Eighty-two oceanfront rooms at the foot of Decatur Street, every single room with a direct Atlantic view, the rooftop bar and pool at the head of the Washington Street Mall, the most centrally located beach hotel on the Cape May strand.
"The Marquis is the answer when the brief is 'oceanfront with the boardwalk at the door and the Washington Street Mall two minutes behind.' Every room faces the Atlantic, and the rooftop pool is the centre of Cape May's after-five social geography in July."
The Marquis de Lafayette occupies the block bounded by Beach, Decatur, and Perry Avenues at the most central point on the Cape May strand, directly facing the Atlantic where Decatur Street meets the boardwalk and ending the pedestrian sightline north up the Washington Street Mall. The current building is a purpose-built mid-twentieth-century oceanfront hotel that replaced an earlier 1840s Marquis de Lafayette of the same name (a casualty of one of the Cape May fires); the present property opened in the 1950s, has been continuously updated since, and was most recently the subject of a full room-by-room renovation completed through 2023 that refreshed every bathroom, every soft furnishing, and the public rooms across the lobby, dining room, and rooftop pool deck.
There are eighty-two rooms across four guest floors and a rooftop level. The defining feature of the property is that every single room faces the ocean; there are no inland or partial-view categories. Room categories are organised by floor (the higher floors carry the longer horizon view and a small premium), by configuration (King, Double Queen, Family Suite with sleeper sofa), and by balcony status (a subset of rooms on the upper floors have private oceanfront balconies large enough for two chairs and a small table). Every room is air-conditioned, has free WiFi, premium linens, a refrigerator, microwave, in-room safe, and the harbour-quality blackout curtains that the East Coast salt air demands.
The rooftop deck is the property's most-talked-about feature and one of the genuine after-hours destinations on the Cape May summer calendar. The pool is open Memorial Day through September with full bar service; the deck wraps around the building's south, west, and east elevations for a 270-degree sightline across the Cape May strand and the Atlantic; the bar is open to non-guests subject to capacity and runs a curated cocktail programme through the summer season. The main-floor restaurant (Lafayette Beach Bar) is the casual all-day option; the room service operation runs from breakfast through ten PM. The hotel also operates a small seasonal outdoor pool and hot tub at ground level for guests who prefer the quieter option.
The position is, simply, the Marquis's defining proposition. The hotel sits at the foot of Decatur Street, the central pedestrian axis from the Washington Street Mall to the boardwalk; from the front door it is twenty paces across Beach Avenue to the boardwalk and the beach, three minutes inland to the Mall, four minutes east to the Inn of Cape May, and five minutes west to Congress Hall. No other Cape May oceanfront hotel has a comparable hub position, and the Marquis is the right answer for any guest who wants to be in the centre of the strand action rather than at either end.
For Cape May families who want the oceanfront and don't need the full kitchenette and ballroom programme of the Grand, the Marquis is the right scale. The Family Suites with sleeper sofa configurations sleep four; the ground-floor pool and the rooftop pool divide the children and the adults into different gravities; the boardwalk is across the street and the Washington Street Mall (with ice cream, fudge, the toy shop, and the candy store) is three minutes behind the hotel.
A Cape May anniversary booking at the Marquis is specifically the upper-floor King with private oceanfront balcony, the rooftop deck for the first night's sunset, and the easy walk to either the Ebbitt Room (at the Virginia) or the Boiler Room (at the Grand) for dinner. The hotel will set up sparkling wine on the balcony in advance if asked at the time of booking.
The Marquis is the standard Cape May bachelor/bachelorette weekend address because the rooftop pool is the after-hours destination, the block of upper-floor rooms can be booked together, and the Washington Street Mall position puts the cluster of summer bars within a five-minute walk back to the hotel. The hotel will handle group breakfast at Lafayette Beach Bar on the morning the brunch service is at capacity elsewhere.
501 Beach Avenue
Cape May, NJ 08204
United States
Foot of Decatur Street; head of Washington Street Mall; centre of strand; two minutes to boardwalk
82 oceanfront rooms (no non-ocean rooms)
Standard King from $189/night
Double Queen from $229/night
Balcony rooms from $319/night
Family Suites from $389/night
Check-in: 4:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Open year-round
Full property renovation through 2023
Every room oceanfront
Rooftop pool and bar (seasonal)
Ground-floor pool and hot tub
Lafayette Beach Bar restaurant
Free WiFi throughout
Pet-friendly (select rooms)
Beach cabanas and umbrellas
From $189/night. Balcony rooms and Family Suites book three to four months ahead for summer weekends; Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day weekends often gone six months out.
Book This Hotel →The 1816 grand hotel facing the ocean, the founding piece of Cape May, fully restored after the 1995 closure.
The 1894 Second Empire oceanfront hotel at the foot of Ocean Street, the city's most photographed facade.
The 163-room oceanfront resort at the western anchor of Beach Avenue, the city's largest beach hotel.