The Empress Hotel

About this place The Empress Hotel

The Empress Hotel is the most historically significant gay accommodation property in Asbury Park and one of the longest-established gay hotels in New Jersey. Located on Asbury Avenue near the beachfront, the Empress has been operating as a gay-oriented hotel since the early years of Asbury Park's LGBTQ+ revival and has served as a community anchor through the decades of growth and change that have made the city what it is today. The hotel's significance is not purely commercial — it has been a gathering place, a community institution, and a physical embodiment of the gay community's investment in the city's future during years when that investment was a genuine act of faith in an uncertain outcome. The rooms are comfortable and well-located; the proximity to the beach and boardwalk and the Cookman Avenue bar strip makes the Empress a practical choice as well as a historically resonant one. For LGBTQ+ visitors to Asbury Park who want to stay in a property that is genuinely part of the community's story, the Empress is the right address.