Hotel Rates & Sales Prices Soar as the Hamptons Becomes Mecca for Ultra-Luxury Brands Valentino, Gucci, Prada & Chanel

By: Lieba Nesis

The Hamptons summer crowd is comprised of two classes the rich and superrich. During the summer months helicopters and planes land every 90 seconds as the formerly reasonable helicopter service, Blade, has customers up-in-arms as its one-way price from Manhattan to East Hampton has increased to more than $1,000. The most shocking recent news from Bloomberg index reports that while median rental prices have decreased 26 percent, hotel prices have gone up a whopping 51% as compared to 2019- with the first five months of the year reporting stays for an average of $1,240 a night. Let me tell you my friends as a weekly inhabitor of these bed and breakfasts these are not Ritz quality-small one room enclaves lacking shades and working televisions, and containing sinks the size of toilets are the typical fare.

According to The Real Deal the only city that has seen a larger rate increase across seven markets is Miami with hotel rates up 56 percent.  Gurney’s Montauk, a 149-room modest resort that resides on the beach receives $1,753 per night for a single room and the hotel is sold out for the entire summer. Southampton Inn, The 1708 House,  Harpoon House, Baron’s Cove, Baker House,  East Hampton House Resort, Southampton Village Motel, Maidstone Inn, Huntting Inn, Gurney’s Resort, Surf Club and Ruschmeyer’s are all booked and the prices begin at $800 a night with most at $1,500.  Topping Rose House Bridgehampton  “tops” out with weekend prices starting at $8,000 and it too is booked. Brown Harris Stevens reported that the Hamptons average sales price has similarly jumped 38% in the first quarter of 2022 to a record $3.17 million, whereas the middle of the market climbed 21% to a median price of $1.69 million.

The astronomical wealth of Hamptonites continues to soar.  We know what happens when big luxury conglomerates view an influx of wealth into a concentrated area; and so Valentino, Gucci, Prada and Chanel have recently set up shop in the Hamptons to capitalize on these valuable eyeballs. In July, Prada opened a 1,600 square foot space on Newtown Lane in East Hampton to house both women and men’s collections, accessories, footwear and leather goods.  An unobtrusive storefront greets customers who enter a green and white venue-where it becomes increasingly clear money was no object for this permanent structure-the first time the Italian luxury brand Prada has entered the Hamptons.

Also on the prestigious 26 Newtown Lane, Chanel opened an ephemeral boutique containing a garden, a 2,500 square foot space, up-to-date bags and eyewear. Altuzarra which opened in East Hampton in July 2020 and Gucci which premiered in May 2021 with a 2,000 square foot store at 17 Newtown Lane in East Hampton were ahead of the game-predicting the post-pandemic surge for luxury attire.  Following Valentino’s experimentation with a pop-up installation in Southampton to showcase its Escape Collection in 2021 it has now opted for a permanent space of 3,000 feet on 53 Main Street in East Hampton.  East Hampton appears to be the epicenter of luxury as Cartier has similarly opened a pop-up on 1 Main Street.

It is no surprise that small dinner parties and celebrations sponsored by clothing companies have accompanied the luxury invasion. This past July 15th weekend alone Saks held an event at Southampton’s Lobster Roll, Intermix celebrated at Montauk’s Hero Beach Club, LaPointe staged a pop-up opening at Amagansett’s Reform Club, Lingua Franca had a dinner at Montauk’s Crow’s Nest, Altuzarra staged a party at its East Hampton pop-up opening, Amazon heralded its luxury stores at East Hampton’s LongHouse Reserve and Gucci held its second annual summer party at the Saltzman residence in East Hampton to celebrate its East Hampton venue. The amount of money being poured into the 100- mile Hamptons is astronomical.  Waiting for the Southampton Jitney this past Sunday I stumbled onto an 850-square-foot Nordstrom pop-up which offers online order pickup, alterations, returns, gift wrapping and more-before I could get into any more trouble my delayed Jitney thankfully arrived; unfortunately, next weekend is a different story.