Are the Hamptons wildly overrated?

It's the summer hot spot for NYC folk — but is it worth the money, travel, and chaos?

As someone who has worked their ass off for many years, I’ve come to enjoy the finer things in life.

I spent this past weekend in the Hamptons for the city’s summer extravaganza — the Fourth of July. It seems like the majority of hard working city folk like myself make the trek to Long Island for the big holiday each year, as there’s loads of parties and events, and it’s always just kind of been the summer hot spot for Manhattanites and vacationing.

But after the long crazy weekend, and while on my way home, I couldn’t help but think — is the Hamptons wildly overrated?

Let’s start with getting there. My girlfriend and I happened to be trekking out on Wednesday night with two pups and luggage in tow, making it not so easy to travel. And there’s really only a few options to get to the Hamptons.

First, you have Blade. It’s a jet service that costs the same as a real flight to a far away land, and it’s just not realistic for every human.

Then there’s obviously the option of driving. I’m not a great driver, and I’m certainly not someone who craves driving — never have been, and never will be. (But I can say that I do love cranking up homemade playlists of Nirvana and ‘80s hair metal to annoy anyone in the car who isn’t me.)

Let’s also not forget that renting a car for five days, let alone on a weekend like Fourth of July, could very well be the cost of someone’s rent (perhaps if you have a roommate and live in Williamsburg, lol).

That leaves us with two more options. The first being the pretty well-known commuter bus, the Hamptons Jitney. Its downsides are that it’s almost always sold out if you try to buy a ticket at a normal time, and you’re pretty much forced into waking up at 5 a.m. on Sunday to catch it before it takes off to the city. That’s usually ok by me, but not always for others.

The final option? The train. I honestly couldn’t help but be reminded of the videos that I’ve seen of trains in India during rush hour, when people are packed in like sardines fighting for a spec of space. This, unfortunately, was the case on the LIRR out to the Hamptons.

If you do manage to snag a seat or two on the train, you might get some dirty looks from the riders who are forced to stand and look at the sitters for two and a half hours. Not to mention having to claw your way onto the actual car when the doors open. It’s amazing more people don’t get hurt or die from getting stomped on. It’s seriously that crazy. And am I the only one who misses connections when switching trains at the Jamaica station? Or is that just me?

I also found out this weekend that there’s apparently a cannonball train from NYC at 4 p.m. on Friday with no stops. If they can do this once a week, why wouldn’t they just do this all the time? Seems very illogical.

Eventually, when you finally make it to the Hamptons, I can say it’s definitely nice.

However, you would maybe think that at this point, the traveling chaos is said and done. But you’re unfortunately thrown for another loop upon arrival — you have to consider travel while you’re there. If you don’t rent a car or rely on others for lifts, one trip a day to get to and from town is gonna cost you about $100.

During our first day, we went to the famed Surf Lodge. It takes about an hour to get there and then an hour back, and honestly, it’s not really worth the schlep. The Nylon x Diplo party there started at 4 p.m., and within an hour, there was a parking lot full of college kids waiting to get in. The fire marshals wound up having to come and shut it down.

Then we had to turn to plan B.

We ended up having a great party at the house that I stayed at, thrown by my great friend Richie Akiva. With A$AP Ferg on the mic, JusSke spinning turntables, and Leonardo DiCaprio in attendance, it was a hell of a time. If you weren’t at Michael Rubin’s White Party this weekend, you were probably at Richie’s, aside from the hundreds of people who only got text invites and couldn’t get in.

A Hamptons pro-tip: If you’re invited to a party at 9 p.m., get there on the dot, or don’t complain when you can’t get in.

As I mentioned, I didn’t go to the A-lister-packed White Party, but according to Instagram, lots of people did. It’s definitely on my list for next year.

We also went to Duryea’s, a pretty popular seafood restaurant, in Montauk. Overall, the food was average, especially for the cost. I do love a lobster salad, but for $100?! And in total, for around $600, you can get some cheap rose, a lobster roll, bread, and few other appetizers. Not exactly great value for your money. You're really paying for the view, scene, and vibes, which I do love, but this same meal in the city would probably run you around $150.

And like NYC, the Hamptons has a Fini Pizza in Amagansett and an Arthur & Sons in Bridgehampton, which are both very popular during Fourth of July too. But sometimes, I wonder, why do I schlep to go to the same places and to see the same people that I always do in the city?

Other than the pool and beach vibes, the Hamptons is NYC 2.0. But is it really all that? Is it really all it appears to be? And it is worth the six-hour commute?

I’ll have to consider the plights before my next trek.

What do you think about the Hamptons hype?

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