Cappuccio Hotel

Cappuccio's Hotel has been around since 1902, and the old building has a lot of character. Vinny, the on-site manager, was personable and knew what he was doing. My room was plain, but clean and more than enough for me since I spend most of a trip out sightseeing. The shared bathrooms were kept clean too. Keansburg is a laid-back, working-class resort town across Raritan Bay from NYC. The hotel is a 10-minute walk from Keansburg beach and amusement park, and about a 20-minute drive from Gunnison Beach, Sandy hook NP, and historic Fort Hancock.

We had a great find for our New Jersey trip with my pop's. The owners were great and took time to chat, and it was quiet at night. Bars and the beach are an easy walk away. It's very affordable and well located. If you're fine without fancy amenities, the basics here are enough.

The room was outrageously expensive for a cramped space with just a twin mattress and night table, barely enough room to move around. I found two visible bedbugs crawling across the sheet. The place was old, dirty, and smelled of cigarettes, and none of the rooms had private bathrooms. The shower and toilet were shared among who knows how many people. It felt more like a boarding or halfway house than a motel, and other guests said they had lived there for years. On the way to the restroom, I ran into a man more than once wearing only a tiny towel that showed far more than I wanted to see. He clearly treated the place as his home. The owner and house manager were rude and unpleasant. They seemed to think they could bully me and invent checkout rules because I was a woman, but their whole manner changed when my husband was there. It was a horrible stay, and the two older men hardly provided any service. I wouldn't recommend it, especially to women traveling alone.

The mattress squeaked a little and was only a full, though I still found it comfortable. There was a smoke smell, but I didn't mind that much, and it beat the heavy scent of cleaning products. It's an affordable, clean place in a big old house with some charm, and the owner was hospitable.