The Palms Brings Boutique Feel to Fire Island

Boutique hotels are all the rage in travel offering an alternative to the burnout on mega resorts, chains, Hiltons and Hyatts. Some are ultra luxury like the former palace Relais Santa Croce in Florence, some eclectic and funky and many in exotic locations like the Amandari in Bali. Fire Island can now satisfy the discerning traveler and call itself one of the trendsetters, with the boutique hotel Palms in Ocean Beach.

Owners Chris and Laura Mercogliano met in New York City and later married in 2005. Chris is involved in real estate development and film, living in New York and Florida. The hotel purchase was a natural extension to his real estate business.

Laura is a psychotherapist with a company that supplies therapists to assisted living centers in the metropolitan area. They live winters in Miami. Prior to meeting Chris, she was regional manager at Atria Senior Living in charge of operations for all of New York, with 1,200 units. The hotel management was an outgrowth of her operations and management experience. "It's more intimate, but now in sync with my lifestyle!"

Laura now owns Advanced Counseling Associates that provide counseling therapists to assisted living communities. She talks cheerfully describing how they became business partners first, then life partners and now manage to work at the Palms together, work separately professionally, and be directly involved with their three children. "We've grown together over the years. It's just so easy this relationship."

The Boutique Look

Miami inspired, the elegant boutique design is carefully chosen by Laura and Chris to keep things new, fresh and deluxe.

The artist David Byer Tyre helped execute the look. He came in 2005 and applied the patina finish on the iron balcony, designed the awnings and the water feature in the lobby among other elements.

Always decorating and buying, Laura, with Chris' vision and help, tied together all the different properties and rooms to create a signature elegant and airy look. Lichtenstein lithographs hang in every room, adding emotion and humor to the clean and cheerful space. Color schemes vary from relaxing lavender, soft turquoise to cheerful yellow, with natural wood and white as accents. Beds are huge, white and plush.

Why so fancy?

"I don't buy when people say, 'it's just the beach.' The reality is people are from the city and expect certain things. We can offer them those amenities. They don't want to compromise when they come to the beach," said Laura.

Amenities are not to be shrugged at. Try Egyptian cotton linens, L'Occitane bath products, flat screen televisions, satellite and wifi, iPod docks. All have small refrigerators, and guests have access to bikes, kayaks, beach chairs, towels and umbrellas, grocery wagons and Starbucks coffee for no extra charge. Ever on the lookout for the latest, Chris and Laura recently introduced the "fun cycle"-a bike on which you lay back and steer with your core body.

Want to be a king for a day? You can hire a Palms personal assistant for the day, who will set up your beach chairs, barbecue your dinner and anything else within reason you may need.

Other unexpected services the Palms attends to are delivery of water bottles on the beach to anyone with a Palms umbrella; turn down service at night, with a chocolate and inspired note; and Lisa Horowitz and her staff at Healing Waters is on call as the exclusive masseuse.

From Bay Shore, you don't even need to line up for the ferry. The Palms offers private ferry service to the dock. Guests come to the Palms Bay dock and are greeted by Palms Bay staff offering champagne and strawberries. "From the time they get to the dock, they are our guests," said Laura.

The main hotel on Cottage Walk is the Palms Hotel and the adjacent cottages. Every suite is named after elegant New York City locations, from Lexington to Soho. The cottages include Ted Minski's former property. Every cottage accommodates 10. It opens onto the courtyard lounge, as does the main hotel from the back door. Glancing up, a beautiful black wrought iron balcony is revealed to originate from Paris where it lived for two centuries before calling Palms home.

The Palms courtyard lounge looks like a Miami Beach playground. Modern all weather wicker sectionals are covered in chic white cotton with tables and a refreshment bar set up in the back. On this reporter's afternoon there, several couples walked through, two young men settled down to read the Ocean Beach map and one young woman waited for a bike to be readied for her. It was a natural gathering place for the hotel that has a small but well-appointed inner lobby and reception desk.

The next property is the Palms Bay. Located east of the ferry terminal on the bay front, it was previously Shirley Wersebee's family home. The hotel features an expansive sandy lounge on the waterfront, with lounges, beds and changing/massage cabana. The rooms are all styled as the Palms with gourmet kitchens and elegant bedrooms.

This summer's latest addition is the Palms Bay East. Located upstairs from the Ocean Beach Surf and Sport shop in the last building east on the bay, the apartments accommodate families nicely, with large decks over the bayfront.

Two Secrets to Success

"We have a great core staff. Its our best investment. We have a local and an international staff through an exchange agency. Everyone works very hard and take pride in their work," said Laura. She relies on her three experienced managers and never feels swamped as many businesses feel during a sunny summer weekend. With over 35 additional staff, they are eerily calm on a bustling Friday afternoon.

And lest you think that Miami and New York are the only inspirations, every fall the couple packs up for a couple's only vacation in Europe. Later they travel as a family to a different destination. "Travel inspires us," said Laura.

Their goal is not only to meet a client's expectation, but "to exceed them."

"I think when people go to a vacation destination; people even want it nicer than at home. When I go to a hotel, I want to be inspired."

So join the rage and try the boutique experience. Laura and Chris are betting that you will never go back to ferry lines, fans and polyester.

168 Cottage Walk, Ocean Beach. Phone: (631) 583-8870, Fax: (631) 583-5170.

www.thepalmsatoceanbeach.com