Inness Hotel Accord, NY: a masterclass in intentional hospitality design
Perched in the rolling hills of Accord, NY, Inness feels like the kind of place where time is about to stop. I visited on a crisp early spring weekend when the air carried the faint smell of thawing earth, and amber and gold were slowly giving way to the first tentative greens of the season.
This gem not so hidden anymore, has quickly become a favored retreat in Upstate NY, spreading 225 acres of farmland and wild meadows. The thoughtfully designed farmhouse, an inventive farm-to-table restaurant, and a comforting members club (all brought to life by Post Company and interior designer Taavo Somer) speak a language of understated elegance, where rural simplicity meets contemporary restraint through natural materials, muted tones, and clean lines.
A compositional quietude fostering presence and reset
What struck me most was how Inness feels like an extension of the land rather than something merely placed upon it. The main buildings breathe with minimal warmth—soft textiles, honey-toned wood, and windows that frame the landscape like living paintings rather than mere views.
Walking the grounds, you experience the property's charm through gentle revelation rather than announcement. The cabins sit at a respectful distance from the main building, their interiors adorned with vintage-inspired lighting and handmade ceramics that feel discovered rather than displayed.
Then there's the landscape itself and that quality of openness that whispers: you've nowhere more important to be than right here, wrapped in a wool blanket with steaming tea, watching the afternoon light shift across the Catskills.
The art of purposeful deceleration
What I've come to appreciate about places like Inness is how they hold space for a different relationship with time. The nine-hole golf course doesn’t feel rushed in the way it’s designed. The hiking trails invite wandering rather than conquering. Even the restaurant’s menu seems to suggest that meals are meant to be savored, not scheduled.
It's a peculiar alchemy when design and nature meet without spectacle—offering instead something far more valuable: the permission to simply be. Sometimes the most meaningful retreats aren't geographic marathons but intentional pauses just a few hours from home.
What Inness reminded me, is that slowness isn't passive. It's a deliberate choice that requires courage in a world that rewards constant motion. The balance, beauty, and belonging I found there didn't happen accidentally. It required my participation—my willingness to notice, to breathe, to receive.
Inness Luxury Hotel & Resort
Address: 10 Banks St, Accord, NY 12404
Phone: (845) 377-0030
Website: https://inness.co/
Instagram: @inness_ny