Head to New York and the Catskills this Christmas

17 October 2023

If you’re looking for the ultimate luxurious Christmas getaway, we’ve got something very special for you. This elevated escape from the city begins in bustling Manhattan, taking in the festive sights, before heading to a cosy log cabin-style lodge on the shore of the Toronto reservoir in the Lower Hudson Valley region of the extraordinary Catskill mountains. Here’s what to expect:

Head to New York and the Catskills this Christmas

Three nights in Manhattan

If there’s a time of year perfect for taking a bite of the Big Apple, it’s Christmas. The festive season is taken very seriously in New York, with ice rinks and Christmas markets galore. We particularly love the city’s famous festive live window displays with dancing elves and Santas – the best examples are at the iconic department stores of Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bloomingdales (all, of course, superb places for Christmas shopping).

There’s festive entertainment aplenty, too. Among our favourites are the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, the lighting of the Christmas tree candles at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the New York City Ballet performing The Nutcracker. The Little Italy neighbourhood is particularly convivial at this time of year, with parades, costumed carol singers carrying lanterns, street fairs, and feasts.

This break includes three nights at The Langham, New York on Fifth Avenue, which is perfectly located to indulge in some Christmas shopping and sightseeing. That’s if you can tear yourselves away from your sleek room or from its award-winning restaurant Ai Fiori, with its delicious cuisine inspired by the food of the French and Italian Rivieras.

Three nights in the Catskills

From New York City, drive two hours in your hire car to the mountains in southeastern New York State, home to the Hudson River School Art Trail, the Catskill Forest Preserve hiking trails, and ski resorts such as Hunter Mountain and Belleayre Mountain.

In the Catskills, your base will be the all-inclusive luxury retreat of The Chatwal Lodge, where your package extends to meals by a gourmet chef, plus fine wine pairings and spirits from the Reserve Collection. This is a true escape from the world, with just 11 rooms, suites, and cottages. Each has decor inspired by their surroundings, including handcrafted touches such as lighting made from original barn beams, and carved wood bed frames.

Among the seasonal activities available onsite or nearby are ice skating, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, stargazing, biking, hiking, yoga, and meditation. Or you can just stay cosy and warm enjoying indoor pursuits, including duckpin bowling, shuffleboard, and billiards, and making use of the roaring fireplace and reading nook.

Food is a big focus at The Chatwal Lodge, whose main restaurant uses produce from Catskills farms and bakeries, as well as picks from the Lodge’s own kitchen and herb garden. Its chef, Jesse Kloskey, offers refined rustic American cuisine that harks back to his Wisconsin childhood and his time spent cooking in the Michelin-starred restaurants of California’s Napa Valley.

Expect such hyper-seasonal dishes as tartare of dry-aged Millbrook Farms venison loin with cured egg yolk, dried cherry, and rye crackers, and Beaverkill river trout baked en papillote with morel mushrooms and shallot jus.

To book your luxury Christmas getaway combining stays at The Langham, New York and The Chatwal Lodge, call your Travel Counsellor today.

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