The Graham & Co.

The Graham & Co. is the Catskills design-motel that, more or less, started the Catskills design-motel as a category. It opened in 2012 in Phoenicia, in a reworked roadside lodge at the base of Hunter Mountain, and most of what's been built upstate since has either copied it or quietly resented it. Twenty rooms, a pool, a fire pit, a coffee bar, and not much else.

What it's selling is a clear idea, executed cheaply enough that you can actually book it. Pine, wool blankets, a few good vintage pieces, big windows, no TV in most rooms, a record player at the front desk. It's not trying to be a resort. It's trying to be the place you stop on the way to a hike.

The setting

Phoenicia is a small Catskills town on Route 28, about two and a half hours up from New York City. The Esopus Creek runs through it. There's a real Main Street with a couple of restaurants, a general store, a swimming hole, and a tubing company that's been there forever. The Graham sits a short drive south on Route 214, at the foot of Hunter Mountain.

What's around: Slide Mountain trailheads, the Phoenicia Diner ten minutes away, Woodstock thirty, Tannersville and Hunter twenty in the other direction. The Ashokan Rail Trail is close. So is the reservoir.

The building

It's a reimagined 1960s motor lodge — a low, single-story L-shape with rooms opening onto a courtyard. The bones are motel; the interiors are not. The renovation kept the proportions and the pitched roofs, stripped the rest, and added pine paneling, wool, vintage gear, and a lot of plants. It reads more Scandinavian than American, which at the time it opened was new.

Public space is mostly outdoor: the courtyard with the pool, a bonfire pit, hammocks, a small lobby that doubles as a coffee-and-pastry counter in the morning.

The rooms

Twenty keys across six categories. The Bungalow sleeps four (queen plus two singles in a bunk, with a kitchen). Deluxe Doubles and Singles have kitchenettes. Standard rooms skip the TV intentionally. There's a Bunk House for travelers who want a bed and a hike for under two hundred dollars. Across all categories: pine walls, wool blankets, Tivoli radios, priority bikes you can borrow. Bathrooms are simple. Rates start around $195 and climb in fall.

Food & drink

There's no restaurant. Coffee, pastries, and a small market in the morning; the front desk will point you to the Phoenicia Diner, Sweet Sue's, Brio's, or Peekamoose down the road. This is part of the design — the Graham is a base, not a destination.

On the property

The pool is the social heart of the place in summer; the bonfire takes over after dark and in the shoulder seasons. The trail network around Phoenicia is right there.

• Outdoor pool, seasonal
• Bonfire pit, evenings
• Loaner bikes, hammocks
• Hiking from the property — Slide, Giant Ledge, Tremper all within a short drive
• Year-round, with reduced amenities in winter

Who it's for

• Couples doing a first or second Catskills weekend
• Solo travelers who want a real bed for under $200
• Friends groups who want to book three rooms and split the courtyard
• Designers and architects who want to see the room that everyone copied

Who it's not for

• Travelers expecting a restaurant, a spa, or room service
• Families that need connecting rooms or babysitting
• Anyone who'd describe their ideal weekend as "all-inclusive"

Nearby

Phoenicia Diner is the obvious breakfast play. Brio's in town does good pizza. Sweet Sue's does pancakes worth the wait. Peekamoose, twenty minutes south on Route 28, is the serious dinner option. Hunter and Belleayre for skiing in winter, the Esopus for tubing in summer, and Woodstock for a half-day diversion. The Ashokan Rail Trail loop is the easy walk; Slide Mountain is the hard one.