Wylder Windham joins American Express Hotel Collection, adds pickleball appeal

Wylder Windham is pushing harder into stay-and-play territory, and pickleball is part of the pitch. The Catskills retreat announced on June 1 that it had joined the American Express Hotel Collection, giving eligible card members perks such as room upgrades when available and up to a $100 on-property experience credit. That matters here because the court is not a token add-on. Wylder sits on 20 acres along the Batavia Kill River, and its June materials put a full pickleball court alongside the property’s other outdoor draws.

The setup makes sense for a hotel that already sells itself as an active escape rather than a straight luxury sleepover. Wylder Windham has 110 rooms and suites spread across seven historic lodges, plus Babblers, heated pools, electric mountain bikes, wood-fired saunas, a recreation room and a vintage Land Rover Defender shuttle. The property sits at 19 NY-296 in Windham, with Albany International Airport listed about 65 miles away, which gives the resort a practical destination feel for weekend trips and small group getaways that want court time without sacrificing the mountain-lodge setting.

The American Express affiliation is only the latest layer in a steady climb. Wylder Windham was named the No. 1 hotel in New York State in Travel + Leisure’s 2023 World’s Best Awards, then joined Small Luxury Hotels of the World on August 19, 2024. That made it the first SLH property in the Catskills and the eighth in New York State. American Express Travel now lists the property as part of The Hotel Collection for stays of two nights or more, and it identifies Wylder Hotel Windham as a Small Luxury Hotels member. For a resort that has been building its reputation around design and outdoor access, those brand ties help widen the net without changing the core appeal.

That core appeal has been evolving for years. The site dates back to 1880, when the Thompson family established what became Thompson House Resort. Wylder Hotels bought the property in June 2021 for $2.27 million, then reopened it in July 2022 after renovations by Post Company, architect Jason Anderson and Baxter Built. Even then, pickleball was already part of the story, alongside saunas, hammocks, bocce, tubing on the Batavia Kill and tree swings.

The court still looks like one more piece of a larger active-retreat formula, not a standalone gimmick. A Father’s Day Pickleball Tournament is listed for June 21, with a maximum of 20 participants and in-house pickleball instructor Cathy Frostl. That is the clearest sign yet that Wylder Windham is not just dressing up a hotel amenity for marketing copy. It is building a Catskills retreat where a morning hike, a lodge stay and a real game on the court all belong in the same trip.