Just back from four nights at the Congress Hall in Cape May, celebrating my wife's 60th. We got a special rate for a king bed room overlooking the beach. The view of the ocean and the lawn where John Philip Sousa conducted the Marine Band were enchanting; the room was cheerful and very tastefully decorated, and the bathroom was bright and well appointed.

The staff were very helpful and friendly; however, no one on the weekend staff knew where the Cape May Library was, and agreed that there was no library in Cape May. Surprise! It's only three blocks from the hotel! As the hotel does not have a computer for public access, and we can't afford a laptop, it's always handy to have a library nearby for public computer access.

A real treat was the inclusion of the daily and Sunday New York Times. The room has a flat screen television and dvd player. I had trouble getting the television to turn on. This was resolved by plugging the television in to a separate outlet. Also, the dvd player did not work on the configuration which was set up by the hotel. A quick bit of rewiring solved this problem.

Those minor inconveniences aside, the accommodation was wonderful. The sheets were changed every day, even though we said that it wasn't necessary to do so. The towels were plentiful and super absorbent, and there were even terry cloth robes for us to use. We parked in the lower lot the first night, but as street parking is free in Cape May in the winter, we parked on the street, near the hotel entrance, the next three nights.

One thing about visiting Cape May in early February - there aren't many places open, especially during the week. However, we were able to find a different place to eat every night, all of them good. There is a 24 hour WaWa on Texas Avenue, which came in handy for late night tea and snacks. We were able to store leftovers and drinks in the in-room refrigerator, and avoided having to pay the rather high prices for the items in the mini-bar. The hotel staff advised that as long as we left the mini-bar items out in plain sight, we wouldn't be billed for them. And we weren't.

Unfortunately, as the hotel prices are out of our range for food, we never had the opportunity to eat there. We'd have liked to have done so; however, having to work so hard just to afford this special weekend, we couldn't justify spending so much on food.

We really enjoyed our four day stay at the Congress Hall, and were sad to leave. Cape May is really charming at this time of year. We walked on the beach and promenade every day, even as far as the lighthouse. The sunsets at the end of Beach Avenue and at Sunset Beach were spectacular.

A wonderful four nights and days at the Congress Hall, and one that we hope to repeat in the future.