The New Rules of Luxury in the Hamptons

We sat down with the brains behind Montauk’s Surf Lodge and Barlume Beach to find out how partying has changed out east. 

For decades, the Hamptons have been New York’s summer playground. The biggest, most exclusive parties, the emptiest beaches, and the hardest-to-get reservations. So it’s no surprise that keeping a hospitality business relevant is an extreme sport.

To make matters a little harder, the season lasts a little more than three months – Memorial Day to Labor Day. Guests arrive with high expectations, having spent the rest of the year moving between St Tropez, St Barths, Aspen, and New York. And every summer brings a new wave of openings, pop-ups, and brand activations competing for the same affluent audience.

Few people understand this pressure better than Jayma Cardoso and John Meadow. Between them, they have helped shape two very different sides of modern Hamptons hospitality: Cardoso’s Surf Lodge, which has breathed life into Montauk’s summer scene for 18 seasons, and Meadow’s LDV Hospitality Group, which operates internationally but in the Hamptons has been responsible (until recently) for F&B programming at Montauk Hotel Gurney’s. It also operates LDV at The Maidstone Hotel, as well as brand new Barlume Beach, a European-inspired Montauk beach club.

Their audiences may differ – Surf Lodge’s younger Montauk crowd versus Barlume’s more understated European beach club approach and The Maidstone’s older East Hampton clientele – but both believe the same thing: luxury, in the Hamptons, is changing.

“People are looking for a lot more than just nightlife,” says Cardoso. “They want an experience. It’s not just about the music – it’s about great food and wellness. It’s about creating real moments.”

Meadow believes some of this shift comes from social media, which has exposed consumers to more experiences and raised expectations. “Instagram and social media are a major contributor to what’s becoming this blended, amorphous world,” he says. “The consumer is educated. They’re experiencing more [and their] tastes are increasing.”

“What we’re selling now is an experience,” he adds. “Convenience is worthless. Young people are craving authenticity – something more substantial, the gravitas of a story and an experience. It has to be magical.”

Cardoso saw this first-hand following Surf Lodge’s famous Fourth of July party, which brought together internet personality Alix Earle, entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel, and rapper Central Cee (to name but a few VIP guests) for a performance by Snoop Dogg. “The next day I thought our morning wellness program was going to be a total bust,” she laughs. “Clearly I am not part of this generation.”

Almost every hotel guest attended. “They had a great night; they danced, but they don’t put as much [alcohol] in their bodies as the older generation does. They’re doing IV treatments, and they’re drinking differently.”

“We’re just as intentional about our culinary program as our wellness one,” Cardoso says. “People are tired of just doing Pilates.” So was born the Surf Lodge’s Supper Club series. Rather than another VIP event, Cardoso wanted to create something more communal after noticing younger guests were looking for genuine connections.

“They don’t even really use dating apps anymore,” she says. “I thought, how do we create a dinner where people actually meet?” The result is a long-table dinner where strangers eat together before watching live music. “We’re trying to create magic within our little world,” she says. “You come at 6:30 pm, watch the band, have drinks, have food, and hopefully meet great people.”

The first Supper Club featured London chef Thomas Straker of Straker’s. Originally planned for around 60 guests, demand meant the event expanded to a custom circular table for 70, plus a long dining table for another 30 people. 

Cardoso hints that, due to its success, similar events like another collaboration with Straker’s could eventually come to Surf Lodge’s sister property, Snow Lodge in Aspen. “You’re the first to know,” she reveals.

Both founders reject the idea that the next generation is stepping away from luxury. Instead, they argue that they are becoming far more thoughtful about where their money is going. “It’s not that this new generation doesn’t spend money,” says Cardoso. “They’re just super intentional about where they’re spending.”

Instead of endless bottles of alcohol, guests are putting their minimum spend table budget towards food and merchandise – including Surf Lodge’s now-famous Popeyes chicken towers, complete with optional caviar add-ons.

The demands and wants of the younger demographic are also changing how venues plan their programming. Cardoso says the old formula – announcing a major name and watching tickets disappear – no longer works in the same way. “The traditional way of programming is dead,” she says.

Surprise has become part of the appeal. “We see that ticket sales are okay with a certain DJ, and then the minute we say we have a surprise guest, that interests them,” she says, pointing to an upcoming surprise performance by Swae Lee and Lil Yachty. “That’s a lot more exciting for them than us announcing who the talent is.”

“This generation is rewriting the rules,” she adds. “They don’t want to be told what’s cool. Unless it’s an authentic program, they see right through it.” For Cardoso, that has created more freedom rather than less. Younger audiences are open to unexpected collaborations and new ideas because they are not simply chasing whatever is trending.

 “Musically, they’re very broad. Their ears are open, and they’re open to these unexpected moments and have a sense of discovery.” Even established artists are adapting. Diplo, who returns to Surf Lodge this summer, is experimenting with a country-house set rather than repeating previous performances.

Surf Lodge’s ability to evolve has helped it remain relevant in a market where many question whether Montauk’s moment has passed. “I don’t think it’s over anytime soon,” she says. “People ask me all the time why Surf Lodge is so popular. It’s because we’re always reinventing ourselves. There is no autopilot.”

But reinvention does not mean chasing every trend. In fact, both founders believe the opposite. “We’re not trying to be the Four Seasons or Aman,” says Cardoso. “We are who we are.” 

“I’m never thinking, ‘What’s trendy? What’s cool right now?’” she says. “We don’t even consider ourselves cool,” she says. Meadow has taken the same approach to his new Montauk concept, Barlume Beach. “We’ve had a wonderful reception to Barlume Beach,” he says. “And I think so much of that is we’ve maintained that nonchalant, understated, nuanced European elegance. There’s no gimmicks. Zero.”

“Our business is that we’re restaurateurs at our core,” he says. “Classic will never die, and classic is what’s relevant. The virality of chasing the newest trend of a club-staurant – the kind of stuff you might see in Miami or certain regions in the country – is not what we do.”

“We’ll never do a sparkler,” he adds. Guests may order $20,000 worth of champagne, but there are no bottle parades or theatrical displays. For Meadow, protecting that identity matters more than chasing online attention. “We will not ever concede on the integrity of our belief system,” he says. “Not for a like on a phone.”

Looking forward, Cardoso seeks to evolve with the younger generation, without losing sight of what made Surf Lodge successful in the first place. “Every year I’m like, what are we going to do differently in all the pillars – in the restaurant, in the wellness world, in the music world,” she says.

“Last year was very electronic heavy, and this year I said, ‘You know what? We’re going to bring the bands back. We’re going to go back to our roots, we’re going to spice it up,’” she says. “People want change. Sometimes they don’t even know what they want. To be honest, you’ve got to give it to them.”