An NYC lawyer made her Hamptons hospitality dreams come true

The Hamptons are now in entire swing, and Sylvia Wong is definitely feeling it as the owner of the Roundtree hotel in Amagansett. For the NYC attorney, the street to hotelier was quite circuitous but a organic changeover given her adore of travel.
After finding out regulation at NYU, Wong began her vocation at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, a large regulation business in the city, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, representing customers who acquired or offered corporations.

“As a youthful lawyer, it was an incredible studying expertise to function together with some of America’s greatest lawyers who are smart, innovative and shopper-targeted,” she stated, noting that though it was a demanding position, it assisted her build a robust basis of expertise in the lawful and organization realms, as well as personalized enhancement. “I assume again about individuals decades with fond reminiscences.”

Wong then joined IBM and was based mostly in Asia for about 10 yrs. In 2012, she returned to New York and was appointed main compliance officer, primary the company’s around the world ethics and compliance method.

Then, in 2015, an additional turning position: Wong was employed by Western Technologies Financial investment, a personal investment agency with a large actual estate portfolio. As the business was searching to increase, hospitality grew to become an organic extension of their holdings, and Wong’s much too.

“Travel has usually been just one of my passions,” she said. “I was lucky to have the opportunity to take a look at many unbelievable spots all-around the globe. Plenty of wonderful memories are from visits to exciting sites and stays at little accommodations that provide understated luxurious and exceptional company.”

It wasn’t Wong’s preliminary recreation plan to open up up shop in the Hamptons, specifically, but a fortuitous on line home listing transformed all that in early 2019. At that time, the now-lodge was a relatives-owned home known as Gansett Inexperienced Manor, and one particular wintertime weekend, she took the Hampton Jitney to see it firsthand. “The jitney stopped straight throughout the avenue from the assets. I continue to remember the crispness of the air vividly — it was a lovely, chilly working day. When I started out to investigate the property’s grounds, I promptly fell in love with it,” explained Wong, who co-invested in the purchase of what would come to be the Roundtree with WTI. “Its expansive lawn and the bordering farmlands give such a peaceful and tranquil surroundings,” she included. “Yet it is found ideal on the principal street, close to the amazing regional shops and dining establishments, and inside of a shorter stroll or bicycle journey from miles of lovely white sand shorelines.”

Wong was also drawn to the heritage of the home. “It was the homestead of a person of the initial 4 households who settled in Amagansett all over the 1650s — we have a barn and many cottages that are hundreds of a long time outdated.”

After buying the residence, the renovation method proved really the feat. “There was so a lot perform that desired to be performed and obtaining so several historic buildings on the house designed the process that considerably a lot more monotonous,” claimed Wong, noting the pandemic established an additional established of hurdles.

“About halfway by the procedure, the point out of New York suspended most construction tasks aside from a quite narrowly defined group of jobs, and we had been not capable to ascertain whether or not we ended up equipped to proceed, so out of caution, we stopped without the need of figuring out when we’d be ready to finish or even resume the work we were being undertaking.” Finally, they were capable to entire renovations just guiding their primary agenda. In 2022, the Roundtree also unveiled the Seaside Home, a compound of two dwellings just minutes from the key residence that were being once owned by playwright Neil Simon.

The site overhaul was “equal pieces nerve-racking and exciting” with the pandemic exacerbating the difficulties of debuting a hotel.

“In addition to generating certain that our guest practical experience was almost everything we wished it to be, we experienced to figure out how to create an natural environment that our attendees felt protected in and how most effective to secure them. In the early days of the pandemic, there was no rule e-book to observe,” Wong explained.

Fortunately, when the resort opened its doorways in June 2020, anything fell into location.
“We determined to acquire a simple tactic — do what we would ordinarily do if we have been web hosting good friends and liked types. When we opened, we had no reservations. We were being so fast paced that we didn’t even have time to be concerned,” she said. “Very quickly, when the initial guests observed us, we had been fulfilled with a large sum of appreciation and aid from them.”

In their initial yr of enterprise, about 80{0b5b04b8d3ad800b67772b3dcc20e35ebfd293e6e83c1a657928cfb52b561f97} of their friends came from NYC and the tri-condition spot. Now, that tends to make up 50 {0b5b04b8d3ad800b67772b3dcc20e35ebfd293e6e83c1a657928cfb52b561f97} their guests, with the rest trickling in from the West Coastline, Texas, Florida and “lately rather a number of from Europe.

“For all those who have a lifelong dream of opening an inn, Wong finds her magic formula sauce in remembering the little factors.

“In my thoughts, enthusiasm, authenticity and focus to details are some vital achievements variables,” she stated. “You ought to appreciate what you do. It is a demanding work, but it won’t experience like it when you take pleasure in it. Do your investigate and employ the sources that are obtainable to you in phrases of personalized learnings, contacts and prospects for mentorship.”

The entrepreneur also stresses the value of understanding from lifestyle encounters “to develop a vision for what you want your guest knowledge to glance like and what you want guests to just take absent from their time expended at your residence.”

In the system of creating the Roundtree, Wong experienced plenty of men and women inform her “this is often how it is carried out.” However, relying on her personal intuition to establish right from incorrect was invaluable.

“It’s crucial to pay attention to suggestions but make your personal decisions right after that,” she claimed. “Ask issues, be inquisitive and have confidence in your gut.”