The opening of the Asbury Hotel marks an important milestone for Asbury Park, NJ. Only two blocks from the boardwalk, the hotel is the first to open in the city in over a half century.
The 110-boutique hotel was converted from a derelict seven-story Salvation Army building for a reported $50 million dollars, and capitalizes on the city’s music, art, and food scene. The hotel had a soft opening in May, and its full opening is scheduled for Fourth of July weekend.
The hotel is taking a non-traditional approach, befitting from Asbury Park’s unusual history. Its glory days lasted from the 1800s well into the twentieth century, thanks to its grand hotels, orchestra pavilion, Boardwalk, and mile-and-a-half long ocean beach on the northern end of the Jersey shore. But it barely survived the Great Recession, Hurricane Jonas, and Superstorm Sandy; Bruce Springsteen immortalized it as “My City of Ruins.”