About
About Us
At The Atlantic
Restaurant
Brenda’s Cafe, located next to the main office where you check-in offers local fare as well as authentic Mexican dishes. Available for dine-in, take-out, and room delivery for Pavilion guests.
Shopping & Boardwalk
Just 4 minutes to the beach and boardwalk! The Atlantic IS ON THE BEACHBLOCK and is less than a half a block from the beach and boardwalk. Once you check-in at The Atlantic, you can leave your car parked and walk to most attractions from here. Atlantic Avenue is the closest street to the beach and boardwalk at this end of the island.
Just a short ride from The Atlantic. Take Route 9 South. There are many quaint antique shops in Marmora, Seaville, Dennisville and areas south. There are also many garden shops on Route 9 going as far as historic Cape May area.
Directions
Take the Garden State Parkway south to Exit 30 for Somers Point/Ocean City. Follow signs into Ocean City. Once you go over the 9th Street Bridge into Ocean City, continue straight (towards the ocean) until you reach Atlantic Avenue. Turn left onto Atlantic Avenue and go 1 block to 8th Street. The Atlantic will be on your right at the corner of 8th Street and Atlantic Avenue.
Activities for Kids
Try the Cape May County Zoo! Take the Garden State Parkway South to Exit 11 and turn right. Or take Route 9 South. Bring a picnic lunch! You may also want to visit Lucy the Elephant in Margate or the Sea Shell Museum. There are many other attractions in Ocean City or the neighboring towns from Cape May to Atlantic City. The Atlantic front office has an extensive list or area attractions, restaurants, movie schedules, etc.
Weddings
Thinking of having your wedding in Ocean City, NJ? You are not alone. Thousands have been married here, with many venues suitable for any style wedding.
The Atlantic offers blocks of rooms and other special package rates for groups of all sizes for weddings and other events.
For more information on our group packages give us a call! (609-399-2600)
Groups
Remember The Atlantic when you are planning a Family or College Reunion; a Destination Wedding or a Retreat with your Social or Special Interest Group. The Atlantic Staff is here to assist you in any way we can, not only to make it a huge success … but to make it a great experience in the planning stage as well! After 50 years of doing what WE love, we have the knowledge, experience and ability to assist you in making it an event EVERYONE will love too! Ask for our Group Planner.
Gift Cards
A gift certificate is a great way to treat your someone special! You can process a credit card for pre-set amounts from our website or if you prefer, we can tailor a gift card for any event such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas, birthday, anniversary, etc. Just email us and we will design a gift certificate for your event with the amount you would like to give.
Delivery Policy
All our gift certificates are either sent by U.S. mail or they can be e-mailed to you, however you decide
Local Attractions
The Atlantic is in the heart of Ocean City! The major Ocean City attractions on the boardwalk are between 6th and 12th Streets – we are on 8th Street. Shopping on Asbury Avenue is a short 4 block walk. There are bike rentals, day spa, nail salon, ice cream shops, a water park, ATMs and restaurants all less than a block away!
Just a short 8 mile ride for the excitement of Atlantic City – casinos, shows, restaurants & shopping malls. Going south on the Garden State Parkway, Wildwood, Stone Harbor and Cape May are within a half hour drive.
We Have Vacancy!
History
Ocean City, 1950
Our guest facility traces its origin to two iconic Ocean City motels, the Hotel Fountainview and the Pavilion Motor Lodge. These motels served vacationers for over 60 years. Newly renovated, it is now the home to The Atlantic hotel. Read more to learn about Ocean City’s motels of the 1950s and 1960s.
The year was 1955. Americans were captivated with films starring Grace Kelly and James Dean, the rock and roll hits of Elvis Presley, and the television shows The $64,000 Question and I Love Lucy. Teenagers dressed in poodle skirts and blue jeans to match the fashions of their favorite celebrities. The Civil Rights Movement gathered momentum following the murder of Emmitt Till and Rosa Parks’ refusal to surrender her seat on a bus. As the Cold War continued, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the first military advisors to Vietnam.
That same year, unprecedented numbers of middle- and working-class Americans were taking to their cars for family summer vacations. Motels were the newest trend in lodging. Motels, as the blending of the words “motor” and “hotels” implied, were designed to serve automobile travelers by offering reasonable prices for well-furnished, predictably comfortable rooms with a parking space located near a room with a private exterior entrance. In most instances, reservations were not a requirement and families could arrive while “on the go.” Motels appeared in the country’s most popular vacation spots, including Ocean City, New Jersey. Most motels offered amenities, like ice and vending machines, self-serve laundries, and especially a swimming pool. Many vacationers considered them an improvement on old-style guest houses with dark interior hallways and stairs, shared bathrooms and limited parking, or fancier downtown hotels, which while full service were often pricy or old and worn down.
Motels were not without their critics, especially among a wealthier clientele who expected full services, and traditional innkeepers who were concerned about competition. In 1950, Ocean City in deference to its Victorian-style guest houses and hotels passed a zoning ordinance banning motels within the city limits. Five years later in 1955, businessman Francis H. West determined to challenge the ordinance and built Ocean City’s first motel, the Hotel Fountainview in the 800 block of Atlantic Avenue.
West took Ocean City to court, ultimately prevailing in a test case that allowed for the construction of motels anywhere the city had zoned for lodging A few weeks after the ruling, West advertised the Hotel Fountainview as a “MOdern hoTEL,” the capitalization a jibe at the city officials who had sought to keep him from opening.
The Hotel Fountainview was the definition of “classic” motel architecture of the 1950s. Standing at only two stories high, it had 18 rooms that faced a courtyard finished with a fountain. Exterior walkways lined the building’s façade, giving access to each room. A parking lot at the back of the motel offered guests a safe place to leave their cars.
A few years later, the Pavilion Motor Lodge adjoined Hotel Fountainview at the corner of Eighth Street and Atlantic Avenue. It was constructed and opened by Jack Lewis in 1963. Complete with air conditioned rooms, a large parking lot, restaurant and heated pool for guests, the Pavilion Motor Lodge was one of at least a half-dozen motels constructed within two blocks of this location after Ocean City changed its zoning laws in 1956. Among these motels were the Coral Sands Motel, the Shifting Sands Motel, the Springhaven Motel and the Forum Motor Inn.
For unknown reasons, Lewis chose seahorses under a circus-like marquee tent as the motel’s seaside-themed décor. These thematic elements were highlighted in a large neon sign, a two-story tall sheet-metal “seahorse” sign on the building’s boardwalk-facing wall, a seahorse-shaped concrete patio in the courtyard, and a restaurant known as the Seahorse Grille.
The Pavilion Motor Lodge was iconic motel architecture. It was three stories high and consisted of two buildings connected by a walkway over the courtyard. Each of the rooms faced the courtyard and pool, and could be accessed from exterior walkways on each floor. Like the Hotel Fountainview, the Pavilion Motor Lodge had a parking lot at the back of the building for guests to leave their cars overnight.
After 1966, changes in ownership led to the unification of the motels under the name Pavilion Motor Lodge. The property also included The Beach House, historically known as the Girard Apartments, an old 1920s apartment building. The buildings were organized in this way until their demolition. The iconic Pavilion Motor Lodge neon sign was salvaged and donated to the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio.