We've been spending 4 dqays to a week at the Wavecrest for at least the last 5 years. We love the beach and enjoy the laid-back (less so in the last 2 years) lifestyle at Montauk.

We really like the Wavecrest for the following reasons:
- IT's ON THE BEACH....many of the hotels/motels in Montauk are across the road from the beach and require trekking down paths over the dunes to get to the beach
- Wavecrest provides beach chairs, beach umbrellas, and towels. They have a beach boy who sets these up free of charge. Many of the OTHER hotels will just point you in the direction of the beach and wish you luck. You'll need to bring you equipment with you to Montauk and then haul them over the road, across the dune and then down to the water (reversing the process when you leave the beach)....I believe the term in NY is "schlepping".

Yes the hotel is a little on the rustic side but the rooms have cable, wi-fi, air conditioning and heat, and decks/terraces....most with a view of the ocean. The rooms are cleaned on a daily basis and the staff does a very good job.

The rooms also have mid-sized refrigerators, stoves, ovens, coffee makers, microwaves, and basic, pots & pans, dishes, and silverware so you can cook your meals if so inclined.

What is also convenient is that the hotels is about a 10 minute drive from the center of Montauk so it's convenient to food (supermarket and delis), shopping, and several restaurants.

The beach is the Atlantic Ocean with waves (sometimes big waves), fine, clean sand, un-crowded, and miles long. You can also do surf casting if so inclined

The hotel has outdoor barbeques and guests will often have bonfires on the beach (the hotel sells wood).

If you are looking for a hotel with a spa, exercise equipment, steam rooms and massages...go find a Ritz Carlton. If you want exercise...go run/walk on the beach. They do have an indoor heated pool but I've never used it.

Will we return??..looking at the calendar for next year now.

We stayed here a few days prior to Hurricane Irene hitting the east coast. Montauk was not a great place to be with an impending hurricane heading our way. We checked in on Thursday morning and prepaid for Friday, expecting to check-out on Saturday. As the forecast became more serious, we decided that staying out on the tip of LI like a sitting duck wasn't such a great idea, so we did a premature checkout on Friday and did not get a refund. Most of the establishments were boarding up and people were beginning to evacuate so common sense prevailed and we made it home to the Jersey shore in a matter of hours.

The beach and area along Old Montauk Highway is one of my favorites. We've stayed elsewhere but this was our first stay at the Wavecrest. The office/checkin building is your first tipoff to what kind of establishment it is. It's "rode hard and put away wet" as they say in horsecountry. Seedy looking and rundown. We stayed in the Waters Edge building, top floor.
It was clean and the bathroon was updated as was some of the furniture but it smelled musty. The entire establishment is somewhat rundown and kept up minimally, rust and ill repair just about everywhere. The beach was nice and that's what you have to focus on when here but one would expect more for the prices they charge. The mattress was old and saggy and overall the place was borderline creepy. I guess it is what it is..a hotel that sits empty for the winter while taking a beating from the weather and getting a musty smell. Minimal work is done in the spring and the owners are taking advantage of the great location white putting little money into upkeep.

I think that I actually couldn't wait to check out and used the hurricane as an excuse. I would never go back.

Sounds to me you should have rented a private house with a private beach. I'd hate to be on vaction with you no drinks, no music what vacation did you have. Our stay at the wavecrest was a blast. The office staff, cleaning people and the beach guys were great. I will definetely be back.

The Wavecrest needs some help with their manners. The staff at the front desk is very rude - one woman in particular is most unpleasant. Our pull-out queen sofa was unfit for a human, I can't even begin to describe - it was just coils... It felt like it was from the 18th century.

When we brought this to the attention of the woman at the front desk, she said, "well, check out is at 11... so..." Can you imagine? Upon further negotiating and arguing they found another mattress, but the process and the attitude was rude and unacceptable.

Unfortunately, the replacement mattress was not much better, it reeked of vinegar - to the point that the night we slept on it I had to cover my nose with my robe, and the next night my husband and I decided to just sleep on the couch rather than endure the stink. And we endured all of this because we didn't want to deal with the rude manager.

One other problem we ran into were the fellow hotel patrons on the beach. One day it was a group of young adults, our same age, but very loud, drinking heavily and smoking cigars. The next day it was an extremely loud family - the parents and children were yelling back and forth from the beach to the shore, constantly. It never ended.
On the third day we decided to try the opposite end of the Wavecrest's beach. We ended up next to a couple that brought their own "1990's boombox". It was so loud I had to ask them to turn it down. They were not too pleased... Maybe they thought I was staring at their fake breasts or man-jewelry, or it could have been their "girls in thongs" beach towel airbrushed cartoon art - I will never know. Then, to top it all off, the beach attendants plop a family down right in front of us, completely obstructing our view. I would like to take back the $5 tip we gave them each day just for that. In short, the fellow motel patrons were just totally absurd and strange.

I will not be going back.