Sag Harbor, NY: Baron's Cove

I visited this new/old hotel shortly after it opened to write a short piece for Coastal Living. Two words: THE LOUNGE. It’s really more like a whaling captain’s living room. And when one day I hold a Golden Globe-like award ceremony for Best Rooms for Drinking on a Winter Night, the Baron’s Cove lounge will be top of the nominee list. I’m a sucker for “winter rooms”—lots of wood paneling, rich moody colors, and upholstered seating that wraps halfway around you. It doesn’t hurt that the original 1960s hotel hosted the likes of literary greats like John Steinbeck and Truman Capote. A college friend and I drank wine and ate oysters upstairs on the porch, then moved down to the lounge to continue calling people we hadn’t seen in a decade or more (no good reason) and recalling things we hadn’t thought about in that same amount of time (for very good reasons).

The room, and the motel/hotel revamp as a whole, was designed by Colleen Bashaw, a keenly talented designer and all-around beautiful person who has offices in NJ and New York. She and her brother, Curtis, are geniuses at awakening historic hotels (also Congress Hall in Cape May, NJ). If you have an itch to hit the Hamptons (particularly in the off-season), they tend to run a fair amount of deals. Check them out here before you book.

Here are a few more photos. In the meantime, follow Colleen at @colleenbashaw.