Though New York is known as “the city that never sleeps”, and draws millions of people in each year to see shows on Broadway, the big lights of Times Square, and all the yellow taxis racing around, I’m much more interested in the quiet bits when I visit. I love Williamsburg, the side streets of Soho, and the High Line mid day when everyone else is at work, but for my most recent trip I wanted to experience something totally new. After a little bit of digging, Em and I found the Playland Motel in Rockaway Beach, and decided to book a night.
The Playland Motel is a beachy paradise located just an hour away from downtown NYC, and it’s totally worth the trip. A restored building, this tiny boutique hotel has only 11 rooms, each uniquely designed and decorated by a different artist. Downstairs there’s a pizza shop, a bar with amazing tiki drinks, and a massive sandy “patio” yard complete with kiddie pools and rainbow lawn chairs (sadly it wasn’t open yet when we arrived).
Though Rockaway Beach is teeny tiny, the combination of ocean breeze, the amazing taco shack, and Playland Motel’s sandy “patio” make this place feel like a slice of heaven (aka L.A.) We spent our days devouring “cukes” on the beach (a delicious snack which I’ll be DIY’ing and posting about here soon), and our nights jumping on the bed in our hotel room and drinking local beers. It was a totally perfect ending to our busy NYC trip, and I can’t wait to head back (maybe sooner than you think…)
