maribethp

Three 70ish girls would like to spend a few nights at either Asbury Park or Bethany Beach. Can anyone suggest nice accomodations. We are thinking hotel, motel, pool, near the ocean.

SusieQQ

There are two hotels with pools on Ocean Ave. in Asbury Park....The Berkeley and The Empress. Since I live in the area I've never stayed in either. The Empress is predominantly gay.

IMHO Asbury Park and Bethany Beach are completely different. Bethany Beach is a traditional beach town, while Asbury Park had "gone down hill". It is now undergoing a rebirth and has great restaurants and events. And, of course, it has the famous Stone Pony

txtree

Any reason you aren't considering Rehoboth Beach?

maribethp

No, we could do that. the reason for the 2 diverse places, although it sounds like both are gay- rehoboth and asbury, is because we are interested in trying a new place to u s.

txtree

We spend summers in Rehoboth and I love it. I guess it depends what you're looking for - Rehoboth is lively, lots of good walking and people watching; Bethany is also wonderful but more subdued. If you're interested in beach-side hotel with pool, check out the Boardwalk. If you don't mind being a bit off the ocean, look at the Avenue Inn. (And I should warn you that, based on my observations from the boardwalk, the hotel pools are a zoo on the weekends.) Check out Lewes too - very different from Bethany and Rehoboth, but also charming.

maribethp

Luckily, we can go anytime and are going monday to thursday. We have been to Lewes and Rehoboth.

SusieQQ

Try Asbury Park....it is something different and has a great beach.

http://apboardwalk.com/

If you go there, I'll recommend some restaurants....

txtree

I'm sorry - I misunderstood. If you've been to Rehoboth and Lewes, definitely branch out. Personally, I find Asbury Park more intriguing. Have fun!

maribethp

What about ocean grove??

SusieQQ

Ocean Grove is a National Historic Site filled with Gingerbread Houses. It is very small, just one square mile. All of the land is owned by The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association and still has the summer tents surrounding The Great Auditorium. It is all very quaint. It is a dry town so all restaurants are BYOB.
One of your requests was for a hotel with a pool. No hotel in Ocean Grove has a pool In fact, I don't know if there are any hotels there, just B&Bs....

http://www.oceangrovenj.com/

Asbury Park, it’s next door neighbor across a small lake,with connecting boardwalks, is a town which had fallen into decay and now is making a come back with lots of events, great restaurants, new condos, clubs, etc.

IMHO either one would be fine.

Your other alternative would be to stay in one of the new chain motels in Neptune. They are about 5 miles from both towns. They are new and have pools.

Residence Inn by Marriott Neptune

Holiday Inn Express Neptune

maribethp

thanks so much

maribethp

the only motel that sounds nice at asbury does not have the right bed configurations for us, so that leaves the Berkely with not so great reviews. does anyone have any knowledge of that place?

bspielman

You might want to consider Ocean Place (http://bit.ly/kAFjQt), a resort and spa directly across the boardwalk from the beach, in Long Branch, NJ. This is just north of Asbury Park, separated from it by the upscale communities of Deal and Elberon.

Long Branch, itself, is, like many oceanfront communities in that area, undergoing a significant renaissance. Pier Village, a relatively new residential/shopping/restaurant district is virtually adjacent to Ocean Place.

There are a number of good eating places there, including Sirena (http://sirenaristorante.com/), co-owned by my friend, chef Michael Cetrulo. By Jersey Shore standards, it's a pretty good Italian, though, like almost all Shore restaurants, it can suffer from amateurish in-season service performed by know-nothing college students.

SusieQQ

Is Ocean Place open? I know it went into bankruptcy...I think it has a new owner.

bspielman

According to Ocean Place's website (http://www.oceanplace.com/news-en.html), they filed for Chapter 11 early this year, but have since put in place a new management company, a new equity partner and a new chef.

debsnj

What about Spring Lake or Bay Head? Lots of Bed and Breakfasts.

I am partial to Long Branch because I have a condo there. The beaches have facilities which varies town by town in NJ. Beware that each NJ town has its own beach fees.

I also LOVE Long Beach Island, specifically Beach Haven which has a few hotels and lovely Bed and Breakfasts, plenty to do, pretty good restaurants. In Beach Haven I have stayed in The Victorian Guest House which is nice because it has a pool which most B&Bs don't have. I haven't been in awhile but they used to include use of bicycles and beach chairs.

DCAreaMom

We vacation in Bethany Beach each year and love it. It's quaint, the beach itself is clean and Bethany Beach over the years has really come up in terms of some very good restaurants. There are also a couple of day spas there as well. The boardwalk area has very cute little shops. And, you're still within a 15 minute drive to Rehoboth, if there was something there that interested you.

We stay at Sea Colony in Bethany Beach. The beach at Sea Colony is private.

It's large and you have a choice of staying on the beach in one of the condos, or in the "tennis community" which is across the street, and they have a tram throughout the tennis community that takes you to the beach.

You can choose between a condo, townhouse or single family home. We like the tennis side, as it also has nice sidewalks and fountains throughout the community.

We rent through Resort Quest:
http://www.resortquestdelaware.com/

Also, this is a good site for restaurants there:
http://www.bethanyrestaurants.com/

namaste59

I agree with DC Area Mom. I am a delawarean and have a summer home in Bethany Beach. Grew up in NJ and very familiar with Jersey beaches... I love Bethany Beach! Its location makes it easy to enjoy many activities but come back to a quaint beach town. You can try kayaking and or sailing at the Kayaking Tours across from Fenwick State Park off Route 1 (the main road through all the beach towns). If you want some music and night life you can drive up to Dewey beach which is just below Rehoboth and hit the Rusty Rudder or Starboard. Shopping is nice in Rehoboth and the outlets if you are into that! Also some cute little shops and even clothing shops in the town of Bethany beach. Music at the Bandstand on Friday and Saturday evenings during the summer. Just depends on what kind of weekend and activities you are looking for.

I would also recommend a rental at Sea Colony through Resort quest....I am sure you can get a weekend rental if that is what you are looking for...they have a trolley to the beach if you dont want to walk....fitness center...tennis courts.. private Sea Colony beach access etc. You can also rent bikes right in the Marketplace in sea colony. Fun area to explore on bikes.

Great restaurants as well....a few that we have tried and love are "Just Hooked" in Fenwick Island same owner as ""Off the Hook" in Ocean View. " Northeast Seafood" in Ocean View . For lunch or dinner with a nice view and right in Bethany is "Mangoes" you can sit out on the deck overlooking the boardwalk and ocean; food is decent and nice atmosphere for a casual relaxing time. If you are looking for Crabs to eat out...."Mickeys" in Bethany beach next to the Holiday Inn. Fenwick Crab House....Also take out at "Steamers" in Millville just past Ocean view off of Rt 26. There are also great restaurants in Rehoboth beach as well and Dewey beach has few new ones that I have heart are good! Lots of culinary competition in these beach towns, very big on "farm to table"...great farmers markets as well. Sunday mornings in Bethany Beach...really great market in Rehoboth on Saturday mornings as well.
As you can tell I love our Delaware Beaches!

flpab

Bethany, Dewey, Rehoboth Beach. I can smell Dolly's popcorn, boardwalk fries and Grotto's pizza!!! Two weeks and this florida girl will be there.