Chalfonte Hotel Reviews

great find can't believe I was never definitely will be back

We went here for the Sunday Buffet. We were able to sample a large variety of the food and I absolutely love the fried chicken. The hotel has lots of history and the the staff are very knowledgeable about the hotel. I will be staying the night in the future and will go back here for dinner.

Had a great time. The server was pleasant and very sociable. The chef showed the respect one would expect from a menu like this. The outside seating was also great. Thank you.

Room was $200.00, per night. No TV. , No Phone, no coffee maker in room. No temperature controls in room. Gaps around doors. And silver fish crawling on floor in bathroom. Big disappointment.

It's like being in a different time. The place is very special and well taking care in every detail, respecting the antique decor and ambiance. They have bar which is great.

My family has been staying ever since it opened in the 1800s, and it is a great tradition that we keep up every year! The people who manage it, Nancy and Dillon are very kind people and I have known Dillon since I was a baby and Nancy for a few years, but it has a very nice atmosphere!!!!!

The hotel rooms are very nice, especially the suite. Worth it to me to pay more to not share a bathroom. The staff is fantastic and the food is beyond amazing. Stay here and you will be very happy.

The room size was deceitful based on the picture, the air conditioning was mostly non-existent, the shower in my room didn't work and I had to use a hallway bath/shower that was filled with mini half used shampoo bottles, the only parking was where you could find it on the street, the barmaid could not make change when I ordered a drink and I had to wait for her to appear. I booked three nights and only stayed one.

Very charming and old school vibe. The only digs are spotty internet and AC that struggles to keep up in the middle of summer. The thermostat was set to 70 but it never got below 76 while we were there. It was a bit uncomfortable at night.

This place is full of historical charm!! The porch is awesome to relax and have a glass or two. We will most def be back!

This was our first stay in a hotel since the pandemic and we found it to be very safe and accommodating. Everyone was in masks and abided by the 6 foot distance. I did not find that the hotel was overcrowded or at capacity. The rooms were very clean! We loved our little porch and the extremely friendly staff. We hope to come back soon!

Terrible meal and terribly expensive for the quality. Home of the $39 fried chicken!

Very quaint Victorian hotel. Quiet and beautiful. The TV remote couldn't be found in the shared living room, so they offered us a key to another room that had a TV so we could watch in there. Very helpful and pleasant staff.

Rustic, cozy. Not for everyone, but for people who appreciate historical Cape May.

Fried chicken and the fried crabmeat were delicious

It's like a cute antique place and it's just super family friendly! Parking around the building is free for guests

Mixed views on this place. Charm and character. Old and musty.

It was end of season and we are in the middle of a Pandemic, so I will cut them a break. Great porch, great location, unique character and live music all make this a great place. The restaurant isn t worth trying; catering hall food.

Old, but with character. Maybe not for everyone, but it's my favorite

Atmosphere is priceless, food is wonderful staff great

We ate a delicious meal on the spacious and beautiful porch, then sat in the rocking chairs and listened to the live music ... Anita was at the bar with the perfect drink and it felt like we were family. A perfect way to end the weekend.

We ate outside on the huge wrap-around porch on a beautiful fall evening, listening to live music and eating a delicious dinner (fried chicken and crab cakes). Don't miss the Howard Street Ramble on Thursday nights!

Food great, service great. Seated at the time we had reservation.

Over 100 years old and beautiful. Friendly staff and guests.

Wonderful, historic hotel in the center of historical Cape May. Great southern style cooking at the Magnolia room restaurant in season. Rooms are comfortable and the staff and service is exceptional.

Close to the beach, Victorian style architecture, and excellent service. The only negative is the the WiFi is bad everywhere but the lobby.

Such great hospitality and can't beat the price and distance to the beach

The staff is amazing, they make you feel like you're at home. We didn't stay, but went for the yummy breakfast buffet twice on our trip. We can't recommend them enough!

Best place in cape may...the whole atmosphere is just incredible...great vibe...just booked for 4th of July weekend and cant wait to go back!!!!

I have been trying to get a cook book from them for over three years.thry always say it's coming in Friday and then they never call me.when I do call they acted surprised and take my name and say it's coming in friday.othet than the lying,it is a nice old hotel.Seemsvticalways have a crowd

It was a nice stay. The food was great and it's located right near the beach. My only complaint is that the staff wasn't around too much and there's no in room AC so it was really hot at night. Overall a good stay.

Stayed here for a wedding and everything was great! Great room and nice banquet area. Love the wraparound porch and tons of chairs. Close to the beach.

Room was clean and spacious, huge bathroom. Great location 5mins from the beach. Plenty of street parking.

Small and old, but people pay a lot of money for that apparently. Awesome bartenders, tho.

Beautiful room with good service. Great outdoor seating for lounging.

