Summer At The Rockaway Hotel
By Dan Guarino
As the hot summer days melt into each other and beaches and traffic seem to swell past capacity, more and more pockets of Rockaway become their own cool oasis for residents and vigilant visitors alike.
Lit up like a cruise ship on the horizon as you come over the Cross Bay Bridge at night, The Rockaway Hotel off Beach 108th Street is one of them. Just a few years ago, globetrotting Conde Nast Traveler writers called it, “The beach getaway you didn’t think you could get so close to NYC” on their summer Hot List, placing it above NYC and the Hamptons. This year it made their “25 Best Boutique Hotels.”
Though Vogue magazine may have headlined “The Rockaway Hotel Is More Than Just a Summer Scene,” it certainly was built to complement and benefit from its seaside surroundings. “All our rooms boast either an ocean or bay views, and many offer outdoor terraces to further soak up the scenery,” says Director of Guest Experience Margo Comis.
The locally owned hotel, which opened its doors in September 2020 as part of In Good Company Hospitality, she adds, “consists of 53 guest rooms, along with eight fully furnished, extended stay suites.” The year-round 84,000 square-foot hotel offers a getaway from the city bustle or even a break for Rockawayites at “a modern-day retreat…with four food and beverage outlets, a spa, a retail shop called The Supply Shop, daily fitness classes at The Studio, live music programming, and more.”
Certainly, a center of summer attention and activities is its lavish pool, “the perfect place for both hotel guests and day guests to take in some sunshine,” located adjacent to its main floor.
The “heated outdoor pool is surrounded by loungers, cabanas available for rent, and cedar-wood saunas. The Pool House offers a full menu consisting of summer favorites, seafood dishes and salads” as well as snack bites and frozen cocktails.
“Hotel guests can enjoy complimentary access to the pool,” Comis says, “while those looking to spend the day can purchase a day pass on our website. Swim Passes give access to the pool during a designated four-hour timeframe, either 9 to 1 p.m. or 1 to 5 p.m. Day passes are available seven days from the desired date at 12 p.m.”
To ramp up the summer getaway feel, The Pool House now features breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. and an all-day menu from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., plus Happy Hour at the Bar from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., $10 signature cocktails at The Pool House Bar weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and a mix of live music, DJs and magic over the weekend and during the week.
Guest Experience Manager Gabrielle Mangano explains, “Every Saturday, we start the weekend with DJ Nick Russo at the Pool House at 1 p.m. and on Sundays, we vibe out with DJ Danny Collins for our Sunset Sessions at the Rooftop and many more both local and NYC-based DJs.”
On Mondays, they feature JJ & Day, “an upbeat musical duo that play your favorite songs with guitar and percussion, while on Wednesdays Rockaway’s own amazing Adam Cardone, an award-winning entertainer, magician, escape artist and ventriloquist, brings sleight of hand magic tableside from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at The Pool House. “I’ve seen him do this,” says one observer from whose tightly closed hands Cardone conjured fistfuls of colorful bursting foam bunnies. “And I still do not know how he does it!”
Music and entertainment offerings throughout the rest of the hotel also include Live Music at Margie’s, Dinner & A Band, Sunset Sessions, and Summer Concerts.
The Rockaway Hotel also offers poolside movies both for the family-friendly crowd and those 21+. On Tuesday, August 6, they’ll be screening “Lilo & Stitch,” then “Finding Nemo” on August 27, both from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person or $150 for a cabana for up to five people.
From 8-10 p.m. there will be “Nights in Rodanthe” on Tuesday, August 6, and “Crazy, Stupid, Love” on August 27. Tickets are $30 per person, or $200 per cabana.
As far as food options, Comis and Mangano, who have both been with The Rockaway Hotel since it opened, note both guests and casual visitors have several choices. The Pool House “offers a full light menu consisting of summer favorites like health-conscious seafood dishes and salads,” Comis says, for outdoor dining.
They also have “some cabana packages to make your day just that much better- The Essentials, The Extra and The Elevated. All three have a different combination of food and cocktails or champagne.”
The Rooftop’s indoor and outdoor spanning space opens up on “panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline, Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean” and offers “a menu of small plates and craft cocktails. The Sharkbite is the hotel’s signature cocktail.”
On the ground floor, the popular Margie’s restaurant is open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch, serving “reinvented American classics made with healthy, natural, and sustainable ingredients. The menu offers simple and delicious dishes, grounded in classic techniques, and complemented by cocktails created with fresh and seasonal ingredients” to all diners.
A newer addition is Claudette’s Café (formerly Greenhouse Café), “a streetside coffee shop concept” that serves up summer quick bites of artisanal offerings. Part of the popular eateries which started on Beach 116th St., its rotating menu features sandwiches, salads, desserts, coffee, and juices.
For those celebrating summer, The Rockaway Hotel offers everything from Dinner and A Band, pairing popular musicians with select restaurant’s fare every Thursday to Artist Table, which next Wednesday, July 31, will celebrate the Beach Sessions dance series and a Kamayan-Fillipino style dinner created by chef Woldy Kusina, and many other special series and events.
Visitors and guests can also book time at The Rockaway Hotel’s many yoga and fitness classes or restorative sessions at their Spa.
Whether from The Rooftop to The Pool House, wherever one is in summer or wherever they’re going or getting away from, a good place to start is at The Rockaway Hotel.
Photos by Kyle Knodell, courtesy of the Rockaway Hotel.