Wavecrest Resort — Hotel in Town of East Hampton

We have stayed here a few times over the last few years and had mostly good experiences. For example, the staff are really kind and helpful and friendly, the views are excellent (it’s worth noting that Gurneys, an extremely expensive resort half a mile down the road has the same view but this is half the price!) and each room is equipped with an outdoor balcony or patio.

The highlight, and the reason we put up with the obnoxious guests (see below), is because of the Wave Crave food truck. Been coming here (montauk) for 27 years and it’s one of the best lobster rolls on the whole island. Great other things too, fish sandwiches, good smoothies, great breakfast (pancakes, BEC, the standards) and even the chicken fingers and fries are a cut above the rest. Owner is so friendly and goes out of his way and works incredibly hard to sling lunches for hundreds of guests a day seemingly every say 7 am to 3. Of course, sells coffee and ice team too. This makes the place, nowhere else in Montauk has a setup like this. The closest thing would be the general store in Hither Hills campsite, or some along OMH that are across from the restaurants, but no other resort has something like this that’s so convenient and run by such a nice personable talented guy. He is a seasoned chef who’s worked in restaurants in montauk.

What hasn’t been great is we’ve been coming here on Fourth of July weekend for a few years, and there’s this massive group here every year that the hotel permits to have fires in the parking lot and essentially take over half of it! They’re loud, up late, and if you are unlucky enough to be in a room next to them, you can expect to be woken at all hours either by their screaming children or drunk adults. It’s not only been that group, though. The other day, a group was blasting music so loud you could hear it in the upper most rooms. Obviously these guests are not the hotels fault, but my complaint (and reason for 4 stars not 5) is that the hotel seems to have no intention to intervene and look out for the other, well behaved guests.

Rooms vary massively. Some are Spartan, clean and new, but have no charm and contain the cheapest possible furniture. Others are decorated or renovated and are super comfortable.

The beach service also is great, really nice teenagers who are friendly to the kids and set up your chairs— no beach towels! Bring your own.

Location is good: you are a ten minute drive to town, but you are also close to Hither Hills if you’d like to swim with a lifeguard, and 5-10 min from all the restaurants on the stretch of OMH heading towards East Hampton. On a rainy day, you’re a quick drive from other towns to visit for entertainment.

There is also a volleyball net and some first come first served beach toys like corn hole. They sell firewood and provide you with buckets, if you’d like to...

The only plus was the location to the beach and the chairs and umbrella service.

Buyer beware- the photos on the website are extremely deceptive. I went in July 2025- we were concerned as we put our key in a completely rusted out doorknob meant for a closet (see picture, not exaggerating). All the beach decor in the room is obviously entirely from the dollar store- just screams cheap and cringe. The furniture is so outdated it reminded me of Grandma's house when I was 11. But okay, so we didn't go to Montauk for the decor, I get it. Well how about expecting a comfortable bathroom then? The shower looked like the one I had in the ghetto of Queens 20 years ago with a toilet that was meant for a child and had the flush power of ...nothing. Oh, with a black grungy plunger and toilet scrub cleaner tucked behind (it was so welcoming) I was so afraid to actually use the toilet because I feared it would clog instantly. As a matter of fact one morning I sat outside on the common deck with my coffee. A woman came over to a man who had already been sitting there and announced "The toilet's all backed up." I'm sorry but you shouldn't be afraid to use a toilet in a hotel. Especially a hotel that charges over $500 a night. Again, the proximity to the beach is 5 star but after that it's a horror show.

The hotel welcome in was not friendly in the least. Ever seen the movie Don't Throw Mama from the Train? You'll know what I mean.

The photos on the hotel website show a beautiful, updated bathroom with glass shower walls and a renovated room. THIS IS A LIE. I am not sure which rooms these are, but I certainly did not get one.

All in all, it's amazing for the beach but that's all. Once I got home I scrubbed myself down in my shower twice and hugged my own (modern) toilet. At OVER $500 a night you'd think they could afford to install a proper door handle and lock? Install a modern toilet? Jesus I bought one at Home Depot for my own home at $300- why...

Upon entering our room we were filled with disappointment. First of all the room smelled overwhelmingly moldy. In the bathroom, there was wet black mold in between the tiles near the floor, the molding around the bathroom door was moldy and swollen, and you could barely shut the door because of it. Seems like there was water damage that was never properly repaired. The walls of the bathroom were all white with makeup smears and dirty hand prints all over. I also didn't like that there wasn't much furniture to put your things down. I didn't want to put my stuff on the floor and the dresser was this tiny thing maybe 3ft wide. We called the front desk and said nicely this room is unacceptable especially for over $300/night. They quickly upgraded us to a better room with a better view. We were satisfied with the upgraded room. But the biggest reason we won't be returning to Wavecrest is the attitude of the front desk people. As soon as we got to our new room a woman came over and said she was the one who sold us the room and she takes pride in her sales and that she had just come from the original room she had sold us and there's no sign or smell of any mold. I was really taken back because it was a very strong smell and you could see it! So we went down to the room and I took a tissue and wiped the wet black mold in the bathroom to show her to which she responded that she smells nothing and tried comparing the black on the tissue to dirt you will find in a hotel anywhere you go. It's not like I wiped the floor in the dirtiest corner of the room and complained of dirt. Anyway the woman denied the mold up and down and it just made us feel like they thought we were trying to get over on them for a better room. We had only one other interaction with the front desk people and they were not so friendly to the people...