AutoCamp Catskills: Bottom Line Review

We recently spent a night at AutoCamp Catskills using a Hilton Free Night Certificate. AutoCamp is a chain of parks offering mostly Airstream campers that are scattered in scenic locations around the country. We booked this stay using a soon-to-expire Hilton Free Night Certificate mostly to get a chance to test out the concept to see if we would enjoy it for a longer stay. We would definitely try this again in a location like Zion or Joshua Tree, though I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the Catskills location unless, like us, you were just looking for a taste of what it might be like as research for a future trip elsewhere.

AutoCamp Catskills Bottom Line Review

The AutoCamp concept really intrigued me. My wife and I love the idea of camping, but we have come to the realization that we’re just really bad at it. We seem to always be struggling to set up a tent in the dark, getting condensation inside it, failing to cook well over a campfire, and neither of us is particularly good at sleeping on the ground or an air mattress. At the same time, we love the outdoors and the potential family-friendly atmosphere of a camping trip. AutoCamp seemed like a perfect middle-ground: a comfortable living space with the great outdoors just, well, outdoors.

AutoCamp delivered on the relative comfort of the experience. Our Airstream felt spacious enough for the four of us and the air conditioning kept the temperature very comfortable on a weekend when outdoor temperatures climbed into the 90s. The free bundle of firewood along with materials to easily light it that comes with Hilton Diamond status certainly added to the experience. Hilton Diamond status also meant a free s’mores kit, which was certainly a hit with the kids even if far too small for the $15 they otherwise charge for it (there was enough chocolate and marshmallow to theoretically make four s’mores, but I’m not sure how you could have divided the four pieces of graham cracker to make more than two s’mores).

That said, it felt far less like a campground experience than others I’ve had due to campers being packed really close together. In fact, despite being a campground, there wasn’t much green space in which to play without feeling like you were spilling into someone else’s space. The on-site restaurant was convenient, but very slow at times and while the main lodge looks great at first glance, it often had dirty tables since I didn’t see anyone regularly cleaning up as guests came and went. Official check-in time was 4pm and they meant it — we arrived at 3pm and couldn’t get into our Airstream until 4pm. Check out is 10am, so it is hard to recommend going for only one night since you’d barely have time to enjoy it, but at around $400 all-in during peak dates or 70,000 points per night, I wouldn’t find this location to be worth two nights. You’re relatively close to some cute towns and hiking, but not close enough to justify the prices and the campground just felt very small and not terribly scenic as compared to the price tag. It was a fine use of a soon-to-expire Hilton Free Night Certificate, but I wouldn’t make this one a destination unless you’re coming to the area for a specific reason (Saugerties does have quite a garlic festival in the fall).

It is also worth knowing that while you can get away into nature nearby, this specific spot is essentially right off of a main road lined with houses and and with nearby gas stations and restaurants — this isn’t an isolated spot far from civilization, for better or for worse. We went in knowing that reviews of this property were mixed and our primary goal was to see what AutoCamp was like before we committed to flying to a farther destination and booking of multiple nights. Through that lens, we got exactly what we wanted — a chance to test out the AutoCamp experience, which I would certainly recommend even if not in this specific location. I’ll be happy to stay in an Airstream again in a different area.

