This Gorgeous Southampton Inn Is One of the Oldest in America — and It Just Reopened With Chic Cottages and Luxe Boathouses

Courtesy of Canoe Place Inn & Cottages

One of the oldest inns in America is beginning a new chapter of its storied history. What started as a trading station in the 1600s in Hampton Bays on the East End of Long Island and was later transformed into an inn hosting Revolutionary War soldiers, presidents, celebrities, and other dignitaries throughout its more than 300-year-old history, is now once again welcoming travelers as the elegant Canoe Place Inn & Cottages.

The meticulously restored property, known as the "first stop out east" for those driving out to the Hamptons, sits on six idyllic acres adjacent to the Shinnecock Canal, just minutes from Southampton. It features 13 rooms, seven suites, and five cottages. Across the canal, 37 residential-style boathouses, serviced by luxury membership club Inspirato round out the accommodation options.

Courtesy of Canoe Place Inn & Cottages

"We're really taking history and re-imagining it into today. It's an eclectic mix of both traditional and contemporary design," Mitchell Rechler of Rechler Equity Partners, the developer behind the inn, told Travel + Leisure.

Rechler collaborated with award-winning design firm Workstead to create the interiors. Independent hospitality management firm Main Street Hospitality and James Gersten of Silver Street Hospitality, who conceptualized the food and beverage program, are also part of the team that just reopened the hotel.

Led by the concept of a "garden by the sea," Workstead invoked the grandeur of Canoe Place Inn and "the understated comfort of a classic Hamptons residence," per Rechler, by incorporating chic vintage-inspired motifs, trellis-patterned wallpapers, and clawfoot bathtubs paired with a soothing palette of soft greens, butter, and light dusty blue.

While some of the original features, such as seven of the fireplaces, the vaulted ceilings of the grand ballroom, and the dome of the Pavilion, have been preserved, the hotel's amenities are entirely fit for a modern traveler. Bathroom toiletries by luxury beauty brand Costa Brazil, luxury bedding and towels, grills and fire pits, and outdoor showers await guests at each cottage.

Courtesy of Canoe Place Inn & Cottages

"We invested a lot of time and energy in those things to ensure the experience is not about going to a vintage, antique, nostalgic place. It is a very modern, chic, sophisticated place that happens to have been there for over 300 years," Sarah Eustis, founder of Main Street Hospitality, added.

Another contemporary element is the art collection, curated by Rechler and his business partner and cousin Gregg Rechler. It is displayed throughout the property and showcases the work of local and internationally renowned artists, including Doug Aitken and Cuban sculptor Yoan Capote. A painting by Jeffrey Gibson, the Choctaw-Cherokee artist known for his abstract representations of Native American traditions, is installed in the lobby and pays homage to the Shinnecock people who first inhabited the area. A 12-foot high fiberglass and steel statue of a deer by multimedia artist Tony Tasset will welcome guests on the property and be what Rechler called a "place for an Instagram moment."

Another highlight of the re-imagined inn? The food and beverage program promises to live up to the hotel's reputation with creative, Mediterranean-inspired takes on classic cuisine prepared with the freshest local ingredients.

Courtesy of Canoe Place Inn & Cottages

"Working in partnership with the East End community of farmers, bakers, cheesemakers, vintners, oystermen, and fishermen, Canoe Place aims to support the local community in everything we do," James Gersten of Silver Street Hospitality told T+L. "Hampton Bays is known for its thriving fishing community, and the seafood sourced from docks from here to Montauk will be a menu staple. Chef Ülfet [Özyabasligil Ralph] will serve whole fish caught that morning with herbs and vegetables from the farmstead." Drinks will also be a local affair, with many of the cocktails prepared with herbs, fruits, and vegetables from the hotel's garden.

And for guests craving a little pampering, the property's spa, created in partnership with clean beauty brand ONDA Beauty, will offer facials, massages, body treatments, and energy healing.

Courtesy of Canoe Place Inn & Cottages

Canoe Place's grand ballroom and adjacent window-wrapped Pavillion will certainly — once again — put the property in the center of the area's glitzy social life. A heated pool, fitness center, private boat slips, and an exclusive beach shuttle round out the hotel's on-site amenities.

"I think that in a hundred years, [Canoe Place Inn & Cottages] will still be right there. I hope it will still be the heartbeat of the East End of Long Island," Eustis said.

Canoe Place Inn & Cottages will be open year-round with nightly room rates starting at $595. You can book your stay at the historic property here.