horizon

We're looking for recommendations for a few nights stay on the New Jersey shore early August, driving south from NY. We prefer quiet quality, and on or near the beach, if possible. Would be nice to be near town and good restaurants. Is this too much to hope for?

diann24

Are you 2 adults or traveling with children? Spring Lakes is a lovely town. Very upscale, and a few b&b's. If you want to go further down then I would suggest Cape May. www.capymay.com

SusieQQ

The Hewitt Wellington in Spring Lake is what your'e looking for but don't know if they would have any vacancies at this late date:
http://www.hewittwellington.com/

BTilke

Another vote for Spring Lake (sometimes known as the Irish Riviera). If everything there is booked up, you can also try adjacent Sea Girt.
For a family, maybe head farther down to Long Beach Island or possibly Avalon(cooler by a mile). Avalon is definitely more of a Philly crowd and not as serene as SL/SG.

karameli

Wait, BTilke, are you saying the Philly crowds are ROWDIER than the NY crowds? I think anyone who has been to Seaside Heights would seriously beg to differ.

BTilke

No, I'm saying the crowds at Avalon can be rowdier than the crowds (or rather lack of) in Spring Lake/Sea Girt. Avalon gets a good number of singles in share houses. Spring Lake and Sea Girt don't.

So what I'm saying now is basically the same as what I said in my previous post.

horizon

Thank you. Spring Lake has been recommended by many. Seems worth checking out.

Cicerone

There are very few hotels ON the beach itself in NJ, as the real estate is too expensive. In Spring Lake, which is a lovely town, there is one B& B which is across the street from the beach.

The Breakers
1507 Ocean Avenue
Spring Lake
Phone: (732) 449-7700 ~ Fax: (732) 449-0161
breakershotel.com

Another very nice town a few miles south is Bay Head, they have a charming village area a block or two in from the beach with shops and some good restaurants. A very nice B& Bs there to consider would be as follows it's a block or two in from the beach:

The Grenville
345 Main Ave.
Bay Head, NJ 08742
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (732) 892-0599
Fax: (732) 892-0599
http://www.thegrenville.com/

Has an excellent restaurant.

Point Pleasant Beach is a town in between Spring Lake and Bay Head, their town center is further from the beach and is it not as upscale, but Point Pleasant has a large boardwalk area with rides, cotton candy and the whole “jersey shore” experience, take a look at http://www.jenkinsons.com. You could of course drive to Jenkinson’s for a day or evening from Bay Head or Spring Lake, it’s a matter of 15-20 minutes.

Some hotels there are:

White Sands Ocean Front Resort Hotel
1106 Ocean Ave.
Point Pleasant Beach
732-899-3370
http://www.thewhitesands.com

This is actually ON the beach and is a kind of upscale motel. Walkable to Jenkinson’s board walk.

Windswept Motel
1008 Ocean Ave.
Point Pleasant Beach
732-899-1282

Point Pleasant Manor
310 Sea Ave.
Point Pleasant Beach
732-899-7300
http://www.pleasantmanor.com/

Surfside Motel
101 Broadway
Point Pleasant Beach
732-899-1109
http://www.surfside-motel.com

For a list of other B&B's go to http://www.jerseyboardwalk.com/bed.htm

Website for Spring Lake is http://springlake.org/

Website for Bay Head is http://bayhead.org/

I agree that you may have trouble getting rooms now for August, esp for a weekend.

SusieQQ

I've not stayed there but the Breakers in Spring Lake gets bad reviews. Try something else if you go to Spring Lake.