Inside the Hotel Betting on a Luxury Future for Asbury Park
The Asbury will open next month, amid fanfare that it may be the final boost the beach town needs for a long-anticipated return to flusher times.
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For all its expansive beaches, tanned and tattooed bodies, and long stretches of boardwalk, it never quite seems to be Asbury Park's time in the sun.
The seaside town's return to glamour has been predicted for a decade or more, as gentrifiers renovated dozens of its crumbling Victorians, and serious restaurants opened up. Structures formerly used for carnival-like rides and games have been reinvented as bars or performance spaces. But the quaint seaside town still hasn’t quite made the leap to luxury yet. Despite that lively boardwalk and excellent oceanfront location under two hours from New York City, it hasn’t mustered the allure of the Hamptons, Fire Island, or even Connecticut.