We've been coming to the Chalfante for years and it always meets our expectations. You can bring the whole family and not worry about sandy feet on polished floors or wet bathing suits on showy Victorian furniture. Another great benefit, if you're travelling with teenagers, is no worries about them fighting about who's hogging the bathroom; there are multiple facilities in the hall. Probably the best feature of the Chalfante is the food. Getting a table at a restaurant in Cape May for a large family can be difficult and the waits can be long and by the time you get seated, the younger ones may be cranky and tired. How fun is that? After doing the restaurant thing when staying at other hotels without meal plans for a couple of summers, we discovered the peace and tranquility of eating at the Chalfante. They'll take the little ones off your hands so you can have an adult conversation. Older children can leave the table when they get bored and go play on the porch or the game room/ TV room in complete safety. Teens can head off to the movies, the concrete boardwalk, or the pedestrian mall. It's all walkable but far enough to offer quiet from the bustling crowds and traffic. On weekends, the porch and hallways can be noisy with the hotel guests walking around and talking and the snap of screen doors. But there are serendipitous sounds as well: This weekend a group of Irish musicians staying at the hotel took out their fiddles and flutes and entertained us on the porch. So if you want soundproof rooms, air conditioning, stuffy Victorian furniture, no kids and total predictability, stay at the many bed and breakfasts. If you want modern amenities, stay at the 1960's style motels facing the ocean. If you're from Staten Island or are related to anyone from Staten Island, stay in Wildwood (and do everyone on the beach a favor.)

The oldest continuously operating hotel on the East Coast open since 1877. A Italian cube structure, with most of its original construction intact. The Ritz its not... The rooms have the original wood floors, so no musty odors that you get at most beach hotels. There is no AC, just a ceiling fan in the rooms. A nice breeze at night, hot room during the day. The sound of the ocean in the still of the night was a treat. The majority of rooms have only a sink in room. You share 4 bathrooms on the hall. I stayed on the 3rd floor we had two bathrooms with showers, toilets and sink. 1 with a claw tub, and toilet. The bathrooms were kept pretty clean and stocked by the staff. For those with OCD there are some rooms with private bathrooms. My one suggestion would be a towel bar on the side of the sink. Now being an old hotel there were a few problems. The claw tub should have been reglazed and a new spout. A can of glaze from home depot would have done the trick. SInce there are only a few bathrooms on each floor, I think they should be UPGRADED so that they are top of the line. They are serviceable, and clean but an upgrade would be nice. The weakest spot for me was the bed linens and my firm mattress. The bed skirts, sheets and comforter could have been upgraded, and updated. The hotel needs to be old, the linens don't. The breeze through the 2nd slotted room door was nice. Too bad a previous renovation removed the little glass window that you used to be able to open above the door for a breeze at night. The rocking chairs on the porch, the Lemonade and cookies, and the Cheese at the bar were great opportunities to mingle with other guests. Very family oriented and not a lot of riff-raff. No tvs in the room made for newspaper sharing and banter on the porch and in the lobby. The best parts of the hotel in my mind were the following 3 in no order. #1The staff was well trained, friendly and courteous. Mostly college kids from PA, DelMarva, and England. A flock of Turkish lads were busy scraping and painting the back exterior of the hotel. An old gal like Chalfonte always needs something scrapped and painted. #2. The Magnolia Room was great eating, breakfast and dinner. Many of the room rate packages include the breakfast and dinner in the room rate. Check to make sure...so you aren't diappointed. The fried chicken is one of the top 10 in the country and it is. The two cooks are sisters. Their mother cooked at the Hotel for 60 years. Now thats staff loyalty. Buy the cookbook. #3 They have a childs dining area with supervised eats, and playing. A nice garden and swings. The kids can eat together why the parents share a meal sans kiddos. The fee is nominal. Quiet, restful, a bit no frills at a frills price...but a rare opportunity to experience lodging from a long gone era. My family and my little one especially loved the staff and the Chalfonte.

I have been staying at the Chalfonte since 1996.I try to stay for 10 days in July and 10 days in August. If you are looking for saunas, airconditioning and an impersonal staff the Chalfonte is not for you. However if you enjoy total relaxation, a staff that treats you like an old friend, excellent food ,and lively conversations on the porch with both guests and staff members,this is the place. Don't miss chesse nights in the King Eddie Bar, the Sunday evening buffet, and of course the rocking chairs! I'm counting the days until July 2008!

From the outside, this hotel looks nice. It has lovely wrap around porches to relax and read or watch the world go by. However, if you actually need to sleep at the end of your day, FORGET the Chalfonte. The beds are so poor and even the tiniest movement makes the old bed squeak loudly. The terrible, sagging mattress may be original to the hotel and in the morning, my back was really aching. The room looked like a hospital room in the 1920s. It was stark white, with cracked plaster walls, and one small crappy print on the wall. The bathroom was down the hall (shared by three rooms) and if you need to take a shower before dinner--GOOD Luck! At $170 a night (which did include breakfast) I felt ripped off (not to mention exhausted). If the Chalfonte wants my repeat business, they need to put a little money in their hotel. I would not ever stay there again. C'mon Chalfonte, stop being greedy--your big hotel was sold out so I know you can afford some new mattresses. So, buyer beware--You can do a lot better in Cape May for the same price, or less. I booked at the last minute and got stuck with the Chalfonte--don't make the same mistake.