Ocean Place Resort & Spa Reviews

When my husband and I toured Ocean Place last year, we immediately knew this was where we wanted to host our wedding. Nancy was quick to respond to emails, direct with all the answers during the tour, and responsive with a quote and mockup contract within the following week.
Over the next 11 months that we planned our wedding Nancy was 10/10. We were able to talk to her by phone or email, never waited more than a business day for a response, and frequently heard from her with updates unprompted.

Two weeks before the wedding, we had a sit down meeting to go over every single detail with Nancy and no stone was unturned. She was prepared for every twist/turn, steered us in the right direction with any decisions we hadn’t yet made, and never felt like she was just “yes-ing” us she was always 100% honest and we loved that.

Wedding day, Nancy met me in the bridal room around 9 and was with me or my husband throughout the entire day/night. She was the last one who sent us through the door into our ceremony and then again into the reception.

Nancy is the #1 reason we would recommend Ocean Place.

Our cocktail hour was amazing, and our guests haven’t yet stopped talking about how great it was, we’re so glad!

Few complaints (which are very minor but don’t want to not include them): the bars ran out of fruit/garnishes towards the end of the night, as well as ran out of bud light for a while. They did add red stripe and twisted tea which we hadn’t originally planned for, which was nice of them. Lastly and this is our biggest complaint- our room layout was flipped from how we had originally planned for. Our parents were not on our side of the room by the sweetheart table but flipped and near the DJ. Again, all these things are minor in the grand scheme of it all- and our day was still amazing.

I attended my first Wedding at Ocean Place when I was 6 years old, and that night I told my parents that someday I am going to get married here. As a Long Branch native, that beach in particular has always felt very special to me - an extension of my home - a place where I would spend the weekends with my parents.

On July 9th I got the wedding of my dreams in the place where I learned how to dream. I got to spend it with so many loved ones who travelled from near and far. My perfect day would not have been possible without the tireless effort from Nancy and her team. If I can think of what Nancy means to me it would be the “fairy godmother” of my wedding. In our meetings with her, Nancy helped us: decide on a space, pick vendors, and deal with an unpredictable head count as a result of the pandemic. She made sure we submitted the appropriate insurance paperwork, and even helped design the layouts for our Sangeet and Reception. She even filed paperwork with the city so that I could enter on a more central part of the beach (so that my feet would not burn on the hot sand). Closer to the wedding Nancy was instrumental in re-purposing funds towards a private suite and a bonfire after our Sangeet (which was a huge hit).

Nancy is not only someone who is organized and hardworking, she is the person who will be there hugging you before you walk down the aisle or crying while you practice your first dance. This is simply how much she cares. I got my fairytale beach wedding, and during the sangeet, ceremony, and reception I felt relaxed and happy. Ultimately that was because I knew Nancy was there to stand by my side and to make sure I had the event of a lifetime.

Ocean Place was the perfect backdrop for our NJ beach wedding. Sara and Nancy were incredible throughout the planning process. Sara was so great in planning and executing the details of the event - she was instrumental in helping us coordinate with the chef to put together an event menu that was able to accommodate multiple food restrictions - and had everyone complimenting the food all night.

The event staff and our maitre'd were also wonderful to work with the day-of. They made sure everyone was well taken care of - including myself and my new husband! They made sure we were being fed throughout the night.

The venue itself was absolutely beautiful. We held our ceremony on the beach, cocktail hour on the outdoor patio, and reception in the ballroom overlooking the beach. It didn't feel like we were in NJ - it felt like we were at a beach resort in a more tropical location. The photos and event were absolutely beautiful and everyone had an amazing time.

