You don’t have to leave the city behind when visiting the Hamptons this summer.
This summer, Gurney’s Montauk and the neighboring Gurney’s Star Island have joined forces with many favored city brands, from Van Leeuwen and Scarpetta to CorePower Yoga and ModelFit, so that guests can have the best of New York without its hustle and bustle, onslaught of tourists, or blistering summer heat.
“It’s no secret that many of our guests escape New York City for a stay with Gurney’s to relax and reset by the water, but they still want to experience familiar services and amenities,” says Greer Brody, director of brand and partnerships for Gurney’s. “It’s important for us to offer our guests a slice of their favorite brands to enjoy in a vacation setting among the stunning backdrops of our properties.”
A little taste of home
With more than 15 locations throughout the city, four in Los Angeles, and many more on the way, it’s safe to say that Van Leeuwen is taking over the ice cream world, one scoop at a time. Their dozens of flavors, vegan and classic, have infiltrated grocery stores aisles, and there’s now even a Van Leeuwen Ice Cream cookbook. With such success, it seems only natural that the New York ice cream brand would jump on an offer to open up shop out east, so when Gurney’s proposed they open a brick-and-mortar store at the new Star Island Resort, it seemed like a match.
“Montauk is the perfect location for a Van Leeuwen ice cream shop, and Gurney’s has been so successful, so we knew we’d be in good hands,” says company co-founder Laura O’Neill. “We’ve always wanted to get our ice cream out to Montauk, and we knew that working with Gurney’s was the perfect partnership to do so. Who doesn’t want ice cream at the beach?”
Van Leeuwen ice cream will also be available to all guests staying at the nearby Beach Club at Gurney’s Montauk through a custom ice cream cart and on the room service menus at both resorts.
In addition to Van Leeuwen’s classic and vegan flavors, sundaes and milkshakes, the ice creamery has created a special flavor for the resort called “Weekend at Gurney’s.” Encompassing every ounce of beachy, campfire nostalgia, the signature flavor has all the makings of a s’more but with a slight twist, and it’ll be available at Gurney’s through the summer and in Van Leeuwen’s New York stores while it lasts.
“There’s definitely a lot of crossover between our NYC customers and Gurney’s, but also a lot of new guests that aren’t as familiar with our brand,” O’Neill said. “We also like how family-friendly Gurney’s is.”
Since opening four years ago, Scarpetta Beach at Gurney’s Montauk has been a go-to destination not only for Manhattanites craving the NoMad restaurant’s famous tomato basil spaghetti but also for those who’ve never set foot inside its Madison Avenue doors. Scarpetta Beach’s menu stays true to the other venues’ reputation for classic Italian fare, and the biggest conundrum diners here find themselves in is deciding which is more enjoyable: the housemade pasta or the expansive waterfront views of the Atlantic.
In conjunction with its New York collaborations, Gurney’s Montauk and Gurney’s Star Island both have a host of original eateries that embody beach life, in menu and in location. At Star Island, guests can dine at Showfish, the property’s gastronomic centerpiece, which sources almost all of its ingredients from local farmers and fishermen. The new hotel also boasts The Pool Club, open from May to September and home to sweeping views of the largest marina in the Hamptons. The Beach Club at Gurney’s Montauk has rotational offerings that change by the night, including a communal lobster bake every Thursday, and complimentary beach bonfires with make-your-own s’mores every night from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Six-packs in the sand
Since the inclination to work out seems to follow us everywhere these days, even on vacation, Gurney’s has partnered with a number of top New York gyms, studios and instructors to offer the best in fitness among the breathtaking backdrops of the Montauk and Star Island resorts. The exclusive wellness and lifestyle programming includes classes from Dogpound, CorePower Yoga, OBE Fitness and ModelFit, and complimentary shuttles between the two properties are offered to guests so not a single situp is missed. Most impressively, you can forget about those exorbitant city prices, where one exercise class can cost more than a meal for two, because every wellness class offered at Gurney’s this summer is free to hotel guests.
All these partnerships will continue at Gurney’s locations through the end of the sunny season, with the exception of Van Leeuwen’s Star Island shop and Scarpetta Beach, which are open year-round.
“We’ll absolutely continue collaborating with both tried and true brands and look forward to building new relationships for upcoming partnerships in wellness, (food and beverage) and retail,” Brody said.
