Gurney's Inn......Hotel Impossible....Tonight on the Travel Channel

[mshatty Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close mshatty]

The property is in a great location. The Hotel Impossible guy was blown away with the view. The show made it look apparent that the Monte family is dysfunctional with running the place. The sister who runs the spa should be the general manager, not Paul. It was the best run operation on the property.

The recommendation was for the sister to become director of operations so she could get the rest of the Inn up to snuff with the way she runs the spa. Paul said he would think about it. Somehow he is in charge but the show clearly indicates he shouldn't be.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

The property is in a great location. The Hotel Impossible guy was blown away with the view. The show made it look apparent that the Monte family is dysfunctional with running the place. The sister who runs the spa should be the general manager, not Paul. It was the best run operation on the property.

The recommendation was for the sister to become director of operations so she could get the rest of the Inn up to snuff with the way she runs the spa. Paul said he would think about it. Somehow he is in charge but the show clearly indicates he shouldn't be.

Yup, the Monte's are dysfunctional, and Paul above all others seemed to be incapable of doing his job. As suggested, the sister was given more say, and responsibilities, although they didn't elaborate on the changes. Hopefully, that, along with the suggestions made will make a difference.

The bottom line is that Gurney's is still one of, if not the best place to stay in that area, IMO..........The current accommodations in the area are either worse, or not on the ocean. Few of them even offer restaurants, and none have a spa.....The area is not exactly a mega for 5 star accommodations.

I've stayed a number of times at the Surf Club, which is on the water, and in walking distance to town, but I still like Gurney's better. I've also stayed at a number of the other Dune properties in various towns. They are all acceptable, offer studios, 1 & 2 bdrms, but I honestly couldn't call any of them really nice. I guess I like the Surf Club best out of the lot. The prices are better than Gurneys, tho.


Here's a link, in case you were thinking of visiting the area:

Hotels in the Hamptons, Montauk, Amagansett & Napeague - Dune Resorts

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

The property is in a great location. The Hotel Impossible guy was blown away with the view. The show made it look apparent that the Monte family is dysfunctional with running the place. The sister who runs the spa should be the general manager, not Paul. It was the best run operation on the property.

The recommendation was for the sister to become director of operations so she could get the rest of the Inn up to snuff with the way she runs the spa. Paul said he would think about it. Somehow he is in charge but the show clearly indicates he shouldn't be.

The "sister" Candice is actually an "in-law". She is married to one of the Monte sons - Chip - who is the executive chef. I am sure Paul was just thrilled by the suggestion he let her run the show.


Here is the owner website (not endorsed by the resort)

Gurney's Timeshare Owners

Memo to: My Fellow Gurney's Timeshare Owners
From: Linda Benjamin, Your Class A Director
Date: February 29, 2012

Yes. It's true. Gurney's will soon be featured on the premiere of an hour-long TV reality show.

Great news, right? Read on. You be the judge.

Here are some quotes from a press release from Travel Channel:

“TRAVEL CHANNEL CHECKS IN WITH NEW SERIES “HOTEL IMPOSSIBLE” PREMIERING MONDAY, APRIL 9 AT 10:00 P.M. EST”

“Hotel Fixer” Anthony Melchiorri Takes Hotels from No Stars to No Vacancy”

“Each episode features a hotel fighting for its life.”

“In the premiere episode, Melchiorri travels to Montauk, New York to help Gurney's Inn, a landmark family-run resort and spa, stop living in the past and create the future that will keep them in business for generations to come. He meets with the Monte family, who own and run Gurney's, to find out what they think the problems are. Paul Monte, the general manager, says people think of Gurney's as old-fashioned and spa director Candice Monte agrees. Melchiorri presents the family with some negative reviews he found online, and the family is surprised, as they never read reviews! They have no idea why their hotel is struggling. Melchiorri is appalled by the property's lack of service and finds a solution to their management woes in a surprising place. In the end, a lobby renovation and addressing the long neglected service problems with the laid back staff will hopefully turn Gurney's Inn back into a Hampton's' hot spot.”

Let's set the record straight:
(a) The Monte family do not own Gurney's.
(b) Gurney's is, first and foremost, a timeshare cooperative.

I am interested in hearing your thoughts on this.

Certainly is interesting....

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

The Monte family do not own Gurney's.

You would think that if the timeshare owners could get rid of the Monte's, that they would.....Do they have a contract? Hmmmmmm, what's the deal?

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

OK, reading through the thread that Pat provided, I see that the "Monte Trust" controls 61,250 shares. Not sure what that means, but it's obviously not good for the owners. Seems the Monte-Cooper families are the downfall of Gurney's. It's a shame!

[SallyHoover Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SallyHoover]

It gets worse.
The resort accepts deed backs (which are usually off season weeks and they don't bother to try to resell). With the rise in fees over the past several years shoulder season and prime season ocean view units are also being deeded back. The Montes get all the voting rights for the deeded back weeks but do not have to pay MF's on them- the other owners do.

There has been a lawsuit of owners against the Montes and the BOD for a few years now. The Montes and the BOD charge their legal fees to the HOA. Recently a judge ordered that the family and BOD to set up an escrow account for their legal fees from their own money and while for the time being they can continue to charge the owners for their defense if they lose part of the suit would require them to pay back any HOA funds to pay for legal defense.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

Sounds like a nightmare! I feel sorry for the owners, and for Gurney's.

It gets worse.
The resort accepts deed backs (which are usually off season weeks and they don't bother to try to resell). With the rise in fees over the past several years shoulder season and prime season ocean view units are also being deeded back. The Montes get all the voting rights for the deeded back weeks but do not have to pay MF's on them- the other owners do.

There has been a lawsuit of owners against the Montes and the BOD for a few years now. The Montes and the BOD charge their legal fees to the HOA. Recently a judge ordered that the family and BOD to set up an escrow account for their legal fees from their own money and while for the time being they can continue to charge the owners for their defense if they lose part of the suit would require them to pay back any HOA funds to pay for legal defense.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I have sent this to the travel Channel, I suggest you also email them

The Hotel Impossible show on Gurney's did not report the whole story. I hate to inform you but Gurney's is a Timeshare/Hotel and the Monte family have been taking advantage of the owners for years. They have raised the fees so owners give back there deeded weeks. The Monte's then take back the weeks and do not pay the matience fees on the rooms but do rent them and keep the funds. By doing this this causes the Timeshare owners to pay even more to offset the lack of Funds. http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...l-channel.html There are many more threads on Gurney's on timeshareforums.com just do a search on Gurney's

[SallyHoover Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SallyHoover]

It's not so much about taking the deeds back and renting them out-keeping the rental fee and not paying MF's. The off season weeks are often discounted and don't bring in that much and some of the money (usually not enough to cover MF's) is returned to the HOA. It's more about the control issue. The Monte family uses the voting rights to employ multiple family members and other "friends" for such jobs as hospitality consultant. From memory there was a 70+ yo aunt who lived in another state who was paid I don't remember the figure but is was somewhere in the $50,000-$100,000 yearly plus additional money to fly her in several times a year to "consult". I believe with the pressure from the owners (and the lawsuit) she did resign but there are other family members getting paychecks that are higher than they should.