Kutsher's Hotel
Encyclopedia
Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club in Monticello
, New York
, is the last of the Borscht Belt
grand resorts (in the Catskill Mountains
area of New York State).
Max and Louis Kutsher started the Kutshers Brothers Farm House in 1907 and began expanding in the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1940s, at the request of his aunt Rebecca, Milton Kutsher took over the hotel. He oversaw their expansion into the facility we know today - a "1,500 acre property that now includes the 400-room resort, condos, two bungalow colonies, the sports camp, golf course and lakefront." Milton Kutsher and his wife Helen ran the hotel until his death in 1998. His son Mark currently runs the hotel along with Helen.
Milton Kutsher was very active in sports circles, "making the hotel the Catskills home of legendary Celtics
coach
Red Auerbach
and Hall of Famer
Wilt Chamberlain
, who once served as a bellhop there. There was the Maurice Stokes
Benefit, a charity basketball game that once attracted the top pro players. Muhammad Ali
even trained at Kutsher’s, as did another world heavyweight champion, Leon Spinks
and as did Floyd Patterson in the 1950s." He saw sports as a way to bring young people to the resort. The Maurice Stokes
Game - initially raised funds for the injured professional basketball player Maurice Stokes and now "raises funds for needy former players from the game's earlier days" has been sponsored, either totally or in part, by Kutsher's and played at either the hotel or the Kutsher's Sports Academy
. It started out as a basketball exhibition but now is the Maurice Stokes/Wilt Chamberlain
Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament.
Part of the hotel's empire included the Kutsher's Camp Anawana
and until recently, Kutsher's Sports Academy
.
The hotel offers an all inclusive vacation: all meals are included (they are kosher) as is entertainment and activities (some activities include an extra charge however, such as golf). Activities available at the hotel include golf, tennis, indoor ice skating, indoor and outdoor pools, a health club, and various kids and teen programs. There are also winter sports such as snow tubing and downhill skiing. It is said that the hotel served as the inspiration for the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing.
For many years, there had been negotiations with the St. Regis Mohawks
and Park Place Entertainment/Caesars Entertainment
to develop an on site casino but that appears to have been broken off late in 2005. Currently, there are reports that the hotel is up for sale but at least as of December 13, 2005, there was some discrepancy as to what was included in the sale; according to the PGA.com website "The $50 million asking price for the 1400 acres (5.7 km²) resort includes a 400-room hotel, an 18-hole golf course, two sleep away camps, indoor ice skating, sports fields and two lakes, according to the listing on Upstate Commercial Group's Web site. Despite the language of the listing, Kutsher told The New York Times
that he intended to retain the hotel and to sell about 1000 acres (4 km²) of land."
Kutsher's sent a letter to its long-time guests at the beginning of November 2007 informing them there would be no availability for the coming summer, and Kutsher's closed for renovations. In the late winter/early spring of 2008, the Kutsher family entered into an agreement with Louis Cappelli of Westchester County, NY to bring changes to the management and/or ownership of the hotel. These changes and the renovations were carried out, and the establishment, still family-owned, is currently branded as The New Kutsher's Resort & Spa.
Kutsher's hosted the 2008, 2009 and 2010 U.S. edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties
festival.
Kutsher's serves as the location for the annual district convention for New York's Kiwanis International and associated organizations.
In the film Wet Hot American Summer
, the M.C. of the talent show worked at Kutsher's.
A documentary about Kutsher's Country Club, involving three generations of the Kutsher family, entitled "Welcome to Kutsher's: The Last Catskills Resort" is currently in production.
Monticello, New York
Monticello is a village located in the Town of Thompson in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 6,512 at the 2000 census. It is the seat for the Town of Thompson and the county seat of Sullivan County...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, is the last of the Borscht Belt
Borscht Belt
Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange and Ulster counties in upstate New York that were a popular vacation spot for New York City Jews from the 1920s through the 1960s.-Name:The name comes from...
grand resorts (in the Catskill Mountains
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
area of New York State).
Max and Louis Kutsher started the Kutshers Brothers Farm House in 1907 and began expanding in the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1940s, at the request of his aunt Rebecca, Milton Kutsher took over the hotel. He oversaw their expansion into the facility we know today - a "1,500 acre property that now includes the 400-room resort, condos, two bungalow colonies, the sports camp, golf course and lakefront." Milton Kutsher and his wife Helen ran the hotel until his death in 1998. His son Mark currently runs the hotel along with Helen.
Milton Kutsher was very active in sports circles, "making the hotel the Catskills home of legendary Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
Red Auerbach
Red Auerbach
Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach was an American basketball coach of the Washington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and the Boston Celtics. After he retired from coaching, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death...
and Hall of Famer
Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to playing in the NBA...
, who once served as a bellhop there. There was the Maurice Stokes
Maurice Stokes
Maurice Stokes was an American professional basketball player in the 1950s, whose career was cut short by a debilitating injury...
