It’s hard to be a destination worth visiting without a constant effort to retain the charms that made you special in the first place. Montauk and its hotels are no strangers to the struggle.
By Mark Fedeli
Marketing and Editorial Director, Tablet Hotels
You don’t need to know much about Montauk to read what comes below. Everyone has a Montauk in their life — a place that, to you at least, once struck a perfect balance, with the right kinds of businesses in the right height buildings serving the right number of people. It was great, now it’s over. But it’s always been over to someone.
See our whole selection of boutique hotels in Montauk.
Even today, long after it allegedly peaked, Montauk is still seen as a sort of misfit outpost dangling off the edge of civilization (or the end of Long Island). A small fishing village that, over the years, has drawn the attention of artists, musicians, melancholics, and other beleaguered souls looking for escape and anonymity just a few short hours from the suits in midtown. The Rolling Stones immortalized it through song in 1976. Andy Warhol and Paul Simon owned estates there. The Montauk Yacht Club was the trendiest place to be in 1983, and well before that — hold on to your ascots — its membership included assorted Vanderbilts, Fords, Astors, and Whitneys. Which is all to say that, whatever rustic waystation vibe the town gives off was being co-opted by Manhattan’s most glamorous and self-absorbed socialites long before train cars full of finance bros were unloaded onto its shores and into its newly built night clubs and boutique hotels.
On that last point, perhaps we bear some responsibility, championing as we do the boutique hotels that have opened in Montauk in the past decade or so, beginning in 2008 with the performatively casual Surf Lodge, which quickly became a magnet for celebrities as well as a major point of controversy for residents. While Montauk had been moving in this shabby-chic direction since at least the ’70s, when Mick and Keith were wrapping their floor-length scarves around off-duty boat captains at the Memory Motel bar, it’s still true that few things signal this neighborhood is changing like the intensely curated gift shop and canned champagne minibar of a modern boutique hotel.
But does that mean the town is ruined, as so many now claim?
These days, it’s not just the well-heeled absconding to quaint, quiet Montauk for private lawn parties and VIP charity events. And it’s not just year-round locals or tasteful New Yorkers here to enjoy a relaxed oceanside lifestyle. It’s anyone with a little weekend spending cash, content to get blitzed on the beach or during a DJ set at the hotel pool. It’s not only anglers passed out on their stools at the Shagwong, or surfers sleeping on the sand. It’s fashion interns with fake IDs. With the assurance of social media posts guiding the way, Montauk isn’t the unpredictable excursion it once might’ve seemed to young city-dwellers searching for summertime action. The appeal for them is not much different from what appealed to all those rock stars. The Hamptons are run by the elite; for eager Millennials and Zoomers, just a little further out east and a lot more laid back, Montauk is something more democratic they can try to mold in their own image.
Montauk’s reputation is that of a surf town, and everybody loves a surf town. It’s also thought of as being relatively remote, though relatively has thrown its back out from all the heavy lifting. There’s something attractive about trekking out further than the regular rabble, a sense of accomplishment, but it’s not like Montauk is the middle of nowhere. It isn’t Marfa. It’s a smooth train ride away from Grand Central, which helps explain the tourism boom and directly benefits the town’s hotel business.
“Memory Motel” by The Rolling Stones, immortalizing the Memory Motel in Montauk, from their 1976 album Black and Blue
Most of the finest new hotels in Montauk were reborn from old hotels in need of rejuvenation if they had any hope of satisfying these next generations of guests. But plenty of aging hotels still remain, including the Montauk Motel, where my friends and I spent drunken weekends in the early aughts believing ourselves among the last tribes to catch a glimpse of the “real” Montauk before it was overrun by expats from haughty East Hampton. No doubt that, to those who came before us — particularly the families who just wanted to enjoy their chill beach town — we were the wretched dregs of hipster Williamsburg, a clueless invasion force sent to shotgun PBR and sing along too loudly to Bright Eyes and Fugazi.
Isn’t that always the way? One generation’s nostalgia is another’s nausea, and everyone’s a bit wide of the mark. We were as late to the party then as today’s tourists are now, and so on and so forth. You can’t go back to the idealized version of bohemian Montauk, the one where it’s your little secret or where it’s too rough around the edges for the big luxury brands or where it’s just far enough out on the island that only true believers will make the journey. And even if you could, you’d probably complain about this visitor or that. You’d pine for what it was like before J.P. Morgan or Jackie O. or Jayma Cardoso, or when there was still a Sloppy Tuna and it was still called Nick’s and still had a stripper pole.
Don’t drag out the pitchforks for me just yet. If I seem impartial, it’s not because I don’t have strong opinions about overcrowding, rising costs, or the increasingly obnoxious behavior of influencers. It’s because Montauk is experiencing what all interesting and in-demand destinations experience. In The Shining, Jack Torrance learns he’s always been at the Overlook. Montauk has always been changing. That’s not to say it’s all been for the best, or that places don’t have a golden age. But whose golden age? For Montauk’s new visitors, and its new hotels, this is theirs.
Besides, everyone knows the best time to visit a busy beach town is when it isn’t. Book your shoulder-season visit to Montauk at these excellent hotels.
Gurney’s Montauk
Montauk, NY, USA
Gurney’s has held court here for 90 years, and if it wasn’t obvious from the fresh design, it excels at combining the best of old Montauk and new. As is the case in Montauk generally, the beach is the the main draw at Gurney’s. And you don’t have to worry about fighting for a spot to lay down your towel, because Gurney’s guests have private access to 2,000 feet of Atlantic sand and surf. Unlike most resorts on this part of Long Island, Gurney’s is open year round.
Marram
Montauk, NY, USA
Marram’s aim is to bring back the laid-back, low-key hipness of the old Montauk without attempting to put the boutique-travel genie back in the bottle — “barefoot luxury” is the mission statement, and it’s an apt description of the vibe. In other hands a 96-room hotel might feel busy, but everything from the décor to the yoga classes and craft workshops endeavors to bring about a luxe tranquility. Don’t miss Mostrador Marram, the seafood-focused restaurant by Uruguayan chef Fernando Trocca.
Montauk Yacht Club
Montauk, NY, USA
The traditional tension between the establishment and the newcomers is resolved at the Montauk Yacht Club, a nearly century-old yacht club favored by the Gilded Age dynasties that’s now been updated for the luxury-boutique era. The Lake Montauk setting feels splendidly private, and the rooms, though luxe, are unpretentiously clad in whitewashed timber. Amenities are found in abundance, including two pools, a pair of restaurants, fitness programs, a beach club, and of course, a marina.
Hero Beach Club
Montauk, NY, USA
While part of the new wave of boutique hotels, Hero Beach Club is a tranquil place, not just the Long Island summertime version of some Manhattan club night. Rooms here prize coziness above glamour, though they’re not at all unstylish — each comes with contemporary cool and just a bit of a tropical accent. Complimentary surf boards and bikes are available for guest use, and the hotel arranges a host of further activities. Bonus: it’s open year-round.
Montauk Beach House
Montauk, NY, USA
With 33 rooms, the Montauk Beach House is a touch more than a beach house — though the vintage-inspired décor and the loft-like guest-room layouts do their part to create a residential vibe. It’s all about the social spaces here; stylish daybeds surround a pair of pools, and lounge seating scatters across the lawn. Most importantly, there’s always something going on, from group fitness sessions to pool parties with the occasional low-key DJ accompaniment.
Mark Fedeli is the hotel marketing and editorial director for Tablet and Michelin Guide. He’s been with Tablet since 2006, and he thinks you should subscribe to our newsletter.