Taking a blog break

The East End of Long Island has long-been synonymous with glamour and luxury, the rich and the famous. The Cotswolds of the East Coast, it’s a neighbourhood marked by exclusivity, where seaside properties are much in-demand and come with eight figure price tags attached.

But what actually is ‘the Hamptons’? And what can you do there if you are, merely, a tourist (one without that Little Black Book of high profile contacts to tap)?

Fancy finding out? Keep reading…

The Hamptons is a corner of Long Island, USA made up of a collective of villages and hamlets in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton.

A popular (and famous) seaside resort, it’s connected to New York City and other parts of Long Island via a number of roadways, of which the Montauk and Sunrise Highways, are undoubtedly the most renowned.

For a luxury visit, head to Gurney’s Montauk. Situated on the seafront of Montauk (a hamlet), it boasts 146 rooms, suites, and cottages, and access to a 2,000-foot private sand beach.

A Standard King Ocean View room is the ultimate in understated luxe: dressed in neutral colours, it offers a king-size bed (naturally), a walk-in rain shower and a terrace with partial views of the ocean, if you like sailoring here you can find great things to do in the hamptons.

What to do there during the day? Head to the resort’s Beach Club. It delivers on beach chairs and day beds – on which you can while away hours in the sun – and serves up mouth-watering plates of shrimp skewers, bbq hot dogs and lobster rolls, all washed down – if you so choose – with pineapple mojitos and the Gurney’s Punch.

Scarpetta Beach, Gurney’s Montauk’s night restaurant, offers all-manner of plates to delight, from Lobster Tagiatelle to Black Cod and Long Island Duck. For that holiday post-sun nightcap, frequent the Regent Cocktail Club and sample their Margarita or Cucumber Gimlet.