Cape May, New Jersey
Historic Inns & Hotels in Cape May
Sixteen hotels and B&Bs inside the Cape May National Historic Landmark district, from Congress Hall on the beach to the Chalfonte and the Victorian houses of Columbia Avenue.
The short answer
Every inn here is inside the Cape May National Historic Landmark district, so choose by setting. On Beach Avenue, Congress Hall, rebuilt in brick in 1879 on the site of Thomas Hughes’s 1816 boarding house, and The Inn of Cape May face the ocean. For a Victorian hotel, The Chalfonte opened in 1876, stood beyond the reach of the 1878 fire and calls itself the city’s oldest original hotel. The B&Bs line the streets around the Washington Street Mall and Columbia Avenue: The Mainstay Inn is in an 1872 gentlemen’s gambling club, and The Queen Victoria spans three Victorian buildings. In summer and early fall, expect two- or three-night minimums on weekends.
Our top picks
Best overall
The Chalfonte Hotel
Built 1876
Col. Henry Sawyer's 1876 boarding house, which the hotel calls Cape May's oldest original hotel; 65 rooms, no elevator and street parking…
Oldest
The Southern Mansion
Built c. 1860
George Allen's Italianate mansion on about 1.5 acres of gardens in Cape May's historic district, now a 24-room inn.
Most haunted
Hotel Macomber
Built c. 1914
Built as the Stockton Villa at Beach Avenue and Howard Street; the hotel says it was once the largest frame structure east…
Best B&B
The Mainstay Inn
Built 1872
Jackson's Clubhouse, Stephen Decatur Button's 1872 gambling club, opened as a B&B in 1977; six of its 12 rooms are in an…
Grand hotel
Congress Hall
Built 1879
Rebuilt in brick in 1879 after the 1878 fire, on the site of Thomas Hughes's 1816 boarding house; Benjamin Harrison's summer White…
Compare them side by side
| Inn | Area | Built | Rooms | Type | Price | Haunted | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Southern Mansion | Howard Street to Physick Estate | c. 1860 | 24 | B&B | – | Yes | Rates |
| The Mason Cottage | Washington Street Mall | 1871 | – | B&B | – | Rates | |
| The Mainstay Inn | Washington Street Mall | 1872 | 12 | B&B | – | Rates | |
| The Bacchus Inn | Howard Street to Physick Estate | 1872 | 9 | B&B | – | Rates | |
| The Chalfonte Hotel | Howard Street to Physick Estate | 1876 | 65 | Inn | – | Yes | Rates |
| Congress Hall | Beachfront | 1879 | – | Grand hotel | – | Yes | Rates |
| The Virginia Hotel | Washington Street Mall | 1879 | 24 | Boutique hotel | – | Rates | |
| The Queen Victoria | Washington Street Mall | 1881 | – | B&B | – | Yes | Rates |
| Carroll Villa Hotel | Washington Street Mall | 1882 | 19 | Inn | – | Rates | |
| The Mooring | Howard Street to Physick Estate | 1882 | 10 | B&B | – | Rates | |
| The Bedford Inn | Howard Street to Physick Estate | 1883 | 10 | B&B | – | Yes | Rates |
| Inn at the Park | Howard Street to Physick Estate | 1893 | 6 | B&B | – | Rates | |
| The Inn of Cape May | Beachfront | 1894 | 51 | Inn | – | Yes | Rates |
| The Dormer House | Howard Street to Physick Estate | 1899 | 12 | B&B | – | Rates | |
| Peter Shields Inn | Beachfront | 1907 | 9 | B&B | – | Yes | Rates |
| Hotel Macomber | Beachfront | c. 1914 | – | Inn | – | Yes | Rates |
Price is a typical nightly rate: $ under $200, $$ $200–349, $$$ $350–549, $$$$ $550+. Rates vary by season; check the inn for exact prices.
