New Brentwood Hotel Embraces Saratoga's Timeless Tradition

When the four partners in Studio Tack embarked on their Brentwood Hotel project two years ago, they used the less-is-more approach rather than a raze-and-start-over strategy. They kept the name, the sign, since repainted, and the bare bones of the single-story motel across the street from the entrance to the backstretch at Saratoga Race Course–and little else.

The makeover of a gritty, forgettable property in a terrific location on the corner of Gridley Street and Nelson Avenue yielded a distinctive, high-quality, 12-room hotel that blends the past–oh, so important in Saratoga Springs–with current tastes. Now featuring a small bar with distinctive cocktails and craft beer, it is open all year. The summer rates start at $249 a night and they move to $125 in the off-season.

Studio Tack, an award-winning Brooklyn-based design and development group, was formed in 2012 and has collaborated on the renovation of inimitable hospitality businesses across the country, but the Brentwood is the first property it has purchased, rehabbed and operated. While Saratoga Springs and its historic racetrack have an international reputation, the connection to the region was very personal, through one of the Studio Tack partners, Ruben Caldwell, who grew up 36 miles to the north in Bolton Landing, a tiny resort village on Lake George.

“We always look for properties that are geographically significant or architecturally significant as the basis for what we explore for development and design and our work as a whole,” said Studio Tack partner Jou-Yie Chou. “This one clearly wasn't architecturally significant, in the sense that it was a run-down motel, but its proximity to the country's oldest sporting venue, Saratoga Race Course, seemed irreplaceable. That's what initially caught our interest.”

Chou said that he and his partners learned that Saratoga Springs, which used to go into a Rip Van Winkle-type hibernation the day after the track closed for the season, has become a vibrant, year-round destination and, to many, the cultural and recreation center of the Capital Region.

“It really checked a few boxes in terms of being a viable potential business,” he said, “as well as being an interesting design project, being so close to such an iconic location as the race course.”

Saratoga's renaissance during the past 40 years has attracted several national hotel chains to the city, ending what was once a chronic shortage of rooms during the racing season. Chou said that the Brentwood is a part of a growing trend to offer a unique setting.

“On a personal level it's a more challenging and rewarding design process,” he said. “People today are more interested in going to hotels and locales for the experience and they want that to run through where they are staying. They really want to stay in places that speak to and have the feel of the culture and community that they are visiting, versus some bigger box hotel brands that have a design that is sort of plugged into every market that they're in with less consideration. The timing is right for this level of attention to the experience and tying it to where the hotel is going up.”

To that end, the Studio Tack group–three friends who met studying architecture at Columbia University and Chou with a strong background in the hospitality industry–serve up at the Brentwood what they say is a building “that has been completely overhauled and updated with the comfort of modern amenities and designed to balance classic architecture and equine motifs of Saratoga–with just enough irreverence to make you look twice.”

The rooms have painted plywood floors, decorative wood trim and custom brass fixtures. Made of solid clear pine, the beds were designed by Studio Tack and handmade by a local woodworker. The beds are outfitted with Mascioni 100% Italian cotton sheets, down pillows and comforters, hand-dyed French linen blankets from the Brooklyn textile purveyors Sharktooth. The rooms also feature cast-iron marble bistro tables, antique wooden chairs, a custom sideboard refreshment bar, flat screen televisions and high-speed WiFi. The bathrooms have solid brass fixtures, rain showers, chamfered mirrors and bath products from C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries.

Office space in the old Brentwood Motel was turned into the lobby/cafe/bar area of the new Brentwood Hotel. It was designed to feel like a classic parlor with reclaimed white oak flooring, antique gilded mirrors and vintage oil paintings. The bar is topped with rounded honed Carrera marble.

Saratoga Springs native Molly Reed is the hotel general manager and has helped the partners develop relationships with restaurants and other business in the city and area, such as the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Cafe Lena.

The Brentwood is pretty much surrounded by the horse and racing culture of Saratoga. Across Nelson Avenue is Saratoga Race Course, which opened for business on that site in 1864 and is the oldest Thoroughbred track in the country. The starting gate in the seven-furlong chute is located about 100 yards from the hotel. The barn area for the harness racing track that is the foundation for what is now the Saratoga Casino Hotel is behind the Brentwood. Across Gridley is the Horseshoe Inn Bar and Grill, which is a popular post-race scene. To the west on Gridley Street are the private barns of several Thoroughbred trainers. Horses are walked down Gridley and across the Nelson–yes, traffic stops and autos defer to horses in Saratoga–to the track in the morning for training and in the afternoon to compete.

Chou and his partners realized that the daily parade of horses set the property apart and why a public space was important.

“We wanted to create an area where our guests could hang out and feel at home, grab a drink and take a look at the horses walking down Gridley Street,” he said. “My understanding is that Saratoga is the only course in America where you see the race horses walk on a public street to access the track. It's sort of a unique experience, whether you have a cocktail or a coffee in hand to see these horses process. We want to take advantage of that experience and have people have reason to lounge and hang out. We wanted to create a property that was tied to why that property was there in the first place.”

Studio Tack purchased the property in April 2016, missed its ambitious goal of being ready for the racing season and opened for business that fall. Chou and his partners said they were welcomed to the city.

“I think in general everyone was excited for us to revive an eyesore on a corner that is becoming more and more prominent in town,” he said. “We were very well received by all groups… and hopefully they are happy with what we've done with it. In general, most towns are pretty happy with anyone coming in and investing in to refurbishing and renovating something that was not necessarily a sight to be seen.”

The Brentwood name remains, but much has changed on the corner of Gridley and Nelson with the great view of the Saratoga Race Course.

“It's always fun to do a fully transformative project, where you can really see the fruits of your labor,” Chou said. “I don't know that much about horse racing, nor do many of our close friends, but we always hold this as sort of a romantic sport. Clearly it is fabled and historic, so hopefully we are drawing a different clientele to experience it, experience Saratoga and see it through new eyes.”