At a Glance
From Memorial Day until Labor Day (give or take a week or two), this converted disco-era motel offers carefree sun-worshippers a chic enclave from which to soak up the Long Island summer at a remove from Route 27.
Indagare Loves
- Direct views of the namesake sunset from every room’s private sundeck
- Epic starlit ping-pong battles to the tune of the rooftop bar’s summer playlist
- Proximity to the North Fork’s vineyards and tasting rooms
Review
A weekend at André Balazs’ Shelter Island outpost is a bit like summer camp – with rosé. There are ping-pong tables, a bocce court, a fire pit and a quirky DVD collection, mountain bikes for toting picnics to out-of-the-way beaches and a steady, almost tropical buzz. On weekends, bikini-clad revelers and European families graze at the lively open-air French restaurant, spilling across the two-lane road onto a sunset-facing stretch of sand called Crescent Beach, appointed with a smattering of bright orange umbrellas and a roped-off swimming area in the glassy sound.
The hotel’s twenty spacious open-plan bedrooms, optic white with kitschy accents (such as beach balls and matching butterfly chairs in cheerful neon), are spare but sufficient for those who plan to spend most of the weekend playing outside. Judging by the tiny bathrooms, which would look almost as appropriate in a college dormitory, you might never suspect that the nonchalant retreat offered seaplane service from Manhattan – or that its summery boutique was stocked with pricey Isabel Marant frocks. The beds, themselves, are perfectly comfortable, and every room has a large private sundeck with reclining chairs and bay views.
Though Sunset Beach has a scene all its own, it is separated from the restaurants and nightlife of the Hamptons (and the wineries of the North Fork) by the Shelter Island ferry. It is a getaway in the most literal sense, the kind of place to kick back with good friends or someone you love, and indulge in summer’s most simple and transportive pleasures.
Written by Cabell Belk
