standing, so privacy is met and space is also granted. We spent the night in a Meadow Cottage with high-reaching windows to look out over the wavy fields of wildflowers. Generous in comfort, big beds take up most of the living space plus a velvet chaise longue, a toasty gas-burning stove, a pretty wooden terrace, and a bathroom with a dreamy titled walk-in shower. If you want to go big on size, go for the two-bed for extra space to chill out.
Facilities
The team are pretty well-oiled team, with smiling young locals there to whisk you away in a logo-ed golf buggy anywhere you need to go on the estate. Next to the Great Porch — their version of a lobby but instead it’s an open-air terrace with a big old fireplace to keep warm — is the Thistle Spa. And if it’s any indication of how focused this space is on cleansing, calming and working with nature, the first thing you do when you check in is wash your hands with their very own body scrub.
It’s on the smaller side (with a pretty petite pool) but it’s a silent space to retreat for a nice botanical-infused massage. Daily morning wellness classes (sound baths, pilates, reiki rituals) are there for those who like to move or slow down, and the fitness studio is pretty gorgeous, with those big floor-to-ceiling windows serving as proof that a treadmill run next to nature beats a pixelated TV anytime.
Extracurricular
The antique-obsessed and gallery hoppers will be happy. As will the foodies too. This part of upstate was a place of inspiration for various 19th-century Hudson River School painters and has a strong history of culinary influence.
New Paltz is the nearest town of note, and it’s only 10 minutes away. We liked The Grazery for deli goods and super-stuffed focaccia sandwiches. Then head on over to the Clinton side of the Hudson to Rhinebeck for a peek into Beekman Arms Antique Market & Gallery. Big-hitting art destinations including Storm King and Dia Beacon are nearby too.
Food & Drink
We were heavily advised to secure a reservation for their on-site restaurant Clay. And they weren’t wrong because, on a Sunday night in mid-November, it was heaving. Regulars and guests flock in for New American dishes: farm courgette with stracciatella, black Angus beef tartare, mushroom risotto, or halibut with brussel sprouts. It’s busy and buzzy, so you get a little bit of the city thrill in here. There is a real mix of dishes on the menu, but we particularly loved coming for breakfast, particularly for the olive oil pancakes, which were the size of my head.
Best for...
Resetting and rewilding. You’re not in the city anymore, so tune into the quiet.
The details
Rates start from £790. aubergeresorts.com
