Hotels and Resorts

Where New Yorkers Should Go For a Long Weekend This Summer

Bonus: All are close enough to repeat once or twice before Labor Day.
Shou Sugi Ban House
Fredrika Stjarne/Courtesy Shou Sugi Ban House

Every season, a new stash of character-driven hotels opens up in the exact places that we want (read: need) in order to flee the city. From wellness retreats to small city getaways, here are our pick for this season.

A Room at the Beach

Room at the Beach, a 10-room luxury hotel in the heart of the Hamptons.

David Luo/Courtesy A Room at the Beach

Room at the Beach, Bridgehampton, NY

There’s always one opening that becomes the seasonal darling of the long weekend getaway scene. The place all over the Instagram feed. The one you overhear stylish SoHo-ites crowing about over brunch. This season, it's this cozy, utterly sweet 10-room inn. It was formerly owned by Donna Karan and Martha Stewart, and now designer Lucy Weber has reimagined it as a nature-inspired, breezy retreat steps from the village of Bridgehampton.

How to get there: It’s just over a three-hour train ride direct from Penn Station on the Long Island Rail Road. Or, rent a car and drive.

While you're there: The property is set on 1.5 acres, and has a huge garden, pool, and outdoor sauna. It’s lovely and relaxed. But take advantage of Lucy’s extensive local connections. She can get you the table at that impossible-to-book spot, or tell you which beach is best if you want to avoid crowds.

Block Island Beach House feels like your own home—but without the upkeep.

Read McKendree

Block Island Beach House, Rhode Island

Lark is a solid New England boutique brand that has built an empire of hotels around the long weekend escape, from Portland, Maine to Martha’s Vineyard. Their aesthetic is always poppy and fun—floral wallpapers, punched up headboards—and for their fourth Rhode Island property, they’ve leaned in big time to the sandy feet, beach vibe of Block Island. Surf boards are propped against walls. Rattan chairs sit by the windows in bright, white-washed rooms. Like the coolest version of your own beach house—with none of the upkeep.

How to get there: It’s not the easiest spot to reach, but your best bet is the ferry from Montauk, or taking the three-hour drive to Rhode Island and ferrying across to Block Island.

While you're there: Rent one of the hotel’s polaroids for a vintage way of capturing a day spent on the property's bikes, paddleboards (on Crescent Beach, right outside the front door), or the lobster and margaritas at on-site The Surf.

Shou Sugi, the wellness retreat the Hamptons desperately needed.

Fredrika Stjarne/Courtesy Shou Sugi Ban House

Shou Sugi Ban House, Water Mill, NY

With the excessiveness of the Hamptons, a thoroughly considerate wellness retreat was bound to arrive at some stage soon. [Shou Sugi] Ban House (https://www.shousugibanhouse.com/), in the hamlet of Water Mill near Southhampton, takes inspiration from Japan, with a water and fire, elemental approach to wellness in a mostly clean, wooden space, but doesn’t limit it to a theme. NOMA co-founder Mads Refslund keeps things seasonal in the kitchen. Infrared saunas and hydrotherapy are part of a larger approach. Then there’s the three pastoral acres of winding paths, reflective pools and fountains that feel, rather blissfully, like a world apart from the scene north in Montauk. Which is exactly the point.

How to get there: Do the Jitney. It’s the easiest way to get to Southhampton from Manhattan.

While you're there: Treat yourself to the four-day integrative holistic healing program, which includes hiking, yoga, meditation, and all those delicious, nutrient-loaded dishes worthy of a Michelin star.

Graduate is part of a new line of hotels opening in university towns across the U.S.

Trent Bell

Graduate Providence, RI

Not exactly a beachy getaway, but Rhode Island’s foodie, hipster capital is completely deserving of a few days of your time (perhaps en route to the coast?). Graduate is an interesting brand, opening in university towns around the country with preppy flare. In Providence, that means loads of leather and flannel..and a curious, colorful portrait of Brown alum Andre Leon Tally in the lobby.

How to get there: Amtrak goes between New York and Providence.

While you’re there: Some of the country’s most beautiful and creative campuses are close by. Hit the Woods-Gerry Gallery at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), or stroll through Brown University, then grab coffee and cake from the Small Point Cafe.

Gurney's newest location is at the edge of Lake Montauk.

Courtesy Gurney's Star Island Resort and Marina

Gurney’s Star Island, Montauk

Hampton’s institution Gurneys' second opening in Montauk is at the edge of calm Lake Montauk, and packs in everything you need for a long weekend break: Two pools, a small beach, cocktail bar, and fabulous food from local hot-shot chef Jeremy Blutstein. Rooms all have a private outdoor space overlooking the lake. Though if needing a hit of ocean spray, a shuttle whizzes guests straight to the private beach (and Seawater Spa) at the original location every 30 minutes.

How to get there: You can take a car (the hotel has plenty of parking), but Gurney’s can also easily arrange pick-up from Montauk’s Hampton Jitney stop.

While you're there: It’d be easy to stay on-site all weekend, but for a real taste of Montauk life, head out to Ditch Plains Beach. It’s the surf center of the South Fork—and feels more SoCal than Sagaponack.

Additional reporting by Louis Cheslaw