Adventurer Oceanfront Inn — Hotel in Wildwood Crest

I recently had the opportunity to stay at the Adventurer Oceanfront Inn in Wildwood Crest while going to a concert in Cape May. We usually stay in Wildwood when coming to Cape May in the summer, due to the fact that the prices are cheaper for the type of room we want. We have been to Wildwood many times and have always been disappointed with the places we have stayed, as most of them are old, run-down, have small rooms with not enough space for 3 people, so I was very excited to discover the Adventurer, which had good reviews and had everything that we wanted in a hotel. It was much nicer than what we are used to finding there, but definitely had some Cons along with many Pros. I will start with the Pros... ||The suite, which included a double bed, king size bed, full kitchen with table and chairs and a living room area, was very clean and had a nice side view of the boardwalk and ocean from the balcony. It was spacious enough for 3 of us to spread out and not be crammed into a small space. Having the kitchen was nice to be able to fix breakfast in the morning. The hotel is conveniently located near the boardwalk and ocean as well as being within walking distance to a diner/convenience store as well as a nice Italian Restaurant. There is a restaurant on the main level of the hotel called The Reef, which serves breakfast and Lunch. The Lunch is served until 7 pm. We had a fantastic breakfast there the morning that we were leaving. All of the employees that we encountered were very friendly and helpful. The room was reasonably priced before they added all of the NJ taxes, which is not the fault of the hotel, but you have to take that into consideration when booking anywhere in NJ. ||All of the above goes a long way to making for a nice stay, however, there were definitely some Cons as well... ||When we first arrived we parked in an outside parking space and then had a very hard time finding the Office so that we could check in. It is located on the back of the hotel and appears to have only steps going up to the office. I'm not sure that there is a handicapped entrance except for the underground garage. Speaking of the Garage... avoid it if possible and park in one of the outside lots. The Garage is miniscule with maybe 30 extremely small spaces. If you manage to find a spot, it is hard to maneuver into it and then you can barely get the car doors open to get out. We were in a Toyota Camry - not a huge car! I do have to add that at Check-in we were told that if we ever couldn't find a space that someone would find one for us, which was nice. Also, the ramps leading down to the garage are very steep! When you leave there are pedestrians walking past the entrances which you cannot see until you get to the top of the ramp. Very dangerous as you are moving fast to get up the steep ramp. We only parked there upon arrival and the night before we left, just so that we could use the luggage carts to take our luggage to the room and back to the car. I know that parking is a big issue in all of the older beach towns so again, this is no fault of the hotel. I only post this to forewarn others of the situation. Next are the elevators... There are 2 very small elevators for this huge hotel. They take forever to arrive frequently stopping at all the floors to pick up people that there is no room for in the elevator. And there was no air conditioning in the elevators or in the hallways, so not only do you have to allow extra time when coming and going but you have to stand in the heat waiting. I was told by one of the housekeepers that there was a problem with the air conditioning at the time we were there, which was when it was extremely hot outside. The air conditioning in our room thankfully was working fine! Our room as I said was nice, however it was advertised as having a "separate bedroom", which was great because we do not all go to bed at the same time. Upon walking into our room, we were in the bedroom, and the only thing that separated it from the kitchen/living room area, was an accordian type of door, which could be pulled across to separate the 2 areas! Not exactly what we had in mind and not as described on the website. Maybe there were other rooms that did have a separate bedroom but ours was not one of them. Both of the beds were side by side and on one side they were both pushed up against a wall, making very difficult to get in and out of the bed on that side. It might be fine for children, but not good for 60+ year olds! The bathroom in the room was small, but not a big problem. The issue was with the so-called exhaust fan in the bathroom! It was useless and did not pull the steam out of the room at all. After taking a shower, the bathroom was like a sauna!! Everything was wet and you couldn't see for the steam. Maybe this had something to do with the malfunction of the air-conditioning system? Who knows, but it was definitely uncomfortable! I also have a suggestion for the bathroom... For a room that could potentially hold 4 - 6 people, having one towel rack and one hook on the back of the bathroom door is far from adequate! I typically use a towel more than once, but it's hard to do that when you can't hang it up to dry. Even if you could put up a few hooks on the bathroom wall, it would be better. It would probably save you money in the long run with not having to launder as many towels. ||And last, but not least... There is a sign in the kitchen saying that failure to wash your dishes would result in a $75 added fee. That's a lot of money for doing a few dishes. I have mixed feelings about this. I am sure that there is a good reason for this because there are a lot of people who would likely dirty up a bunch of dishes and leave the mess for the housekeepers to clean up! So maybe the threat of paying that amount of money would entice them to clean up after themselves. However the knowledge of knowing that the dishes, etc. that I am using in the kitchen were most likely washed and dried by a previous occupant of the room does not thrill me. I am not confident enough of the dishwashing skills of others to use dishes washed by people who may not share my same cleanliness habits. Therefore we had to pre-wash every dish and utensil that we used, prior to using them. On the other hand, it was good to know so that we could wash them before using them. ||I am still giving this hotel 4 Stars because I think that some of these problems can't be helped, ie, parking, elevators. And I would probably stay there again as it was better than most I've stayed in there. Just be forewarned of the issues that you may encounter and use your best judgement to decide if this is the...

