Finding an inexpensive hotel room within the Hamptons has never been easy — and a recent series of hotel buyouts is poised to send prices even higher, Side Dish has learned.
A coterie of deep-pocketed investment firms are snatching up a few of the last remaining budget-friendly hotels within the East End with plans to repair them up and jack up prices, in accordance with financial and real estate sources.
Among the many recent buyers in Montauk is Blue Flag Partners, a Boston-based hedge fund that capped a $35 million East End buying frenzy with a $15 million acquisition of Haven Montauk last month.
The deal followed the $13.5 million Blue Flag spent last December for the nearby Sunset Beach Montauk, together with two adjoining parcels and three beach lots.
Blue Flag’s owner Jason Brown told Side Dish he intends to maintain this summer’s rates on the single-story Sunset Beach Montauk, situated on the inlet side of the South Fork, much like the $300 to $500 range charged last 12 months. But the costs will rise in the long run.
Blue Flag bought the family-run Haven Montauk, a 27-room boutique hotel, for $15 million. Google Maps
“We’ll slowly develop the properties over time and rebrand them and create a campus after which we’ll increase the worth,” said Brown, whose firm also recently shelled out $6.36 million for the Greenporter on the North Fork.
If the rates on the Haven are any indication, the worth spike can be significant. The 27-room boutique hotel — a former budget-friendly option — is charging $621 an evening for a midweek stay this month. Prices begin at $1,291 an evening on the weekends.
“No one would have believed these rates five years ago,” Pamela Liebman, CEO of The Corcoran Group, told Side Dish. “There are fewer homes on the market, so individuals who come here don’t have as many options for shorter stays. There’s definitely a marketplace for luxury hotels.”
A two-night stay mid-week in a ‘tiny’ room at Bridgehampton’s Topping Rose House — which boasts “perks” like free wifi and limited room service — costs greater than $6,000.Getty Images for Hamptons Magazine
“I feel the private equity-firms think that the costs are good, and so that they are getting in low because they are going to never be this low again,” top Hamptons broker Dolly Lenz, of Dolly Lenz Real Estate, told Side Dish.
“The Hamptons rental market is usually distressed now, so that they think they’re getting good prices.”
One in all the important reasons for the shortage of inventory is that strict zoning laws have limited recent development, said James Angelidis of Town & Country Real Estate, who represented Haven sellers Chris Kyriakides, Othon Mourkakos and Eric Mourkakos.
“The Hamptons is a market that’s underserved for hotels, despite the fact that there’s incredible demand that never seems to go away,” said Pamela Liebman, CEO of The Corcoran Group.Getty Images for Hamptons Magazine
The trio had paid $2.2 million for the Haven in 2004, which through the years became a draw for celebrities including Willie Nelson.
“To construct a 27-room hotel now, you would want a ton of land, and there’s no land here,” Angelidis said. “Years ago, you might construct motels on these properties, but now not.”
The dearth of options is so severe that a two-night stay mid-week in a ‘tiny’ room at Bridgehampton’s Topping Rose House — which boasts “perks” like free wifi and limited room service — costs $6,023.17 once the taxes and charges were factored in.
The Maidstone Hotel in East Hampton has recent ownership.Bespoke Luxury Marketing
“The Hamptons is a market that’s underserved for hotels, despite the fact that there’s incredible demand that never seems to go away,” Liebman said. “Yr after 12 months, the Hamptons proves itself to be considered one of the good summer destinations, so the thought of making recent hotels might be appealing.”
Blue Flag’s spending spree got here amid May’s record $149.4 million sale of Gurney’s Star Island resort by Secure Harbor Marinas — the world’s largest marina network owned by Sun Communities, an actual estate investment trust. The resort’s name has since been restored to the Montauk Yacht Club.
Also this 12 months, East Hampton’s historic Maidstone Hotel — a 180-year-old constructing that’s on property dating to the 1600s — was bought for $17 million by Wall Street exec Mayank Dwivedi and entrepreneur Irwin Simon, a longtime East End resident who can also be an investor within the family-owned Lobster Roll.
Wine-pairing dinners and beach-side bonfires at Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Seawater Spa.Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Seawater Spa
“I feel the Hamptons must be year-round,” Simon told Side Dish, adding that he invested within the Maidstone via his family office.
“The query is, how do you grow it without losing its identity? I need to create an important hotel to bring people here. I’d find it irresistible to be eternally.”
The hotel is housing a pop-up of Chelsea boite Loulou Petit Bistro, called Loulou La Plage, which is able to remain open through the top of September.
Loulou Petit Bistro in Chelsea will pop up as Loulou La Plage at The Maidstone for the summer, transforming the bar and restaurant right into a hotspot for French cuisine and stunning cocktails.Bespoke Luxury Marketing
We hear…that Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Seawater Spa can be hosting Château d’Esclans, the winery behind well-known rosés including Whispering Angel and Garrus, for a series of wine-pairing dinners and beach-side bonfires.
The seasonally-driven five course tasting menu by Gurney’s Montauk Executive Chef Christopher Watts began June 30, and can be offered again July 21 and Sept. 1. Tickets can be found for purchase via Open Table for $275 per person.
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Gianpaolo de Felice and Jack Brinkley-Cook with a recent Rove Tesla. Madison McGaw
We hear…that Jack Brinkley-Cook and restaurateur Gianpaolo de Felice have relaunched Rove as a travel service with 15 branded Teslas that provide free rides courtesy of advertisers. The Teslas could be hailed inside the towns of Montauk, East Hampton and Sag Harbor. The advertisers include the Tutto il Girono restaurants that de Felice and his spouse, Gaby Karan de Felice, own in Sag Harbor, Southampton and Easthampton — with two more locations opening soon in Bridgehapmptonand Palm Springs — and Casa Del Sol Tequila.
