"Turns out, gathering around the campfire hasn’t gone the way of the hotel business center—at least not at Urban Cowboy Lodge. Set on a 68-acre tract in the Catskills, with a cluster of wooden buildings that fan out neatly atop a hill, the hotel looks and sometimes feels like a summer camp. It’s an apt comparison when you consider its merrily irreverent staff and adult-friendly, join-if-you-want-to, fine-if-you-don’t approach to programming, which ranges from fireside rounds of reggae bingo in the antler-bedecked common area to morning hikes and piano nights on the baby grand. The ethos extends to the decor, which includes vintage sports equipment bolted to the walls and a riot of Native American–inspired prints that cover everything from the couch cushions to the wallpaper. It’s the first rural foray for founders Lyon Porter and Jersey Banks, who teamed up with hotel developer Phil Hospod of Dovetail + Co. for this venture—and who previously brought country flair and a community ethos with Urban Cowboy locations in Brooklyn and Nashville. But if that tack feels purposefully contrarian in the city, it’s right at home here in the mountains. —Betsy Blumenthal" - Jessica Chapel
