With Hamptons accommodations focused on weekly and monthly house rentals, finding a resort for a short-term stay can be a challenge, particularly accommodations right on the beach. Ta-da! Presenting Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Seawater Spa. Under new management, the vintage 1926 hotel is undergoing transformation into a comfortable, contemporary hotel at the far east end of New York’s Long Island. More than a hundred rooms and five cottages, most with waterfront views, are being updated in subtle woody shades of brown and beige that complement the historic gray-weathered shingles.

Guests are escorted to rooms directly overlooking the sea which open out to roomy balconies for outdoor relaxation. King-sized beds face a desk with a slide-out surface that can double as a table for all-day room service dining. There’s a Keurig coffeemaker, WiFi is complimentary and the large-screen TV carries 30 cable channels. In the closet are irons and ironing boards, safes, terry cloth slippers and extra blankets. Bathroom amenities by Gilchrist and Soames rest on the stone counter beside the shower/tub.

Steps away from each door is the beach with chaise longues, umbrellas and bed platforms for sunning. Supplementing ocean activities are the indoor sand-filtered saltwater swimming pool, a fitness center with ocean views, giant rooftop chess and checkers sets and a Scrabble game. Facials, manicures and pedicures can be booked at the Oceanview Salon, and Seawater Spa treatments range from deep tissue and reflexology massages to herbal wrap and Marine Kur Therapy body treatments.

The main dining room is the latest branch of Scarpetta, popular Italian restaurants already established in New York City, Miami, Beverly Hills and Las Vegas by food and beverage provider LDV Hospitality. Lunch and dinner are served at Tillie’s, which also provides the rustic breakfast buffet with steel-cut oatmeal and Belgian waffles. Fish tacos, burgers, vegetable wrap snacks, tropical drinks and smoothies are served on the beach at the Ocean Club, which holds weekend barbecues and theme nights.

At cocktail hour the Scarpetta bar and the outdoor fire pit lounge feature the Avion Daisy, a margarita embellished with chartreuse and pineapple and a Palermo Old Fashioned concocted with doses of Amaro Montenegro and vanilla. Cozy with couches and fireplaces, the main cocktail lounge Regent is modeled after the South Beach branch which was named the No. 1 Bar in the World.

George Clooney, Dick Cavett, Bill O’Reilly, Julianne Moore and Ralph Lauren are sometime Montauk residents — nice neighbors to throw into the mix of all that Gurney’s has to offer.

Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Seawater Spa

290 Old Montauk Highway
Montauk, NY 11954
tel 631 668 2345