We just returned from Montauk having stayed at the Lakeside for 3 nights. We were intrigued and excited about the hotel after reading the flattering description in New York Magazine's travel section and viewing the inviting photos on the hotel’s website. We had never been to Montauk, but were swayed by its description as the anti-Hamptons; we just weren't interested in the intense Hamptons scene.

We were shocked upon arriving at the hotel, best described as a motel with a fresh coat of paint. Much of the deck and edges of the hotel were raw and unfinished. In fact, there was a workman hammering away when we arrived. The check-in process was unprofessional and unsettling at best. We were greeted with doubt and disbelief that we held a reservation for that weekend, though I had made the reservation almost a month in advance as was ultimately confirmed. At that point the clerk proceeded to repeat over and over that they were overbooked and she'd have to bump a more recent reservation. (Frankly after settling into our room, we wished that we might have been bumped to another hotel. In fact, we discussed moving after our first night, due to the unfinished nature of the hotel and our room, but later opted to stick it out.)

The room was inadequately cleaned, namely the bathroom where dark hairs virtually clogged the shower drain and covered the shower floor and edges. We were never given soap throughout the 3 nights. (No worries, we did buy some at the deli.) While the patio off of each of the rooms could have been as calming and picturesque as it appeared on the website, the entire patio was perpetually splattered with bird droppings. If they had put something up to block birds from sitting on the roof, it might have been a very lovely spot on the lake. Additionally the shower with its windows onto the lake would have been more special if the views hadn't been obscured by spider webs and dead bugs. The windows certainly haven't been cleaned since they were installed.
In the NY Mag article, the rooms are described as “minimally furnished” which is too kind. The inn touts the special conform-to-your-body-mattress and the wick-off bed sheets - those were fine and nicely white. The walls were all white except for the bug carcasses. The closet was an Ikea-type free-standing frame with clear plastic enclosing it (see photos). The hangers didn't have a bottom bar or clips from which I might hang my summer skirts. There was no shelving in the room except for two tiny bedside table drawers. It would have been helpful to have some shelves or drawers for clothing, etc. Mostly we lined our things up against the walls or left them in our suitcases to pull out as needed resulting in a very cluttered, sloppy look. There is no TV in the room, which was fine with us, but helpful to know ahead of time. We did have a radio/iPod docking system in the room, though we didn't use the iPod feature.

Other guests we met did have the complimentary champagne promised on the website, but only because they stumbled upon the staff while exploring the motel. When we checked in, we weren't told/reminded of this welcome gesture. It would have been thoughtful. Also other guests did remark that they had used the kayaks available at the hotel.

There is a bar attached to the hotel. When we toured it after arriving in the daytime, we thought it would be a nice place to hang late night. We did have a couple of drinks there Friday night with another guest, but it didn't seem to be open again that weekend. Just a few folks staying elsewehre stopped by that Friday night. It certainly wasn't the happening site I had envisioned – and cash only. And as for the raw bar menu listed on the motel's website, there didn't appear to be food served here, nor would I have trusted raw seafood from the bar had it been available.

Staying in this motel was not what I expected. This felt more like camping than a hotel to me. Perhaps had the rooms been better sealed, there wouldn't have been the volume of bugs we encountered. Had we paid half the rate we did pay, I would have been satisfied.

The hotel is conveniently located to the golf course, bars/restaurants, and the beach.