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When Congress Hall was founded in 1816, the concept of going to the beach for a vacation wasn't very popular in the United States. But an entrepreneur named Thomas Hughes had a feeling that city residents might like to escape to a wide-open beach along the Jersey Shore. He opened a 100-room hotel in Cape May, New Jersey, creating America's first seaside resort. It was an instant hit, even attracting five US presidents.
While no US president has stayed here since Benjamin Harrison in 1891, the 106-room Congress Hall is still popular with families and couples. It's now part of Cape Resorts, a small hotel company that operates a handful of properties throughout Cape May, as well as Baron's Cove, a hotel in Sag Harbor, New York.
Set between the wide beach and downtown Cape May, Congress Hall feels like a buzzing hub with guests hanging out on wooden rocking chairs set along the three-story colonnaded veranda. Blink and you'll think you've flashed back to the 1800s if it weren't for a group of tweens wearing sweatshirts and short shorts.
The hotel has a quirky design sensibility and many preserved vintage elements like old-fashioned elevators, Victorian light fixtures, and a hall of American flags.
To learn about other best hotels in the United States, click on a link below to jump directly to more coverageCongress Hall is open year-round, and as you might expect, rooms are cheapest during winter. After Memorial Day, rates start to climb — a standard room that costs $119 per night in January is suddenly $239 midweek in June and can go as high as $651 per night over the Fourth of July weekend. Deluxe rooms and Junior Suites are even more expensive. Yet people book the hotel year in and year out; the sooner you book, the better deal you get.
The hotel was practically sold out on the summer weekend my family and I visited, so we booked a King Deluxe Oceanfront room, a mid-tier room that cost us $596 per night. We enjoyed more space than a standard room, a larger bathroom with a soaking tub, a separate glass-enclosed shower, a guaranteed King-sized bed (some standard rooms have a queen or two queens), and a better location and view.
While the price we paid was high, we thought it was worth it to experience Congress Hall's amazing activities, stellar location across from one of the prettiest beaches on the East Coast, and the opportunity to experience a historic hotel. As with most older hotels, not everything was perfect, but when you're staying at Congress Hall, you're right in the center of all the action and the palpable energy and excitement are infectious.
Keep reading to see why I was so impressed by Congress Hall.Read the original article on Business Insider