The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse is the hotel built inside the exoskeleton of a 19th-century fabric mill, perched directly above a waterfall at the bottom of Beacon's Main Street. Twenty-three rooms, a restaurant on a deck that hangs over the falls, exposed brick and steel and concrete that was already there. It's the rare adaptive-reuse hotel where the reuse is genuinely the point.

The crowd skews architects, Dia visitors, and the Hudson-Valley weekend set who've decided Beacon is the version of upstate they actually want — gallery walking-distance, bar at the bottom of the hill, train back to Grand Central in 75 minutes.

The setting

Beacon sits at the foot of Mount Beacon on the east bank of the Hudson, an hour and fifteen minutes by Metro-North from Grand Central. Main Street is the long, walkable spine — galleries, the Beacon Theater, a half-dozen restaurants of the small-and-intentional variety, the Beacon Pantry for breakfast. Dia:Beacon sits at the river end of town, ten minutes on foot from the hotel.

The Roundhouse anchors the lower end of Main Street where Fishkill Creek drops over a series of falls. You hear the water from most of the rooms. The river itself is a five-minute walk; Mount Beacon's trailhead is fifteen.

The building

The mill complex dates to the 1860s — originally a hat factory, later textiles. The conversion preserved the brick shell, the timber framing, and the industrial fenestration, then dropped a contemporary hotel inside. Concrete floors, glass walls where the loading bays were, exposed beams overhead. The lobby reads more art-space than hotel; the bar is built around the view of the falls.

It's not trying to soften its industrial bones. If you want crown moldings and floral wallpaper, this isn't that.

The rooms

Twenty-three rooms across the main mill building and an adjacent annex. Layouts are unusual because the building is unusual — long and narrow in some, double-height in others, a few with private terraces over the creek. Beds are platform, linens are good, bathrooms run to subway tile and concrete. From-rates start around $285, with the falls-view rooms and creek-side suites at the top.

Walls in a converted-mill building are thick where they're original masonry and thinner where they're new partitions. Light sleepers should ask.

Food & drink

The restaurant is on the deck above the falls — seasonal, locally sourced, open to non-guests for dinner most nights and brunch on weekends. The cocktail list is the kind of thing you'd expect from a hotel bar that's also one of the better bars in town. In summer the deck seating is the place; in winter the indoor dining room and the bar do the work.

On the property

The waterfall is the property's actual amenity. Beyond that, it's a small hotel that leans on its town.

• Restaurant and bar on the falls
• Walking access to all of Main Street
• Five-minute walk to Dia:Beacon and the riverfront
• Mount Beacon trailhead within fifteen minutes' walk
• Open year-round

Who it's for

• Architecture and adaptive-reuse people
• Dia:Beacon visitors who don't want to drive home after closing
• City couples wanting a Metro-North weekend, no car required
• Anyone who has opinions about hotel bars

Who it's not for

• Families looking for a pool and kids' programming
• Travelers who want full-service resort amenities
• Light sleepers — water sounds carry, and so does Main Street on summer Saturdays

Nearby

Dia:Beacon is the headline — ten minutes' walk, plan three hours minimum. Storm King Art Center is about thirty minutes' drive across the river, ideally a separate day. Cold Spring's Main Street and the Hudson Highlands trails are fifteen minutes north. Mount Beacon's summit hike starts in town and rewards the climb with a Hudson view all the way south to the city. Bannerman Castle, on its island in the river, runs boat tours from May through October.