Where they are
The neighborhoods
Where to stay, by area
Beach Avenue and the Promenade
Beach Avenue runs along the Promenade, the seawall walkway the City built after the 1962 Ash Wednesday storm wrecked the old boardwalk, with lifeguarded beaches on one side and Convention Hall directly on the sand. Congress Hall, The Inn of Cape May and Hotel Macomber face it, and Peter Shields Inn stands at the quieter east end. Since 2024, about two miles of ADA beach mats have run from Madison Avenue to the Cove.
Washington Street Mall and Jackson Street
The Washington Street Mall, a pedestrian street since 1971, is the shopping and dining spine, and Cape May MAC’s walking tours start at its Information Booth. Jackson Street, leveled by the Great Fire of 1878 and rebuilt over the next decade, holds The Virginia Hotel and Carroll Villa Hotel, each half a block from the beach. Around Ocean Street and Columbia Avenue are The Queen Victoria, The Mainstay Inn and The Mason Cottage, about a block from the sand.
Howard Street to the Physick Estate
East of Ocean Street the district turns quieter and more residential, and most side streets have no meters. The Chalfonte fills most of a block on Howard Street, two blocks from the beach; The Dormer House and The Bacchus Inn are nearby on Columbia Avenue, and The Mooring and The Bedford Inn on Stockton Avenue. Up Washington Street, The Southern Mansion sits in about 1.5 acres of gardens, and Inn at the Park is five houses from the Emlen Physick Estate, Cape May’s only Victorian house museum.
The inns
Built c. 1860 · Italianate · Howard Street to Physick Estate · B&B
The Southern Mansion
Why stay George Allen's Italianate mansion on about 1.5 acres of gardens in Cape May's historic district, now a 24-room inn.
The ghost story Cape May Magazine reports that the ghost of Esther Mercur, George Allen's niece, is said to still haunt the mansion and to enjoy its parties, and that guests may notice her strong perfume in the hallways; the inn's own blog calls her a 'happy ghost'.
Good to know Breakfast: included · Parking: on-site free
Built 1871 · Second Empire · Washington Street Mall · B&B
The Mason Cottage
Why stay A Second Empire house finished in 1871 for Philadelphia lawyer Edward Warne, a guesthouse since the Mason family bought it in 1940.
Good to know Breakfast: included
Built 1872 · Washington Street Mall · B&B
The Mainstay Inn
Why stay Jackson's Clubhouse, Stephen Decatur Button's 1872 gambling club, opened as a B&B in 1977; six of its 12 rooms are in an 1870 cottage.
Good to know Breakfast: included
Built 1872 · Howard Street to Physick Estate · B&B
The Bacchus Inn
Why stay Peter McCollum built it in 1872 as a summer cottage for a Philadelphia milliner; a nine-room B&B open spring through fall.
Good to know Breakfast: included · Parking: on-site free · No pets
Built 1876 · Howard Street to Physick Estate · Inn
The Chalfonte Hotel
Why stay Col. Henry Sawyer's 1876 boarding house, which the hotel calls Cape May's oldest original hotel; 65 rooms, no elevator and street parking only.
The ghost story On Cape May MAC's Ghosts of Cape May trolley tour, which draws on psychic medium Craig McManus's research, guides tell visitors that the Chalfonte is haunted by Mr. Johnson, the hotel's handyman, among others (Cape May Magazine, Fall 2022).
Good to know Parking: street · No elevator · No pets
Built 1879 · Beachfront · Grand hotel
Congress Hall
Why stay Rebuilt in brick in 1879 after the 1878 fire, on the site of Thomas Hughes's 1816 boarding house; Benjamin Harrison's summer White House.
The ghost story Ghost City Tours, which runs ghost walks in Cape May, relates that guests describe a woman in old-fashioned dress who walks away from them down the upstairs hallways and vanishes at a corner, and that staff report footsteps and voices from empty rooms and floors.
Good to know Breakfast: available · Parking: on-site free
Built 1879 · Washington Street Mall · Boutique hotel
The Virginia Hotel
Why stay Opened in 1879 as the Ebbitt House and renamed in the early 1890s: 24 adults-only rooms on Jackson Street, with the Ebbitt Room restaurant.
