Newsletter Archive | September 2009

A few weeks ago Ben Miller, the author of the great new
Cape May history book called “First Resort”, dropped in for an
impromptu book signing at tea. It was great! Lots of our
guests were able to purchase his great new book and get it
personally signed by Ben. I’m not sure who enjoyed it more,
our guests or Ben.

There is something that you have to understand about Ben.
He is PASSIONATE about Cape May. Passionate in an infectious
way. As much as I already love Cape May, I get even more
excited about it when I talk to him. I’m telling you this so
that you’ll understand why “First Resort” is a MUST HAVE book
for anybody who loves Cape May. He somehow corraled all of his
passion for Cape May along with his wonderful writing style
into 300 pages of amazing photos and great stories that you’ll
have trouble putting down.

Of course I suggest you buy
a copy for yourself, but you might want to think a little
bigger in this case. Isn’t Christmas coming up? Aren’t you
always struggling to come up with a great gift for your loved
one who loves Cape May? I don’t think I have to connect the
dots for you here. You already know that this is the perfect
gift idea!

So you missed the signing party, and you’re
thinking that a signed copy would have been perfect. No
problem. Ben has volunteered to personally sign a copy and
ship it to any of our guests that need to get a copy (or two).
Of course, we’d love to have you book a couple of nights at
The Queen Victoria and purchase a copy in our gift shop (also
signed), but if you can’t make it down, you can get it
delivered to your door for an extra $8. Even with shipping it
comes to only $40 for NJ residents and $37.95 if shipped out
of state. Believe me, this book would be a bargain at $50.

Call us or reply to this email to order your copy.
You’ll be happy you did.

Well, judging from conversations I’ve had with LOTS of
guests from all over, it sounds like the worst of this
recession is behind us. In fact, I’m hearing encouraging
things about many industries & regions. Unfortunately, the
one thing that still looks pretty bad are the pathetic
interest rates that banks are paying. The interest rates they
charge seem to be going up, but the rates on deposits are
going the other way. I guess the good news is they really
can’t go any lower. If you’re as disgusted by this phenomenon
as I am I have a suggestion for you … Take More Vacations at
The Queen Victoria.

Sure it is counter intuitive, but booking a reservation at
the Queen Victoria can yield you in excess of 16%. Who else is
offering you this kind of return? Seriously, you can’t afford
not to take a vacation. Even better, it is tax free!

OK, so now I have to explain how this works to you. It
is called the “Early Bird” discount, for reservations made one
year in advance. I’ll give you an example. Say you (yes you!)
book a reservation for next August or September in a room that
is $250/night this year for 4 nights. We’ll give you the same
rate for next year, saving you $5/night. Next, we’ll give you
a 5% discount, saving you another $50. That totals $70 in
discounts, which actually is worth $79.80 when you consider
the savings in taxes. We ask for a deposit of $475 (50% of the
discounted room charges). So you “deposit” $475 and get a tax
free “return” (discount) of $79.80. That is a 16.8% return!
Who needs a mutual fund? The best part, of course, is you also
have a vacation to look forward to.

We are once again pleased to mention our only early fall
package … the “Stay & Play”. Lots of you have taken
advantage of this great deal during your visits in past years.
If you love theatre and don’t know about this great deal, then
pay attention.

If you reserve a 4 night stay that includes a weekend, or a
3 night stay mid-week, any time that Cape May Stage is open
(May 20 – Dec 31) we’ll be pleased to present you with
complimentary tickets to Cape May Stage. This is a GREAT deal!
Tickets for a show are $35 each, so the value of the package
is about the equivalent of a dinner out (excluding
drinks).

Did you see “Social Security” during your recent visit with
us? It was GREAT. I didn’t meet anybody who didn’t love it.
That makes Cape May stage 4 for 4 this year, with each show
earning rave reviews from the press and audience alike. That
is why I’m SURE that their current production of “Visiting Mr.
Green” is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

We haven’t seen this show yet (it just opened last week),
but it sounds great. Several of our guests who saw it (doing
the Stay & Play!) really loved it. It appears to start out
as a kind of “Odd Couple” comedy with two people thrown
together who would rather not be together. As the play
progresses it morphs into a moving drama as they come to grow
close to one another. I’m looking forward to seeing it and I’m
sure you’ll want to make an evening of it as well on your
upcoming visit. “Visiting Mr. Green” runs through September
26th.

We were thrilled last year when The Queen Victoria was
awarded “Best Bed and Breakfast” in Cape May in the
Capemay.com reader’s choice survey. You can imagine how
excited Anna Marie and I are to have just been voted the “Best
of Cape May” in 4 different categories for 2009! We like to
think that we are the best, but we really have to thank all of
you who voted for us this year. I know that hundreds of you
responded to my email suggestion last month. THANK YOU so very
much for putting us over the top again!

So what are the categories? 1) Best Bed & Breakfast 2)
Best Accommodation Customer Service 3) Best Overall Customer
Service and 4) Best Victorian Building.

You may have
seen a copy of “Cape May Magazine” in your room during a
recent visit. Perhaps you purchased it in our gift shop. It is
a wonderful magazine, both in print and online. If you are
interested in subscribing for yourself and getting a little
taste of Cape May several times a year, just click on the link
below. Just think, if you subscribe you’ll know about the
contest even before I email about it!

I’m pleased to report that the QV is once again rated the
#1 bed and breakfast in Cape May on tripadvisor.com. Some of
you seem to watch this stuff pretty closely, so you may have
noticed that we slipped to #2 for a couple of weeks. Obviously
we’re thrilled to be back on top again. We got there and stay
there based on the reviews that you, our wonderful guests,
post for us, so I want to THANK YOU from the bottom of my
heart.

While I’m at it, I’ll thank you again for voting for us on
iloveinns.com and helping us receive the “Traveler’s Choice
for Romance” award a couple of months ago. We really
appreciate you taking the time to post these reviews about
us!

• Cape May Wine Trail Trolley Tour Sep 27
• Food & Wine Festival Sept 19-27
• Victorian Week Oct 9 – 18
• Cape May Wine Festival Oct 10,11
• Halloween in Cape May Oct 16-31
• Cape May Wine Trail Trolley Tour Oct 16
• Sherlock Holmes Murder Mystery weekend Nov 6- 8
• Cape May Jazz Festival Nov 6-8
• Christmas Preview Weekend Nov 20-21
• Wine Weekend (Wine School) Nov 21-22
• Thanksgiving Nov 25-26
• Dickens Extravaganza Dec 6-8
• Christmas in Cape May Nov 20 thru Dec 31
• Christmas at The Queen Victoria Dec 24-25