There's so much drama at the SLM--Surf Lodge in Montauk and it's kinda hard being a hotel owner managing all of the tension. But the Surf Lodge's co-owner/partner Steven Kamali is trying to bring some peace to the table. He tells us exclusively:
The Surf Lodge has successfully been attracting an incredible number of families within the local Montauk community....
Unfortunately as with any new business in a small town, there will always be a small minority of people that are not comfortable with the increased attention being brought to the area.
But we are confident that with time they will come realize the benefits of our presence.
According to a report in the NY Post yesterday, the Surf Lodge has come under the ire of locals who are annoyed by the illegal parking and New York City attitude. But guests are still flocking there. The hotel, which only has 32 rooms and features a restaurant helmed by Top Chef hotness Sam Talbot, is fully booked for the month of August.
All eyes are on Montauk this summer, thanks largely to the freaky-as-all-hell Montauk Monster that washed up on shore and has since sent the whole nation into a frenzy about mutated animals. [Ed. Note: Also, it helped Gawker meet its monthly traffic goal.]
But aside from the monster on the beach, hideous creatures are also spending some time about town, according to the Montauk locals.
And, oh goodness, after round 1 of the people of Montauk vs. the Surf Lodge, now someone's brought Page Six into this. The gloves are off.
Today's NY Post had a sassy little item about the "everyone hates the Montauk Surf Lodge" situation that's been a-brewin':
Someone made up a bumper sticker reading, "Mistake by the lake! Dodge the Lodge!" And some of the partners have been called choice words and even been re fused service at local eateries and bars. Brazilian co-owner Jayma Cardosa, known for her temper ament, has been standing up to the bullies by threatening to keep the place open year-round.
It's the classic case of David and Goliath, reincarnated in the town of Montauk and The Surf Lodge. An article in this weekend's New York Times details how the "proudly low-key" town where "middle-class families could afford hotel rooms," is fighting the Manhattanization of its streets and shores. And it's almost as nasty as Christie Brinkley's divorce case.
Every chance it gets, Montauk has attempted to knock The Surf Lodge down a notch, the Times says, issuing a violation for putting up an outdoor movie screen without a permit, putting its hair salon and clothing boutique on notice for not being allowed under its building permit and erecting no-parking signs in the area.
The Surf Lodge in Montauk has been open for just under a month now and surprisingly, has received little fanfare in the press, save the occasional celebrity sighting. (Molly Sims showed up an hour late for her reservation and had to wait for a table, says the New York Post!)
And so we turned to the truly opinionated for help: Commenters, natch. Over at TripAdvisor's forums, one poster said the hotel "looks like something you would see in the Caribbean" with a "happening outside deck and restaurant," but the commenters over at Gridskipper were less fawning.
Most seemed offended by the hotel's claims of being influenced by East End surfing culture, i.e. "I don't know one surfer who would go to this place," while another commenter alleged food poisoning and lousy service. Sam Talbot say it isn't so!
So either the rest of the world doesn't care as much about the Hamptons as New Yorkers do or maybe it's just that there isn't that much good stuff to say about the place. We're hoping one of you dear readers out there can set the record straight on this, since it seems like such a lovely place, but one more account of food poisoning and you can officially consider our reservation cancelled, Sam Talbot and his good looks be damned.
If one of your dreams happens to involve getting 10 percent off your stay at Hampton Hotels (and perhaps a chance to win a free bike, if you're really shooting for the stars), allow us to bring you the news that your dreams are coming true this summer:
Beginning with the Let the Dreams Begin Rate, which offers guests 10 percent off the best available rate of all weekend stays from June 5 through September 1, 2008 when they book through Hampton.com, Hampton will reward all HHonors members who book the rate with an additional 250 Hilton HHonors bonus points for any weekend stay from June 5 through September 1, 2008.
And since it's summer and the Olympics are coming (Hilton sponsors the USA Olympic team and Hampton sponsors USA cycling), Hampton's Olympic-themed Let the Dreams Begin site gives visitors chances to win a bunch of stuff, like a bike, a free weekend stay or a $5,000+ vacation package.
Hamptons Hotels'Save a Landmark program isn't just about restoring ginormous cuckoo clocks or 20-foot-tall duck-shaped gift shops. No, there's a serious side to it too.
The program has recently enlisted more than 100 of its workers - along with serious star power in the form of actor Samuel L. Jackson - to overhaul the National Civil Rights Museum, in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Museum celebrates the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and sits on the former site of the Lorraine Motel, where the civil rights leader was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
From new wallpaper and walkways, to displays, landscaping and electrical work, the Museum aims to complete most of the project by the 40th anniversary of Dr. King's untimely passing.
Jackson, who was an usher at King's funeral, is contributing to the more than 1000 man-hours that will go into rolling out the new look for this important landmark. And Hamptons plans more legendary makeovers this year -- including the birthplaces of Helen Keller and Jessie Owens.
Volunteers from Akron-area Hampton Hotels were out in force last week to restore the World's Largest Cuckoo Clock. The 23-foot-tall time-structure was built in the late-1960s to attract customers to a restaurant on Route 62 deep in Ohio Amish country.
The current owner, Lee Ann Miller of Grandma's Homestead, told The Canton Repository that the clock's Bavarian music had been off key and that many of its features -- dancing figurines, a water wheel -- had deteriorated.
The clock is the latest landmark in Hampton's Save a Landmark campaign. In addition to the clock, the initiative has also restored the world's largest buffalo, in Jamestown, North Dakota, and the world's largest teapot in Chester, West Virginia.
The campaign is not all roadside kitsch. It also helped restore Tybee Island Lighthouse, in Tybee Island, Georgia, and the One-Room Schoolhouse in Northville, Minnesota.
Hampton is donating $20,000 and an estimated 80 hours of volunteer time to the cuckoo clock project, which will include moving the clock to ground level from the roof. The clock is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest cuckoo clock. Some clockowners dispute that. The clock is the Hampton Hotels' Save a Landmark's 32nd project. They are aiming to have one in each state.
You can nominate a landmark here. In addition to saving known landmarks, Hampton also runs a Lost Landmarks campaign, an effort to locate long-gone pop-culture items such as Elvis' first guitar and a tiki statue that was used as a prop in a Brady Bunch episode.
The hotel chain is looking for the world's largest whatevers as part of their Save-A-Landmark program. Hampton is already restoring six oversized landmarks for this year but are taking nominations for next.
To get you started, we'll warn you that these have already been logged:
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by juliana
If one of your dreams happens to involve getting 10 percent off your stay at 
