The Hamptons Resort Where You, Too, Can Be an Influencer

The day I received an invitation from EHP Resort & Marina, a new hotel-slash-restaurant-slash-nightlife destination in East Hampton, New York, was the day I decided to give influencing a go. I am not, by trade, an influencer—I have fewer than 2,000 Instagram followers (most of whom are bots, coworkers, and fellow degenerates from childhood), and can’t remember the last time I uploaded a selfie onto my feed, let alone a post with the word #AD in the caption. I am, however, a middling editor at a storied fashion publication—and as a result, I receive invitations every now and then for press trips.

Such an invitation arrived in my inbox from EHP, a five-acre resort formerly known as East Hampton Point on Long Island, which recently received a multimillion-dollar renovation under a new owner in 2021. It’s now been recast as the resort and peaceful getaway EHP, whose grounds are home to a cluster of private cottages where guests stay, a restaurant and bar named Si Si, a café, swimming pool, and tennis court, all on the water and surrounded by lush greenery.

Needless to say, I was intrigued by the idea of a quiet weekend away, someplace far enough from the grime and noise of the city but still close—a mere two-hour train ride east. I performed a cursory Google search and peek at EHP’s Instagram account—which revealed plenty of influencer content. Influencers entering the pristine, peaceful cottages done in dark brown wooden shingles with quaint porches and backyards adorned by Goop-adjacent outdoor furniture; influencers holding selfie sticks and phone camera stabilizers as they filmed the crisp white linens on their beds; the seaside views and stunning sunsets; all the rattan. I agreed to visit EHP and the Naturopathica spa in town, with which EHP has a partnership, deciding that this was my chance to give influencing a test drive.

The weekend at EHP began with a tennis lesson from a charming 23-year-old instructor who worked summers in the Hamptons hitting balls with “Rockefellers and Gettys,” he said. His presence was a highlight: he rolled up to the courts in a blue Tesla with gull-wing doors, cracked jokes, and gave me and my friends polite pushes to refocus on practice when we became distracted. We enjoyed his company so much that we tried to get him to hang out with us outside of the lesson, which he dodged with a deft and expert hand. I respected his hustle—I was, after all, not yet a full-fledged influencer and therefore probably not that cool in his eyes.

In the evening, we trooped across the grounds to Si Si for dinner. The food was lovely—scallops bathed in spiced almond chili reduction, strip steak with a bone marrow chimichurri—rivaled only by the views of the sun setting over the water. A trio of very tall, very thin women with superlong hair and bandage dresses stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows taking selfies. They dined a couple tables away from us in between their guerrilla photo shoots, and, in fact, didn’t put their phones away once during dinner. Were they influencers?

“They’re definitely influencers,” my friend said between bites of crisp, vinegar-laced baby gem lettuces. I was glad to be among them, and was admittedly influenced by their dedication to posting Instagram stories.

The next day, I was driven to town in a large black SUV to Naturopathica, where a full-service spa doubles as a store selling the beauty and wellness brand’s goods. I’d heard great things about Naturopathica’s products (a colleague of mine swears by the Marshmallow and Probiotic Cream Cleanser, which I noted to the sweet, soft-spoken woman behind the counter, urging her to read all about it on wmagazine.com), and I was eager to check out the services as well. I decided upon a massage—my first since the beginning of the pandemic—which was heavenly. Is this what being an influencer is like? I wondered to myself as I laid face down on the massage table. I emerged from the treatment slightly dazed and totally relaxed, and was overjoyed to receive a gift the soft-spoken salesperson had left for me: Naturopathica’s Schisandra & Chamomile tea. If this was the life of an influencer, I absolutely wanted to be a part of it.

The whole weekend was exactly what I needed, and I highly recommend a trip to EHP if you’re in the area and looking for a relaxing week in the Hamptons, an alternative to turning up and raging in Montauk. Did I achieve my ultimate goal of becoming an influencer? Absolutely not. I took a total of zero pictures and videos during my stay.