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Autumn in the Springs

Saratoga Springs, NY

Sat. Nov 1 - Sun. Nov 2

Hotel: Roll in to the Bluebird Spa City, a retro-fitted (and retro, period) motor lodge, with an airy, elevated feel that stays on the good side of too cool for school.

Dinner: You’ve got 7pm reservations at Hattie’s, a Southern and soul food legend that’s been operating out of its downtown ‘shack’ location since the 1930s. The meal will be pre-paid.

Experience: We’re not going to invite you to Saratoga without some springs in the plan: reenergize with mineral waters bathing at the historic Roosevelt Baths & Spa. Set for Sunday morning.

All bookable in one click.

Our Nov. 1 overnight is sold out.
Join the weekly waitlist for a first look at our Sunday drops.

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—> 3 hrs. 15 minutes-ish from New York or Boston

Why here?

With its last hang-on leaves and vine-withering, the back half of fall doesn’t get much credit as a season of renewal. But we think it can be.

Our next stay lands on Saturday, Nov. 1, and for our first adventure of November we’ll set off to find revitalization even as the color starts browning over. Let’s talk Saratoga.

Before the association with horse racing (which we at The Overnightist are not huge on), this upstate pocket of New York was famous for its mineral waters. Potent, reviving, and just what we had in mind for a little November invigoration.

The air here is charged with a surprisingly pleasant carbonation; trace gasses from the surrounding springs waft through town. Sometimes scent can shape your conception of a place more viscerally than anything else, and that’s the story here.

Set between the Adirondacks and Albany, the region has plenty of sophistication and late-fall beauty, but the bubbly history is (for us at least) the most interesting part.

The Mohawk people were appreciating the springs long before the Europeans began bottling them, and by the late 19th century Saratoga was a sort of proto-wellness resort. Franklin Roosevelt sought out the purportedly healing properties of the waters as he recovered from polio, and the town was once home to the largest hotel in the world.

The springs still fizz. 21 of them are public and visitable, and Saratoga’s legacy as a place of restoration and wellness — before that was its own glossy industry — is alive in the water and on the November air.

Here’s our full Saratoga Springs overnight, bookable now for the upcoming weekend:

The stay.

Bluebird Spa City

A hip-but-not-insufferably-hip reimagined motor lodge, right in the middle of downtown Saratoga.

It’s on Broadway, walkable to just about everything. Rooms are smaller, but comfortable and carefully designed.

Also very dog friendly; bring up to two with you, and you’ll get a whole in-room setup including paw towels and a local treat.

The Ovenrnightist covers the $45 pet fee, not to worry.

The Roosevelt Baths

Already booked for you on Sunday morning: a 40-minute mineral bath session in the naturally-effervescent waters of the Roosevelt Baths, a historic Saratoga resort.

The day.

The find.

Lyrical Ballad Books

A whole warren of wonderful finds. A twisting layout of eight rooms that house more than 100,000 books, unique prints and maps. Local history is a specialty.

Very walkable from your hotel.

The food.

Hattie’s

Do not be off-put by the ‘shack’ sign above the door (seen here in an earlier mint-green vintage). This is somewhere special.

Hattie Moseley Austin Gray founded Hattie’s in 1938, and today— not just because of the food — it’s an absolute pillar. It’s now owned by a philanthropic group, and profits are donated to local foundations like Business for Good.

But we’ll talk food. Deep Southern soul smuggled into upstate New York. In addition to the signature fried chicken, there’s unmissable catfish, jambalya and curry salmon. All in a downtown atmosphere that’s simple and unmistakably authentic.

Adelphi Wine & Beer Garden

Duck in for cocktails, small plates and sushi in the rear garden of the glorious old Adelphi Hotel in downtown Saratoga. String-lit and umbrella’d.

The tucked away.

9 Maple Ave.

Get a good sense of a Saratoga evening at 9 Maple Ave, a 40-seat jazz bar in the middle of downtown.

Telling sign: their drink list is a 23-page pdf. ”The largest selection of single malt scotches between Manhattan and Montreal,” they say. And there are 250 martinis alone.

Jazz every weekend, with just a $2 cover.

The evening mood.

One-night stay at Bluebird Spa City. Sat. Nov 1, 2025. Dogs welcome, fee covered.

Prepaid dinner at Hattie’s. 7pm on Saturday night.

Mineral bathing at The Roosevelt Baths. 40-minute session at the spa, Sunday morning, 10am.

Book it all in a click.