Fire Island accommodations?
Jul 26, 2004, 2:25 pm
#1
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Fire Island accommodations?
Anyone have any advice as to Fire Island accommodations on short notice @ reasonable rates? I'm thinking in terms of if I wanted to arrange for something a couple weeks from now? Thanks.
Jul 4, 2005, 1:59 pm
#2
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Well, I went out by train yesterday afternoon - what a big pain in the butt getting out there! - and by mistake, I took the ferry to the Pines, when it's the Cherry Grove which is apparently more popular and with more amenities (and which is where my younger guy friend was, which he neglected to tell me). Now, you can get to the Cherry Grove from the Pines, but it's a long, meandering walk, and as I'm not familiar with Fire Island, and my friend sort of became otherwise engaged (I presume, since at one point, around my arrival at Babylon, he suddenly stopped answering his phone) so as to not be available to guide me, I was kind of "stuck" in the Pines, though I did get to the beach, which is nice, though it was much cooler at that point in the day and people were headed in other directions at that point.
And since I got to the Pines late in the day and I had no accommodations for the night, when the ferry came in the evening, I had to leave my younger guy friend (who'd arrived earlier in the day) to his own devices as I wanted to get back at a reasonable hour and he was talking about the last ferry back, @ 1:30 a.m. Hey, what can I say - I'm an old man. LOL We tried to get pizza at this pizza bistro next to the pier, but the maitre'd indicated we'd need reservations, and since the Sabin place upstairs looked to be geared towards people on a more leisurely gear and I had to catch the ferry, I didn't get to eat, which is too bad, because everything looked good. Oh, well.
Saw a lot of familiar faces from Chelsea, of course. And some not so familiar but equally lovely ones.
Also saw some heterosexuals. And may I digress here? [rant]I'm sorry that not everyone out there is as nice as they should be towards heterosexuals as far as they are people, too, but it is arguably the gayest beach in the entire New York metropolitan area, and there are plenty of other, much more accessible beaches for them, like Jones Beach or Rockaway or in New Jersey where gays are as unwelcome as anywhere else. The fear (not without merit) is that next thing you know, they bring their homophobic friends who loudly screech and squeal and squirm about those "disgusting" people, running us off, demanding that the nude sunbathing stop, homophobes starting crap about - yikes - being cruised. I suppose it's just me, but I have a problem seeing the spirit of the island compromised by homophobia. They have plenty of beaches for themselves. Leave. Us. Alone. Unless you can be respectful.[/rant]
So, anyway, I'm going to look for accommodations later in the summer - hopefully, I'll be able to find something at a reasonable price, because rooms run into the hundreds of dollars, like $400 per night, if you can find anything.
I'd still appreciate any accommodation pointers if anyone knows. Thanks!
And since I got to the Pines late in the day and I had no accommodations for the night, when the ferry came in the evening, I had to leave my younger guy friend (who'd arrived earlier in the day) to his own devices as I wanted to get back at a reasonable hour and he was talking about the last ferry back, @ 1:30 a.m. Hey, what can I say - I'm an old man. LOL We tried to get pizza at this pizza bistro next to the pier, but the maitre'd indicated we'd need reservations, and since the Sabin place upstairs looked to be geared towards people on a more leisurely gear and I had to catch the ferry, I didn't get to eat, which is too bad, because everything looked good. Oh, well.
Saw a lot of familiar faces from Chelsea, of course. And some not so familiar but equally lovely ones.
Also saw some heterosexuals. And may I digress here? [rant]I'm sorry that not everyone out there is as nice as they should be towards heterosexuals as far as they are people, too, but it is arguably the gayest beach in the entire New York metropolitan area, and there are plenty of other, much more accessible beaches for them, like Jones Beach or Rockaway or in New Jersey where gays are as unwelcome as anywhere else. The fear (not without merit) is that next thing you know, they bring their homophobic friends who loudly screech and squeal and squirm about those "disgusting" people, running us off, demanding that the nude sunbathing stop, homophobes starting crap about - yikes - being cruised. I suppose it's just me, but I have a problem seeing the spirit of the island compromised by homophobia. They have plenty of beaches for themselves. Leave. Us. Alone. Unless you can be respectful.[/rant]
So, anyway, I'm going to look for accommodations later in the summer - hopefully, I'll be able to find something at a reasonable price, because rooms run into the hundreds of dollars, like $400 per night, if you can find anything.
