Will be visiting a friend in NYC next summer and we want to rent a car and drive out to the beach at Robert Moses State Park. We are thinking of statying overnite. What towns within a 20 minute drive would offer lodging?

There are no decent hotels near the beach. The allegria hotel in Long Beach is on the water.

I recently stayed at this hotel.. not luxury, though.

Best Western Bar Harbour Inn

5080 Sunrise Hwy, Massapequa Park, NY

How far is Massapequa Park from Robert Moses or Jones Beach?

According to Google maps, 18.6 miles to Robert Moses State Park.

Robert Moses Pars in on a barrier island in the Atlantic south of Long Island. There are no lodgings there.

The nearest places on the main part of the island are Babylon, Bay Shore, Lindenhurst etc.

Have no idea what hotels there are in the area for tourists versus the 2 or 3* business travel places in office parks nearby. I would do a search on tripadvisor - but not sure what you will find that close.

you might google hotels near robert moses state park long island-click on the expedia site for ex.

Not looking for "luxury resorts" - we just want to avoid driving back to the city from Robert Moses after a long day at the beach. I will check the towns listed above. Thanks.

Check out my suggestion for the Best Western in Massapequa Park. Much nicer than the "mom and pop" motels in that area.

There are a few chain hotels in Commack near the intersection of Sagtikos Parkway and the Long Island Expressway. Robert Moses Parkway northern end connects to Sagtikos Parkway and is the route to the LIE for those who live in the area. While this intersection is still 15 miles away, this offers the best concentration of well-known chains and puts you easily on the LIE for the return to NYC.

The drive from Robert Moses to Manhattan is about an hour without traffic.

The barrier island Nytraveler mentions is actually Fire Island. If the objective is to go ot the beach for the day and avoid driving back to the city, you don't really have to be that close to the beach but somewhere closer to the city and perhaps somewhere with some decent restaurants for a nice dinner? I'd look at the hotels in Rockville Centre where there are a few good restaurants and there are also restaurants on some water called the Nautical Mile in Freeport which is nearby. The Hampton Inn in Rockville Center gets good reviews although it,s close to the train (which is elevated in RC).

If you want to go back to the beach the following day and don't want to be that far from it, the idea of Commack on the Sagtikos Pkwy is a good one. The Hampton Inn Commack might not be bad.

Besides the Best Western in Massapequa Park, I've stayed at the Hampton Inn in Rockville Centre, it is nice, but hard to get to, due to confusing road intersections...It is much more expensive than the BW.

Thinking you might consider going a little further east on Fire Island to one of the beach communities, some of which have hotel (usually simple) accommodations.

http://www.fireisland.com/accommodations/hotels/hotels/

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will start to check them out.

Be aware that Freeport restaurants were damaged/washed away by Sandy a year ago. Not sure which are back and running versus what used to be there. One we went to quite often was closed until recently.

Also - there are no "resorts" luxury or other wise in this area - it is just a vast suburban sprawl. Vacation spots are much further out on the island - at least anther hour or more - and what you will find here are basic business traveler motels.

There's a Sheraton on Vanderbilt Pkwy in
Smithtown. Straight shot up Sagtikos Pkwy from Fire Island

I think we will end up just going to Long Beach for our "day at the beach" - will either drive there for the day, or take the LIRR (saw there is a package that includes train and fee for beach).