Good to know Adults only
Built 1881 · Washington Street Mall · B&B
The Queen Victoria
Why stay A B&B in three Victorian buildings at Ocean Street and Columbia Avenue, led by the 1881–82 Douglas Gregory House.
The ghost story In a Cape May Magazine ghost walk, the writer reports that two former 'ladies of the evening' still haunt the Queen Victoria's House of Royals building across the street, mingling with guests on its top floor.
Good to know Breakfast: included · Parking: street
Built 1882 · Italianate · Washington Street Mall · Inn
Carroll Villa Hotel
Why stay Built in 1882 half a block from the beach and housing guests ever since, the hotel says; 19 rooms, the Mad Batter Restaurant, no elevator.
Good to know No elevator
Built 1882 · Howard Street to Physick Estate · B&B
The Mooring
Why stay Built in 1882 as a guest house, not a private home, with wide halls and 12-foot ceilings; it calls itself Cape May Island's original guest house.
Good to know Breakfast: included
Built 1883 · Howard Street to Physick Estate · B&B
The Bedford Inn
Why stay An 1883 Victorian a block from the beach, restored as a ten-room B&B with a full buffet breakfast; sister to The Queen Victoria.
The ghost story Cape May Magazine reports that the inn has its own ghost, said to be a man searching for the wife he tragically lost; the innkeeper says she has seen lights and TVs switch on and off, and medium Craig McManus says he has sensed spirits there.
Good to know Breakfast: included · No pets
Built 1893 · Queen Anne · Howard Street to Physick Estate · B&B
Inn at the Park
Why stay Henry Walker Hand's 1893 Queen Anne house with an octagonal tower; 3 of its 6 rooms are in the house and 3 in converted stables.
Good to know No pets
Built 1894 · Beachfront · Inn
The Inn of Cape May
Why stay William H. Church's mansard-roofed Colonial Hotel at Beach Avenue and Ocean Street; all 51 rooms were refurbished after a 2022 sale.
The ghost story Cape May Magazine's ghost columnist calls the inn one of his favorite haunts and reports that its fourth and fifth floors are the most active. Guests report a 'Lady in Blue', said to be a former housekeeper who still checks on the rooms.
Built 1899 · Colonial Revival · Howard Street to Physick Estate · B&B
The Dormer House
Why stay Marble dealer John Jacoby's 1899 Colonial Revival summer house, now a B&B with free parking; ten of its 12 rooms are in the main house.
Good to know Breakfast: included · Parking: on-site free · No elevator
Built 1907 · Georgian Revival · Beachfront · B&B
Peter Shields Inn
Why stay Developer Peter Shields's 1907 Georgian Revival summer house at the east end of Beach Avenue: nine rooms and a restaurant facing the Atlantic.
The ghost story Psychic medium Craig McManus, writing in Cape May Magazine, reports that the inn is haunted by Earle Shields, the builder's 15-year-old son, who died in a 1907 hunting accident and is said to wait for his father's return.
Good to know Breakfast: included
Built c. 1914 · Beachfront · Inn
Hotel Macomber
Why stay Built as the Stockton Villa at Beach Avenue and Howard Street; the hotel says it was once the largest frame structure east of the Mississippi.
The ghost story Cape May ghost-tour guides and Cape May Magazine writers report that Room 10 is revisited by a widow who stayed there with her steamer trunk every summer in the 1940s; heavy furniture or a trunk is said to be heard moving across the room at night. Staff stories also describe a woman in a shabby waitress uniform in the Union Park dining room.
Good to know Breakfast: available · Parking: on-site free · No elevator · No pets
No inns match that filter.
Before you book
Planning your stay
Getting around
Cape May is at the south end of the Garden State Parkway: Exit 0 leads onto Route 109 and Lafayette Street, about 1.5 to 2 hours from Philadelphia. NJ Transit buses end at the Welcome Center on Lafayette Street, and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry crosses Delaware Bay to Lewes, Delaware, in about 85 minutes year-round. In town the district is flat and walkable; bikes are allowed on the Promenade only from 4 to 10 a.m. between May 16 and September 14, and the City’s free shuttle runs from 4 to 10 p.m., daily in summer and on weekends in spring, fall and the holiday season.
