Hotel Dylan
A Woodstock native's Novogratz-designed revival of a '70s bi-level motel. Turntables in every room.
Hotel Dylan is what happens when a Woodstock native buys a tired '70s motel on Route 28 and hands it to the Novogratzes. Eleven rooms, two stories, painted in primaries you'd associate with a Wes Anderson set, and turntables — actual turntables, with vinyl in each room — built into the design. It's clearly a stunt, and it works because the people doing it understand Woodstock well enough to send up the cliché instead of leaning into it.
The price is the second surprise. From around $215 a night, which in the current Catskills market is functionally a budget design hotel.
The setting
The hotel sits on Route 28 in Woodstock — technically on the way out toward Bearsville and Mount Tremper, not in the village center. Walkable to the Bearsville Theater and the Woodstock School of Art's exhibition spaces; about five minutes by car to Tinker Street and the village green. Mount Tremper, Phoenicia, and the Ashokan Reservoir are all within a fifteen-minute drive.
The drive from Manhattan is about two hours, mostly the Thruway plus Route 28.
The building
A two-story bi-level motor lodge from the 1970s, reimagined rather than gut-renovated. Exterior cladding, room layouts, and the parking-court geometry are all original. Inside, the Novogratz palette — saturated colors, vintage velvet, mid-century furniture, graphic art — does the heavy lifting. Materials lean playful: pine, wool, vinyl, brass.
The rooms
Eleven rooms across two floors, no two identical in feel. Beds, bedding, and bathrooms are contemporary; layouts and cabinetry are mid-century. The turntables in each room are real, not props, with a small curated vinyl collection. Some rooms open onto private outdoor space.
Food & drink
There's no full restaurant on site. Coffee and a small breakfast in the morning. For dinner, the village handles it: Cucina, Silvia, Bread Alone in Boiceville, Phoenicia Diner up the road, or the Bearsville Theater complex's restaurant, which is essentially next door.
On the property
The amenities are scaled to the size of the hotel.
- Outdoor pool, seasonal
- Fire pits in the central courtyard
- In-room turntables and vinyl
- Walking access to Bearsville Theater
- Open year-round
Who it's for
- Couples doing a Catskills weekend who want design without the Inness or Piaule bill
- Music people in town for a Bearsville Theater or Levon Helm Studios show
- Photographers who like a graphic palette
- Anyone who used to stay at the Graham & Co. and now finds it overrun
Who it's not for
- Guests who want a full-service hotel with restaurant, spa, and gym
- Light sleepers — it's still a motor lodge geometry, with shared exterior walkways
- Travelers who want a quiet country setting; this is on a state highway
Nearby
Tinker Street and the Woodstock village green are five minutes by car. The Levon Helm Studios, where the Midnight Rambles still happen periodically, are a short drive. The Ashokan Reservoir's promenade is fifteen minutes south. Mount Tremper and the Emerson Resort are ten minutes west; Phoenicia, with Sweet Sue's Pancakes and the trail to Tanbark Loop, is twenty. Hunter Mountain and Belleayre are both within a thirty-minute drive for skiing.
