Upstate New York, United States

Cedar Lakes Estate

Price per night from$295.00

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD295.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Camp spirit

Setting

Waterside woodland

The 500-acre Cedar Lakes Estate is a Hudson Valley retreat nestled in sweet-smelling pine forest, with cosy log cabins and a host of outdoorsy hijinks. The fairytale-fit cottages – built from home-grown oak – are furnished with animal hide rugs, reclaimed wood and antler chandeliers; in some, you’ll find a stone fireplace and a kitted-out kitchen, in another there’s a barbecue-ready patio and a rowing boat moored outside. Start with snowshoeing or winter hikes in the morning and end by the bonfire under the stars. In between, saddle up for a spot of sledding or order marshmallow-topped hot chocolates.  

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

Two homemade s'mores kits and a selection of local Hudson Valley beer

Facilities

Photos Cedar Lakes Estate facilities

Need to know

Rooms

16 cottages, 6 houses.

Check–Out

10am, check-in 4pm, but both are flexible, subject to availability.

Prices

Double rooms from £271.32 ($343), including tax at 16.125 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional resort fee of $185.00 per person per night on check-out.

More details

A Resort Fee of $185 a person, each night will be added to all bookings for adults (aged 18 and over) and $155 for children (aged 5-18). This includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Also

Bring your competitive spirit: the US national gymnastics and football teams used to come here for training camps.

Hotel closed

Cottage rentals are only available from January-March. The resort operates exclusively as a private wedding and corporate retreat venue from April-December.

At the hotel

Free WiFi, tennis and basketball courts, swimming pool, row boats and canoes, plus hiking trails and lake access. In rooms: TV, minibar, air-conditioning, tea- and coffee-making facilities, and the Farmer's Touch bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Choose a Sleepy Pine Cottage for its forest-set charms and rocking chairs on the verandah, or plump for the Lakeside Cottage, which comes with a wood-burning stove, barbecue on the patio, and your own row-boat on the water (in milder months).

Poolside

The heated pool looks over the lake, and has picnic benches on the surrounding lawn.

Packing tips

Bring your most stylish hiking boots, bobble hats and capacity for toasted marshmallow overindulgence.

Also

The common areas are wheelchair accessible, but the rooms aren’t particularly set up for wheelchair users.

Pet‐friendly

Welcome in certain accommodations. Fort $250 per dog, per stay (up to 5 nights) they'll receive a cozy dog crate with soft, removable bed, water and food bowls and a special welcome snack. A $500 security deposit applies. See more pet-friendly hotels in Upstate New York.

Children

All ages welcome.

Best for

Over fives, or anyone who can swim in the lake.

Recommended rooms

Go for the Bluebird Cottage, Lakeside Cottage or one of the Garden Suites – they all have a fully equipped kitchen, for post-sports-day snacks.

Activities

In winter, we dare you to not sing 'Do you want a build a snowman' as you do just that. There's also sledding, snowshowing and marshmallow toasting to keep Smiths of all ages entertained. No snow? Chances are, there’ll be enough other guests for a team game instead (there are pitches for softball, volleyball, American football and basketball).

Swimming pool

It’s heated, so the Little Smiths can swim till they’re wrinkly without getting a chill. The picnic benches on the surrounding lawn are a good vantage point for seeing who really splashed whom first.

Meals

The Canteen does a mean cheese toastie and a few healthy snacks, but other than that you’re on your own. Spark up the barbecue, and buy supplies from a store in Port Jervis.

No need to pack

Leave your iPads and the like at home – there’s enough outdoor entertainment to keep anyone going.

Food and Drink

Photos Cedar Lakes Estate food and drink

Top Table

Grab a bottle of red and a board game and dine wherever you please – there's not a bad view in the place.

Dress Code

Flannels, fisherman's jumpers and fleece-lined boots.

Hotel restaurant

The Dining Pavillion is a casual, cosy lounge rather than a formal restaurant, but it has you covered for locally-sourced snacks, beer and wine in front of the roaring fire That’s not to say you can’t get a square meal here, though – you’ll wake up to a farm-to-fork breakfast and can join one of the hosted Saturday dinners where a prosecco toast leads into the multi-course tasting menu. You can also arrange for a private three-course dinner, served in your room or in a secluded dining room on the property. 

