Winter Getaways: Catskills Hotels That Stay Open
The Catskills has a winter problem on paper. Summer is the obvious season, foliage is the money season, and a non-trivial slice of the region's smaller hotels simply close between November and April. Which is a shame, because the Catskills in January — snowed over, half-empty, a wood fire going somewhere in every proper inn — is arguably the most Catskills-feeling version of the Catskills there is.
The hotels below all stay open through winter. Most of them drop rates 20-40% versus peak foliage. Several of them are better in winter than in summer. Here's the list.
1. Scribner's Catskill Lodge — Hunter
The most obvious winter pick — Scribner's is directly across from Hunter Mountain, which means ski-in-adjacent access at a rate that undercuts most on-mountain condos. Prospect, the restaurant, stays open all season. The fireplace lobby in February is the platonic ideal of a Catskills winter evening. Full hotel page →
2. Eastwind Windham — Windham
Windham Mountain is a ten-minute drive. Eastwind stays open, the wood-fired barrel sauna is the key winter amenity, and the Lushna tent cabins (yes, in winter) are a cult subculture — genuinely well-insulated, wood-stove-heated, for the guest who wants to be cold on purpose for 25 minutes and then very warm. Full hotel page →
3. The Henson — Windham
The 2024 Windham newcomer stays open year-round. Sixteen rooms, restaurant by the Contra and Wildair team, and a scale small enough that the house feels like yours in January. Windham Mountain is four minutes. Full hotel page →
4. Piaule Catskill — Catskill
Piaule is open year-round, and it is a genuinely different hotel in January. The architect-designed cabins are serious cold-weather buildings — in-cabin wood stoves, big glass facing the forest, heated bathroom floors. The restaurant stays open. The sauna is the best part. If you've only ever seen Piaule summer-photographed, the snow version is more beautiful. Full hotel page →
5. Foxfire Mountain House — Mount Tremper
Open through winter. Foxfire's layered-maximalist interiors were arguably built for firelight. The restaurant stays operational and is a proper destination on a February Saturday night. Full hotel page →
6. Hotel Dylan — Woodstock
Year-round. Woodstock in January is the secret — the town gets quiet, the bars get warmer, the Bearsville theater is a ten-minute drive and puts on genuinely good winter programming. Hotel Dylan's mid-century bones handle cold weather better than half the newer-build hotels in the region. Full hotel page →
7. The DeBruce — Livingston Manor
Open year-round. 600 acres, two private mountains, fly-fishing season closed — but the trails, the fireplace, and the dining room don't need trout to be extraordinary. The Willowemoc Valley at dusk in January is arguably the best thing the Catskills has to offer. Full hotel page →
8. Seminary Hill — Callicoon
The Michelin-Key boarding-house cidery in Callicoon stays open all winter. The cider program is actually better in winter — still ciders, barrel-aged ciders, the orchard dormant. Quiet, intimate, closer to the Pennsylvania border than most "Catskills" hotels are. Full hotel page →
9. Callicoon Hills — Callicoon
Foster Supply's bigger sister property, 23 acres, stays open year-round. Family-friendly in a way most of this list isn't — which matters in February when your summer camp contingency plans are not a thing. Full hotel page →
10. Urban Cowboy Catskills — Big Indian
The Nashville-in-the-Catskills 19th-century inn stays open all season. Copper tubs, fireplaces, the kind of room you fundamentally do not want to leave between 4pm and 10am. Full hotel page →
Notable closures / reduced-season hotels
A partial list of Catskills hotels that either close or sharply reduce operations in deep winter (always verify directly):
- The Graham & Co. — typically closed or very reduced January–March.
- Hotel DeBruce's fishing-adjacent programming — seasonal; core hotel open.
- Various glamping-focused operations — winter closure is the rule.
- Smaller cabin compounds — individual properties vary; check before booking.
What winter actually looks like
A realistic February Catskills weekend: snow on the ground, temps 20–35F, one of the ski mountains on (or not — you don't have to ski), fire in the lobby, 5:30 sunset. Rates are often 20-40% below peak foliage. Reservations at serious restaurants (Prospect at Scribner's, the dining room at the DeBruce, Seminary Hill's cider room) are genuinely available on short notice.
The honest pitch for winter
The Catskills' best hotels were built for four-season operation — stone fireplaces, cedar siding, wood stoves, thoughtful insulation. Using them only in August is a waste of their bones. The region's bones are winter bones. The landscape is a winter landscape. And you will have the hotel mostly to yourself.
The one thing winter requires: bring real clothes. Salt boots, wool socks, gloves that aren't the thin ones. Catskills winters have serious teeth. Pack accordingly and you'll have the quieter, better version of the region.