Trendy new hotels are transforming the Catskills

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Searching for a getaway but don’t want to travel far? Get in an (upstate) New York state of mind.

A cluster of attractive boutique hotels in the Catskills opening this winter between two and three hours north of New York City make the destination exciting — and dare we say, exotic? — even for old hands.

Opening March 1 is Urban Cowboy’s new property in Big Indian, NY, about 25 miles west of Woodstock.

In 2014, proprietors Lyon Porter and Jersey Banks opened a two-suite property with a photo shoot annex in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that flaunts a serious Southwestern flair. Next came a B&B in a Victorian mansion in Nashville, Tenn.

Now the 28 rooms about to debut in the Catskills lodge reprise the couple’s trademark features — boldly patterned bedding and wallpaper, nature- and animal-inspired art and freestanding clawfoot bathtubs — for the reasonable starting rate of $195/night.

There’s no cell service, the trendy hotel warns, but you won’t even miss it thanks to the sauna, communal bonfires and gratis snowshoes provided for wintertime trail treks over its 63 acres.

Another newcomer is the Roxbury at Stratton Falls, an offshoot of the existing Roxbury Motel whose handful of fantastical “tower cottages” and “mansion rooms” look straight out of “Alice in Wonderland” ($139/night).

Don’t overlook two notable reinventions. The newly renovated Shandaken Inn, a 1920s golf clubhouse with handsome blue siding, is now up and running with 15 guestrooms decorated in a modern rustic style (from $180/night).

The 1960s-era Starlite Motel in Kerhonkson, NY, meanwhile, just reopened (from $150/night) after a yearlong makeover with some retro elements intact (Vintage signage! Pink-and-black bathrooms!) and new features added (A saltwater pool! A grilling area!).

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