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The Shore, as it's more affectionately known by New Jerseyans, is without a doubt an experience. I grew up in Monmouth County, the most northern county and closest to NYC that’s full of beaches, and it meant going to the beach in Spring Lake, where some of my fondest memories, to this day, are from that stretch of sand. Which is why it still stings a little when people hear "Jersey Shore" and picture that MTV show. From where I sit, it was never that, and it certainly isn't now.
Earlier this year I saw a post claiming the Hamptons are cooked, and that the Jersey Shore is the next great beach destination outside New York City, the one that still has the loose, relaxed feeling the East End lost somewhere along the way. I'm not sure I fully agree. But I can tell you that friends who spent years on Fire Island and out east have started texting me about Spring Lake, Ship Bottom, Asbury Park, Cape May, Harvey Cedars and Gunnison, and about Island Beach State Park, my favorite hidden gem in the state.
That range is a big part of the argument for why the Jersey Shore is starting to read less as a suburban vacation spot and more as a genuine destination. Across roughly 130 miles of coastline you get the party scenes at D'Jais in Belmar and Jenkinson's in Point Pleasant Beach, the ritzy quiet of Mantoloking, the family rides at Fantasy Island on Long Beach Island, and the Victorian splendor of Cape May. There's a vibe and a budget for every type of traveler, often within 20 minutes of each other.
One logistical note: plenty of Shore towns are reachable by NJ Transit, which is a real perk, but to do a Jersey Shore trip right, you'll want a car. I recently picked up a Turo for a long road trip and it was so simple. They rent everything from basic compacts to SUVs to exotics, and I got to drive a vintage Ferrari Mondial, a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a very cool way to see a place. Even if you don't own a convertible, no one can stop you from taking one to the beach for a weekend.
As a longtime Jersey beachgoer, here are the eight I'd actually book, running north to south.
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Best Overall: Asbury Ocean Club
This is a prime example I point people to when they want proof of how far the Shore has come. The 54 rooms sit a block from the boardwalk, wrapped in floor-to-ceiling glass with double-height ceilings that make even the entry-level rooms feel loft-like, and it picked up a Michelin Key in the guide's inaugural U.S. selection. Rooms feel more Californian contemporary coastal than “Exit 102” and the pool deck is a personal fave, with sophisticated service and salt air. The Drawing Room does a properly cold martini by the fireplace, and the gym has a yoga room and an open-air meditation terrace. It skews grown-up and polished despite being family-friendly.
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Best for Music Lovers: The Asbury Hotel
Physically, this hotel is walkable from the Ocean Club. Spiritually it's a different planet, and that's the point. Set in a former Salvation Army building, the 110-room Asbury runs on the rock and roll bloodstream that Bruce Springsteen made famous, with a lobby rec room full of pinball and ping-pong, a rooftop lawn called The Baronet that screens movies against a 20-foot wall, and Salvation two floors up for DJ sets and Friday tea dances. Some rooms have bunks for groups, and the pool deck turns into a party by afternoon. If you came to Asbury Park for the Stone Pony and a livelier scene, stay here.
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Best Design Hotel: The James Bradley
Bradley Beach doesn't always get the spotlight that "happening" Asbury Park does, but it's known for its mile-long, refreshingly quieter and uncommercialized boardwalk, plus its clean family beaches set behind grassy dunes. The James Bradley is a labor of love from an owner who grew up summering here and couldn't walk away from putting a design spin on a century-old Victorian. It's now 17 rooms, including a standalone bungalow, with minimalist, neutral interiors, an art collection more serious than the setting demands, and original clawfoot tubs in some rooms. There's beach concierge service in season, a wraparound porch for wine sips, a courtyard fire pit and rooms that still use physical keys.