My husband and I recently got married at Ocean Place and couldn’t be happier with our experience. Nancy was our coordinator and helped us out every step of the way from start to finish. We had a lot of random questions throughout the planning process and Nancy was always so quick to respond. She is an absolute boss at her job. We got married on the beach, had our cocktail hour in the ocean front room, and had our reception in the ballroom. Everything went seamlessly and we couldn’t have been happier. Ocean Place was a core place for one of our best memories ever! ❤️

Words can't express the debt of gratitude we owe to Nancy Zuckerman, Kelly Hipko, and the entire Ocean Place Resort & Spa catering staff. I've never seen a staff so eager to accommodate their clients. They were willing to go above and beyond to make my wife and I's big day special! And it was the wedding of our dreams! They really wanted the best day for us, and their efforts spoke volumes. I would enthusiastically recommend them to anyone. Especially considering all the challenges and circumstances of the year, I'm glad we had Ocean Place -- they are THE BEST!

Ocean Place is a beautiful resort on the beach that includes everything you need to get ready/celebrate/after party and do it all again. The staff goes above and beyond to make sure you're taken care of in every way imaginable.

My husband and I were married at OP a few weeks ago, and we could not be happier with our experience. Kelly, Nancy and the rest of the staff were so incredible. Kelly made everything so easy for me and was so helpful in coordinating all my vendors. Everyone was so kind, helpful and responsive. The food and drinks were incredible, everyone at the wedding was raving! We really could not have asked for a better party to celebrate our marriage!

Berkeley was wonderful! We definitely recommend her working with you if you ever do a wedding at Ocean Place! She is as able to work with us and the staff was phenomenal! My husband and I enjoyed having our wedding here! Love the ocean view and the many accommodations made to make our special day extra special. Thank you Berkeley and staff!

It's taken a month to write this review because we just haven't been able to find the words to decscribe how perfect everything was. We opted for a ceremony on the beautiful brick patio. It was private yet had the incredible beach views we wanted. The cocktail hour had the same spectacular views and our guests have not stopped talking about how fabulous the food was both at the cocktail hour and the reception.
Words can't begin to describe how wonderful the staff was to work with. Berkeley held our hand from start to finish. She is friendly and professional and her attention to detail made wedding planning a breeze. She was always available to offer suggestions/advice and answer any questions along the way. Thanks go to her assistant Kelly and of course Dawn-head of catering for all their help as well.
At all times they made us feel like we were the only event on their schedules.
The bride and groom have both said that if they could do it again, they wouldn't change a single thing.
Thanks for making our daughter and now son-in-laws wedding everything they dreamed of!!

Berkeley and all of the staff at Ocean Place were amazing. They were so on top of all of the little details for the day, and everything went off without a hitch. All throughout the planning process Berkeley was very attentive and answered any questions I had right away. The staff that night of the wedding was fantastic, and Kal made sure my husband and I never needed to ask for anything. He was always ready with a new drink or a plate of food during cocktail hour. Our day was absolutely perfect and we would highly recommend Ocean Place!

My mom had her wedding reception here 25 years ago so my family wanted to check this place out first. The newly renovated space is stunning and there was a wide variety of food for the cocktail as well as the reception. I wish the venue was more in our price rage.

If you are looking for a beach wedding close to home then this is the place! It felt and looked like we were in the Carribean somewhere. Everything was absolutely beautiful. The resort is nothing short of stunning, the ballrooms range in size so it can accommodate any size wedding.
The food was outstanding! Of course I didn’t eat much until later in the evening but all guests raved about how great it was and the amount.
Julianne and her team were exceptional and really cared about what WE wanted! She responded to every call/email/text and was always so professional. I highly recommend Ocean Place and wish I could do it all over again!

We cannot say enough compliments about Kerri Spieser and our wedding team. Kerri was there along the way to help plan the wedding of my dreams and answer all of my crazy questions but also there every part of my wedding day to ensure it was all moving smoothly. Her interns did an amazing job as well. Also, she turned it over to the most amazing team during the reception who ensured that we got all the food we needed and endless drinks. Thank you all for making our wedding dreams come true! We knew from the second we walked into Ocean Place and met Kerri that it was the only place we wanted to get married. I never thought after our first venue visit that my fiancé and Maid of Honor would have said “we don’t even need to look anywhere else because this place is absolutely perfect”. The venue is beautiful! I had rain on my wedding day and was still blown away by their backup spaces which gave a full view of the beach and the ocean. Plenty of places for beautiful pictures both inside and outside of the venue.

