New York · 12 Hotels Listed · NYC's Summer Capital
The Hamptons
Where Manhattan empties itself between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Beach hedges, polo fields, and the country's most expensive zip codes, all measured in sand.
Where Manhattan empties itself between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Beach hedges, polo fields, and the country's most expensive zip codes, all measured in sand.
Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton is the best hotel in the Hamptons for 2026, with Gurney's Montauk the top oceanfront resort and Baker House 1650 the most romantic inn. Expect $650 to $1,400 plus per night in peak summer, two or three night minimums, and book January for August.
Six picks, priced before you scroll. The spread between the flagship and the family option is $750 a night, so decide which tier you are shopping first. Rates are peak-season starting points from the rankings below.
| Hotel | Best for | From | Rooms / Service / Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topping Rose House | Honeymoon, full service | $1,400 | 9.4 / 9.3 / 9.5 |
| Baker House 1650 | Most romantic inn | $1,200 | 9.5 / 9.6 / 9.4 |
| The 1770 House | Anniversary dinners | $950 | 9.2 / 9.5 / 9.3 |
| The Maidstone | Solo or design-led stays | $850 | 9.0 / 9.1 / 9.4 |
| Mill House Inn | Service per dollar | $750 | 9.0 / 9.4 / 9.2 |
| Southampton Inn | Families, lowest entry | $650 | 8.6 / 8.9 / 9.0 |
Ranked by overall occasion score. Every property verified and priced against the 2026 season.
"Bridgehampton's Greek Revival flagship. Jean-Georges in the barn, a heated pool, beach service to Mecox, the Hamptons hotel that actually delivers."
"Five rooms in a 1648 English manor on East Hampton's Main Street. The Hamptons inn most likely to make you forget you have a return ticket."
"Seven rooms above one of Long Island's finest restaurants, set in a 1770s gambrel-roofed house. The kind of inn where the floorboards creak and the wine list reads like a novel."
"An eleven-room East Hampton fixture reworked under LDV Hospitality. Design-led, low-key, and a short walk from Main Beach down a quiet Main Street block."
"Design-led cottages and rooms set among Amagansett meadows. The Roundtree feels less like a hotel and more like a friend lent you their summer house, with bicycles."
"Across from Hook Mill, ten rooms of fireplace-and-clawfoot-tub charm. The breakfast alone justifies the rate. Old Hamptons, in the best sense."
"The closest the Hamptons gets to a proper resort hotel. Pool scene, white-and-blue cabanas, and a crowd that came to be seen by the right people."
"Five acres in the village, a heated pool, a tennis court, and a beach shuttle to Coopers. The reliable middle of the Hamptons hotel scene."
"A short walk from Cooper's Beach, the closest thing to actually sleeping by the ocean in Southampton without owning the dune behind you."
The former Baron's Cove at 31 West Water Street, bought by Blue Flag Capital and reworked into a 67-room harbourfront compound under the Faraway brand, with the Amalfi-leaning Zagara restaurant. Reopening summer 2026.
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290 Old Montauk Highway, between Montauk village and the Lighthouse on the Atlantic Ocean side
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21 Oceanview Terrace, Atlantic-Ocean side of Old Montauk Highway, 1 mile west of Gurney's, 5 min drive to Montauk village
View Hotel →The Hamptons honeymoon is a particular American luxury, Atlantic dunes, white wine on cedar shingles, a polo match by Sunday. The challenge is finding a hotel that matches the privacy of the place itself. Our verdict: Topping Rose House for the full Bridgehampton flagship treatment, Baker House 1650 for couples who want a 17th-century inn with East Hampton's most romantic spa, and The Roundtree Amagansett for the cottage-on-the-meadow honeymoon you've actually been dreaming of.
Five rooms in an English manor on East Hampton's Main Street. From $1,200/night.
Bridgehampton flagship with Mecox Beach service. From $1,400/night.
Design cottages and rooms among the meadows, total privacy. From $1,100/night.
A Hamptons anniversary turns on whether you want to mark the occasion by being seen, or by disappearing. Both are available. Topping Rose House remains the most iconic East End hotel, Jean-Georges in the barn, beach service, and the address everyone knows. The 1770 House offers the refined alternative, six rooms above an exceptional restaurant. Baker House 1650 provides the historic setting that anniversaries quietly deserve.
Seven rooms above one of Long Island's best restaurants.
A 17th-century manor steps from East Hampton's Main Beach.
A Hamptons hotel is mostly its architecture, the era it was built in and how honestly it was restored. Our ranking, with the provenance that matters and a one-line verdict on each.
An 1842 Greek Revival mansion built for Judge Abraham Topping Rose, reconstructed by Roger Ferris & Partners with interiors by Champalimaud Design, twenty-two keys, and Jean-Georges in the barn. The most complete five-star stay east of Manhattan.
A Cotswold-inspired English manor on a 1648 foundation, ivy walls, formal gardens, and a garden spa. Open year-round and the East End's most evocative inn.
