mellog

Looking to travel this summer with our three children to either the Jersey shore or Hamptons. Would love to stay in a beachfront hotel. Upscale preferrably. Any recommendations would be wonderful! Thank you

nytraveler

The Hamptons don;t have many beachfront hotels - most of the beachfront is either owned by the very wealthy - or is private town beaches. And much of the Hamptons is really for the 20's party group - or inns for couples.

Gurney's Inn is a large, fairly upscale resort on the dunes near Montauk. Not sure how old your kids are and if they would enjoy it. Another option is a group of condo colonies on the Montauk Highway between Amagansett and Montauk. These are fairly simple versus upscale - but have direct access to the beach, pools (important since the ocean is not great for swimming for kids most of the time) and most important kitchens - so you can have drinks and snacks for the kids all the time without worrying about restaurants or room service.

Cicerone

Other than Atlantic City there are very few hotels in New Jersey which are actually ON the beach. The real estate is just too expensive. You may find some hotels across the street or with a beach view, but will find very few actually on the beach, other than the large hotels in Atlantic City. I don’t know that I would consider any of the hotels in Atlantic City to be “upscale”, I have not been in many years, you may want to ask for reccos. I know little about Cape May, I believe most of the hotels tend to be smaller B&Bs, and again I think very few are on the beach. Perhaps Wildwood may have some as well. The only bona-fide beach front hotel I know in northern New Jersey is in Point Pleasant would be:

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

I think it is more of a kind of very nice motel, I don’t know that I would call it “upscale”, i.e. it’s not the Ritz-Carlton Naples.

If you want some very nice B&Bs in more upscale neighbouring towns, considering the ones below. These however, are NOT beachfront.

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

The hotel is across the street from the ocean but has pretty much uninterrupted views. Spring Lake has a nice downtown with some good shopping, and a lovely lake area with a cathedral.

Another nice town is Bay Head, another quite upscale community with a nice beach and little downtown with quite good shopping, it has several good B&Bs.

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

It has an excellent restaurant, I would recco a trip there if you are staying in the area.

Bay Head Gables Inn
200 Main Avenue
Bay Head NJ
732-892-9844
http://www.bayheadgables.com/

Website for Bay Head is bayhead.org
Website for Spring Lake is springlake.org
For a list of other B&B's go to http://www.jerseyboardwalk.com/bed.htm

Cape Cod has some very nice resort hotels on the beach, I think Ocean Edge in Brewster, Mass is lovely, take a look at http://www.oceanedge.com.

A beautiful setting is the St Michaels Maryland area, and convenient to Philadelphia and Baltimore. A lovely and certainly upscale hotel there is Inn at Perry Cabin, St Michaels, Maryland, http://www.perrycabin.com. This is on a lovely inlet, not the beach, but a very nice setting and you can rent boats and explore the inlets.

capxxx

Ocean City NJ has some upscale suite hotels on the boardwalk -- almost like a condominium rather than a hotel property. I've never stayed in one, but they look good from the outside. Check out Beach Club Suites, for example. And some of those condos and rental houses on the beach look very impressive.

overlookfarm

There are very few hotel rooms, if any, on the ocean in the Hamptons, although there are some out in Montauk. The Hamptons have strict zoning against hotels and commercial buildings on or near the beach which is why the beaches and the entire area has remained unspoiled.

There are lots of places to stay near the beaches - which are indeed gorgeous. In Southampton, you might try the 1706 House. It's beautifully restored, right next to picturesque Main Street and is an upscale B&B. Or, try calling the Southampton or East Hampton Chamber of Commerces which will help you locate a place to stay and tell you how to access the beaches. Day passes to certain beach areas are available, others are restricted to use by local residents only.

Avalon4

The Windrift Hotel,the Avalon Inn and the Golden Inn in Avalon, N.J. are all on the beach. They are all decent, but I wouldn't call them upscale. They have pools, room service, and depending on your choice, upgraded accomadations. Avalon is beautiful, but the beaches by the hotel area can get crowded. There is a great recreation area 1 block from the hotels and shopping in Stone Harbor is a 2 minute car ride, 10 minutes on bikes. Good luck, and to avoid big crowds go late June or late August, early September.

nytraveler

You don;t mention the ages of your kids - and should know that some of the upscale Inns don;t want small kids - due to antiques - and a more couples atmosphere - so do check.