My bridal party and immediate family also stayed there during the wedding weekend. The hotel was gorgeous and offered a ton of amenities that made our weekend absolutely perfect! Thank you so much for everything!

We just had our wedding at Ocean Place on 10/28/17. The venue was stunning and the whole day went perfectly! Every detail was planned out flawlessly and all of the staff were incredibly patient and accommodating with all of our wishes for the weekend. Most importantly, Gioia was absolutely fantastic to work with. She made my mom and I so comfortable throughout the whole planning process and the day went flawlessly. We could not have asked for a better coordinator or a nicer, more patient and accommodating person to help us with our special day. Thank you to Gioia and the Ocean Place for making our wedding dreams come true!

We decided to have our wedding here because we wanted Jersey shore, close to the beach and allow our guests, who are mostly out of town a mini vacation. Everything was beyond our expectations. Gioia is the best when is comes to event planning and she absorbed any stress and was quick to offer solutions to anything that popped up at the last minute. The venue was fantastic, everyone who attended local or out of towner, said this felt like destination wedding while being in New Jersey. The staff was absolutely fantastic the entire time and catered to everything we wanted. The hotel is very nice and glad we went with an ocean facing view. Then the food, oh the food....there was so much and so good. We went with the buffet stations and everyone said besides the food being amazing, they loved being able to have as much of their favorite as they wanted, until the coffee bar which apparently included 4 types of coffee drinks that left our guests going back for 2nds and 3rds. Dawn (Banquet Captain) and her team were on top of everything from the moment we arrived. There was nothing better the morning of or after our wedding than waking up to beach front sunrise from our balcony overlooking the Atlantic. We have only heard positive feedback from everyone who attended about every moment from service to location how absolutely perfect our wedding weekend was and that was all thanks to the wonderful people at Ocean Place. Thank you for making our special day even more memorable!

If you want a venue on the beach where you can host your ceremony, cocktail hour and reception this is the place for you. Ocean Place is beautiful inside and out. We had such an amazing wedding and couldn’t have asked for anything better. It was flawless! All of our guest raved about the amount and quality of food offered at cocktail hour and dinner. No one walked away hungry that is for sure. Kerri, our wedding coordinator, was amazing. She was very prompt answering all emails and sending over any paperwork we needed. She was also around all weekend and helped to organize the perfect wedding day. Dawn in catering was also great the day of the wedding. Kerri and Dawn make the perfect team! Thank you for everything.

*Note - Room blocks- like other reviews have stated we would also only give 1 star. In a matter of 5 months we went through 3 contacts. Our second contact was actually the most helpful and dependable guy. Details aside, if you plan to book at Ocean Place to be prepared that the room block reservations will give you the biggest headache. It seems over the years nothing has improved in that area.

Overall Ocean Place is a beautiful wedding venue with great staff and great views on the beach. We had such a prefect wedding weekend!

My husband and I hosted our wedding July 2017.

-As a hotel: it's nice. The rooms are okay but clean. The common areas are very pretty. The staff are polite.

-Room blocks: I would give one star. There were a few mistakes with reservations that had to be corrected via frequent phone calls.
What really made us angry and reconsider having our guests stay with ocean place was .... we knew 9 months beforehand we would need around 45 rooms total. We were told that once we block rooms, we are 100% financially responsible (you can not release rooms 30 days beforehand like you can at most other places). This is obviously hard to decide the number of rooms since it was 9 months before the wedding and we didn't know for sure who would come. Victoria V. advised us to block less rooms than we thought we needed so we would not be financially responsible if they did not get booked. So this is what we did.
Closer to the wedding date, we knew for sure we needed more rooms. They DOUBLED the price to almost $600/night. We contacted the manager and they wouldn't back down. Doesn't mater that we are spending tens of thousands of dollars at their facility, I guess they needed more. That was absolutely absurd.