Loved this old , historic hotel from 1876. We stayed in the attached rooms, off season. The rooms were small , but nice. The bathrooms were smaller than a airplane bathroom. I would recommend paying a little more for the screened in porch.

The rooms are so small that at 6'4" I'm physically incapable of using the toilet with the door closed, and I was unable to shower properly. The lack of 24-hour front desk staff or a real phone number means I can't get the Wi-Fi password either so I'm posting this review from my phone. The location is gorgeous, but don't expect luxury accommodations or decent service (especially the the restaurant, where "yes, cream, like you said you'd bring twice already" produced a dirty look and no cream)

Crazy hot day but sitting on the porch with fresh lemonade and iced tea got me through it just fine!

Good location to both the beach and town center. Our room was bright and cheery with super comfortable beds. And enough space for all of us.
Love the old world charm. We re definitely coming back!

Tried to order dinner to go two days in a row and was told that we were too late and that they were out of fried chicken. Called at 10am this morning and was told that we had to call at 5pm. Called at 5pm and was rudely informed that we were too late and that the morning staff was wrong. Won t be trying again.

A quaint and wonderful place to go. I would recommend this place.

Restaurant food is subpar at best
Overpriced and small portions
We asked the hostess to try to seat us next to our family, another party of 4, who has a reservation at the same time. Instead of just saying I ll try my best she also rudely laughed at us. And then she ended up seating a party of 2 next of us at a table that could have seated 6 people

In the cottages the rooms are very small but unique and cozy. The rooms are very drafty bring heavy clothes and an extra blanket. There are nice little common rooms to sit in and drink coffee.

Lol I parked right outside of it as a place to park.... it was the closest parking space to the beach!

The hotel was decent but there was scarce parking and no TV in the room.

Had a great time at the bar. Live music and the bartender Sarah was amazing.

My husband and I stayed at the Chalfonte to celebrate his birthday, and it was a perfect escape. It was great coming here in the off season, it was a quiet, relaxing retreat from "real life". The Chalfonte is for you if you enjoy histortic, rustic hotels. It had all the charm of an old hotel with all the amenities of a new one.

We stayed in the Southern Quarters, which is the part of the hotel utilized in the winter time. Our room featured a queen bed and a full bath with walk in shower and a small soaking tub (only room for one person). The room was not huge but suited our needs just fine.

There was a TV in our room but not cable, which didn't make a difference to us, though there was free WiFi.

Only complaint was the water was not quite hot enough for my liking, but other than that our experience was wonderful. Will definitely be visiting again!

Nice old hotel. Built in 1876...dont expect to much

So enjoyed the ambiance of yesteryear! The ladies @ reception were very helpful & accommodating & my room was clean & quiet. It lacks modern conveniences, hence why I chose it...to experience its character & I wasn't disappointed!

We were in town for a wedding. It was November so clearly not peak season for a beach town. Upon booking, we we re told that we would be staying in the Southern Quarters . They needed 50% down right away and they told me the other half would not be charged until check in. The day before we were leaving, they charged my card for the other half. There is no parking!! You have to park on the street. No one to help with bags and in the southern quarters there is no front desk or ANYONE to greet you! You walk in and there s a key in a basket waiting for you. You find your own way to your room. I expected old charm and got an old dirty boarding house! When we got to our room, it was 100 degrees and I called the main number and she said she ll adjust the thermostat and I could just close the vent but the vent in the bathroom was broken so it was always on. The remote on the tv only half worked. The entire weekend, we saw no one!! Not a staff member, not a guest! No one! It was creepy and very uninviting. In the morning, we went down to the common kitchen for coffee and there was no milk or creamer. No coffee pot in the rooms. None of this was told to us. I certainly didn t expect 5 star accommodations but no ones money should be wasted here. It COULD be charming if they fixed up the place, cleaned it, and had someone to greet you or even acknowledge you! Also not a place for someone who has a hard time walking as there is many windy stairs.

The room was small, but serviceable, and generally clean. After we arrived we went to the beach for a couple of hours, and when we returned there were ants on the dresser and floor. We told the front desk and they took care of it. We only saw one more ant after that. There aren't a ton of amenities (no closet in our room, no breakfast included with the stay, no coffee in room or in the lobby) but you do get 2 beach chairs and an umbrella when you show your room key at Stager's. Overall, not a terrible value for the money, but not exactly luxurious either.

The room was comfortable and I just love the music scene there.I have stayed there several times over the years and I love the history of the place it's really my style.

A spectacular venue that you will remember for a long time.. Must visit,

Just went for drinks. Great prices, friendly bartender (Anita). Going back again!

Stayed just up the street from the Chalfonte this past week and we spent a lot of time at this awesome establishment! The bar is great with really friendly bartenders (Anita & Dylan), the fried chicken is the best I ve ever had, the brunch is really good, the porch is awesome, and the prices are super reasonable. Live music every night and a great location make this place a can t miss!

