Hotels 21 Sep 2026 read
In Hudson's old pocketbook factory, a hotel, a wellness program, and a city's long habit of reinvention all meet under one restored roof
When the Pocketbook factory fell silent in the 1970s, this landmark building simply waited: brick walls held their heat, oversized windows kept catching the light, and timber rafters stood still in the empty building. Almost 50 years later, the hum is back, softened now into the clink of glassware, footsteps on original timber, water moving through stone. Today the newly restored Pocketbook Hudson is a cultural capital with a hotel, restaurant, market, galleries and baths bringing together a dynamic community of creative collaborators. Almost as if the sprawling complex was crafted to fit these new smaller pocketbooks.
Its revival was led by Sean Roland, Nancy Kim, Gabriel Katz of MacArthur Holdings, and Jeremy Selman and Vipin Nambiar of HN Capital Partners, who saw an opportunity to bring the old landmark back into use for both locals and visitors.
Architecturally, the Los Angeles-New York firm Charlap Hyman & Herrero spent four years restoring the mill's brick-and-timber structure without scraping the essence of the building. Now, the 46 guest rooms and suites span nine room types, from 250 to 775 sq ft and share the fundamental details that make the old mill what it is: segmental arch windows, high ceilings, exposed brick and chunky timber members. Against these sit stainless steel fittings, soft beds, and a mix of custom pieces from local and independent makers: Primary Visual made the millwork, Misha Kahn designed lamps and mirrors, Mamo made the bedside water vessels, Village Common supplied the bathroom products, and Eckhaus Latta the robes.
Art is just as much a part of the building; under artistic director WangShui, paintings, photographs and murals appear throughout the shared spaces, including work by Tschabalala Self, Maryam Hoseini and Martine Gutierrez. The experience of art continues on the fourth floor at Show:Room, a 6,500 sq ft design space bringing together more than twenty local artisans and dealers, including Misha Kahn's collective Cutoffs, wallpaper designers Zak & Fox, and an upstate outpost of Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery. KASURI, Hudson's avant-garde fashion boutique, has also moved in after a decade on Warren Street, while downstairs, the Pocketbook boutique brings together pieces from the hotel's collaborators, vintage dealers, and a local maker's co-op.
Their wellness programme, is as popular as their collaborative, community spaces, and revolves around the iconic Baths, which is yet another example of giving old spaces a completely different function. Housed in a freestanding structure built in 1885 to store raw wool and cotton, the space keeps its beams and vaulted ceilings but is now devoted to bathing and wellness. Inside are a salted float pool, hydrotherapy soak, cold plunge and steam room, which reference bathing traditions from the sento to the hammam and thermae.
What Pocketbook Hudson ultimately offers isn't nostalgia for the sake of it. It's proof that history, art, design, and hospitality can share the same walls without crowding each other. It is also proof that preservation and reinvention aren't opposing forces but two sides of the same coin, and can work together in sync to bring an old space back to life.