-As a wedding venue: I would give ten stars if I could! Michelle Desalvo is an amazing planner and always polite! She helped us quickly with every issue and stayed in close contact with us throughout the whole weekend of the wedding.
The Matre D' (Jen?) was also amazing!! She basically followed us around making sure that we (bride and groom) had food and drinks because we were so busy visiting with everyone. She fixed up big plates for us during the reception while we were busy talking/dancing. At the end of the night, she noticed that we did not eat much from our plates, and she packed big to-go boxes that she personally delivered to our room at the end of the night (as well as our gifts so we did not have to carry them). Many guests commented how beautiful the venue

We had our wedding here in June 2017, and everything was amazing!! The outdoor cocktail hour, the food, and the reception were all amazing. The staff is super helpful and courteous. Everyone loved our wedding! We had Kerri as our coordinator and she was nothing but sweet and helpful.

We had a terrific experience with Michelle DeSalvo, the catering sales manager at OP. We already had booked at the location when Michelle started employment there (in 9/2015), and she was immediately up-to-speed with all of our wedding details. She was extremely organized -- a big plus for me because I was planning my NJ shore wedding from Massachusetts. When she said she was aiming for a flawless event, she really meant it -- and indeed that was achieved as far as our OP experience. The planning process was smooth and easy -- unheard of in wedding planning! We and our guests loved the food, which was well-timed by Atila, our banquet manager, and served by Dawn, our captain, and her team. What a great place now that Michelle is in charge of the wedding planning!

Keep the communication open.. Keep them posted with any changes - event it doesn't have any thing to do with them.
Everyone at the Ocean Place have been wonderful to work with..
But there is one person who was exceptional. Gioia Petaccia. She was amazing, very direct, extremely pleasant, patient with all of our changes, and was there every moment and keeping an eye on everything that is happening and keeping me posted with any changes, updates etc., and budget.. A BIG THANK YOU GIOIA to make my daughter's wedding day a memorable one.

I absolutely loved the Ocean Place for our wedding, it was the ideal venue for my husband and I. Kerry Speiser was our coordinator and she did an incredible job coordinating. I loved how she paid attention to every single little detail, as a bride, that really put me at ease. Thank you Kerri and the team at Ocean Place for an incredible wedding day, we will never forget it!!

Happily Married for almost 1 year,
Renee and Chris

We had our beach front wedding at the Ocean Place and it was nothings short of spectacular! The entire staff was very professional and accommodating. Our hotel room blocks were coordinated and gift bags delivered with no issues at all. We had the privilege of working with Kerri Speiser, who ensured that every detail was met for our special day. We also selected our entertainment company and baker from their list of preferred vendors and they exceeded our expectations as well.
We would highly recommend the Ocean Place to make their wedding dreams come true!

We had our wedding at Ocean Place Resort & Spa and we could not have picked a better place to have our wedding. We booked our venue about 3 months before our wedding, and even with the short amount of planning time we had, Michelle and the entire staff at Ocean Place were amazing! They answered all of our questions, were very accommodating, and made our day unforgettable. We decided to have a beach BBQ themed wedding on the sand in front of the hotel, and it was great! The food was absolutely AMAZING! All of our guests complimented the food and said it was the best food they had ever eaten at a wedding. Throughout the night, the staff was constantly checking up on us to make sure everything was ok, and if there was anything else we needed. An added bonus was having all the people who were walking on the Long Branch boardwalk, stop and watch our wedding reception, and congratulate us. We could not have asked for anything else and everyone at Ocean Place made our wedding unforgettable, we definitely recommend Ocean Place!!

My rehearsal dinner bonfire, wedding and after wedding brunch were all held at Ocean Place. I could not be more pleased with the quality, professionalism and comfort the hotel offered myself, husband and our guests. And not to mention, the renovations and location are just remarkable! Everyone that attended the wedding felt like they just arrived at a destination wedding! Stephanie Lubischer and staff were a dream to work and plan with. When you are working with detail oriented and talented staff, planning one of the biggest days of your life suddenly isn’t stressful and makes a world of a difference. Lisa Drake was phenomenal to work with in setting up the room block. The suite we stayed in was breathtaking, clean and comfortable. Our guests had no complaints about food, beverage or service throughout the entire weekend- and neither did my husband and I. All the captains, maître d's, servers, bartenders were quick, efficient and extremely attentive. I don't think I ever attended a wedding weekend where I could say the same level of service was provided. If I could of pictured and dreamed the perfect wedding... that would be it- and it really happened!

