Hotel
Ciel is the only hotel in the
Fire Island Pines
Harbor. Stay where the action is. Located in the central hub
of the Pines, you will be just steps away from restaurants,
bars, cafes, shopping, and, of course, the beach! Balconies
have beautiful harbor views and a cool bay breeze. Book your
stay now, as the hotel tends to fill up on summer weekends.
There is a two-night minimum stay for all weekends, and a
three-night minimum stay for all holiday weekends.
Fire
Island Pinesis a gay
island resort and beach destination that truly appeals to
the luxury minded. They build on the casual island beach
heritage, offering a luxury lifestyle resort experience. In
addition to the beautiful beaches and stunning homes, the
Pines harbor is home to a popular gym and pool, lounges,
cafes, a hotel, a gourmet market and some fabulous
restaurants. They also host two major events, Ascension and
Bay Dance, that bring worldwide attendance to the island.
The Pines is how “downtown
New York City does the beach.”
The
Pines is well-known by leaders in fashion, design,
photography and the arts and has rapidly become the center
of beach chic, taste and elegance.
Although
a predominantly gay community, the Pines welcomes diversity
and provides a wonderful home and vacation destination for
anyone who appreciates a beautiful beach. This unique island
town offers the best of both worlds in terms of peaceful
relaxation and exciting nightlife. The Pines is a car-free
community, only accessible by ferry, adding to its unique
sense of tranquility.
Fire Island is a barrier
island on the southern side of Long Island. Topographically, the Pines is virtually an extension of
nearby Sunken Forest. Situated on a narrow portion of the
island, the area closer to the bay is covered with dense
growth almost concealing many of the homes built
unobtrusively in the background. Lacing through the Pines
are its most famous features, "rollercoaster" boardwalks,
winding their way up, down and across the community in a
pattern made to follow the natural terrain.
Originally
the site of a Coast Guard station built in 1876 and known as
Lone Hill Saving Station, the area was purchased by the Home
Guardian Company in 1924 but little in the way of
development occurred until after World War II. There was no
electricity or amenities until 1960 when a 100 unit co-op
complex was built. Builders stuck close to the cautious
plans drawn up a quarter century before and allowed for
preservation of the area's natural state.
The results are readily apparent today:
houses are modern, sleek and stylish and blend in well with
the surrounding terrain. With more than 700 homes, the Pines
is not crowded for its size, large building lots helping to
mitigate crowding. The careful integration of land and
architecture has bequeathed a community that is modern,
spacious and esthetically pleasing. In the three centuries
since Isaac Stratford established his whaling station, the
Island has undergone many changes . . . it has developed
into a vacation-land whose few year-round inhabitants derive
their living from providing goods and services to the summer
visitors.
While thousands of Fire Islanders return
each summer to live and vacation, thousands more make the
voyage for the first time to see if all the things they
heard are really true. And they are! You will
discover, as everyone who visits does, that special secret
magic of the Pines.