The 1816 oldest seaside resort in America, 107 rooms in the long yellow Greek Revival façade three minutes from the Atlantic, the address Benjamin Harrison called the Summer White House.
"Congress Hall is the only Cape May address that holds the title of oldest seaside resort in America, and the only one whose suite roster reads Pierce, Buchanan, Grant, Harrison; the long yellow façade, the rocking-chair porch, the pool deck, and the Brown Room cocktail bar are still the village's defining set of public rooms."
Congress Hall is the founding address of the Cape May resort trade. Thomas H. Hughes built the first boarding house on the parcel in 1816, the year before he was elected to the U.S. Congress (a coincidence that gave the property its name), and rebuilt the structure as the long three-storey Greek Revival you see today after the original burned in the Cape May fire of 1878. The hotel has hosted Presidents Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Ulysses S. Grant, and Benjamin Harrison; Harrison spent enough summers in residence that the building was nicknamed the Summer White House. John Philip Sousa wrote and conducted the Congress Hall March in the property's ballroom in 1882. The Cape Resorts group purchased the building in 1995 and completed a full restoration in 2002.
The 107 rooms are arranged along the long second- and third-floor corridors of the main building, plus a smaller cluster in the Sandpiper Cottage to the rear. The base category is a Cabana Room (lower floor, garden-facing); from there the property moves through Standard Garden Views, Premier Park Views, and the named Junior Suites (Pierce, Buchanan, Grant, Harrison) on the third floor that hold the property's signature high-ceilinged proportions. The Grand Suite, the Presidential Suite, and the Sea View Suite are the top categories with separate sitting areas and oceanward outlooks. Every room is finished in the property's restrained nautical palette (cream, navy, soft yellow), every room has a marble bathroom and a writing desk, and every room is non-smoking.
The Blue Pig Tavern, originally built in 1816 as the property's gentleman's gambling parlor, is the main dining room and serves three meals daily through to a late-night menu in the bar; the Brown Room is the property's defining cocktail lounge with a wood-paneled bar and a quiet jazz programme most evenings; the Boiler Room is the basement live-music venue with a calendar that runs from spring through Christmas. The Sea Spa offers Cape May's only full-service hotel spa treatment menu, the seasonal pool deck holds a heated pool and private cabanas, and the rocking-chair veranda that wraps the front of the building remains the village's most photographed public room. The property is three minutes' walk to the Atlantic and adjacent to the Washington Street Mall pedestrianized shopping street.
Congress Hall is the Cape May default for almost every category of traveler the village receives. The family booking works because the pool deck, the children's programme, and the connecting rooms in the Sandpiper Cottage handle the routine; the honeymoon and anniversary booking works because the Junior Suites and Grand Suite are genuinely large historic rooms with the marble-bathroom restoration intact; the holiday-season booking works because the property runs the most ambitious Christmas-decoration programme on the East Coast (the lobby tree alone is a destination). Booking three to four months ahead is standard for summer; six months is closer to reliable for the Junior Suites and the Christmas-week weekends.
An anniversary at Congress Hall is the Cape May default. The Pierce, Buchanan, Grant, and Harrison Junior Suites are the named celebration rooms; the Blue Pig Tavern handles the dinner; the Brown Room handles the late drink; and the rocking-chair veranda is where the morning coffee gets photographed against the long yellow Greek Revival façade. The Grand Suite is the milestone version with the separate sitting room.
Congress Hall is the Cape May family booking that actually has a family infrastructure. The seasonal pool deck holds the village's largest hotel pool with private cabanas; the children's programme runs through summer with sandcastle competitions and movie nights on the lawn; the Sandpiper Cottage holds the connecting-room categories the smaller Cape May inns can't offer; and the Washington Street Mall is the post-dinner ice-cream walk.
For a Cape May honeymoon, the Presidential Suite or the Sea View Suite at Congress Hall is the village's only true large-suite category with an oceanward outlook; the Sea Spa handles the couples-massage afternoon; the Blue Pig handles the romantic dinner; and the Boiler Room jazz programme handles the late evening. Book a December honeymoon for the property's Christmas-decoration programme.
200 Congress Place
Cape May, NJ 08204
United States
Cape May Historic District; 2.5 hours from Philadelphia; 3 hours from New York City
107 rooms and suites
From USD 246/night (shoulder season)
Summer high season runs USD 450-650/night
Christmas weeks book 6+ months out
Check-in: 4:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Founded 1816; oldest seaside resort in America
Restored 1995-2002 by Cape Resorts
Blue Pig Tavern (three meals daily)
Brown Room (cocktail lounge)
Boiler Room (live music)
Sea Spa (full-service)
Seasonal heated pool with cabanas
Rocking-chair veranda
3-min walk to Atlantic
Free valet parking and Wi-Fi
From USD 246/night. Summer weekends sell out three to four months ahead; the Christmas-week categories are the toughest single booking in Cape May (six months minimum).
Book This Hotel →The 1879 boutique alternative on Jackson Street, 24 adults-only rooms and the Ebbitt Room dining room. The intimate honeymoon pick.
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Three restored 1880s homes on Ocean Street, voted the best B&B in Cape May every year since 2007.