A 1770s gambrel-roofed house on Main Street, seven rooms above a restaurant locals still book a month out. The connoisseur's choice.
A mid-19th-century East Hampton fixture, eleven rooms restyled under LDV Hospitality, a short walk from the village beach.
Design-led cottages and rooms set among the meadows, Amagansett's quiet alternative to the Bridgehampton scene.
A 1790 Parsons-family house opposite Hook Mill, ten fireplace rooms and the village's most generous breakfast.
A seasonal poolside boutique, open roughly May to September. The closest the Hamptons gets to a see-and-be-seen resort.
Ninety rooms on five village acres, with a pool and Claude's restaurant. The dependable family choice.
A boutique inn a short walk from Cooper's Beach, Southampton's nearest thing to sleeping by the dunes.
The reimagined Baron's Cove, a 67-room harbourfront compound on West Water Street, reopening summer 2026 with the Zagara restaurant. Verify the opening date before you book.
An oceanfront resort on Old Montauk Highway with a private beach and the East End's signature seawater spa.
A barefoot-design oceanside hotel beside Shadmoor State Park, surf lessons and wellness programming over polish.
The Hamptons season runs from Memorial Day weekend in late May to Labor Day in early September. That hundred-day window is when nearly every hotel, restaurant, and beach club operates at full intensity, and at full price. June, before the July 4 surge, is the calendar's sweet spot: ocean temperatures are climbing, the hedges are in full leaf, and the worst of the Friday Jitney crowds is still a few weekends away. July and early August are peak, the social calendar is dense with charity galas, polo finals, and club openings, and standard rates climb past $1,000 a night with two-night and three-night minimums attached. Late August into Labor Day weekend is when the Hamptons turns on its full tableau: the corn is high, the ocean is at its warmest, and Manhattan empties for the final stretch. September is the connoisseur's month, beaches still warm, restaurants still open, but the urgency softens. October brings pumpkin season, harvest dinners on the North Fork, and a very different kind of weekend trip, quiet, married, and excellent. From late October through April, much of the East End's hotel inventory closes for the winter; expect reduced restaurant hours and a far smaller scene if you do come.
East Hampton is the old-money capital, Main Street is a near-perfect run of white-clapboard architecture, and Main Beach is consistently rated one of America's best public beaches. Baker House 1650, The 1770 House, The Maidstone, and Mill House Inn all sit within easy walking distance of the village green. Southampton is the polo and country-club Hamptons, refined, slightly more formal, with Cooper's Beach as the showpiece. The Capri, Southampton Inn, and Ocean Resort Inn anchor village stays here. Bridgehampton is the geographic and culinary middle of the South Fork, home to the Topping Rose House flagship, the Hampton Classic horse show, and Mecox Beach. Amagansett is for travelers who want the Hamptons' relaxed surf-luxe end, The Roundtree leads here, and Indian Wells Beach is one of the East End's better surf spots. Water Mill and Sagaponack are residential, almost entirely without hotel inventory but worth driving through for the potato fields and the Madoo Conservancy. Westhampton, at the western edge of the South Fork, is the budget-conscious Hamptons, closer to Manhattan and considerably cheaper, with a handful of small inns and bed-and-breakfasts rather than a flagship hotel. Quogue is its quieter neighbor.
The Hamptons is among the most expensive lodging markets in the United States in peak season. A standard room at a flagship hotel like Topping Rose House on a July or August weekend will run $1,400 and up, frequently into the $2,000s for premium rooms or suites. East Hampton inns like Baker House 1650 and The 1770 House sit in the $950, $1,400 range across high summer. Southampton boutique properties run $700, $1,200. Memorial Day, July 4, and Labor Day weekends carry premium pricing on top of an already high base, with two- or three-night minimums standard. Westhampton, Hampton Bays, and the western edge of the South Fork are typically 30, 40% cheaper than East Hampton and Bridgehampton for comparable amenity levels. Off-season, early June, mid-September, October, rates fall sharply, often by 40, 50%, and minimum-stay requirements are lifted at most properties.
For an August stay, book in January. The flagship properties, Topping Rose House, Baker House 1650, The 1770 House, sell out their peak weekends six to eight months in advance, and walk-in availability simply does not exist between July 4 and Labor Day. From New York, the Hampton Jitney is the workhorse, direct express buses from the East Side to every major South Fork village, with luggage handling and Wi-Fi. The LIRR Cannonball runs Friday afternoons and is the fastest scheduled rail option to Westhampton, Southampton, East Hampton, and Montauk. Blade and other helicopter shares run from Manhattan to East Hampton airport in roughly forty minutes, premium but transformative on a Friday in July. A car becomes useful once you arrive but is not necessary for hotel-based stays in the village cores. Budget for the Hamptons "summer surcharge" on everything from groceries to dinner reservations, and book your beach club access, most hotels arrange this, at the same time as your hotel.
