Unfortunately, our experience at the Madison Hotel in Wildwood Crest was extremely disappointing. The hotel was portrayed beautifully online, but what we encountered upon arrival was completely different. Our room was filthy. The comforters were visibly dirty, the pillows smelled strongly like cigarette smoke, there was hair on the floors, and we even found a dirty Band-Aid in the room when we arrived. The balcony door latch was also broken, which was a major safety concern for us because we were traveling with small children. The pool area was another serious concern. The flooring and stairs around the pool were slimy and extremely slippery. My daughter actually slipped on the pool stairs and bumped her head. While there is a posted sign stating that there is no lifeguard on duty, what was most upsetting was that no hotel staff came to assist us at all. Thankfully, other guests staying at the hotel stepped in, helped us get an ice pack, and made sure my daughter was okay. We were incredibly grateful for those guests, but it was disturbing that we received no assistance from the hotel staff during such a frightening situation. Customer service made the experience even worse. We repeatedly tried calling the front desk and could not get anyone to answer, and the voicemail box was full. Maintenance took nearly half a day to address the broken balcony latch. When we raised our concerns about the cleanliness, safety issues, and overall condition of the hotel, the staff seemed indifferent and unsure of how to handle the situation. We were so uncomfortable and disgusted by the condition of the hotel and the lack of customer service that we ultimately left a day early. For the price and the way this hotel is advertised, we expected a clean, safe, and welcoming place to stay. Unfortunately, our experience was the complete opposite. Between the dirty room, safety concerns, lack of responsiveness, and the way my daughter’s pool accident was handled, I cannot recommend this hotel, especially to families traveling with young children.

My family has vacationed in Wildwood Crest for the past 20 summers. Most of those trips were spent at one hotel that made us feel like family. When it closed in 2020, we struggled to find a new home away from home…until we found The Madison Resort. We have stayed at The Madison for the past two summers, and it has quickly become a place we look forward to returning to. The resort is clean, comfortable, and offers everything we want in a summer vacation. The beautiful pool has plenty of loungers, cabanas available to rent, and complimentary towels. We love relaxing on the patio and gathering around the fire pits at night. The location is perfect. It’s just a short walk to the beach and close to coffee, breakfast, and ice cream shops. Complimentary beach chairs and umbrellas are provided for guests, and having items from the hotel restaurant delivered right to our beach chairs is an added convenience that is not commonly found in Wildwood Crest. What truly stands out, though, is the staff, especially Iona Olsen. From the moment I first reached out, Iona made the booking process easy and enjoyable. She was incredibly helpful, patient, responsive, and accommodating throughout every step. She took the time to answer all of my questions thoroughly, explain our options, and make sure I understood everything before making decisions. No request ever seemed like too much, and she consistently followed up to ensure everything was handled properly. I made several requests while planning our family’s stay, and Iona went above and beyond to accommodate each one. She was thoughtful about our family’s needs, helped coordinate our arrangements, and worked with us to secure the exact rooms we wanted for next summer. Her attention to detail and genuine willingness to help made a significant difference. She made us feel valued, not just like another reservation, and gave us complete confidence that our family would be well taken care of. With eight rooms booked for our family next summer, I’m so excited to get back to The Madison. After 20 years in Wildwood Crest, finding a new place that feels like home is the highest compliment I can give. Thank you to Iona and the entire Madison team for making our family feel so welcome. We’ll see you next summer!

I stayed here leading up to Labor Day weekend. The hotel advertises itself as a resort and I will admit that upon arrival it appeared to fit that description. That’s where it ended. As soon as you walk through the property you can see the recent remodel was a landlord special. You can tell there were good intentions, but the craftsmanship is lacking. Upon entering the room you can tell the cleaning is only done at a basic surface level. There was hair and dust on the floors and furniture. Parts of the floor boards were held down with packing tape. Some fixtures were caked in months of dust. One of the beds sheets and the floors had stains. Honestly, it is more what I expect from a dive motel. I wouldn’t stay there again simply because of how poor the maintenance is. We ate lunch at the restaurant and that was fine. We never checked out the ice-cream shop so no review for that. The positives. The female with long hair at check-in was very professional and pleasant! The pool was nicely designed but needs major up-keeping. Large chunks of paint were chipping off the grounds. The shuttle driver Jack was probably the best part of the stay! He was prompt and charismatic.

