HotelChatter

Not that I was far off about what type of place I'd find. As soon as I walked in the lobby door, I found a poster advertising a celebration of the music of John Philip Sousa, to be hosted at the hotel this weekend. Yup, that sounds about right. Luckily, I am leaving before the celebration gets underway. Maybe divine intervention is at work here, after all. God--wait, I don't believe in God--the ghost of one of my favorite rock stars wants to save me from damnation. I will not become what I hate. I will simply become a tiny bit of it. So let's get started.

The Building and Lobby:
Congress Hall has been around since 1816. No, thats not a typo. The hotel was completely renovated five years ago, and it was the news of that renovation that led to the recommendation that would ultimately lead me here. You can read more about the renovation here. According to the hotel's website, and under the heading "Clean Lines, Simple Elegance," "The aim of the renovation project was to create a fresh, vibrant atmosphere that provides modern-day comfort for the twenty-first century guest while respecting the serenity of the nineteenth-century building." And according to me...hot damn! That's actually what they did! The pale yellow building with black shutters looks historic from the outside, but not in a way that makes you suspect it's a dump inside. The lobby is decorated in white, black, blues and yellows and is fittingly beach-y without being too precious.

My Room:
Relatively large and decidedly cheery, if not "a bit West Elm-y" (as HC editor Juliana pointed out yesterday), my room put me in a good mood--or, as good of a mood as I'm ever in. I love the shade of blue (sea blue? light turquoise?) on the walls, though I'm not crazy about the striped carpet on the floor or seashell drawing on the wall. The bathroom is average. The beds are comfortable. The iron--not that I had any use for it--isn't crusty. Most importantly, the free, working WiFi is indeed free, and it does indeed work. I also took a special interest in the hallway--as you can see here, the room doors are doubled, and the first door to your room is purely decorative. As a result of the design of these dummy doors, the halls look a lot like a row of linen closets as opposed to hotel rooms. That's not such a bad thing. Anything that helps me feel more anonymous is a great.

The Beach:
Cape May is a beach town. The hotel is right next to the beach, but it's public and not the hotel's exclusively. I'm not a huge fan of the Atlantic Ocean, at least not its American coastal bits in the north, but the beach here should suit anyone who doesn't expect white sand and Caribbean-like water. It's definitely big enough to hold a crowd. To make up for the fact that the hotel doesn't have the beach all to itself, Congress Hall provides a beach attendant service to help you with chairs, towels and food while you bake. There's a small pool for the saline-averse.

Room service: Room service is available during the normal operating hours of the hotel's restaurant. I ordered, via one of those common hanging signs you place on your doorknob the night before, an omelet and coffee for breakfast. The food was good--typically a little greasy, but good. A 20% gratuity is added to your room service bill, so make sure you read it carefully. I did not, because I was so very tired in the morning, and accidentally treated my waitress to a 40% tip. Great for her, obviously.

Fitness: The exercise room is small but clean and functional. There are weights, a television, treadmills and stationary bikes. Speaking of biking, the hotel also has a (normal) bike rental service that includes those awful four-person family bikes. There is a simple spa that offers massages and limited spa services.

The Restaurant:
Congress Hall's restaurant, the Blue Pig Tavern, is great. The food might not surprise you with its originality, but it's still damn good. I had a wasabi-crusted salmon (served with snow peas, mashed potatoes and fried lobster wontons) that was delicious. My favorite part of the Blue Pig, however, was its staff. Not only did they, on what was only my second night dining there, immediately reseat me in the table I had picked out the night before, my waiter traded my small glass of water for a big glass without a prompt from me. He simply remembered that I drank three glasses the night before. Maybe the recognition was due to book I had been toting around and annoyingly trying to read at meals, or the fact that I am the only person who'd been walking around the hotel for two days looking like a complete bum, but it was nonetheless a nice touch. Damn. This place is charming. There, I said the C word. By the way, the Blue Pig also has its own signature beer, specially brewed for the Tavern by Flying Fish Brewing. I didn't try it, but my waiter compared the custom ale to "Sierra Nevada, but not as strong." I've also never had Sierra Nevada. Is that a good thing?

Overall:
Congress Hall is a very nice mid-size beach hotel with good-to-great amenities for its size, a great restaurant, and friendly staff. To my knowledge, it's a uniquely fancy option on the Jersey shore. If you don't have my emotional hang-ups and prejudices about this type of place, you'll most likely love the clean, cheery hotel for what it is. But I paid $99 a night plus tax--that's mid-week and off-season. I'm not sure I'd be interested in returning for those higher summer prices.

Related Stories:
· Over the Turnpike and Through the Parkway is Congress Hall [HotelChatter]

Tags: Cape May Hotel Reviews / YouTube / Hotel WiFi

by djk