Last orders

The Dining Pavillion is open from 9am to 7pm every day and The Treehouse Lounge is open for guests until 10pm.

Location

Photos Cedar Lakes Estate location
Address
Cedar Lakes Estate
1 Team USA Way
Port Jervis
12771
United States

Cedar Lakes is nestled in lakeside forest on the edge of Port Jervis, a sleepy town on the Delaware River, where New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania meet.

Planes

The little-known Stewart International airport is just 40 minutes away from Cedar Lakes by car; Norwegian fly direct from Edinburgh and Dublin, JetBlue comes in from Florida, and Delta arrives from Detroit. Otherwise, you’ll need a New York City airport. Newark and LaGuardia are most convenient – the drive to the hotel is under two hours, while from JFK it’s around two and a half hours.

Trains

From New York City, take the Path line to Hoboken (just the other side of the Hudson River), then transfer to the train for Port Jervis. You’ll arrive a little over two hours later, and then it’s a 15-minute cab to the estate.

Automobiles

You’ll want a car for exploring the breweries and markets of the Hudson Valley; hire from the airport and park up for free outside the cottages.

Worth getting out of bed for

Start with ball games – basketball, tennis, volleyball, softball and American football, then warm down with lawn games including bocce, ladder toss, horseshoes and (everyone’s favourite) cornhole. Some evenings there’ll be a roaring bonfire under the stars – the perfect spot for making use of your s'mores kit – or an indoor cinema screening. When it's frosty, give curling or ice-skating a whirl, or warm-up indoors with a mixology, cooking or craft class.

Come December, Highpoint State Park and its 15,000 acres of woodland transform into a real winter wonderland where you can try snowshoeing, snow-mobiling, sledding or cross-country skiing. Slip on your hiking boots and tackle a section of the Appalachian Trail or up the adrenaline whitewater rafting on the Delaware River (Silver Canoe provides guided trips and equipment). Shop for local goodies at the Port Jervis farmers’ market (Saturday 10am to 7pm), and visit a working maple syrup sugarhouse at Finding Home Farms (some of the maple sap comes from Cedar Lakes Estate trees, by the way).

The High Point Monument is a 220ft obelisk marking – you guessed it – the highest point in New Jersey. Drive to the top for the photo opp.

 

 

Local restaurants

Foundry 42 (42 Front Street) does more than just small-batch coffee and artisan pastries – there’s a vintage furniture store inside too, and a creative workshop space upstairs. The local favourite for no-nonsense burgers and craft beer is Fox ‘n’ Hare Brewing (46 Front Street), while over at vegan cafe Fogwood and Fig (24 Front Street) there’s soul-warming lentil soups made by female founder, Diana Bezanski. Cross the state border into Pennsylvania for wood-fired pizzas and homemade pastas at 403 Broad.

 

Local bars

These parts are better known for craft beer than cocktails, but you can take your pick at the Orange County Distillery outpost at Brown Barn Farms (286 Maple Avenue, New Hampton); try the potent Field 47 with corn whisky and rosemary-infused syrup, or choose from a range of local ales and hard ciders. Westtown Brew Works hand-harvests hops and conjures up small-batch beers to serve alongside pizza from the food truck and live music in the evenings.

 

Reviews

Photos Cedar Lakes Estate reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this lakeside estate in the Hudson Valley and unpacked their sports kit and swimming costumes, a full account of their country break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Cedar Lakes Estate in Port Jervis…

With its web of trails winding through the pine forest and painted canoes gliding across the lake, Cedar Lakes Estate is just about the ideal summer camp destination. For 50 years or so from 1929, that dream was a reality for children from Harlem, who came to Camp Minisink – as the estate was originally known – with the NYC Mission Society. Later, it was taken over by the Karvellas family, and given a new, professional purpose as a training facility for elite American athletes. Gold-medal winning gymnasts and World Cup football players are among those who’ve slept in its woodland cabins and swum in the cool mountain water before you – and probably fallen out over the odd lawn game, too. Nowadays, it’s the next generation of the Karvellas family that runs the show (sisters Stephanie and Lisa), welcoming wedding parties, tech company away-days… and a few independent, in-the-know guests.

Book now

Price per night from $295.00