I booked last night and had I waited till the same day, my room would have been 3x less expensive! Other than that, Im obsessed. I stayed in a queen suite on the 1st floor right out from the pool and beach. It was PERFECT! Very clean and exceeded expectations for a 2 ??. Its very cute and nicely maintained. A lovely place for a small family or a couple. I would 100% come back. Parking is complementary for self park and valet.

We just got home and were not impressed, this is no "luxury resort" (head to Icona). Ok look, we’ve been coming to Wildwood as kids since the 70’s but we are old enough now and we’ve graduated from the “shore motel” scene. We thought for the price it would be a nice upgrade to the usual, since they really put it out there that they are a “luxury resort”. The Royal Tower is nothing of the sort. I don’t even know where to start. Our stay here started with our room keys not working. Back to the desk who said they can’t help and we had to wait. We were sitting outside the room with our luggage for a good 15 minutes with lightning and thunder coming and we decided to call and speak to a manager, who finally came, along with maintenance. We were late to dinner with friends. Not even a free ice cream, just a sorry. The front desk at the Royal Tower is not open 24 hours even in season, so if you need anything you will have to walk over to the Ocean Tower. Texting, which they will tell you to use goes unanswered. The bathroom had no step out mat (luckily I bring a small one from home). There was a used towel on the hook behind the door, um gross. The safe was locked when we arrived too so we had to call maintenance for that too and hang around waiting. The floors were really FILTHY, like make your feet black filthy, and I found a pill on the floor by my nightstand. Nice. How hard is it to vacuum and Swiffer?? The closet had a hole in the ceiling and is dripping water onto the extra blanket that was up there. I found the wet blanket when I went to use it. It also dripped on my luggage, which is now sitting on the chair. The chair is dirty and I wouldn’t want to sit on it anyway. Honorable mention are the 3 lonely hangers in the closet. THREE. I requested more hangers and fresh blanket from both the text they send offering any help you may need during your stay, AND went to the front desk, but we never received either. There is some unsightly electrical and old phone cords hanging next to the curtains. I moved the curtain to look for an outlet and woah what the heck is THAT? No outlets. Every single outlet is being used and one is blocked by the bed. Couldn’t charge our phones or use the coffee maker. We found an extension cord set up behind the mini fridge. The coffee maker had to be moved to the other side of the room for use and the coffee packets tasted like cardboard. No sheer curtains and public balcony= zero privacy. We were unlucky enough to get the first room next to the elevators and everyone looked right in our room as they walked by so the curtains stayed closed. Also, the unlucky room had a lot of elevator noise. The worst part of the stay wasn't the used towel, filthy floor, dripping water in the closet, or no bottled water as part of the daily resort fee, but rather the lack of caring from the staff. The maintenance guy was the nicest person we met but the people at the front desk just, Did. Not. Care. Location and parking was ok, we did have a hard time at night because a few pickup trucks took up 2 spots so we had to squeeze into a spot next to a cement pillar and had to have the passenger exit the vehicle before parking because it was too tight. A/C is quiet even if leaking into the closet. There is a shuttle, the bed was comfortable and the pool is nice; but a high price, free bottled water (which is ONLY 2 bottles at check-in yet paid as part of the daily resort fee) and name tags on staff do not make this a luxury destination, not even close. Maybe the Ocean Tower is better, but now you know, and we likely won’t stay at the Royal Tower again. Do better Madison.

