Carroll Villa Hotel — Hotel in Cape May

It pains me to write this review, because I REALLY wanted to like Carroll Villa, but I just returned from a stay there that was so disappointing and bizarre, that I'm struggling to find any redeeming quality besides maybe the location. The location is quite nice. End of "redeeming quality list."

We checked in on 6/2 and were given our room keys (room 18), breakfast vouchers, and a pass for complimentary chairs for the beach. We were lead to "the annex" part of the building, the entrance to which is inconveniently located behind the restaurant's host stand. We set out to find room 18. Well, room 18 doesn't exist. We were told we were given keys to the wrong room. We were actually in room 23. No big deal. We begin to settle into our room and I receive a text from the front desk that, since we were given the wrong keys, we also needed to exchange breakfast vouchers. Now it's getting redundant, but tomorrow is another day.

We ate at The Mad Batter for breakfast on 6/3. Food was good, service was bad. First time I've received a drink I ordered at the start of the meal after I received the check. One and done for us.

We planned on spending the day at the beach, but guess what we didn't get when we checked in? Beach badges. Had to go back to the front desk to get those. The beach was lovely.

We returned to our room to get ready to go out. I was in the shower for a few minutes when I could hear someone knocking on our door. My fiancee opened the door and was handed a stack of towels by the woman at the front desk and was told that our shower was leaking and that we needed to put the towels down on the floor. Perplexed, she took them. The floor outside the shower was completely dry. But my fiancee did as was instructed and put down the towels. Fast forward three minutes. My fiancee is now in the shower. Someone knocks on the door again and I don't answer right away because I'm in a towel and in the middle of shaving. Within a matter of seconds the knocking turns to POUNDING. Incessant, loud, pounding on our door. I rinse my face and crack open the door, where I am greeted by the woman from the front desk and (I assume) the maintenance man. I'm informed our shower is leaking downstairs (we were somewhat above the bar) and we need to change rooms. Great. Turn off the shower. Throw on clothes. Pack again. We trek back to the front desk, half wet from our showers, and receive keys to a new room. Room 20.

Room 20 is bigger than our previous room. As is the bed. But it shares one wall with the restaurant and another wall with the annex staircase so it's very loud. The bathroom wasn't as nice as our previous room, and it's also street level, so all the folks waiting for the restaurant are right outside your window. To say it was an upgrade would be a stretch. I don't think it was an even exchange. Bigger isn't better.

My fiancee is finishing getting ready in our new room and, after all this, know what would be great? A cocktail! I went out to the bar and wouldn't you know it, they were closed because of "an incident." That "incident" was the issue in my room. But I was refused service at the bar because our shower had leaked and they needed to fix it or clean up or whatever. Except there WERE folks drinking at the bar (one of them named Mike because the bartender asked if I "was with Mike?" Maybe I should have said "yes") and some of the folks with drinks were the maintenance folks "working" on the leak. I went back to our new room cranky, disappointed, and drinkless.

I'll also add this was all on my fiancee's birthday.

We heard nothing from the front desk or management for the remaining two days of our stay. I guess in their eyes moving us to a new room (which they literally had to do) was enough. Although they did text me tonight to ask how I was enjoying my stay. Six hours after we had checked out.

I'm sure not all experiences will be like this. I hope not. Just be aware of poor management and consider...

So, we really wanted to love this hotel during a recent November stay, but we won't be coming back. The staff were all pleasant and professional, but the room -- #20, on the ground floor with a balcony -- was not as desirable as we had hoped.

A few things: The entrance to the room is directly behind the hostess podium for the Mad Batter restaurant, so there was the continual uncomfortable looks as we walked past people waiting to be seated and the staff to get to the door behind the hostess. Then, once in the room, there was no privacy lock on the door, so anyone with a key could have come into the room while we were there. Then, the only window for the room opens to the alley between the Carroll Villa and the Virginia Hotel -- which would have been okay, but the Virginia has recently retrofitted their porch area into dine-in seating, so our view both nights were people eating dinner. The alley is also a prime way for the Virginia staff to get trash out and wood for their fireplaces in, so the noise was constant during the day. The balcony was not useable -- and not because of the cold -- it was because of the constant worker activity taking place all day, and people walking by on the sidewalk and taking pictures all hours of the night.

It might actually be a good idea to convert the balcony into a private entrance for room #20. They could keep the seating area, but this way the room entrance isn't through the restaurant.

For a hotel located on such a busy, highly lit street, I would also recommend they invest in "blackout curtains" that you find at many city hotels. Even with the curtains and shades drawn completely there was still a lot of light in the room, which made it difficult to sleep.

The last issue was parking. During our stay, we were not offered any off-street parking options, so it was a constant chore to find parking and make sure that the meter was "fed". We did use the Parking app, but in certain areas there were time limits on how long you could park. Again, this is a busy area, so it only added to the frustration of staying here.

With other room options just two or three streets away without any of these annoyances, we won't...

Fantastic Getaway!

On a last minute decision, we decided to spend Thursday night, February 4, 2021 in Cape May. When we stay in Cape May we prefer to be near the Washington Mall. After a quick internet search we chose to stay at the Carroll Villa Hotel on Jackson Street. The Carroll Villa website has great information about the hotel, pictures of all of the guest rooms, and the ability to check availability/make reservations.

Upon making our reservation we received a nice, welcoming confirmation email from the Carroll Villa Hotel detailing our stay. I opted “in” to receive text updates, which provided information about our stay and check-in time…but more importantly a text notifying me that our room was available well before our scheduled 3pm check-in time.

Because of the time of year, Cape May was not very busy and the parking meters were disabled so we could park across the street. My wife was greeted at the front desk and handed the keys to our room…Very easy!

We chose to stay in Room #13, which is located on the 3rd floor. Room #13 overlooks Jackson Street and has a “glimpse” of the ocean. It is nicely decorated with a private bathroom. The room has the usual items…wall mounted TV, mini-fridge, iron/ironing board, hair dryer, and two cushioned chairs. Everything was very clean!

Located on the 1st floor was a small sitting room with comfortable seating and a toasty gas fireplace – a great place to relax and sip a cocktail.

Also, because we were staying at the Carroll Villa Hotel, we were provided a coupon for 30% off dinner and a $30 voucher/credit at the Mad Batter. The Mad Batter is a great option that is located under the same roof as the Carroll Villa Hotel…this is especially nice on cold, windy nights so that you do not have to leave the warmth of the building. The Mad Batter has excellent food and service…we especially love the “The Original Manmosa” and “Bellini Cocktail” for breakfast – Cheers!

The hotel staff could not be any nicer or attentive. This was our first time staying at The Carroll Villa Hotel…it will not be...