Beach bicentennial: Cape May’s Congress Hall resort hits 200

As befitting a grand dame celebrating a big birthday, Congress Hall in Cape May, N.J., has gotten a major makeover in time for her 200th year. The property’s 107 guest rooms and suites have been completely renovated, with new furniture, carpeting and accessories.

Claiming the title of America’s oldest resort (though not the only one), Congress Hall has planned major celebrations for July Fourth and Labor Day, as well as a series of historically themed dinners; weekly blue-plate specials that cost $18.16 (the year the hotel opened), and a sweepstakes giveaway of 200 free room nights.

Unlike many of the ornate, Victorian-era mansions in Cape May’s historic district that are now bed-and-breakfast-style inns, Congress Hall has been brought into the modern era as a place where guests would be comfortable walking around in sandy feet and wet bathing suits.

Under its current owner, Curtis Bashaw, and his interior-designer sister, Colleen, there’s no flowery wallpaper, nor fussy furniture. The floors are a little uneven and the woodwork well-maintained but definitely of a period. Guest rooms are outfitted in a beach-chic look with white furniture, carpeting in a pattern modeled after traditional rag rugs and white tiled bathrooms, while the public areas have a lived-in, lounge-y vibe.

“We have a heritage as a summer hotel,” Curtis Bashaw says. “We want to maintain that consistency, so people feel a connection.”

Now open year-round, Congress Hall is the centerpiece of Bashaw’s Cape Resorts, which includes the boutique-style Virginia Hotel and several other properties in Cape May; the Chelsea, a non-gaming hotel on the boardwalk in Atlantic City; and Baron’s Cove, a recently revamped 1960s-era hotel on the water in Sag Harbor, N.Y.

Great Fire, rebirth

Like many ladies of a certain age, Congress Hall has enjoyed her fair share of drama and notoriety over the decades.

The original hotel, built of wood, helped usher in Cape May’s role as the leading resort of the early 19th century. The first owner, Thomas H. Hughes, liked to call the hotel “The Big House,” but skeptics who thought it too big to succeed dubbed it “Tommy’s Folly” (now the name of the gift shop). Still, Congress Hall would go on to host U.S. presidents Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan and Ulysses S. Grant.

In 1878, a “Great Fire” swept through Cape May, claiming the hotel, which was completely destroyed, and 35 acres of the surrounding area. A year later, Congress Hall reopened for business, maintaining its L-shaped footprint, but this time built from brick.

The good times resumed for the property, with notable guests including composer John Philip Sousa, who, accompanied by the U.S. Marine Band, paid regular visits, and wrote the “Congress Hall March,” which was introduced in the summer of 1882.

Presidents Chester Alan Arthur and Benjamin Harrison also visited, with the latter making the hotel his official summer White House in 1891.

In the early 1920s, when Annie Knight acquired the property, Congress Hall took a belated step into the 20th century by adding plumbing –– the addition of the bathrooms necessitated the number of guest rooms be halved from the original 350.

Despite the investment, Congress Hall sat out the Depression, finally resuming operations under a new owner after World War II. By this time, Cape May had been eclipsed by more modern resorts. In 1962, the town’s fortunes took a further hit from “The Great March Storm,” which gutted its convention center and boardwalk.

“Cape May was dowdy at the time and out of fashion,” Bashaw says.

Fortunately, an unlikely hero came to the rescue. In 1968, the Rev. Carl McIntire, a fundamentalist preacher –– and Bashaw’s grandfather –– acquired Congress Hall as part of his Cape May Bible Conference. McIntire’s tenure helped stabilize the property, while other properties of the era were razed.

Meanwhile, Cape May began to embrace its Victorian heritage by creating a historic district with some 600 buildings that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and as a National Historic Landmark District in 1976. During his college years, Bashaw spent several summers managing Congress Hall, which was getting increasingly rundown. Due to its religious affiliation, there was no bar, and the pool was closed on Sundays.

Modern revival

By 1995, McIntire had declared bankruptcy, forcing the sale of his other major Cape May property, the Christian Admiral, which was razed to become condominiums. Bashaw, who by this time had acquired and renovated the 24-room Virginia, was able to gain control of the now-shuttered Congress Hall.

Following a $22 million renovation, Congress Hall reopened in 2002 as a full-fledged resort: The property now offers two restaurants, both casual (the Blue Pig Tavern, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and The Boiler Room, which specializes in thin-crust pizzas), the Brown Room cocktail lounge, several gift shops and boutiques, two swimming pools and a spa.

Today, Congress Hall bustles with activity year-round. In the off-season, it’s the site of weddings, girlfriend getaways and major celebrations for Thanksgiving and Christmas, while the summer season is prime-time.

In keeping with its “luxurious yet fun” atmosphere, the hotel offers a range of summer activities, from a weekly carnival with old-fashioned games and yoga on the beach, to an ice cream social and karaoke nights. You can also enjoy a picnic or feed the chickens at the 62-acre Beach Plum Farm, which is owned by Bashaw and supplies much of its produce, eggs and meats.

To Bashaw, Congress Hall reflects “the yearning people have for an attachment to a place.”

“We’re selling memories and simple pleasures,” he says.