Walk through the overgrown weeds of Kiamesha Lake today and you’ll find... basically nothing. It’s weird. For decades, the Concord Resort Hotel NY wasn’t just a building; it was a literal city. It had 1,500 rooms, a dining hall that sat 3,000 people, and a golf course—the Monster—that terrified even the pros. Now? It’s a ghost story told in concrete fragments.
If you grew up in the Tri-State area between the 1950s and the 1990s, the Concord was the pinnacle. It was the heavy hitter of the "Borscht Belt." While Grossinger’s had the charm and the "family" feel, the Concord had the sheer, unadulterated scale. It was massive. It was loud. It was where you went to see Buddy Hackett or Milton Berle.
Honestly, the downfall of the Concord wasn’t a single event. It was a slow-motion car crash that lasted twenty years. People blame cheap airfare to Vegas or the rise of Caribbean cruises, and they aren't wrong. But the Concord’s story is deeper than just "people stopped coming." It’s about a family dynasty, a refusal to scale down, and the brutal reality of New York taxes and heating bills in a 1,500-room monolith during a Catskills winter.
The Gilded Age of the Concord Resort Hotel NY
Arthur Winarick didn’t set out to build a world-class mega-resort. He was a Russian immigrant who made a fortune in hair tonic (Jeris, if you’re a fan of vintage barbershops). In 1935, he took over the Ideal Plaza in Kiamesha Lake because of a defaulted debt. He renamed it the Concord.
It started small. But Winarick was obsessive.
By the 1950s, he was locked in an arms race with Jennie Grossinger. If she built a pool, he built a bigger one. If she hired a famous comedian, he hired three. This competition is why the Catskills became a cultural juggernaut. The Concord Resort Hotel NY became the destination for the "Moderne" look—huge glass windows, futuristic chandeliers, and enough gold leaf to blind a person.
The architecture was handled largely by Morris Lapidus. If that name sounds familiar, it's because he designed the Fontainebleau in Miami. You can see the DNA in the old photos: the "staircase to nowhere" vibes, the sweeping curves, and the unapologetic luxury. It was designed to make a middle-class family from Brooklyn feel like they were on a movie set.
More Than Just a Room
The "Concord Experience" was exhausting.
You woke up and ate a breakfast that could feed a small army. Seriously, the food was legendary. We’re talking lox, eggs, onions, herring, pastries—all before 10:00 AM. Then you went to the "Monster" golf course. Joe Finger designed it in 1963, and at the time, it was widely considered one of the hardest courses in the world. It was over 7,600 yards. Professional golfers hated and loved it.
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After golf, you hit the nightclub. The Imperial Room was the heart of the Concord Resort Hotel NY. It was a circular room with no pillars—an engineering marvel back then—so every single person had a clear view of the stage. You’d sit there with a drink while Sammy Davis Jr. or Tony Bennett performed. It was the Vegas of the North, just with more brisket and less gambling.
Why the Empire Actually Crumbled
You’ve probably heard the standard "airplanes killed the Catskills" line. Sure, that's part of it. When a flight to Miami became cheaper than a weekend in Sullivan County, the math stopped working for a lot of families.
But the Concord Resort Hotel NY had specific internal problems.
First, the physical plant was a nightmare. Keeping a 1,500-room hotel heated in a New York winter when occupancy is at 20% is a fast way to go bankrupt. The Winarick and Parker families (Raymond Parker was Winarick’s son-in-law) poured millions into renovations, but they were fighting a losing battle against the building's own scale.
Second, the demographic shift was real. The younger generation—the Baby Boomers—didn’t want the "all-inclusive" experience their parents loved. They didn't want to sit at a communal table with strangers and eat five-course meals. They wanted to explore. They wanted to go to Woodstock (which happened just down the road, ironically) and reject the polished, tuxedoed world of the Imperial Room.
By the 1990s, the Concord was struggling. They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1995. It was a mess.
The Failed Resurrection
There were so many "saviors."
In 1999, the resort was sold to Joseph Sullivan for about $10 million. That's pocket change for a resort that size. Sullivan had big dreams of bringing gambling to the Catskills. He thought a casino was the only thing that could save the region. He wasn't wrong, but he was about twenty years too early.
