At 3 Star Island Road, the Snug Harbor Motel and Marina is a present-day Montauk rare jewel, a family-owned motel and marina that puts families first, with a touch of woman power.
Lorraine DeRose’s family has owned Snug Harbor since the early 1960s. When her parents, Loretta and Armond DeRose, who were in their mid-20s at the time, bought the resort for about $40,000. It was a no-frills, six-unit motel, with covered breezeways between each unit. Those are the units on the right when you roll into the gravel entrance way. Those six units are now the designated pet friendly rooms, offering backyard areas for people and pets to relax in.
The first addition to the property was an office, still in use, attached to the original structure. Then, in 1966, her father built six more units on the property, opposite the original structure, and a swimming pool in between. This process continued, with three more units being added, then a second floor and conference room in the building opposite the original.
The expanded new building offers fabulous views of Montauk Harbor.
“As my parents got money, they built it little by little, in sections,” Loraine said last month. Today, the motel has 34 units. While they expanded the motel and marina, Armond continued to work full time in the city, running a construction company.
In 1975, a bathroom was added to the office. Lorraine was the excavation crew on that particular project. “I had to dig for the foundation,” Lorraine recalled. “My dad put the string line with the two stakes,” she said, then handed her a shovel, “and I had to dig.”
The 1960’s and 70’s expansion of the motel was a hands-on family project. “I was the clean-up crew,” Lorraine said, smiling, thinking back to the days when she would sweep up the sawdust and throw away the paper coffee cups after workers would finish for the day.
And, of course, there is the marina, with about 90 slips, some of which can handle boats up to 60 feet in length.
Eventually, after the motel was completed, Loretta and Armond broke up, with Loretta taking over running the motel and marina full time. Lorraine was Loretta’s hands-on assistant. She could guide boats into their slips and take on every job on the property when needed.
That hands-on approach carries through to this very day. As she did this interview, Lorraine checked the pool and related equipment, making sure that everything was up to snuff as July heat starts moving in.
Montauk, back when Lorraine’s parents started their project, was not a trendy extension of the Hamptons. It was a town where working people came to relax with their families, enjoy the beach, and, of course, fish. Visitors to Montauk back then would come from the city and Nassau County: firefighters, cops, teachers and other workers, to relax and get away.
While many of the revered establishments from the 1950’s and 60’s in Montauk have sold and been converted into trendy hotspots, Snug Harbor has stayed true to its core values, where families come first.
Lorraine is the second generation in the family to run Snug Harbor, after Loretta, who still comes by from time to time. Is generation number three on deck? Lorraine has three daughters, Brielle, Brittaney, and Brooke, so, could be! “To be determined!” Lorraine said, with a laugh.
Snug Harbor offers bedrooms, bedrooms with kitchenettes, and apartments with two bedrooms and a kitchenette. The pet friendly rooms are specifically designated for that use. For reservations, call 631-668-2860
https://snugharbormotelandmarina.com/