The Catskills - Older Hotels and Recollections

Since the early 1900's, the Catskill Mountains in New York State, held a special attraction for immigrants from Eastern Europe. Know commonly as the "Borscht Belt", the style of living, together with the hotels that catered to it, have vanished. As the soundtrack song says: "what was, was, and can never be again." Here is a look back, at the older Catskill hotels from the 1920's thru the mid '60s.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Catskill
• Catskills
• Borscht
• Belt
• Mountains
• Bruce
• Birnel

[TaxResolution]

Great Post! My father, Marty Rozbruch, owned the Pine Lodge Hotel, Monticello, NY (on W. B'way just before the winding road to the Track) from 1965 to 1971, Before him, my grandfather, Max Fruchter, owned the Hotel from the early '50s. Not only did I spend every summer there, but we actually lived, year-round, in Monticello from 1968 to 1978.

[kiddroad]

So sad. I grew up going to the catskills every summer with my dad. He played drums, i played piano and we stayed at bungalow colonies for free while we played shows on the weekends. I grew up there. Such a wonderful and loving Jewish culture. No wonder I'm so funny!

Thanks for this.

Barry Gordon (Goldstein)

[212Hope]

Thanks so much for posting this. Those giant billboards with all the hotels signs brings back such memories. My parents and I spent every summer at the Lake View Inn in Livingston Manor and Gilberts Hotel in South Fallsburg for the first 16 summers of my life! Best times EVER!

[afhyatt]

The song that is played with this video is very appropriate. Thank you for this trip into the past.

[afhyatt]

The only operating hotels are The Raleigh, which is Orthodox run, Kutchers which is now Glatt Kosher and opens seasonally, The Fallsview in Ellenville is now operating as Honors Haven, The Villa Roma in Callicoon. There are a few lesser known small kosher hotels that still operate. The rest sadly are gone.

[afhyatt]

This is an excellent review of many Catskill hotels and loctions. Unless I am mistaken all shown are gone. At the very best some buildings may still be there but they are not hotels any longer. Some of the old hotels are now parts of bungalow colonies which are used by Hassidic or Orthodox Jewish communities. In Monticello the sign over for what was Kaplan's Deli is even gone.

[dybbuk4640]

@smdcbeta the song is a relatively old yiddish song in which the singer laments the past.  voos iss geveyn means... what was (was and is no longer here) beautiful and very sad.

[dybbuk4640]

@smdcbeta the song is a relatively old yiddish song in which the singer laments the past. voos iss geveyn menas... what was (was and is no longer here) beautiful and very sad.

[igskater]

Andrew,

I'm still crying. The music is incredibly beautiful and looking at so many places I remember from childhood that are gone forever is unbelievably sad. Thank you so much for these wonderful memories. I stayed in the Catskills every summer starting in 1934 until I was 18 in 1950 and then again in the 1960's.

George

[drew976431]

IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT I HAVE DOCUMENTED ALREADY GO TO GOOGLE MAPS AND TYPE IN "BORSCHT BELT HOTELS" YOU WILL SEE MY NAME "ANDREW LEVIN" CLICK ON MY MAP AND YOU WILL SEE MANY OF THESE HOTELS