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The legal battles over Indian gaming and New York state casino licenses dragged on for decades. While the lawyers argued, the Concord sat empty. It rotted. Scavengers stole the copper pipes. Local kids broke in to take photos of the decaying "staircase to nowhere." It became a mecca for "Urban Exploration" photographers who wanted to capture the "ruin porn" of a lost era.
The main hotel buildings were finally demolished in 2008. It was a somber day for the locals. Most people in the area had a grandfather or an aunt who had worked there. When those towers came down, the last real link to the "Borscht Belt" era was severed.
The Concord Today: Resorts World and the Monster
If you go to the site of the old Concord Resort Hotel NY today, you won’t see ruins. You’ll see the Resorts World Catskills casino.
It’s a billion-dollar facility. It’s sleek. It’s modern. It has a massive poker room and luxury suites. But is it the Concord? Not really. It’s a different beast entirely.
However, there is one piece of the legend that survived: The Monster Golf Club.
After years of neglect, the course was actually redesigned and reopened as part of the Resorts World complex. Rees Jones—the "Open Doctor"—took the bones of the original Joe Finger design and modernized it. They condensed the original 36 holes (the International and the Monster) into one premier 18-hole experience.
It’s still a beast. They kept the character of the original. If you want a physical connection to what the Concord used to be, standing on one of those greens is about as close as you’re going to get.
Common Misconceptions About the Concord
- "It burned down." No. Many Catskills hotels, like Grossinger's or the Brown's Hotel, had major fires. The Concord was largely demolished by wrecking balls and dynamite to make way for new development.
- "Woodstock was held there." Close, but no. Max Yasgur’s farm was in Bethel, about 10-15 miles away. The Concord actually turned down the promoters when they were looking for a site. Imagine how different history would be if they'd said yes.
- "Dirty Dancing was filmed there." Nope. That was filmed in Virginia and North Carolina. However, the vibe of the Concord and Grossinger's was the direct inspiration for the fictional "Kellerman’s" in the movie.
Navigating the Legacy: Practical Insights for Travelers
If you are planning a trip to the area specifically to see the Concord Resort Hotel NY, you need to manage your expectations.
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Don't look for the hotel.
The physical hotel is gone. Gone gone. If you drive to the address, you are going to see a modern casino and a lot of new construction. If you want to see what the old resorts looked like, you’re better off visiting the Sullivan County Historical Society in Hurleyville. They have incredible archives and physical artifacts from the Imperial Room.
Play the Monster.
If you’re a golfer, this is non-negotiable. The "New" Monster opened recently (late 2023) and it uses the land of the original Concord courses. It's a challenging, beautiful tribute to the resort's golden age.
Explore the "Borscht Belt" Trail.
There is a fantastic project called the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project. They are placing markers at the sites of the great lost resorts. It's a great way to do a self-guided driving tour of the area. You can see where the Concord, the Nevele, and Grossinger's once stood.
Stay at Resorts World or Kartrite.
If you have kids, the Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark is actually built on part of the old Concord property. It’s a weird juxtaposition—a high-tech waterpark on the site of a legendary kosher kitchen—but it’s where the tourism energy is now.
The Concord Resort Hotel NY represents an era of American vacationing that will never happen again. We don't live in a world of 1,500-room family-run hotels anymore. Everything is corporate now. Everything is standardized.
The Concord was many things, but it definitely wasn't standard. It was a loud, brassy, over-the-top monument to the American Dream, built on hair tonic and a whole lot of chutzpah.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Visit the Borscht Belt Museum: Located in Ellenville, NY. It’s the best place to see actual costumes, menus, and architectural drawings from the Concord.
- Check out "The Last Summer at the Concord": It's a documentary that captures the final days of the hotel before the 1998 closure. It’s heartbreaking but essential viewing for history buffs.
- Book a tee time at The Monster: Experience the actual topography that made the resort famous. Even if you aren't a pro, the scale of the land is impressive.
- Search for "Urban Exploration" archives: If you want to see the "ghost" phase of the hotel (2000-2008), look for photography by Marisa Scheinfeld. Her book The Borscht Belt: Revisiting the Remains of America's Jewish Vacationland features haunting photos of the Concord’s decay.