Boutique Hotel on Historical Boardwalk

Double-tiered chandeliers illuminate expansive ballrooms lined in french doors and windows. Intricate Victorian details continue out the door as visitors saunter the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel’s corridors, arriving at an antique-style front desk replete with marbleized finish and adjacent French neoclassical chairs. Upstairs, a flick of blackout shades unveils a perspective of the Atlantic by way of the historical Asbury Park boardwalk. The retro plush headboards stretch dramatically up toward the ceiling in king or double-queen rooms, though school-bus-yellow desk chairs steal the vintage-chic spotlight. Three-hundred-count bed sheets fully luxuriate the cozy boutique lodgings.

Though tri-state charm resides outside hotel grounds, a palm-tree-flanked pool exacerbates archetypal vacation fantasies. Four private cabanas ensure relaxing solitude, and cocktail-slinging tiki-bar attendants make sure a poolside read of War and Peace is better the second time around. Facilities operating 24 hours a day, such as a fitness center and billiards room, allow travelers to sharpen muscles and cues at their leisure.

After only a few paces, sojourners comfortably dine at the hotel’s connected eatery, Dauphin Grille. The bistro plays off the Berkeley’s old-meets-new ambiance by cooking classic maritime favorites using seasonal ingredients and inspired French recipes. Occasional out-of-house events lend to the hotel and restaurant’s status in the resurging Asbury Park social scene.

Asbury Park: Revitalization in the 21st Century

Pulsing boardwalks have infiltrated American leisure from coast to coast, but no state wears the wooden slats as well as New Jersey. The late 19th century saw additions crop up throughout the East Coast territory, in notable cities such as Uncle Pennybags's old haunt of Atlantic City and of course, Asbury Park. The municipality’s popularity sporadically swelled and deflated throughout the 20th century, but an influx of DIY Victorian home restoration—and an ever-present live music scene—has allowed this sleepy sea town to thrive.