I was really looking forward to staying at this hotel and was excited about my trip until the check-in process completely changed my impression. I booked an Ocean Tower Ocean View room at the Madison Resort through a third-party booking site. However, when I arrived, I was informed that because I booked through a third party, I had been assigned a Royal Tower Pool View room instead and they blamed the third-party website. This felt like a significant downgrade from what I had reserved. I expressed my disappointment to the front desk staff, but I was told there was nothing they could do. To make matters worse, I then had to haul all of my luggage across the street to a separate check-in location and building to access the Royal Tower. The receptionist showed little concern for the situation and essentially left me with no options. Based on the photos, the property looks beautiful, and before arriving I couldn't understand why some of the reviews were so negative. Unfortunately, after this experience, I understand exactly where those ratings are coming from. Despite showing my booking confirmation with the original room details, the hotel made no effort to accommodate me or resolve the issue. As a result, I've had to open a dispute with the third-party booking website on my own. The hotel offered no assistance and took no responsibility for the discrepancy. I was not given any sort of partial refund or accommodation from the hotel, which is something I would expect any hotel with integrity to do in this situation. Overall, this experience left a very poor impression, and I would not recommend staying here. A word of advice to the hotel: if there is a recurring breakdown in communication between your property and third-party booking platforms, then you should either resolve the issue or stop allowing reservations through those channels. Guests should not be the ones paying the price for problems between the hotel and its booking partners. In the end, both parties still collect their money while the guest is left frustrated, disappointed, and forced to spend valuable vacation time dealing with an issue that should never have happened. What should have been an enjoyable start to my trip turned into over an hour of unnecessary stress trying to sort out a problem that neither the hotel nor the booking platform seemed willing to take responsibility for.

The increase in price from last year and this year is not worth it. They have the same promotional Spring/summer offers from last year. You were able to book paying the first night upfront and remainder at check in. Now with the same offer you pay more upfront plus a $15 charge for a child. The price difference is not worth it. The location is perfect but that’s it’s. It’s like you’re paying more due to the outside aesthetic. Also the restaurant on site is not open everyday. You do end up ordering out more. Housekeeping service took place 1 time. Floor was filthy the day of arriving. Pool is packed with tons of kids. Offering life jackets would be a great idea but that’ll be an up-charge too.

Madison has gone DOWNHILL fast. We stayed here the first year after renovations in 2024 and it was amazing. Staff were the best and very accommodating. Second year, equally amazing. This will be our third year. I booked in October 2024 for Barefoot weekend. Today their rates are lower and will NOT price adjust per Iona, front desk manager, who was extremely rude to me and said, "Rates go up and down all the time. Do you want me to raise your rates when they go up?" I've never heard of a business not honoring rates when a customer calls. Iona also said if I canceled and rebooked the exact room/dates, I would still lose 50% of my deposit, which would be $623.00. This is not good business practice. Unfortunately, Madison has changed and is not worth the money. UPDATE: I spoke with Carmen Russo, manager, who confirmed their *new* policy is not to price adjust even though a code came out TODAY (about an hour after I spoke with Iona) for an additional discount for Barefoot weekend and he reiterated if I cancel and REBOOK, I will lose half of my deposit. What a sham and money grab. BEWARE! RESPONSE: the 20% cancellation was clearly posted and I had no plans to cancel my reservation. However, there is NO language regarding not honoring rates or honoring a code that’s posted by the hotel six months later. It’s a money grab because you’re not sold out and it shows what you think of your loyal customers.

I had a great experience staying at this hotel. The room was amazing clean, modern, and really comfortable. Everything was well-maintained and thoughtfully set up, which made the stay feel relaxing and easy. The service was just as impressive. Every staff member I interacted with was friendly, professional, and genuinely helpful. You can tell they care about creating a positive experience for their guests. Overall, I’d definitely recommend this hotel and would absolutely stay here again. 10/10

We booked a Valentine’s Day weekend getaway at Madison Resort, and it was absolutely everything we hoped for! From the moment we arrived, the two women at the front desk were so warm and welcoming—they truly set the tone for a wonderful stay. Our room was very clean and cozy, making it feel just like home. The decorations throughout the entire resort were beautiful and added such a charming touch to the atmosphere. The continental breakfast was fresh and delicious, which was the perfect way to start each morning. We had an amazing experience and will definitely be back. Highly recommend for a relaxing and romantic getaway!