East End Among Most Expensive Vacation Spots

When Debbie Quested, Janet Tucceri and Elaine Fusani visited Southampton Village last week, they came to eat, drink and shop—in that order—while attempting to keep their eyes on their wallets.

After just an afternoon of strolling down Main Street and Jobs Lane, it came as no surprise to the trio that Southampton Town was recently named the third most expensive vacation spot in the country, according to the financial news website Bundle. After analyzing spending data and millions of transactions for 40 top vacation towns, Vail and Aspen, Colorado, took the top marks, and Southampton neighbor, East Hampton, finished in fourth, explained Anna Lindow, director of marketing strategy for Bundle.

“We basically did our own dump of all the places we’d normally think of for vacation,” Ms. Lindow said during a telephone interview last week. “If you try to name 40 vacation towns, you start to run out. At first, I sort of thought that this might be hard to be comprehensive, but I’m comfortable that we got a bunch of good ones. When it comes to the Hamptons, I’m not surprised. As someone’s who’s visited, the cost of living certainly can be astonishing, especially in the high season. Good ol’ fashioned supply and demand.”

The East End tourism industry pours billions of dollars into the local economy annually, and hundreds of millions into Southampton alone, according to Southampton Town Chamber of Commerce member JoAnn Actis-Grande.

“People who come here have money,” she said while sitting outside The Village Gourmet Cheese Shoppe on Main Street last week. “It’s very expensive to stay, and there aren’t a lot of places to stay. But when you do, you’re getting a four-, five-star experience. The average check at a restaurant is much higher than it is elsewhere. Even to go to Coopers Beach is $30.”

In an average vacation town, a normal lodging bill runs about $623, according to Ms. Lindow. In Southampton and East Hampton, a hotel stay costs approximately $1,373 and $1,174, respectively. In calls to local hotels and inns, those numbers were cited for a typical weekend stay in season.

East Hampton beats out Southampton when it comes to dining, according to Bundle’s findings. On average, Southampton tourists spend $230 on food, while East Hampton visitors spend almost $300. That approximates dinner for two people. The average vacation town bill is $140.

But Southampton is only second to Aspen in the world of shopping, where tourists spend 2.65 times more than the average shopper per stay in an average shopping town—$452 compared to $170—with East Hampton not far behind at $450, Ms. Lindow said.

While vacationing on the East End, Boston resident Robyn Seitzinger said she usually spends between $500 and $3,000 on shopping alone—and she makes sure to hit all the sales, she said last week while standing outside LF, a women’s clothing store on Newtown Lane in East Hampton.

Upon hearing that Southampton ranked above East Hampton, Ms. Seitzinger gasped.

“Oh, I’m surprised!” she exclaimed.

Her husband, Don, laughed as he stood next to his wife with their dog, Ocean. Just minutes before, Mr. Seitzinger had expressed the same sentiment. He has vacationed on the East End for 25 years, he said, and usually switches between Southampton and Nantucket—which was ranked the sixth most expensive vacation town overall.

“They’re comparable,” Mr. Seitzinger said of Southampton and Nantucket as his wife shopped. “But the Hamptons have become more trendy. Years ago, it was more subdued. Now, it’s definitely more commercial.”

Year-round resident Marilyn Torres has also seen a change in East Hampton over the last two decades, she said while sitting on a bench on Main Street last week.

“I see all the prices, and it’s just outrageous. To go shopping, I have to go way out,” she said, waving her hand westward. “Way out to Riverhead and Tanger. We lost a lot of the local stores because they couldn’t pay their rents.”

She gestured behind her to the Ralph Lauren store at her back.

“The whole town is boutiques now,” she concluded.

Inside a sure stop for East Hampton tourists, Breezin’ Up, saleswoman Patricia Terando said she’s seen celebrities walk by the store, but they rarely come inside.

“But one time, Mariska Hargitay from ‘Law & Order’ came by,” she recalled. “She was throwing a Fourth of July party and was getting all these shirts. She swiped her credit card, and as she was signing, I realized who she was. She spent more than $1,000 on T-shirts, just for the Fourth of July.”

Back in Southampton, Ms. Quested said she generally spends a couple of hundred dollars every visit to the Hamptons.

“But that depends on whether I’m with a man or not,” the Northport resident said.

Her friends, who live in Florida and were visiting the Hamptons for the first time, erupted into girlish giggles.

“No matter what your salary, though, you can still come out and have a good time,” Ms. Quested continued.

“Just don’t overdo it,” Ms. Fusani said with a grin.

“You can just go to the supermarket, pack a lunch, and then go to the beach,” Ms. Quested said.

“The sun’s free,” Ms. Tucceri added.

The ladies crossed Jobs Lane, continuing their day of shopping. Their next stops: Bridgehampton, for dinner, and then on to Sag Harbor to spend the night.

“This is where the rich and famous people come, and people are attracted to that,” Ms. Quested said. “But the town itself is lovely, and you’re on the East End of Long Island. It doesn’t get much better than that.”