Best for Old-School Shore Nostalgia: Grand Victorian Spring Lake
I'm biased, but Spring Lake is the Shore's most underrated town: no arcades or funnel cake, just two miles of clean, business-free boardwalk and truly gorgeous homes. It’s the type of town you send someone to when they’re a snob and their definition of state is “that smell near Newark Airport”. The Grand Victorian sits directly across from the beach, now part of the ICONA Boutique Collection, with 22 rooms done up in shiplap and nautical stripe, and beach tags, chairs, umbrellas, towels and bikes all included. The on-site Amelia’s by the Sea and its views are a fine choice for dinner, and there's a golf cart to run you into town. Best of all, Spring Lake has an NJ Transit station, so this is the one you can genuinely do car-free depending on where you’re coming from.
Best for Long Beach Island: Daddy O
LBI runs 18 miles and has almost no real hotels, which makes Daddy O something of a unicorn. It's also turning 20 this year. The 22-room boutique sits a block off the sand in Brant Beach, in a building that operated as the Brant Beach Hotel back in Prohibition days, speakeasy in the corner and all. Fearless Restaurants opened it in 2006, and partner Sydney Grims still talks about hauling mattresses in as a teenager alongside staffers who are on the payroll today, a crew that has since worked through two hurricanes, a recession and a pandemic. “That's no joke,” as she puts it. The anniversary programming, dubbed A Summer of 20, runs through the end of the year with limited-edition Jetty collaborations and one-off cocktails. Rooms come with Frette linens and Malin + Goetz bath products, beach tags and chairs are on the house, and the rooftop O Bar does sushi at sunset. Fantasy Island is a short drive for the kids.
Ocean Casino Resort
I'd be remiss not to mention Atlantic City as part of The Shore. People from New Jersey tend to think of it as its own entity, and if you want the big-resort version of the beach, this is it. Spanning 20 beachfront acres, Ocean recently finished renovating all 1,860 rooms, each with floor-to-ceiling windows over the Atlantic. The real reason to book (beyond the rumors that Beyonce has stayed in the penthouse) is the 40,000-square-foot Exhale Spa + Bathhouse, with its Himalayan salt grotto and heated mineral pools, a legitimately great cure if you went a little too hard on the casino floor the night before. HQ2 Beachclub handles summer fun, Ovation Hall handles the headliners, and the resort claims the world's largest Topgolf Swing Suite when you'd rather swing a club than pull a lever. On the food front, Stephen Starr and Jose Garces both run restaurants on site, making this a surprisingly strong pick for a beachfront hotel that's also part gambling hall.
Best Spa Hotel: The Reeds at Shelter Haven
Stone Harbor is where South Jersey gets genteel, and The Reeds is its anchor. The rooms are coastal and cozy without being cutesy, but I suggest booking their Sky Suite if budget allows, because it comes with two balconies and magical bay views, plus a huge chef’s kitchen and other perks like soaking tubs. The Salt Spa is also a headline at The Reeds: two floors with a brine light inhalation lounge, a Turkish bath with a heated marble table and a zero-gravity float treatment. Four dining options range from margaritas at Buckets to year-round dinner at SAX, and a complimentary shuttle handles the quick run to the beach, an otherwise 7-minute walk. I especially love to visit this area during shoulder season when things quiet down and the walkable town feels very local.
Best for Food Lovers: Beach Plum Farm Cottages
Historic Cape May has a feel all its own, part New England, part classic Jersey Shore, part Delmarva beach town, shaped by its spot at the very bottom of the state. Located on a working 62-acre spread in quieter West Cape May, just inland from the Victorian bustle of the town proper, Beach Plum Farm rents a handful of historic cottages and barns and runs on genuine agricultural rhythms. I stayed in the Whaler's Cottage, built by the Hand family in the late 1700s and one of the oldest homes on Cape Island, with a storybook picket fence, a wood-burning fire pit, a personal grill and a screened-in porch that begs you to relax. You also get a full kitchen, a fire pit, use of the pool and eggs gathered from the coop that morning, plus produce that supplies some of Cape May's best restaurants. Guests can join field tours, harvesting and gardening, and the seasonal Harvest Dinners are worth planning around. I've been to a few and have my eye on the next Pink Moon Dinner. Bikes are also on hand for the ride to the beach or the historic and nearby Cape May lighthouse.
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