American tipping conventions apply, with Hamptons inflation. Restaurant service: 18, 22% pre-tax is standard, with 20% the unwritten rule at any of the high-season tables. Hotel housekeeping: $10, 20 per night left at checkout for a luxury room. Bellman and porters: $3, 5 per bag. Concierge: $20, 40 for serious help with a sold-out reservation or beach club access; nothing for routine queries. Beach club staff: tip the chair attendants $10, 20 per visit. Drivers, for the Jitney, a hotel airport transfer, or a private car, receive 15, 20%. Polo and event hospitality staff: appreciated tips run $20, 50 depending on the role.
Other East End and Northeast destinations worth your consideration.
Pick the village first, then the hotel. Each South Fork village runs its own version of the Hamptons, and the drive between them on a July Saturday can take longer than the Jitney from Manhattan.
The geographic and culinary middle of the South Fork. Topping Rose House is the flagship here, with Mecox Beach service and the Hampton Classic nearby.
White-clapboard Main Street and Main Beach. The Maidstone brings design-led rooms within a short walk of the sand; the 1648-founded Baker House 1650 and the 1770s 1770 House hold the historic end.
The whaling-village Hamptons, harbor over hedges. Faraway Sag Harbor, the reimagined Baron's Cove, sits on the waterfront at the edge of the historic district. More in our Sag Harbor guide.
The surf-leaning End. Gurney's owns the oceanfront-resort lane and Marram the barefoot-design one. Full picture in our Montauk guide.
Polo, country clubs, and Cooper's Beach. Capri Southampton brings the pool scene, Southampton Inn the five-acre family standby, Ocean Resort Inn the closest bed to the dunes.
An hour closer to Manhattan and 30 to 40 percent cheaper than East Hampton for comparable comfort, with a small field of village inns and B&Bs rather than a marquee hotel.
The honest answer: the Hamptons is a seasonal, supply-starved market, so expect short operating windows, holiday-weekend minimums, and rates that outrun the buildings behind them. Four caveats worth knowing before you book.
Most of the inventory shuts in winter. Outside Baker House 1650, which runs year-round, many properties close from late October into spring, and Capri Southampton is summer-only, roughly May to September. Confirm dining, spa, and beach service are actually operating before a shoulder-season weekend.
Faraway Sag Harbor is unproven. The reimagined Baron's Cove is a brand-new operation reopening in summer 2026; service and finish are an unknown quantity in its first season, and the opening date has slipped before. Treat early-season bookings as a calculated risk and verify status directly.
You pay for the address, not always the architecture. Several village inns charge flagship rates for modest, historic-house rooms with thin walls and small bathrooms. The provenance is real; the square footage often is not. If you want a true resort with a pool scene, Capri or Gurney's fit better than a five-room manor.
Getting around is the hidden cost. Cross-village traffic on a July Saturday can take longer than the Jitney from Manhattan, and a car you barely use still needs parking. Pick your village first, then the hotel, and plan to stay put.
June is the sweet spot: full-leaf hedges, warming ocean, and rates below the July 4 surge. July and August are peak, with the densest social calendar and the highest prices. September stays warm with the crowds gone, and October offers quiet harvest-season weekends. Much of the hotel inventory closes from late October through April.
East Hampton suits classic village stays, with Main Street inns walkable to Main Beach. Bridgehampton, home of Topping Rose House, is the geographic and culinary center. Montauk is the oceanfront, surf-leaning end, led by Gurney's and Marram. Sag Harbor offers harbor-town charm at Faraway Sag Harbor, the reimagined Baron's Cove, and Westhampton is the value-conscious western edge closest to Manhattan.
Expect roughly $500 to $700 per night at village inns on the western South Fork, $650 to $1,200 in Southampton, and $950 to $1,400 and up in East Hampton and Bridgehampton, with flagship suites passing $2,000. Holiday weekends add premiums and two or three night minimums. Off-season rates fall by 40 to 50 percent.
The Hampton Jitney runs direct express buses from Manhattan's East Side to every major South Fork village. The LIRR Cannonball is the fastest scheduled train, running Friday afternoons to Westhampton, Southampton, East Hampton, and Montauk. Blade helicopter shares reach East Hampton in about 40 minutes. Village-core hotels are walkable once you arrive.
Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton is our top-ranked Hamptons hotel: a Greek Revival flagship with Jean-Georges dining, a heated pool, and beach service to Mecox. For an oceanfront resort stay, Gurney's Montauk leads with its seawater spa. For a romantic inn, Baker House 1650 in East Hampton is the standout.
For an August stay, book in January. The flagship properties sell out peak weekends six to eight months ahead, and walk-in availability does not exist between July 4 and Labor Day. Memorial Day, July 4, and Labor Day weekends carry minimum-stay requirements, so lock those dates first and build the trip around them.
Many close from late October through April, and those that stay open run reduced restaurant hours and a far smaller scene. Winter visits suit travelers after quiet beaches and off-season rates rather than the full Hamptons program. Confirm spa, dining, and beach-service operations directly before booking a winter weekend.
Tell us your occasion and we'll narrow it down. Honeymoon, anniversary, family summer, milestone weekend, the Hamptons has the right address for each.
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