When you live in New York City, the Hudson Valley is a place of mythic proportions, where sleepy, historic towns are filled with cozy restaurants, adorable shops, and romantic views. It sounds too good to be true. But before you make that judgment, I think you should take a quick two-hour train ride to visit the first capital of the state: Kingston, New York. When I arrived for a long weekend in December, it was sunset and had just freshly snowed—a prime setup for a magical weekend.
A stay at the Hotel Kinsley positions you in the heart of “Uptown” Kingston, in the middle of all of the action. The boutique hotel has 42 rooms spread across four distinct buildings built between 1688 and the late 19th century, all of which have historic roots and some of which have been renovated mindfully by Studio Robert McKinley (the same team behind Sant Ambroeus and Surf Lodge) to reflect their previous lives.
When you check in at the hotel’s hub at 301 Wall Street, mind the door: the building was formerly the State of New York National Bank, and the front desk is located inside the vault, high-security reinforced steel door and all. From there, you’ll find yourself staying either within that building—where the restaurant of the same name is open for breakfast (hotel guests only), lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch—or in one of the other properties, all walkable and within blocks.
My room was inside the Pearl Street building, which was built in 1770 and once the home of philanthropist and author Mary Isabella Forsyth (she wrote the first book on the history of the town, The Beginnings of New York, Kingston the First State Capitol). The library-esque room came equipped with dozens of books (I picked up a poetry book to read while out to dine at French bistro Le Canard) and a real fireplace. The other two Hotel Kinsley locations, 270 Fair Street and 24 John Street, were formerly a Singer Sewing Machine repair shop and the 18th-century home of Henry J. Sleight, the Kingston Village President who met with George Washington, respectively.
Regardless of which building your room is in, you’ll find easter eggs from its past life throughout, like preserved tin ceilings, custom carpeting, or the original mantle from the 1680s formal Georgian design in the original limestone. Each building’s individual custom hallway carpeting hints at it, too: checkboards for Wall Street, lightning bolts for Pearl Street, leaves for Fair Street, and scallops that mimic the Georgian architecture of John Street. Some of them also have communal spaces, like a groovy mid-century study or carriage house perfectly set up for a bridal party to hang out pre-wedding.
The more modern touches—dark wood furniture, farmhouse sinks, Frette linens and bathrobes, heated bathroom floors, and saturated oriental rugs—are a combination of sourced vintage and custom pieces that we either sourced or made locally. There are gorgeous, hand-painted watercolors found throughout the properties in surprising ways, like lampshades and a larger-than-life mural in the restaurant, which were inspired by life in the Hudson Valley and painted by Happy Menocal.
And while the hotel has the designation of “boutique,” there are all of the offerings of a classic big-city hotel. A relaxing weekend is incomplete without a massage—the hotel works with local therapists to come to an en-suite spa room—and facials with a local skin studio are also on the menu. Before my Swedish massage (which came with a gratis side of energy work), I booked a 30-minute sauna session to warm up. There’s also a small-but-mighty gym for those who feel inspired with treadmills, a Peloton, and weights.
The chef behind Restaurant Kinsley, Spencer Coplan, has a talent for taking American comfort food (deviled eggs, Nashville hot chicken) and adding an unexpected French twist. Whether it’s a simple update (fried shallots on top of Old Bay-spiced yolks or hush puppies served with a side of remoulade) or something more substantial like the short rib sandwich being served on a locally-made croissant, it’s all delicious. All of the specials were spot-on for the season and were grown at local farms Upstate as well. The “Girl Lunch” entree—a green miso salad, French Fries, and a straight-up vodka Martini—is the perfect meal to kick off the weekend.
The surrounding Uptown blocks have so much to do—shopping at Capital Vintage! Macarons at Sweet Maresa’s! Coffee and books at Rough Draft!—that you should leave the hotel room. But if you’re not able to tear yourself away from reading by the fireplace, nobody will blame you.
