Just in time for spring, five new and renovated rural retreats — including an 18th-century New England inn and a contemporary hideaway in upstate New York — are just right for country pursuits. Whether you’re drawn to a desert lodge in Utah, a farm stay in Sweden or a mountain escape in the Austrian Alps, you can hike, bike, fish, horseback ride or simply take pleasure in bucolic views.
1. Hancock, N.H.
The Inn at Hancock
A former coaching inn dating to the late 1700s, this newly restored historical property will offer a taste of the English countryside when it reopens on May 1. The inn has been welcoming guests since colonial times and is in New Hampshire’s Monadnock region, where you can spend the days fly-fishing, cycling, birding and antiquing.
Relax over drinks and canapés at the inn’s Hunt Bar & Scullery. For seasonal prix fixe menus inspired by French cuisine, try the Restaurant, which consists of three spaces, including “the Reading Room” with shelves of leather-bound books. On a prix fixe menu called the Library Dining Series, you might find dishes like foie gras torchon, poached salmon and olive oil cake.
There’s also a lounge called Pinks — a glossy red space inspired by the red coats worn during fox hunts — where an à la carte grill menu tempts with offerings like French onion soup, duck leg confit and branzino. In warm weather, enjoy your meal outside on the garden terrace. Later, retire to one of 15 polished suites, each with its own mash-up of old and new: antiques, patterned wall coverings, vivid colors and bath products by Floris London. Some suites have fireplaces.
The largest are the manor suites where Anglophiles may appreciate English-country-house touches, like an antique Chippendale sofa. Prices from $695 a night.
2. Lumberland, N.Y.
Vipp Pavilion, Upstate New York
A contemporary escape overlooking a forest pond, this is the first guesthouse in the United States from the Danish product-design company Vipp. In addition to Vipp’s furniture, lighting and accessories (including a bin that’s in the Museum of Modern Art’s collection), the company now has more than a dozen high-design getaways.
The New York property, which opened this month near the Pennsylvania border, can accommodate up to four guests. A 1,200-square-foot glass-and-stucco building designed by Johnston Marklee, a Los Angeles architectural office, the Vipp Pavilion might initially strike you as a sculpture. Step inside, however, and you’ll find an airy living area where views of the pond and meadow are framed by a wall of glass doors.
The minimalist interior, which includes a kitchen and two bedrooms, is balanced by natural materials like millwork made of sapele wood. There’s artwork by Danish and New York-based artists, and, of course, furniture, lighting and accessories by Vipp. A covered porch overlooks the pond and acres of trees.
The Delaware River offers opportunities for rafting and fishing, and the area is ideal for hiking and bird-watching. The guesthouse is $950 a night with a minimum stay of two nights.
3. Moab, Utah
Red Cliffs Lodge Moab
On the banks of the Colorado River, about 17 miles from Arches National Park (and less than an hour’s drive to Canyonlands National Park), Red Cliffs Lodge Moab has a new restaurant and cocktail lounge, renovated cabins, updated suites and a redesigned lodge.
The lodge features floor-to-ceiling windows and breathtaking views of the river and red rocks, as well as a double-sided fireplace. Linger over a drink or a meal at Ember, where you can tuck into comfort foods like pan-seared salmon with charred broccolini. Or, if you just want to pick up something on your way to a park, a retail space in the lodge offers snacks, drinks and grab-and-go food.
Choose from 40 creekside and 39 riverfront suites, or 31 riverfront cabins — though it’s hard to go wrong as all of the accommodations have red rock views and are furnished in warm hues. Microwaves and mini fridges, couches and sofa beds, and furnished outdoor patios make it easy to feel at home.
The lodge staff can help you plan adventures, including private tours at Arches and Canyonlands. Prices from $225 a night.
4. Gotland, Sweden
Sibbjäns
This horse-farm-turned-hotel is on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, a place known for sandy beaches and limestone monoliths called sea stacks. Also on the island is the town of Visby, which dates to the Viking age and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List thanks to its 13th-century ramparts, warehouses and merchants’ dwellings.
Opening to the public for its first full season in early April, the hotel has 22 rooms — some in a 19th-century farmhouse, and others in a bunkhouse — all with Scandinavian style (think clean lines and sheepskin throws). The farmhouse has nine elegant spare rooms with en suite bathrooms, a library, dining spots and a garden where you can sip an aperitif. There’s also the more rustic Bunkhouse, which has 13 rooms. Each room has a patio, and the bathrooms are communal.
The hotel will feature a pool filled with rainwater that uses plants and filters instead of chemicals; a sauna, yoga barn and outdoor gym are scheduled to open in mid-May. The outdoor gym, on a timber deck beneath a pergola, will have an Eleiko Prestera rig for strength training. Go horseback riding through the fields, head to the coast to go kite-surfing, or take a ride on one of the hotel’s e-bikes.
At the property’s farm you can meet the hens, pigs, sheep and horses. Join a free tour to learn the story of the farm, or simply stroll around. The property’s restaurant and bar offers dishes that might include lamb from the farm with kale, beets and parsnips, or capeletti with chanterelles and ricotta.
Getting to the island requires some planning: Unless you arrange a helicopter trip, you’ll need to take a flight from Stockholm to Visby or a ferry from the mainland, and then drive across the island. Prices from 4,500 Swedish krona (about $482) a night, including breakfast.
5. Grossarl, Austria
Das Edelweiss Salzburg Mountain Resort
About 49 miles from Salzburg Airport in the Grossarl Valley, this family-run resort began as a 14-room guesthouse in 1979. Decades later, the property has a combined 138 rooms and suites and is open for its first year-round season on the heels of an extensive renovation and expansion.
Walls of glass bring the outside in, as do inviting rooms and outdoor spaces. Explore verdant hiking and biking trails, lakes and alpine pastures. There’s even a “Sound of Music” tour that departs from the hotel and visits filming locations. After a day of hiking, visit the spa, which spans five floors with saunas, indoor and outdoor thermal pools, and relaxation rooms with sweeping views of the mountains. The family-friendly resort has play areas for all ages, a waterslide park, multi-bedroom suites for multigenerational groups, and a penthouse suite where families can have an entire floor to themselves.
The resort’s restaurants include the steakhouse Sirloin Grill & Dine; Sushi Bar & Sakura, which offers Asian fusion; and Restaurant Hoamat 78, where the menu includes pastas, burgers and stone-oven pizzas. At Alpinbar, savor Champagne, wine or a drink. Prices from $725 a night, including daily breakfast and dinner.
- Credits: The New York Times
- Author: Stephanie Rosenbloom
- Photo: Red Cliffs
