Piaule Catskill — Hotel in Town of Catskill

We had a lovely stay. We live in NYC and needed a vacation that made us feel like we got away but needed a place that could accommodate our older dog because he can’t be left alone for long these days. Our stay at Piaule gave us just that and we are grateful. We feel rejuvenated coming back to the city. The place is gorgeous, the spa is so relaxing, and the massages were excellent. Also, while we expected the place to be nice we did not expect the food to be as good as it was. I’ll keep it short on the food: if I were staying somewhere else in the area, I would come to Piaule for lunch or dinner. They know what they are doing in the kitchen. Now for why I was reluctant to give that 5th star:

1- Need 300% more hooks to hang jackets (in the winter!), robes and towels, gym clothes in the lockers in the spa. It was quite frustrating not finding a hook when you expected one so often.

2- Need 200% more towels in the spa. I arrived on Wednesday at noon and took the last towel I could find. When I was leaving at 3, no additional towels were brought in.

3- a second trash can in the room. The only one is by the toilet so you will end up throwing out you pour over filter in the same receptacle as your 💩which was less than ideal. I asked for one and was told I couldn’t have one but they could give me a plastic bag. The website says they are not a four seasons but I think there is room between getting a second trash can if a guest requests one and being the four seasons.

4- the bathroom situation in the spa is a little confusing. There is a bathroom in each of the two changing rooms. You can lock the changing rooms from the inside. So if a person or a couple is using a changing room, that bathroom is not accessible. We were there during the work week and found ourselves waiting for the changing rooms to free up to use a bathroom in the spa. I imagine it’s busier during the weekend which leads me to the next point

5- I can see the spa getting too crowded for complete comfort if the cabins were fully occupied over a weekend. There is one small sauna (maybe 6 people sitting max) and a smaller steam room, a small yoga studio and a decent size warmed pool. We were very comfortable but I can’t help but feel that the ratio of available cabins and the spa size is off.

6- the spa is a good 3-4 minute outside walk from the cabins and Piaule could make that a lot easier on their guest by perhaps giving them a sachet to use to transport their bathrobes (which they suggest you take with you to the spa), and offering slippers in the spa so you don’t have to carry two footwear. Speaking of slippers, providing them in the cabins would have been nice as well given how cold the wooden floors were. Thankfully, we had warm wool socks to save us and the bathroom floors were wonderfully warm (bathroom is beautiful and spacious btw). This is less of an issue in warmer months but again there is room before you are a four seasons which leads me to my final point.

7- the staff was super nice and kind, but it did feel like it was their first gig in hospitality in certain instances. E.g. the trash can request or at some point my wife was asking to reschedule a massage and I happened to be in view of the screen the hostess was looking at so I snuck a peak instinctually because it was right there, and when the hostess realized I was looking she asked me to move away to the front of the desk intensely which startled me because i just happened to be standing in an open area with the screen very visible to me.

I want to repeat what I started with, we had a lovely time and the reasons for the 7 points above are because we would love to come back and I would think a new place like this would appreciate the constructive criticism. Also it may be helpful for people planning a visit which you definitely should.

Thanks Piaule team for a...

Overall our stay at Piaule was good. The staff is very friendly and helpful and the setting is certainly peaceful, the rooms and main house are appointed minimalistically but stylishly and we did love the overall aesthetic. The view from the main house deck is lovely and picturesque. However, similarly to the other lower reviews, we had a few hangups about Piaule overall that left more to be desired for a property that charges the prices they do. I'd like to state that the facility absolutely has the potential to be rated 5 stars, but at the time of our stay was not. For the price I paid for a weekend stay ($599 & $699 depending on the night) Piaule felt lacking. The amenities provided were ok, once again beautifully and simply appointed, but were not fully up and running - i.e the heating/cooling of the plunge pools as advertised (to be fair this was stated to us before arrival - there is also no door on the "meditation" room.) After a day or 2 those available amenities become rote and boring. There is a short walking trail with an emphasis on short on the property, though there are many nearby places to hike/walk for something more challenging. We also had some sort of sewage pump issue that was repaired directly in front of our cabin until about 9pm at night on our 2nd night which was not relaxing (again they are a new facility, these things happen but there was no mention from management about it.) Dining service leaves much to be desired. The food itself was excellent but the service was clunky, slow and problematic. I don't believe all servers had restaurant experience and/or training. We had a few mistakes at dinner and then a completely forgotten breakfast order. That said, they are upfront on their willingness for feedback and did do everything to rectify the mistakes but again my issue is that for the price of this experience and pricing on the food itself, I expected more. I realize they just started dining services and are working through the kinks but the guests do suffer for that and it was disappointing. As someone else mentioned, the upper cabins are a bit of a fishbowl experience. We had many other guests gazing (sometimes staring) directly into our cabin, especially at high times like check in/out and dinner. The road that Piaule is on can also get loud with many speeding pickup trucks throughout the day, though the cabins are well insulted to this noise when shut completely. Something to note is that I did read the review about the fishbowl experience prior to booking and incorrectly requested an upper cabin not a lower cabin accidentally as I should have. Lastly, we never received cleaning services throughout the time we were there despite only having the DO NOT DISTURB sign out 1 out of the 3 nights of our stay which was confounding but we thought could be due to their sustainability and eco status for conservation purposes.

The cabins themselves are lovely and specifically the inlaid bug screens, so you can fully open the large wall length window, was brilliant and sleek. Again, the staff was lovely and really did aim to please. At this time, I wouldn't recommend a stay here more than an overnight and midweek where pricing seems more fair for...

UPDATE: bumping up a star solely for the management communication and addressing our feedback from the stay last year.

we went back to experience the improvements a year after our initial stay, courtesy of management. they added privacy screens on the upper cabins (see photos) which definitely help when in bed, seeing tree tops when walking up. of course it doesn’t solve the entire issue of having traffic being visible when walking around the room, but a big difference when in bed.

Additionally, the management annotated upper and lower cabins on the site for clarity, editing the descriptions as well. A further recommendation is to update imagery to reflect the changes.

There were some trees planted in front of the cabins too, though it will take a while to have it block the view of the traffic.

Some additional feedback that was communicated is bath products are very thin/watered down, the management mentioned it might be a production issue which they’re investigating. We weren’t thrilled with the front desk reception, it’s rather cold, which we too communicated to the management.

The bottom line, it’s a beautifully designed hotel with management working hard at ironing out all the kinks. if you are looking for a “do nothing”, relaxing getaway from the city, book a lower-level cabin, you can’t beat that view.

July 2021 Review:

the place is beautiful, especially the design elements. the only drawback is the upper level cabins are facing the pathway and the backs of the lower cabins which tends to have some foot traffic (guests and staff), which makes staying in the room a bit uncomfortable for the lack of privacy. the cabins however are equipped with the smartly designed blackout partitions, but keeping that beautiful window closed defeats the purpose of going upstate to enjoy the forest.

we stayed for two nights and were given an upper cabin, which we requested to switch for the second night. after a bit of a fuss, the management was able to accommodate the request and boy did it make a difference! it’s the most immersive experience staying in a cabin facing the forest. you get the complete privacy and wouldn’t want to leave the room.

the main building that houses the restaurant and the spa is also beautiful. the spa access is included for the overnight guests and so is small breakfast and coffee.

overall we enjoyed our stay, the management and staff were very accommodating and friendly. the feedback to the management (which we communicated in person as well) is to very transparent about the view one would get when booking a cabin. the room rates are steep for the area, it makes sense to adjust it based...