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It's happened. The wildly inflated cost of just being in the city has spread wast to the tip of Long Island. What could get you a halfway decent pad anywhere else in the country affords you an NYC fifth floor walk-up where the kitchen, bathroom and living room are all one grim space. It's pretty hard to stay in the city without giving away all your money, and now the trend is hitting New York's beaches.
Cheaphotels.com compiled the 20 most expensive summer beach destinations in the United States. The travel site looked at the average rates for the cheapest beach-accessible hotel rooms this August. Montauk, the easternmost point of Long Island's South Shore, takes the number-one spot with a $312-a-night minimum. Anyone who has tried to crash for a weekend with seven people crammed into their friend's three-bedroom on Napeague Stretch knows that it's expensive (if not impossible) to book a room in Montauk. The town hosts a seasonal crowd of surfers, celebs and investment banking interns looking to spend their weekend getting trashed at The Sloppy Tuna. With multiple casual bars like The Point and nighttime destinations like Surf Lodge, Montauk is certainly the rowdiest of the Hamptons towns.
But being crowned the most expensive beach spot in the entire country seems more than a little surprising for Montauk, given that the North Atlantic is still positively freezing compared to its southern counterparts. Plus, the beach town does not have nearly as famous vistas as say, Santa Monica—number four on the list. And, notably, Summer House, Bravo's Montauk-based reality television show, will never hold a candle to Laguna Beach—whose namesake only made it to number 14.
While most other states on the top list appear more than once—including Massachusetts, Maine, California, and New Jersey—New York only has Montauk to show for itself. So if you don't feel like splashing the cash this summer, try a less trendy Hamptons spot—it's all essentially the same beach, and at least it'll be relatively cheaper.