The Montauk Yacht Club was not our first choice for the Labor Day weekend because of the nightly price of a slip, but it was available and it looked fabulous on their website. Part of a hotel resort, it appeared we would have a pretty swank weekend. Yes, it was going to be the most expensive marina stay ever, but we would enjoy the many amenities and facilities. I mean, according to their web site, the marina was "named by Yachting Magazine, as a top ten marina destination in North America, Mexico and the Bahamas."
Perhaps our stay in Montauk was influenced by the fact that it was the Labor Day weekend and despite the cost and the recession, every slip was occupied. Most of the boats seemed to be occupied by families with many children. The place was packed to the gills.
Let me state that the cost of this marina was wildly exorbinant....2 times more than we have ever paid. I know I may be overstating this, but according to our experiences in other high end marinas, we expected extra value for our money. For example, in a few other marinas we had received complimentary newspapers, perhaps muffins and fruit delivered to our boat in the morning. At the Montauk Yacht Club, the only special thing was each boat had it's own garbage can that was emptied once or twice a day.
There were many downsides to our stay. Most marinas require children to walk on the docks and wear life vests. Here, children were running, riding bikes and playing on the docks with no life jackets. The marina bathroom was shared by the hotel guests using the pool. It was filthy and water sogged. The much touted spa was closed.
However, the very biggest downside were the prices and service at the hotel restaurants. Sure we understood the season is short, but the menu prices were astronomical. We felt gouged. In the coffee shop, a cobb salad was $18.00. Basic breakfast was $16.00. For these prices the servers were grumpy and unwilling to make any substitutions....if the combination wasn't in the computer, they couldn't or wouldn't accomadate us.
Ok, what about the town of Montauk you may ask? It seems everywhere the prices were jacked up 2-3 times for the summer season. During a haircut, I was told by the beautician that during season the locals can't afford to eat out. As soon as Labor Day is over, the prices immediately plummet.
Enough whining, we did enjoy a few nice walks along the beach. Montauk is the peninsula at the very north east end of Long Island and is reknown for the fishing.
The famous Montauk lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in NY state.
Here is a lobster pot that will no longer be bothering us.
One very positive thing occurred in Montauk. On Labor Day, our friends, John and Vivian Peterson, flew in from North Carolina to JFK and came by the Long Island bus out to the marina. Thanks to John and Vivian, our last night in Montauk was full of a lot of laughs and stories.
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