Finally, Hudson NYC gets the hotel it deserves

Hudson, New York, began as Mohican land before becoming a prosperous river-port town after the American Revolution, built by Quaker merchants and New England whalers seeking inland trading routes along the Hudson River. As whaling declined, the town reinvented itself in the 19th century as a compact industrial hub of brickworks, foundries, textile mills and ironworks linked by river and rail. Like many American industrial towns, Hudson fell into decline after WWII. Over the past two decades, however, its remarkable collection of Georgian, Victorian and Italianate buildings has been revived by a thriving LGBT community, creative New York City transplants, second-home owners and antique dealers.

Pocketbook Hudson now occupies the town's largest historic building, a 70,000-square-foot former textile mill and pocketbook factory from 1883 that spans an entire city block. It has been reborn after years of abandonment into the Catskills’ newest destination for hospitality, nightlife and the arts. The hotel encompasses 46 guest rooms and suites, a day-to-night café and bar, restaurant, communal bathhouse, subterranean nightclub, and three floors of multi-brand retail space.

Wallpaper* checks in at Pocketbook Hudson

What’s on your doorstep?

Book an Amtrak train from Manhattan’s magnificent Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station, housed in the city’s original Beaux-Arts post office building from 1914, recently renovated by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. In just two hours, you’ll arrive at Hudson Station with your feet firmly planted steps from Warren Street, the main artery of this tiny but mighty Catskills hamlet.

Traverse the de facto antique capital of the East Coast as you head down Warren and its side streets filled with furniture dealers, homeware shops, clothing boutiques, bars and restaurants. At the end of the shop-filled thoroughfare, pivot left on North 6th Street past the Hudson Harmonic (former German Lutheran Church) to Washington Street, and you’ll arrive at Pocketbook Hudson, with its towering three-story red brick edifice.

Who is behind the design?

A Covid-era daydream turned reality, Pocketbook is the culmination of six years of planning and renovation led by a cohort of partners including Gabriel Katz of MacArthur Holdings, developer and realtor Sean Roland, Nancy Kim, former design director of Ace Hotels, and Vipin Nambiar and Jeremy Selman of HN Capital. The newly minted hoteliers tapped their mentors at Salt Projects, the Tbilisi-based hospitality consultancy known for Georgia's industry-defining Rooms hotel brand. Together, they selected renowned architecture and design firm Charlap, Hyman & Herrero for the overhaul at hand.

Winners of the prestigious 2026 Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Award for Interior Design, this was CHH's first full-scale hospitality project, lending a ‘residential’ take on the hotel and holistic repurposing of industrial spaces into immersive habitats.

Collaborating with a roster of local contemporary artisans and designers, each space has been outfitted with distinctive furnishings and crafts, from cascading ceramic washbasins and table lamps by Misha Kahn, to the waterproof jelly-moulded seating systems by Rich Aybar in the bathhouse. Artist WangShui led the hotel’s art curatorial program, commissioning paintings, mural works and photography by artists such as Tschabalala Self, Maryam Hoseini and Martine Gutierrez.

The room to book

The industrial bones of this former factory lend to giant interiors with soaring ceilings and unique architectural details. The spacious ‘Bathing Studio’ on the ground floor sports original burgundy-red window frames, which fill the limewashed space with natural sunlight. Highlights include an upholstered seating bench that runs the length of the room, a separate bathroom and toilet, and a tastefully cheeky shower porthole peering into the bedroom. The pièce de résistance is the stainless steel elevated bathtub behind the sleeping quarters. As the room name suggests, bathing is a lifestyle at Pocketbook, and the creative minibar has Casa Finca salts perfect for a nightcap soak.

Only the ‘Weekend Studio’ and ‘Lounging Studio’ room categories lack an in-room soaking tub, yet follow the same ethos across: warm and off-green materials, stainless steel sink washbasins, natural wood bed frames and millwork by Primary Visual, exposed brick accent walls, CHH-designed linen pendants and chrome wall lights, a custom amenity skincare line by Village Common, glassware by Mamo, and lime green terry-clothed bathrobes from Eckhaus Latta.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Open Wednesdays through Sundays for dinner service, Ambos is the headlining restaurant, named in memory of the factory's former proprietor and well-known Hudson bon vivant, Eleanore Ambos. Meaning ‘both’ in Spanish, the name is an accidental double entendre as chef Norberto Piattoni's menu pairs the staples of his native Argentine cuisine with the seasonal ingredients of the Hudson Valley.

Standouts include a Picanha steak with chimichurri, demi-glace, and rejilla potato, and a Black Sea Bass in Basque-style vasca sauce. Start with a fresh elderberry honey-dressed snap pea salad or choose from fail-safe delicious classics, including Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe or Pappardelle with a Mutton Ragu sauce.

For breakfast and lunch, the café runs a daily menu (opt for the perfectly fluffed scrambled eggs with spinach and toast), along with coffees, to-go pastries and baked goods. Come evening, the bar’s housemade brioche burger is not to be missed.

Offering more than just drinks, cultural magic at Pocketbook is thanks to Brand Director Shanekia McIntosh, who heads experiential programming and partnerships. She has brought in a repertoire of multi-hyphenate international and Hudson Valley DJs, artists, and performers such as Papi Juice, Bearcat, Autumn Knight, Fulathela, and Ahya Simone to headline the subterranean nightclub Ether, a lineup that feels more at home in New York City than in Hudson.

‘Our mantra is that each person who enters our space is a guest, whether or not they have a room for the night,’ explains McIntosh. ‘We want to make sure everyone feels welcomed and is having a good time. Pocketbook feels most alive to me when our community in Hudson is also here attending an event, grabbing dinner or drinks, and intermingling with out-of-towners on holiday.’

That ethos extends weekly to Tuesday and Wednesday community days, offering residents half-off entry to the baths, followed by free cultural programming, including live evening record spins in the lounge by Hudson-based artist and DJ Tshidi Matale.

Where to switch off

Veering far beyond a typical hotel pool offering, the Baths are available to overnight guests, members and day-pass visitors for unwinding amongst cold and warm plunge pools, a sauna and a rotating calendar of fitness classes. Opt for a deep-tissue massage with a practitioner or a classical Chinese medicine bodywork treatment on the upper level.

The verdict

An ambitious endeavour for a small town, Pocketbook is the missing puzzle piece from Hudson, cementing the town as its own cultural powerhouse and forecasting its continued evolution as one of the fastest-growing creative enclaves in the Tri-State area. With just 46 rooms, the main apparatus of Pocketbook centres the local community as its main economic engine amongst dining, drinks, shopping and wellness, as opposed to becoming a gilded enclave for vacationers.

Pocketbook Hudson is located at 549 Washington St, Hudson, NY 12534, United States