Lovely place, nice quiet porch and very historical.

Super cute and quaint as a historic landmark. Staff very nice. Great location to beach and shopping in town. Can walk or bike wherever you need to go.

Nostalgic porch and bar area, nightly music and great staff.

Another stellar evening enjoying music and drinks with friends. Attentive bartenders (yeah Anita!) and a venue that feels like my home

Was a little noisy thru the night from other ppl staying there. But staff was awesome food was great. Live entertainment was also great. Thanks guys!

I'm so sorry to do this but aside from the wonderful history this hotel has, the dining experience at the Magnolia Room was absolutely abysmal. Really not good. We heard about the famous fried chicken and that was okay (literally just okay) but everything else we ordered was terrible. And the prices were really very high for such horrible food. Again... I really hate to have given such a famous and historic place such a bad review but it truly was an awful experience.

Historic location and decor, close to water without the crowd or noise. Very enjoyable weekend.

Best home cooked meal in the Cape. They also stayed open and continue to remain open during the Corona ordeal with the same great service as always! We hope that their famous biscuits will be back soon.

Went for the Sunday night buffet. The food was okay, not special, but passable. The chocolate chip cookies were to die for. But, but, but, the price for said buffet, $29.95, was too much. The Inn is a piece of Cape May history and dining on the porch was enjoyable. So, overall, I'm glad we went and enjoyed ourselves. If you visit Cape May, check out the Chalifonte, even for an adult beverage.

Beautiful Hotel, all turn of the century decor. We did have a couple of issues with the room that were quickly addressed by management. Dylan (one of the owners), thank you for your quick response to our concerns. The restaurant was incredible, I mean how good can fried chicken be? Pretty darn good and some of the best I ever tasted. Plenty of parking on the street was available and a short 2 block walk to the beach. We will definitely be going back again.

Gorgeous old Victorian hotel. Beautiful grounds, quick walk to the beach. If you're looking for modern amenities you're in the wrong place, but if you're staying in Cape May then you know not to expect that anyway. One of the larger and nicer hotels in town.

When for Sunday dinner, staff was great and food was awesome.

very clean and nice. helpful staff and the dinner was great !

The food was not good at all and very overcooked. Also for the buffet style there was not enough food so people stood around waiting for food to come. The one redeeming thing was the wait staff, they were nkce and helpful.

The reservation system is despicable. NO notice of shared bath on website but charged $38 $ cxl fee when is shifted thru data. Receptionist (about 3 pm sat) basically told us to
Good luck on your staffing issues-another lost customer forever..get out while you can.

Stopped at the "King Eddie" for a couple of beers and Anita, the bartender, was very attentive and friendly, as always. You usually get to meet very nice people at the bar.

Such a charming hotel!! The staff is great to and very helpful about answering questions about the area. We also had the breakfast buffet in the morning. It was fresh and homemade. The eggs were farm fresh and not the mixed stuff you get and other breakfast buffets. Also, they have fresh homemade yogurt with lots of fruit and granola to choose from. Another great thing is your room comes with beach service so you don't have to worry about bringing your own chairs and umbrella for the beach. Overall great place to stay if you like old historical places.

Went there for a breakfest, it was super cool, they had an area called the secret garden.

Had a really nice dinner everything we ordered was delicious and they had an awesome band with live music definitely check it out if your in the area

Love the food love entire place aside my ggg grandfather Lycett owned original with col sawyer it burnt down sadly he didn't not partner with builder of current chalfonte 13 years ago were were privileged to meet miss Helen place is a delight great food attentive staff see you next summer

Went there for breakfast and it was perfect. Good fruit. Good bacon and eggs and biscuits. 10/10 would recommend

Was at the Chalfonte for a local jam session held in the hotel. We knew it would draw a crowd. Two rooms of which one was a bar. It was small. Instead of music that was playing all I could hear was loud talking. Pretending to be interested in a musical event these obnoxious, snooty people ruined the evening for those who wanted to hear the sounds of instruments.
The hotel seems nice otherwise. Not their fault for hosting. Hope the jam sounded good for someone.

Historic place with a fantastic buffet. Supposedly the best fried chicken in New Jersey. When we go to Cape May we usually focus on seafood, but many have raved about the fried chicken here. I'm make it a point next time we visit to try their fried chicken!

I had fun with my friends, recomended for a fun night out!!!

Got take out chicken entree with mashed potatoes and green beans. Chicken was good, extremely small portions for such a high price. Real small scoop of potatoes and undercooked green beans. The 2 inch piece of corn bread was stake and tasteless.

Food was not very good. Yuck! Very expensive. Dont recommend. There are much better restaurants in area.