Parking
City meters start April 1. The Yellow zone around the Mall charges $3 an hour and the Red zone on central Beach Avenue $2, both 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. through December 31; the other zones charge $2 an hour through October 31, and most residential streets east of Ocean Street are unmetered. Some inns say meters stop on November 1, but the City keeps the central zones running through December. Free parking is at Cape May Elementary School (Lafayette Street and Madison Avenue) on school-year weekends and daily in summer, with no overnight parking. Congress Hall, Hotel Macomber, The Dormer House and The Southern Mansion park guests on site, The Virginia Hotel uses Congress Hall’s lot, and The Chalfonte and The Mason Cottage rely on the street.
When to go
Summer is high season: City beach tags are required from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day (May 29 to September 6 in 2027), and the inns’ strictest minimum stays run from mid-June to mid-October. Fall is the big shoulder season: in 2026 Cape May MAC’s Victorian Weekend ran October 9 to 12 and its Halloween Happenings filled October, and the Cape May Hawkwatch counts migrating raptors from September through November. The Exit Zero Jazz Festival returns May 14 to 16, 2027, and at Christmas MAC runs Candlelight House Tours on December 5, 12 and 19, 2026.
Accessibility
Most inns are Victorian walk-ups: Hotel Macomber has no elevator and 20 steps between floors, The Virginia Hotel requires stairs, and Carroll Villa, The Chalfonte and The Dormer House have no elevator either. Congress Hall’s elevator serves all floors of the main hotel and it has accessible rooms, and The Inn of Cape May has a historic elevator that may not fit every mobility device. The City lends 12 beach wheelchairs and has laid about two miles of ADA beach mats, and cars with a disability placard or plate pay no meter fees for up to 24 hours.
Before you book
Expect minimum stays: The Queen Victoria and The Bedford Inn require three weekend nights from mid-June to mid-October, The Mooring three on summer weekends from July to September, and The Mainstay Inn two weekend nights. Several inns close for winter: Hotel Macomber runs mid-April to mid-December, The Mainstay Inn late March to early January and The Bacchus Inn spring through fall, while The Chalfonte is seasonal and doesn’t post its dates. Age rules vary: The Virginia Hotel is adults-only, Hotel Macomber takes guests 16 and up, and The Chalfonte, The Inn of Cape May and The Bacchus Inn require the person booking to be 21.
Questions travelers ask
What is the oldest hotel in Cape May?
Congress Hall has the oldest roots: Thomas H. Hughes opened a boarding house on the site in 1816 and renamed it Congress Hall in 1828, but fire destroyed the earlier buildings, and the brick hotel guests stay in today went up in 1879. The Chalfonte, opened in 1876 beyond the reach of the 1878 fire, calls itself Cape May’s oldest original hotel. The oldest building among the inns we list is The Southern Mansion, the George Allen house of about 1860.
What is the most haunted hotel in Cape May?
There’s no official ranking, and these are stories, not documented fact. Hotel Macomber is the most written about: ghost-tour guides and Cape May Magazine writers tell of a widow who stayed in Room 10 with her steamer trunk every summer and is said to keep coming back. Stories also attach to The Inn of Cape May’s fourth and fifth floors, The Southern Mansion, The Queen Victoria’s House of Royals, Peter Shields Inn, Congress Hall’s upstairs hallways, The Chalfonte and The Bedford Inn, and Cape May MAC runs a Ghosts of Cape May trolley tour.
Should I stay on the beach or in the historic district?
You don’t have to choose: the whole city is the Cape May Historic District (National Register 1970, National Historic Landmark 1976), and every inn we list is inside it. Congress Hall, The Inn of Cape May, Hotel Macomber and Peter Shields Inn face the ocean on Beach Avenue; the inns around the Mall are half a block to a block and a half from the sand, and those toward the Physick Estate are quieter, up to a ten-minute walk away. In summer every beach needs a City beach tag.
Where do you park in Cape May?