• Price: $400+ all-in at the time when we booked, though rates range from under $200 per night in the fall to more than $500 on summer weekends.
• Value: Decent if not outstanding for a Hilton Free Night Certificate (which we used). The points rate appears to be a consistent 70,000 points per night, which can often be purchased for $350, which means that points are a decent value when rates are high but a poor value when rates are low.
• Location: So-so. If you’re looking for a little nature that’s not terribly far from the beaten path, this could fit the bill. Things like a gas station, pharmacy, and a few restaurants are a short drive away, and you’re not far from popular towns of this region like Woodstock and Rhinebeck and some popular hiking spots like Kaaterskill Falls. But if you’re looking for an experience that feels like getting into the woods to camp, I’m not sure this really fits the bill.
• Room: Hilton points or free night certificates can book into an “Adventure Tent”, an Airstream, an Accessible Suite (which are structures that sort of resemble large storage containers but made out of wood and featuring a ramp). The standard Airstream has what is described as a queen-size Tempur-Pedic bed (it felt smaller than a Queen, but you are “camping”) and a convertible sofa (our kids slept on that without a problem — bedding for it is included). The airstream was nice — the shower was far larger than I’d have expected, the air conditioning blew cold, and the kitchen was stocked with basic necessities like a coffee pot and basic dishes. Each Airstream also has a picnic table and solo stove firepit. It is more or less a plug-and-play experience with a TV in the bedroom and bluetooth speaker in the camper to make it essentallially like a hotel room in the woods.
• Parking: Free. We were there on a sold-out weekend and the parking lot was very full, but we always found a space.
• Resort/Destination Fee: $35 plus tax, which is waived on an award stay (including a free night certificate). This includes weekly onsite events, coffee and tea, bicyles, lawn and board games (we did check out a couple of board games and played one in the lodge and one on our picnic table), outdoor kids play area (the smallest playground you have ever seen, kind of laughable that they advertise this as a resort fee inclusion), WiFi, and onsite parking, including EV charging. They did have daily events, though on a one-night stay there wasn’t any opportunity to take advantage since they were wrapping up by the time we got our camper.
• Internet: I forgot to test this since I had cell signal, but I imagine it works fine — this is not a very isolated location.
• Service: Well-intentioned and friendly enough. We did have to wait quite a while a few times to find someone to order food or check out a game, but when someone appeared they were happy to help.
• Turndown service: None.
• Dining:
  • The Kitchen: The main lodge area has what it calls “The Kitchen”. It is essentially a bar with a limited food menu. The food was fine — overpriced as one would expect and a little inconsistent, but sufficient. At breakfast, they have free granola and coffee — the granola was surprisingly delicious even without any yoghurt or accompaniment. They also have a breakfast menu, which makes you roll your eyes when you consider that Hilton’s explanation for not offering breakfast / food & beverage credit for elite members is that Auto Camp doesn’t offer breakfast. We didn’t order off the menu, but we did have a cinnamon/oatmeal muffin (sugary, but delicious) and the granola.

• Fitness Room: You’re in the woods — take a walk :-). There is no fitness room.
• Hilton Diamond Benefits: 
  • Room Upgrade: None, but the place was legitimately sold out during our night and was hosting a wedding, so none was available. Still, I wouldn’t expect an upgrade here.
  • Free Breakfast: Hilton Honors Gold and Diamond members do not get free breakfast or a food & beverage credit at AutoCamp properties. Instead, Gold and Diamond members get a free bundle of firewood along with matches and firestarter and a free s’mores kit. If you were going to buy those items on-site, they would cost $35, though I wouldn’t personally spend $15 on what amounted to enough to make two s’mores over driving 6 minutes to Price Chopper to buy enough for days worth of s’mores with the same $15. It was a kind of fancy kit with decent chocolate and thicker graham crackers for what that’s worth.
• Would I stay again? Not at this location, but neither did I expect to want to return to this specific location (this area is an easy day trip for us, so we wouldn’t ordinarily stay overnight if we wanted to visit the area). However, this was really a test to see if we’d do a few days in a location that excited us more and we absolutely would try another AutoCamp location.

Pros

• The Airstream camper was very comfortable and fairly clean. It was essentially a hotel room “in the woods” (though it’s a bit of a stretch to call this location “in the woods”).
• Building a fire and making s’mores was very easy (and free thanks to Hilton elite status)
• The lodge has a decent selection of board games so you won’t get bored.
• Having on-site food was nice given that we didn’t get into our camper until 4pm.

Cons

• The location doesn’t feel as isolated as you might hope. There are houses to the left of the driveway as you pull in and the footprint of the campground is pretty small.
• Campers are very close together. There is plenty of space to sit at your picnic table and enjoy your fire, but it felt especially tight when trying to throw around a frisbee.
• There are very small wagons to pull your luggage to your camper, but cars are not allowed within the camp area. The lack of cars would be a pro from a safety standpoint, but the wagons were so small that it was hard to fit a full-sized suitcase on one (and you couldn’t fit much more than that). Some of the wagons were quite bent. If you’ve got a lot of stuff and a camper deep into the campground, getting your stuff in and out might be a bit of a pain.

Image Gallery

Airstream camper

Lodge / Kitchen / Facilities

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