EXCLUSIVE: Bethenny Frankel Reveals the Areas Set To Overtake the Hamptons as the East Coast’s Most Exclusive Hot Spots

Former “Real Housewives of New York City” star Bethenny Frankel has opened up about how her life has changed since she quit the Big Apple and moved south to Florida—while revealing her predictions for the East Coast areas that are set to take off in the wake of the “suffocating” overcrowding that is happening in the Hamptons.

Frankel, 54, who is a lifelong New Yorker, revealed in April that she was planning to relocate to the Sunshine State full time with her daughter, Bryn Hoppy, later explaining that she had been deeply “unhappy” in New York for several years.

Though the TV personality still owns homes in New York, including an apartment on the Upper West Side and a sprawling farmhouse in the Hamptons, she insisted that she plans to use those properties only when she needs to be in the city—and will otherwise be based at her new Florida abode full time.

Soon after moving into her opulent dwelling, which is one of two properties that she owns in the state, Frankel left fans stunned when she issued a brutally honest takedown of the Hamptons, declaring that something is “off” with the area this year and noting that it no longer offers the glamorous sanctuary from city life that it once did.

Now, Frankel has doubled down on her criticism in an interview with Realtor.com®, revealing her predictions for the areas that she believes are set to see a surge in popularity as more people grow tired of the increasing crowds in the Hamptons.

“I predict that smaller charming towns throughout the U.S. will start blossoming more. Certain towns like Sag Harbor and Nantucket Town have become insufferable with crowds and traffic,” she explained.

Frankel went on to note that the reason many people were drawn to the Hamptons was because of its exclusivity—revealing that its distance from New York City meant that only a certain few people were willing to travel there, helping it to retain an elite status.

However, that has since changed, she said. It’s a “shift” that she believes will see more people turning their backs on the exclusive area, where homes are regularly listed for upward of $50 million.

“People will start moving to places where they’re not traffic prisoners in their homes. In a place like the Hamptons, the nuance was always that farther out east was more exclusive than, let’s say, Westhampton,” she said.

The social media sensation then listed the East Coast spots that are likely to see a huge influx of visitors in the coming years, urging fans to head out for a weekend getaway while they still can.

“I predict more people will sell and move, and that places like Remsenberg, Westhampton, and Quogue become more desirable,” she said. Many of these areas are closer to the city and therefore much more convenient to reach, despite not boasting immediate beach access.

“The difference in a car between Westhampton and Amagansett is over an hour to be in a beach town with restaurants and shops. The towns I mentioned are also closer to New York City and airports,” she went on.

As for her own personal move to the Sunshine State, Frankel reassured fans that she feels entirely “at peace” with the decision, explaining that she knows the move was the “right” one to make, both for her and her daughter, while noting that her displeasure with how the Hamptons has changed did not have any bearing on her relocation.

“Moving to Florida is irrespective of having a Hamptons and a New York City home. It’s right because I have a community there, and I love the light and water. It’s simply a new home base. Most importantly, my daughter is happy, which is all a parent wants and needs,” she said.

Although Frankel is still getting the hang of the Sunshine State, she has already fallen in love with one of Florida’s biggest perks: the weather.

“Feeling like I’m outside even when inside all year long [is one of my favorite things about Florida]. I get depressed being inside all the time in the winter, as a homebody who rarely leaves the nest,” she revealed.

The mom also opened up about how her stunning new property has helped to transform her mental health for the better.

“My new home is exquisite. I really put my heart into its design, and it also represents peace,” she explained. “I really did risk my emotional well-being having all my operations in the center of my last home. I will never do that again.”

Her admissions came just days after she took to TikTok to reveal that her days in the Hamptons had come to an end.

“So today was my first day at my new home in Florida, which is exquisite. I can’t believe it! We will talk about that another time, but it’s the nicest house I have ever had,” she said in her video.

“For me to get here today, knowing that all summer I am going to be in the Hamptons, and I just have to be here for certain obligations and for Brynn, but to get here and say to myself, ‘I am staying here. I will go back to the Hamptons when I have to, but I am staying here.'”

Frankel confessed that her friends used to have to “drag” her out of the Hamptons, adding that she used to even want to spend her winters there.

However, her stance on the upscale enclave has changed drastically in recent months, largely, she said, because of how many people are flocking to the Hamptons during the summer, making the once-exclusive area feel “suffocating.”

“This summer, all the videos people are posting about the Hamptons being off, the traffic is suffocating. It’s horrible on Montauk Highway. You have to drag me to go deep in the Hamptons. The traffic is suffocating. It’s the Bermuda Triangle.

“The vibes are not vibiing, people feel disconnected, it’s a choppy summer, it’s crazy. People are highlighting what the Hamptons isn’t,” she said.

Her shocking stance on New York’s hottest getaway area came after Frankel laid bare her feelings around “loneliness” and admitted that she has been “unhappy” for quite some time. She felt she needed to make a move to pull herself out of that extended period of sadness, she shared.

Although Frankel is attempting to offload her Connecticut home, she assured fans that she wouldn’t be bidding adieu to the Big Apple forever and will be holding on to at least some of her New York City properties.

Although Frankel didn’t mention where in Florida she would be living, she did recently snap up a new home in the Sunshine State in addition to her Miami apartment, which she previously showed off to her followers.

Frankelnramped up her real estate holdings in 2024 by adding three more properties to her portfolio, one in Manhattan and another in Miami.

As with all of her homes, Frankel carried out several updates to the property before moving in, revealing in a December 2024 tour of the condo that she had redone the flooring, installed artwork, and overhauled the bathroom.

Frankel’s beloved Hamptons home, which she purchased in 2023 for $5.45 million and sprawls across 3,500 square feet, was her primary residence until she decided to make the move to Florida.