Asbury Hotel Review

I love visiting Asbury Park with my family, and for years, our tradition has been to stay at the Asbury Hotel. Unfortunately, the quality of our most recent stay paled in comparison to our experience with the hotel in years past.

That’s not to say it was all bad. Let me go over the good stuff first:

1. This hotel is in an AWESOME location. It’s a quick two block walk to the boards and the beach. It’s enough distance from the commotion of the main strip to have peace and quiet when you want it. (We were also on the third floor, which was away from both the lobby bar and rooftop cantina.)

2. The Asbury’s decor is cool, minimalist, and beautiful. The lobby is very open with high ceilings, big chunky wood picnic tables, a small cafe and bar, a sunken couch area with colorful cushions, and a pinball machine. Great to spread out if you’re with a big group.

3. The shower is AMAZING. It has one head that’s a rain shower and another that’s a handheld. The whole shower is enclosed with sliding glass doors, keeping the rest of the bathroom from getting steamy. The water pressure level is perfect.

Now, here are the reasons why our most recent stay was disappointing:

1. Parking was a nightmare. The parking lot for guests used to be complimentary. Now it’s $50/day and your car has to be retrieved and parked by a valet — you don’t have the option to retrieve it yourself. So if there are people ahead of you in line, get ready to wait. (All that being said, if you’re not going to be using your car that often during your stay, this parking set up could be a good choice aside from the greedy $50/day fee.)

Using meters is another option, which is what we did. The cost was slightly less than the $50/day, but we had to regularly make sure that our time didn’t run out. If you do this, be prepared: The parking authority vultures will be right there with a ticket. Everything is digital, so they know exactly when your time is up.

In hindsight, if I were able to scan my room key to go in/out of the guest parking lot as needed (and not have to wait for a valet), I would have chosen this option, and deal with the sting of the $50/day gouge. We had recently visited a major metropolitan city and stayed in a hotel many times the size of the Asbury, where for $17/day we were able to do this.

2. The floor in our room was filthy. This has also happened on previous stays. I need to go through many rounds of wipes before they stop turning black from the dirt.

3. The ACs are not maintained. Parts of the unit were broken and the filters were completely black. A family member wound up having irritated eyes and sinuses. After I cleaned the filters, their symptoms subsided.

The main issue that would keep me from booking here again is the parking situation. The second is the lack of cleanliness and maintenance. I hope that management can remedy these situations in the near future. The Asbury is in a great location, but they’re not the only hotel near the sea.

Suuuuch a lovely hotel. Was our first time in Jersey shore and if I'm going to be very frank, we didn't have super high expectations. But we went during the low season and The Asbury made our experience just so relaxing and cosy and wonderful. The staff are warm and helpful and the environment they create with the daily events is so quaint and wonderful. Our experience at the Asbury showed us a side of Jersey Shore we weren't anticipating. Would definitely return - great for value as well!

Yep, funky, but isn't worth the money. What you want from a hotel is a good bed, a good sleep and a good hot shower. None was found here, all for $600/night off season. Also, terrible service. No hot water the entire stay, even though reported. Stay somewhere else for half the price.