East End businesses not too worried about Hurricane Earl

About 20 percent of the guests with reservations Friday night at the Dune Deck Beach Resort in Westhampton Beach - located right on the dunes, with a panoramic Atlantic view - won't be checking in, and about half the restaurant's parties have canceled.

But as of early Thursday afternoon, other East End hoteliers said very few guests had expressed concern over Earl's expected pass-by of Long Island.

Several business owners who rely heavily on seasonal visitors and tourists are taking an optimistic outlook, saying they don't expect a major impact on their bottom lines.

Franklin Ferguson, co-owner of Navy Beach restaurant on Gardiners Bay in Montauk, said around midweek he noticed a drop in reservations for Friday night. As of Thursday afternoon, the restaurant was about 50 percent booked for Friday night, though Saturday and Sunday look like business as usual. Overall, he said, Earl is likely to be just "a 24-hour flu for Montauk."

At Gurney's Inn, staff had taken two calls from people saying they wouldn't be arriving Friday night - one a pregnant woman, the another an older couple who didn't want to drive in bad weather, general manager Paul Monte said. The inn is prepared with generators should the storm worsen, he said, but "we expect some wind and rain and a spectacular show by the ocean." Summer occupancy for July and August, he said, was about 97 percent.

The Southampton Inn, about a mile from the water, had just two out of 90 room reservations cancel for Friday night, said Dede Gotthelf, the owner. She said the inn is stocked with candles and flashlights, just in case, and is taking down umbrellas in the outdoor dining area, but, "We think they'll be back up again for breakfast service Saturday morning." Overall, the summer's business was good, she said, with close to full occupancy for July and August.

Still, JoAnn Clark, property manager of the Dune Deck resort, said, "This is not a good way to end a great season." Guests book for minimum three-night stays and refunds for Friday night no-shows won't be determined until she sees if Earl is just a bad storm, or powerful enough to close the hotel and bring about evacuations.

Robbie Gillin, managing partner of the Saltwater Grill restaurant at Dune Deck, said three of the six parties scheduled for Friday night had canceled.

"We're dependent on the weather out here," he said. And, with a location overlooking the dunes and the ocean, "we're accustomed to taking the good with the bad."