The hotel is a fairly large structure broken up into 2 sections (I assume that's why they refer to it in the plural). One, called "Queen's Row" is a 5 story brick structure. The other, called "King's Row", is a 4 story white L-shaped building. Our room, 185, was in "King's Row" on the second floor facing out toward the water.

The hotel has convention facilities, a restaurant ("Ballyhoo's") and a nightclub ("The Speak-eezy"). We did not use the convention facilities nor did we go to the nightclub during our stay.

Our room was small but adequate - though barely. It was what they referred to as an "efficiency". It had a full size bed and a pull-out couch. We had to bring in a crib for one year-old Charlotte which made it quite tight - especially at night when we pulled out the sleeper sofa for Nat to sleep in. In the back of the room was a small kitchenette. We didn't really use it except for the refrigerator, but I can see where this could come in real handy. One minor complaint, the wall-mounted air conditioner is located in the back near the kitchenette, a very inefficient location. Also, we noticed that the 3rd-floor rooms are 2 story suites. We didn't see one from the inside, but they appear to be quite large and would likely have very nice views. Of course they also cost twice as much as the efficiencies.

I suppose if the weather had been lousy we would have really appreciated the indoor pool and been grateful for our decision to stay at the Grand Hotels. As it was, however, the weather was quite nice so we only used the indoor pool a few times. The rest of the hotel left much to be desired. Our stay there wasn't awful - far from it. While it is true that at $145 a night we weren't paying exactly premium prices, but we still felt that the hotel should have delivered a much more quality experience than it did.

Which is not to say that the hotel is not without its charms. The view from our room was quite wonderful. The pools, both indoor and outdoor, were very nice although the indoor pool area was poorly lit and a bit gloomy. Simply providing lights in the pool (I don't know if they were left off, broken or nonexistent) would have done a world of good. Additionally, the housekeeping staff did a commendable job.

One very useful perk was the addition of what the management referred to as "Grand Money". We didn't find out specifically, but I gathered from conversations I overheard that this perk was granted as a result of booking early. It also seems that the earlier you book the more you get (I overheard another guest being told at check-in that they were getting "Grand Money" totaling 10% of their total bill, while we got 20% - we booked very early). This "Grand Money" could be used at Ballyhoo's (the hotel restaurant) for anything except tip. Food, alcohol, tax and all. The main restriction is you don't get change. We got $200 worth of the stuff, and we used it to get one dinner and several lunches delivered poolside. Luckily the food at Ballyhoo's was fine, so this turned out to be a very useful perk.

On the other hand the hotel had several problems. Most of the problems resulted from the fact that although it is billed as a hotel it is run like a motel - and not a very good one at that. I have found a level of service and amenities at an average Best Western to be superior to what we experienced at Grand Hotels.

Here are a few examples:

          · No room service (despite the on-location restaurant)

          · No gift store.

          · There is a laundry room but it has no change machine, no detergent vending machine, and no folding table.

          · The front desk refused to cash a check.

          ·  A crib was provided - but for an extra $15 a night (a bit steep in my opinion).

          ·  The linens were unacceptable even by Motel 6 standards. The towels were skimpy and course and the                      sheets had holes.

Andie was told by a woman she met by the pool who had stayed at Grand Hotel several times (why?) that it was under new management and had improved quite a bit. She pointed out that the cushions on the outdoor Lounging chairs by the pool were new additions. She also pointed out that the rates had gone up. The woman who checked us out verified that the hotel was under new management and pointed out that they were in the process of replacing the linens. This is a good thing, considering the quality of the linens was perhaps our biggest point for complaint.

One final point. The staff seemed rather terse. When I expressed surprise at their refusal to cash a check (we had only recently arrived and I hadn't yet discovered the motel like atmosphere) the reply from the woman at the desk was "Welcome to Cape May". That seemed a needlessly nasty reply - and also meaningless. What did she mean? "Welcome to the Real World"? I mean, I work in New York City, and I'll venture that any New York Hotel will gladly cash the check of a paying guest.