East Enders point to excellent summer tourist season

On the East End, restaurants, hotels and other businesses that cater to tourists said fantastic weather, along with a modestly improved economy, contributed to an excellent summer tourist season. Some reported Hurricane Earl has taken a bite out of Labor Day weekend sales, but others have been unscathed.

In Montauk, Roberta Gosman, owner of Gosman's Dock Restaurant, said Earl kept customers away Friday and she wound up closing two outdoor eateries. But overall, she said, summer 2010 has been great.

"A big improvement over last year, when it rained the whole month of June," she said. "I'd say this was our best summer in three years."

At Montauk's Wave Crest I Motel, property manager Richie Weiss said he had a great summer but also lost business because of Earl. "We get $300 a night, we have 74 rooms, and we had about 30 cancellations on Friday night." he said.

At Baron's Cove Inn in Sag Harbor, manager Dorothy Capuano said she was lucky to have booked the crew from the Hampton Classic Horse Show for the weekend. She, too, reported business being up over last year. "The great weather was the main reason," she said. "This was a traditional summer where every day was beautiful."

On the North Fork, Deborah Pittorino, owner and chef at The Greenporter Hotel in Greenport, said she had only one Earl-related cancellation. It was a good summer for the hotel, she said, with an increase in business tourism.

At Shinn Estate Vineyards in Mattituck, owner David Page said Sunday he was having one of the busiest days ever in the tasting room, and occupancy for his bed-and-breakfast was running about 90 percent from May to early October.

It's been a special summer weather-wise, he said. "People will remember 2010. And thank goodness they won't be remembering it for a guy named Earl."