City meters run from April 1 at $1 to $3 an hour, through December 31 around the Mall and on central Beach Avenue and through October 31 in the other street zones; residential streets east of Ocean Street, such as Columbia and Stockton avenues, are unmetered. Free parking is at Cape May Elementary School on school-year weekends and daily in summer, with no overnight parking. Congress Hall, The Virginia Hotel, The Inn of Cape May, Hotel Macomber, The Dormer House and The Southern Mansion provide guest parking.
Does Cape May have historic bed and breakfasts?
Yes: the City credits entrepreneurs who restored Victorian houses as B&Bs with Cape May’s late-20th-century revival. The Mainstay Inn opened in 1977 in Jackson’s Clubhouse, an 1872 gambling club; others include The Mason Cottage (1871), The Bacchus Inn (1872), The Queen Victoria (1881–82), The Mooring (1882), The Bedford Inn (1883), Inn at the Park (1893), The Dormer House (1899) and Peter Shields Inn (1907).
Keep exploring
How we chose these inns
Every place on this page is at least 50 years old, holds a credential we can check (National Register listing, a listed historic district, landmark status, or Historic Hotels of America membership), and takes bookings today. We verify each one against primary sources before it goes on the list, and last checked this list in October 2026. Read our criteria.
Planning details on this page (parking, transport, seasons and events) come from: capemaycity.com, capemaymac.org, cmlf.com, content.njtransit.com, capemay.com, caperesorts.com, en.wikipedia.org, capemaymag.com, njaudubon.org, exitzerojazzfestival.com, newjerseystage.com, ghostcitytours.com, southernmansion.com, chalfonte.com, innofcapemay.com, queenvictoria.com, mainstayinn.com, carrollvilla.com, themasoncottage.com, inn.petershieldsinn.com, hotelmacomber.com, themooring.com, dormerhouse.com, bedfordinn.com, bacchusinn.com, innattheparknj.com.
Sources (43)
- The Southern Mansion: www.southernmansion.com
- Hotel Macomber: mapservices.nps.gov
- The Southern Mansion: www.capemay.com
- The Mainstay Inn: en.wikipedia.org
- The Southern Mansion: commons.wikimedia.org
- The Mason Cottage: www.themasoncottage.com
- The Mainstay Inn: www.mainstayinn.com
- The Mainstay Inn: commons.wikimedia.org
- The Bacchus Inn: bacchusinn.com
- The Bacchus Inn: bacchusinn.com
- The Bacchus Inn: commons.wikimedia.org
- The Chalfonte Hotel: en.wikipedia.org
- The Chalfonte Hotel: capemaymag.com
- The Chalfonte Hotel: www.chalfonte.com
- Congress Hall: en.wikipedia.org
- Congress Hall: ghostcitytours.com
- Congress Hall: www.caperesorts.com
- The Virginia Hotel: www.caperesorts.com
- The Virginia Hotel: commons.wikimedia.org
- The Queen Victoria: commons.wikimedia.org
- The Inn of Cape May: www.capemay.com
- The Mooring: www.capemay.com
- The Queen Victoria: www.capemay.com
- The Queen Victoria: queenvictoria.com
- Carroll Villa Hotel: www.carrollvilla.com
- The Inn of Cape May: www.capemay.com
- The Mooring: www.themooring.com
- The Bedford Inn: www.bedfordinn.com
- The Bedford Inn: capemaymag.com
- The Bedford Inn: queenvictoria.com
- Inn at the Park: www.capemaymag.com
- Inn at the Park: innattheparknj.com
- The Inn of Cape May: www.capemay.com
- The Inn of Cape May: innofcapemay.com
- The Dormer House: www.dormerhouse.com
- The Dormer House: commons.wikimedia.org
- Peter Shields Inn: inn.petershieldsinn.com
- Peter Shields Inn: www.capemay.com
- Peter Shields Inn: www.capemay.com
- Peter Shields Inn: www.capemay.com
- Hotel Macomber: www.capemay.com
- Hotel Macomber: hotelmacomber.com
- Hotel Macomber: www.capemay.com
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