Just got back from a short last minute stay at the Adventurer and had an amazing time. We have not stayed in Wildwood since the 1990’s so we were unsure where to stay and booked the Adventurer based on recommendations from friends and location. We booked a room E-Oceanfront that had once room with two beds, kitchenette and a living space with a pull out couch. Location for the hotel is perfect as it is right across the street from the entrance to the boardwalk and super close to the tram so that we could walk the boards and take the tram back. The room had just enough space for our party of 5 ( 3 adults and 2 children). The bathroom had a small shampoo and soap as well as hand soap and a few disposable cups. There was a bin for wet towels to be placed. The kitchenette was stocked with plates, cups, silverware, drip coffee maker and other kitchen items. They provided a dish towel and dish rag as well. The fridge and freezer were a good size to fit drinks and snacks. There was a table and chairs for 6, a pullout couch and chair with foot rest. The balcony had two chairs and a great view. The pool is heated with plenty of loungers, a few chairs and complimentary towels. We saw them checking and cleaning the pool in the morning and checking the water in the afternoon. There is a second floor sun deck with lots of loungers and some couches, a fire pit and a bar seating area with tv. Underneath is also a large screened seating area with two TVs, ice machine, some drink vending machines and plenty of space to sit. There is parking around the hotel and underneath. It is a little tight underneath if you have a large SUV but thats to be expected. There are luggage carts available and elevator access in the garage. We ate at the restaurant for breakfast one day and the food was good and service very friendly and fast. They have omelets, waffles, pancakes and more. They serve lunch as well and are open 7-2 with indoor and outdoor seating. At check in they give you a card which serves as your do not disturb and you can mark it each day for what housekeeping items you need ( towels, tissues, toilet paper, shampoo, etc) and leave on your door. Housekeeping will leave those items in a bag at your door in the morning. Our room was very clean as was the common areas. One day as we were heading to the beach we saw housekeeping wiping down the hallway baseboards! All the employees we encountered were very nice and helpful. Across the street is a bike rental and small deli that has many provisions you may need. Within walking distance on the boardwalk are stores, food places, DQ, tram office and an arcade. There are two entrances to the beach that you can use. The lifeguard stand is almost in front of the hotel, two port a potties are close by in the beach and a food place ( in a shipping container). We were very happy with our stay and the kids have already asked if we can go back and we will for sure...

Very disappointed. From the rude gentleman who checked us in, to the wrong room with no alternatives available, to sub-par condition of the room/balcony, to the loud garbage pick-up within the hotel at 11pm right outside our room. We booked C3 which clearly on their website states 2 bathrooms only to find that upon our arrival it only had 1 bathroom. Guy at the desk so rude and arguing with us that is was our mistake and finally the manager, Joanna, who was very nice conceded that is was a website error but there were no other rooms available. Just for context, this room can accommodate 8 adult guests - luckily we were only 3 (my son was sick) because I don't know how that would have worked with only 1 bathroom! She did comp us breakfast for 2 days and took a little off the rate but this was not the room I was expecting. This is room 101 on the 1st floor and I do not recommend it to anyone. Another disappointing fact was that the "balconies" on the 1st floor are literally right over the cars in the parking lot so you could jump off the balcony onto someone's car with no effort. These rooms are also called "Boardwalk" view - the only view is the sign "Boardwalk" and a sliver of the beach - just giving the info. as this was my mistake to not confirm which floor we were getting. If you don't care about a nice view then no problem. The balcony itself was dirty - paper garbage stuff on the floor and the metal railing was rusted in many spots and in need of paint. This room is also right next to housekeeping which apparently pick up the trash in the receptacles also right outside this room at 11pm and you would think a small bomb went off. Most of the room was clean but don't expect any little extras like a little complimentary coffee for the machine that is there, no paper or pen as other hotels do - shampoo/conditioner/bodywash in communal dispensers in the bathroom that I would not use. This room's bathroom is also old looking - scratches in the tub and worn toilet seat. Lastly the pool - very nice - but way too small for the size of the hotel - overcrowded and no seating at least not during our stay. I would not be so critical but this was not a cheap 3 night stay - $1500 plus. They definitely need to up their game if they want to entice guests to return. There are many good reviews so I'm not sure why we experienced such a terrible stay - my husband joked this is the room they give their "friends" free of charge - it really...