I'd still appreciate any accommodation pointers if anyone knows. Thanks!
Jul 5, 2005, 7:01 am
#3
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 319
Helpful Suggestion
If I were you, I'd go to fireislandqnews.com and hit "directory". You'll get phone listings for the accomodations. The best thing to do is call the hotels up and see what their package deals are.
If you stay one night out at Fire Island Pines/Cherry Grove, you probably will pay about $400 a night during the high season. But if you stay two nights/weekend, you will probably pay $200/$300 per night.
I recommend the Belvedere. It's a type of Venetian palazzo in Cherry Grove. Some complain that it's run down but I think it has terrific charm and its owner, John Eberhardt, is a very nice, warm man.
If the Grove is too much of a walk from the Pines for you, you probably should stay at the Hotel Ciel, which has been dramatically renovated from its "Botel" days (at least that's what I hear).
Of all the gay vacation spots in America, I think Cherry Grove and the Pines are the best. I've never had the traditional snobbishness toward the Grove, which isn't as "A list" as the Pines. They are both unique and have given me the best times of my life.
If you stay one night out at Fire Island Pines/Cherry Grove, you probably will pay about $400 a night during the high season. But if you stay two nights/weekend, you will probably pay $200/$300 per night.
I recommend the Belvedere. It's a type of Venetian palazzo in Cherry Grove. Some complain that it's run down but I think it has terrific charm and its owner, John Eberhardt, is a very nice, warm man.
If the Grove is too much of a walk from the Pines for you, you probably should stay at the Hotel Ciel, which has been dramatically renovated from its "Botel" days (at least that's what I hear).
Of all the gay vacation spots in America, I think Cherry Grove and the Pines are the best. I've never had the traditional snobbishness toward the Grove, which isn't as "A list" as the Pines. They are both unique and have given me the best times of my life.
Jul 5, 2005, 8:41 am
#4
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Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: NYC
Posts: 44,553
Originally Posted by aeneastwin
If I were you, I'd go to fireislandqnews.com and hit "directory". You'll get phone listings for the accomodations. The best thing to do is call the hotels up and see what their package deals are.
If you stay one night out at Fire Island Pines/Cherry Grove, you probably will pay about $400 a night during the high season. But if you stay two nights/weekend, you will probably pay $200/$300 per night.
I recommend the Belvedere. It's a type of Venetian palazzo in Cherry Grove. Some complain that it's run down but I think it has terrific charm and its owner, John Eberhardt, is a very nice, warm man.
If the Grove is too much of a walk from the Pines for you, you probably should stay at the Hotel Ciel, which has been dramatically renovated from its "Botel" days (at least that's what I hear).
Of all the gay vacation spots in America, I think Cherry Grove and the Pines are the best. I've never had the traditional snobbishness toward the Grove, which isn't as "A list" as the Pines. They are both unique and have given me the best times of my life.
If you stay one night out at Fire Island Pines/Cherry Grove, you probably will pay about $400 a night during the high season. But if you stay two nights/weekend, you will probably pay $200/$300 per night.
I recommend the Belvedere. It's a type of Venetian palazzo in Cherry Grove. Some complain that it's run down but I think it has terrific charm and its owner, John Eberhardt, is a very nice, warm man.
If the Grove is too much of a walk from the Pines for you, you probably should stay at the Hotel Ciel, which has been dramatically renovated from its "Botel" days (at least that's what I hear).
Of all the gay vacation spots in America, I think Cherry Grove and the Pines are the best. I've never had the traditional snobbishness toward the Grove, which isn't as "A list" as the Pines. They are both unique and have given me the best times of my life.
Great ideas! Thanks -
^