My husband and I will be celebrating our 5th anniversary in April. We can only get away for a 4 day weekend, since my husband will be starting a new job in 2005 and won't have the vacation time. We'd like somewhere within a 2-3 hour drive from central New Jersey. We'd like a nice hotel, maybe spa treatments, nice dinners and something to do/see during the day. NY city is the easy pick, but we'd like other ideas. Thanks!

Check out the Hotel Dupont in Wilmington, DE. It is a beautiful hotel that has some good weekend specials. You can visit Longwood Gardens which is a half an hour drive from there. Also Philly has some great hotels with good rates. Have fun.

Friends of mine rave about the Manor House in Norfolk, Ct. Not sure it would be within 3 hrs from you. Website indicates message therapists available.

http://www.manorhouse-norfolk.com/

The Beekman Arms in Rhinebeck is mentioned quite often here when folks are looking for fall foliage trips. It's near FDR's Hyde Park.

escapemaker.com is a website with suggestions for weekend getaways from NY. NY Magazine (newyorkmetro.com) will also have some ideas in their search engine.

In addition to the message therapists, they also have massage therapists

Philadelphia?
Stay at the Four Seasons or the Rittenhouse Hotel. Both has spas inside the hotel. Philadelphia has plenty of things for you to do, shop and excellent restaurants.

Thanks for the responses. I'll look into these suggestions!

I'd vote for Philadelphia!
I love the restaurants there, jazz, shopping!
If you don't want the city, perhaps the Hotel Hershey with it's spa treatments.

How about Baltimore's Inner Harbor? There are some very nice hotels there, and it's a fun place for a long weekend. I'm a Central Jersey-ite myself, and have done this trip several times with my wife and daughters. It's about a 3 hour drive.

You might want to think about Newport for a couple of nights followed by a night at someplace like Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun.

Plenty to do in Newport and either one of the casinos will provide the spa aspect.

I like the Baltimore Inner Harbor idea. Any specific hotel recommendations? Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep them coming!

I stayed at the Renaissance Inner Harbor last time I went, and found it to be a great hotel. A bit pricey, but most nice hotels around the harbor are. We had a very nice room with a harbor view, and it is just across the street from the harbor and a few blocks from Camden Yards (convenient if the Orioles are in town). I know there are a few Marriotts around as well, but I've never stayed there. If memory serves, there are a few threads already on this board dedicated to Inner Harbor hotels where you could probably get some more info.

I am thinking someplace romantic. How about Cape May a b&b perhaps. Not much to do but go to AC in the p.m. Still to cold for a stroll on the beach.