Benefit, a charity basketball game that once attracted the top pro players. Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
even trained at Kutsher’s, as did another world heavyweight champion, Leon Spinks
Leon Spinks
Leon Spinks is a former American boxer. He had an overall record of 26 wins, 17 losses and 3 draws as a professional, with 14 knockout wins, and was the former World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association heavyweight champion of the world...
and as did Floyd Patterson in the 1950s." He saw sports as a way to bring young people to the resort. The Maurice Stokes
Maurice Stokes
Maurice Stokes was an American professional basketball player in the 1950s, whose career was cut short by a debilitating injury...
Game - initially raised funds for the injured professional basketball player Maurice Stokes and now "raises funds for needy former players from the game's earlier days" has been sponsored, either totally or in part, by Kutsher's and played at either the hotel or the Kutsher's Sports Academy
Kutsher's Sports Academy
It is amazing!Kutsher's Sports Academy is a summer sleepaway camp in Monterey, Massachusetts for children ages 7-17. It was originally "conceived and developed by Milton and Joseph Kutsher and legendary basketball coach Clair F. Bee in 1968." The Kutsher family owned and operated the academy...
. It started out as a basketball exhibition but now is the Maurice Stokes/Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to playing in the NBA...
Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament.
Part of the hotel's empire included the Kutsher's Camp Anawana
Kutsher's Camp Anawana
Kutsher's Camp Anawana in Monticello, New York, was a summer sleepaway camp overlooking Anawana Lake. Camp Anawana was owned and operated by the Kutsher family in partnership with Jack Landman, Red Karbel, and Jack Siegel from the early 1960s until the summer of 1992. . The camp colors were blue...
and until recently, Kutsher's Sports Academy
Kutsher's Sports Academy
It is amazing!Kutsher's Sports Academy is a summer sleepaway camp in Monterey, Massachusetts for children ages 7-17. It was originally "conceived and developed by Milton and Joseph Kutsher and legendary basketball coach Clair F. Bee in 1968." The Kutsher family owned and operated the academy...
.
The hotel offers an all inclusive vacation: all meals are included (they are kosher) as is entertainment and activities (some activities include an extra charge however, such as golf). Activities available at the hotel include golf, tennis, indoor ice skating, indoor and outdoor pools, a health club, and various kids and teen programs. There are also winter sports such as snow tubing and downhill skiing. It is said that the hotel served as the inspiration for the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing.
For many years, there had been negotiations with the St. Regis Mohawks
St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, New York
St. Regis Mohawk Reservation is a Mohawk Indian reservation in Franklin County, New York, United States. It is also known by its Mohawk name, Akwesasne. The population was 2,699 at the 2000 census. The reservation is adjacent to the Akwesasne reserve in Ontario and Quebec. The Mohawk consider the...
and Park Place Entertainment/Caesars Entertainment
Caesars Entertainment
Caesars Entertainment may refer to:* Caesars Entertainment, Inc., the now defunct company that was Park Place Entertainment, Bally's, and formerly the gambling arm of Hilton Hotels, and purchased by Harrah's Entertainment...
to develop an on site casino but that appears to have been broken off late in 2005. Currently, there are reports that the hotel is up for sale but at least as of December 13, 2005, there was some discrepancy as to what was included in the sale; according to the PGA.com website "The $50 million asking price for the 1400 acres (5.7 km²) resort includes a 400-room hotel, an 18-hole golf course, two sleep away camps, indoor ice skating, sports fields and two lakes, according to the listing on Upstate Commercial Group's Web site. Despite the language of the listing, Kutsher told The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
that he intended to retain the hotel and to sell about 1000 acres (4 km²) of land."
Kutsher's sent a letter to its long-time guests at the beginning of November 2007 informing them there would be no availability for the coming summer, and Kutsher's closed for renovations. In the late winter/early spring of 2008, the Kutsher family entered into an agreement with Louis Cappelli of Westchester County, NY to bring changes to the management and/or ownership of the hotel. These changes and the renovations were carried out, and the establishment, still family-owned, is currently branded as The New Kutsher's Resort & Spa.
Kutsher's hosted the 2008, 2009 and 2010 U.S. edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festival.
Kutsher's serves as the location for the annual district convention for New York's Kiwanis International and associated organizations.
In the film Wet Hot American Summer
Wet Hot American Summer
Wet Hot American Summer is a 2001 satirical comedy film written by David Wain and Michael Showalter, and directed by Wain. The film takes place during the last day at a fictional Jewish summer camp in 1981, before closing for the summer...
, the M.C. of the talent show worked at Kutsher's.
A documentary about Kutsher's Country Club, involving three generations of the Kutsher family, entitled "Welcome to Kutsher's: The Last Catskills Resort" is currently in production.