An 1879 landmark restored in 1986 to a 24-room adults-only boutique, the Ebbitt Room as the village's most consistent dining address, half a block from the Atlantic.
"The Virginia is Cape May's only adults-only boutique, twenty-four rooms in a restored 1879 façade with the village's best dining room (the Ebbitt) on the ground floor; if Congress Hall is the resort, the Virginia is the small luxury inn."
The Virginia Hotel opened in 1879 as one of the new wave of small Cape May summer hotels that filled in the residential streets behind the Stockton (the original boarding-house behemoth, demolished by hurricane in 1944) and the older Congress Hall. The Jackson Street parcel sits half a block from the Atlantic and one block from the Washington Street Mall, the pedestrianized shopping street that holds the village's main retail and ice-cream-and-cafe trade. The hotel survived the 1878 Cape May fire that destroyed Congress Hall's predecessor and most of the surrounding district; it was substantially restored in 1986 and again under the Cape Resorts ownership in the 2000s, and the four small clapboard cottages along Jackson Street are now part of the property's accommodation roster.
The 24 rooms in the main building are arranged across the second and third floors, with the Ebbitt Room dining room, the Lobby Bar, and the small breakfast parlor occupying the ground floor. The base category is a Standard King; from there the property moves through Deluxe Queen, Deluxe King with a sitting area, and the Premier King categories that include the Jackson Street balcony rooms with the half-block ocean view. Every room is finished in the property's restrained palette of cream and pale ocean blue, every room has a marble bathroom with bathrobes and complimentary toiletries, and every room is equipped with a flat-screen, a refrigerator, and a safe. The four restored Jackson Street cottages alongside the main building add another six rooms with their own private patios and a slightly more residential register. The property is adults-only (no guests under 18), which is unusual for the Cape May market and the principal reason couples book the Virginia over Congress Hall.
The Ebbitt Room is the property's defining public room. The dining room runs an American seasonal menu under a kitchen that has held one of the most consistent reputations in Cape May for the last two decades; the wine list is one of the most ambitious on the Jersey shore; and outside reservations from non-residents are the property's main daily floor traffic. The Lobby Bar at the front of the building (small, wood-paneled, intimate) is one of the better cocktail rooms in the village, and the complimentary continental breakfast (pastries, fruit, eggs to order, coffee) is served in the morning parlor. The property is half a block from the Atlantic and one block from the Carney's Point Promenade; the Promenade beach chairs and umbrellas are complimentary to in-house guests.
The Virginia Hotel is the small luxury inn version of the Cape May trade. Where Congress Hall is the resort with the pool deck and the family programme, the Virginia is the twenty-four-room boutique with the adults-only floor, the consistently strong restaurant on the ground floor, and the small front-desk team that handles the same guests' return bookings year after year. Honeymoons, anniversaries, and proposals are the property's core demographic; the Premier King with the Jackson Street balcony is the consensus celebration room; and the Ebbitt Room dinner is the village's most reliable single special-occasion meal. Three to four months' advance booking is standard for summer weekends and the Christmas weeks.
A Virginia Hotel honeymoon works because the adults-only policy keeps the property quiet, the Premier King balcony rooms on Jackson Street face the half-block ocean view, the Ebbitt Room handles the dinner without leaving the building, and the complimentary breakfast in the morning parlor closes the routine. Book the Premier King for the balcony; book the dining room six weeks ahead.
The Virginia is the Cape May anniversary booking for couples who want a small inn rather than a full resort. The Deluxe King category with the sitting area handles a quiet milestone; the Lobby Bar handles the late drink; the Ebbitt Room handles the dinner; and the village walk to the Washington Street Mall and the Carpenter Lane shops is the post-breakfast routine.
For a Cape May proposal, the Virginia is the small-inn alternative to Congress Hall. The Premier King balcony rooms at sunset, the Ebbitt Room dining room with the kitchen briefed in advance, the Lobby Bar for the post-yes drink: the property has handled this brief many times and the front-of-house team is more discreet than the larger resort's. The four Jackson Street cottages are the privacy maximizer if the moment needs a separate entrance.
25 Jackson Street
Cape May, NJ 08204
United States
Jackson Street Historic District; half a block from Atlantic; 2.5 hours from Philadelphia
24 rooms in main building + cottages on Jackson Street
From USD 203/night (shoulder season)
Summer high season runs USD 425-575/night
Adults-only (no guests under 18)
Check-in: 4:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Built 1879; restored 1986 and 2000s
Adults-only boutique
The Ebbitt Room (American seasonal)
Lobby Bar (cocktails)
Complimentary continental breakfast
Marble bathrooms with bathrobes
Complimentary valet parking
Free Wi-Fi
Beach chairs and umbrellas included
Half-block walk to Atlantic
From USD 203/night. Twenty-four rooms means the property sells out summer weekends three to four months ahead; the Christmas weeks and Mother's Day weekend are the toughest single windows.
Book This Hotel →The 1816 oldest seaside resort in America, 107 rooms, the long yellow façade and the pool deck. The Virginia's larger sister property under Cape Resorts.
Three restored 1880s homes and an 1876 gambling parlor on Ocean Street, the village's most awarded bed and breakfast.
The 1872 Stephen Decatur Button Italianate, originally a gentleman's gambling clubhouse, now a twelve-room bed and breakfast on Columbia Avenue.