With winter reaching the point of having overstayed its welcome, it’s hard to ignore the nagging desire to escape the cold reality of New York City. Lucky for you, we found the most perfect place to do so—and it’s only 3.5 hours from NYC!
Nestled upstate in the Catskills, The Roxbury Experience is the most exciting escape we’ve ever come across. Before we get into it, imagine this: Alice in Wonderland married Willy Wonka and set up residence in Oz–that, according their website, is exactly what you can expect.
The Roxbury Experience is actually two hotels down the road from one another–The Motel location and the Stratton Falls location, hence the idea for the whole “experience” aspect–but regardless of which location you stay at you can enjoy the benefits of both locations.
As for those benefits, they include full-service spas, hiking trails, a 50’ waterfall (yes, right on the property!), an outdoor swimming pool, exciting themed rooms–some of which literally look straight out of a fairytale–and stunning Catskill Mountain scenery.
The doors to The Roxbury Motel first opened in 2004, essentially turning everything we love about fairytales, folklores, and magic into reality.
The Roxbury Motel’s rooms come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and configurations with theme concepts mostly inspired by the 60’s and 70’s eras TV shows and films. Rooms start out as small as studios and expand to as big as The Archaeologist’s Digs, a stand-alone cottage with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, hidden treasures and maps, secret passageways, and more.
Yeah, they weren’t kidding when they said it’s a whole experience.
Other rooms at The Roxbury Motel include the cave-inspired Fred’s Lair, a Wizard of Oz-themed room complete with its own yellow brick road, and The Final Frontier, an out of this world space-themed room.
Guests will also find The Shimmer Spas at The Roxbury Motel, which offers guests some valuable R&R time through a 600 square foot “mini-spa” complete with a hot tub, a dry sauna, a fireplace, a bathroom, and a wonderful shower made of black river rock that massages your feet while you take a shower.
Across the street is also a larger 1,200 square foot spa that includes “The Green Steam,” a large steam area made out of 100% recycled green car windshield glass, and a whimsical library where you can shut out the outside world and relax.
The Roxbury at Stratton Falls is the experience’s most recent expansion, located two miles directly down the road.
It includes five Tower Cottages–three of which are duplexes comprised of two units–and seven mansion rooms, all of which transport guests to a completely different world.
Each of the two-story cottages features two bedrooms, soaring ceilings, screened in back-porches, and balconies, and some even include third level observation decks for star and mountain gazing!
Inspiration behind some of the cottages includes Wonder Woman, Galileo, Cinderella (with a pumpkin carriage), Dracula, and a magical fairy forest, among others.
Common features throughout the mansion rooms include ensuite bathrooms, some with clawfoot tubs, refreshment areas, beautiful views of the surrounding mountains, and special features like fireplaces or private balconies with an outdoor shower in select rooms.
Crooked Cabana is also located at The Roxbury at Stratton Falls, where architecture of the properties 1848 Italianate Mansion was literally skewed and twisted to create a whimsical experience. The area includes a pool cabana, an 8-person hot tub, a dry sauna, a spa relaxation area, three bathroom/changing rooms, and a large recreation room with a TV area, a gaming area, and a bar.
Beyond the actual experience, the mountains, streams, lakes, and valleys of the Catskills offer a plethora of both outdoor and indoor activities and attractions, such as skiing and snowboarding, biking, fishing, golfing, hiking, art and historical culture, and more.
Located only 3.5 hours from NYC in the Catskills, The Roxbury Experience is proving to guests that there truly is no such thing as too over-the-top.
You can learn more about the getaway here.