Congress Hall

Beautiful, historic resort in a central location with high-class dining and entertainment, but offering very noisy rooms in the South Wing, facing an inner court and loud mechanical equipment, not worth the high price. Offer such rooms at a discount and be more accommodating to first-time visitors!

Came here to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Went all out with presidential suite. So let me start with the positives. The place has lots of history and tradition. It is located near the beach and had umbrella, beach chair and lunch service on the beach. It has several restaurants on premises. Also located in the middle of Cape May so you can walk everywhere and you really don’t need your car. OK now the negatives. It’s pretty expensive. The presidential suite cost me about $9k for 5 nights. Room was located above the delivery dock as well as the outside bar. So if you are looking for quiet this is not the place.The room was incredibly noisy. To make it even more noisy the maintenance crew started cleaning and power washing between 6 and 7 am. When they moved the outside furniture the trollies sounded like a machine gun over the pavement. This is a kids place too. LOTS of kids which is fine and not a negative, but you should know this in case you are looking for a quiet getaway. I was surprised at the room maintenance was sub par. We found the previous occupants contact lenses on the bathroom sink and floor. Turn down service goes unsupervised and dirty glasses were left, coffee pods not refilled and garbage not emptied. I mentioned these shortfalls to the front desk. Got an apology and $200 credit????? Really ??? After spending just under $2k a night for :”the best room” the hotel has to offer. Little insulting but given the location of the room and noise level. It shouldn’t have cost more than $600 a night. Lastly I was promised a call from the general manager which never occurred. Don’t get me wrong the hotel is nice, but do your research of where your room is located and what is above and below your room. So would I come back??? Honestly I’d have to say “maybe”. I’ll probably do some research to see what else is offered out there on the high end, near the beach and better value/service.

I will preface this by saying our group of 9 former college friends stayed here last summer for a girls weekend (8-9 in total both trips) and it was wonderful because all of us had lovely rooms and a great time. Last year my friend and I had a room at the end of the hall on the 2nd floor facing the town with a slight view of the ocean. It was very quiet and lovely. That was definitely not the case this June 2025 all because our room was Room #213. It is directly over the main entrance to the hotel and the first night was extremely noisy until 2 am with many people out front having fun and then the following morning at 7 am hotel staff began hosing the front entrance below our room which eliminated any chance to make up for the lack of sleep. The large front doors are also directly below the room as well as the valet welcoming all arriving guests so we also heard those as well. The next day I explained this to the courteous young lady at the front desk and asked to talk with the manager and was told "he was not available." She explained that a night manager is assigned to make sure guests and visitors comply with hotel "quiet time after 11 pm" but told her that he/she definitely did not the night enforce this the night before. As far as the hosing at 7 am she said that hotel staff are not supposed to start hosing until 9 am, again told her that was not the case. She indicated she would speak to the "unavailable" manager. She also said there are earplugs in the nightstand. (There are but seriously?!) As background we were paying a rate of $976 with tax per night. After not hearing back I stopped by the front desk later that day and the same front desk manager said she had spoken to the mysterious hotel manager (isn't this HIS JOB?) and he would reduce our total bill by $100. Just wow. No appearance, apology or assurance that our second night would be quiet. When we checked out on Sunday the $100 credit had not been applied to our bill until I asked about it and the front desk young man said "Oh right I see that" and only then applied it. I have stayed at resorts and hotels all over the world and never experienced anything remotely like this and have never complained to a hotel during or after a stay and NEVER written a negative review but this hotel's unprofessionalism by it's manager and his response has warranted this. Clearly, and as stated to the Front Desk young lady as well as the Concierge, Congress Hall should not offer Room #213 at the standard rate but a reduced rate AND clear disclosure the room is situated over the front entrance of the entire hotel to account for the noise. (2 am partiers leaving, waking to 7 am hosing of the front entrance that sounds like they're in the room, listening to all hotel guests arriving by car dealing with valet staff and wedding party pictures directly below the room) Hugely disappointing and super undignified at such an otherwise beautiful property. Unsurprisingly, our group of 9 college friends will not be returning. Big mistake Congress Hall Manager. One final note, on Saturday the day I complained, I googled the Congress Hall reviews to see if this room had been a recipient of other complaints and sure enough there were other Trip Advisor complaints about Room #213 and guests cutting their trips short due to noise, so the hotel management is well aware of this issue but still charges the same rate as all of the other rooms. Really low brow.

Comfortable beds,very clean. Beautiful grounds. Accommodating staff. Valet parking. Close to everything. Blue Pig restaurant also a treat. Nightly music in the Brown Room Pub. Enjoy! Well worth the money. Lots of nick and crannies with comfortable chairs to relax with a good book.

This was my first stay at Congress Hall, won't be my last. Absolutely loved everything about this historic hotel. It's a must see resort if you're traveling to Cape May. Beautiful property to rest and relax. Favorite spot is the Brown Room bar and lounge. Terrific location. Shops and restaurants are walking distance from this hotel.