A plus for us was the prime location of Ocean Place. Our ceremony was held offsite in a church. With time in between the ceremony and the reception it was absolutely no problem. Our guests had plenty of options at Ocean Place to relax and stroll around- the Tiki bar, the lobby bar, and beautiful pier village to walk around the boardwalk area. And before they knew it, it was cocktail hour outside with an Ocean view. After the reception our guest who booked a room could get changed and then hang out in the lobby bar for an after hours party. The convenience of having everything in the same place is more than I could of imagined. It makes a huge difference when you are running around and getting ready to host one of the biggest parties of your life!

Everyone attending our wedding said it was the most AMAZING wedding they had ever been to... we could not agree more! The beauty of the ocean, the food, the staff, everything was perfect! Ocean Place exceeded our expectations in every single aspect, we didn't have to worry about anything. They gave us the wedding of our dreams. We have already started planning our one year Anniversary beach bonfire at Ocean Place and can't wait to relive our BEAUTIFUL day!

Had the best experience working with our catering manager and the venue. They were responsive, trustworthy and competent - everything went smoothly day of and I didn't have to worry about a thing! Highly recommend booking your wedding here!!

I could not have asked for anything better! My wedding day was everything I expected and more! Working with Stephanie from the hotel was a pleasure. She was always available to talk and responded quickly to every e-mail (which was a lot)! The hotel and beach area is beautiful. I had the ceremony and reception on the beach and it was flawless. The day was stress free for me because I knew that everything was taken care of. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this hotel for every bride to be!

The most perfect place to have a wedding!

We got married outside on the beach, walked upstairs for our cocktail and our venue was inside the ballroom. It was awesome!! It was NOT the typical "average" wedding food...The food was GREAT!!! Everyone LOVED the food which is definitely hard to come across for a wedding with over 250 guests!!!! EVeryone was very helpful and it was exactly what we imagined. If you are looking for a beach wedding, don't search around!!! OCEAN PLACE is the place to go!!!! The only thing you need to speak to them about is pricing. It was a pricy wedding with the gratuity included and all, but definitely worth it.

We were married at the Ocean Place on August 6, 2011. We think they did an exceptional job. Particularly, the staff was very pleasant and very helpful to us and all of our guests. The grounds were beautiful with the palm trees and beach nearby. And, the food received rave reviews. - Rich and Nicole

I can't imagine working with a more helpful catering manager than Leah. From our first visit to the Ocean Place to the bottle of champagne she sent us on our wedding day, Leah went above and beyond her job description and made our wedding planning at Ocean Place so easy. Her staff was fantastic, especially our head waiter, Stephanie. When our wedding coordinators disappeared after cocktail hour, it was Stephanie who was there telling us what to do as the night progressed in terms of when to typically cut the cake, where the wedding party should stand during entrances, etc. I honestly don't know what I would have done without her. She filled the role of wedding coordinator and head waiter perfectly, and I am so thankful that she was there. I would highly recommend Leah and Stephanie to any couple, I feel like our reception would have fallen apart without them! I can't thank them enough for all that they did!

The Ocean Place was perfect for our beach wedding. The hotel staff were great and helpful during every moment. The food tasted great and were flexible to create cheeseburger sliders for my cocktail hour. All the guests enjoyed their time at the wedding and had nothing but great things to say. My contacts Staci Gussis and Tara Barnes were absolutely wonderful to work with as well. Nothing but great things!

My wedding day took place 6/12/22 and it completely exceeded my expectations…and I already had high expectations for this venue. Our wedding coordinator at the venue, Sara, went above and beyond for us. Unfortunately it had been raining the morning of the wedding and the rain was supposed to continue throughout the day. After we had made the call to move the ceremony indoors, the weather had cleared up for the day….and everything had already been set up for the indoor ceremony. Sara had pulled some strings for us and made it possible for us to still have our ceremony outdoors with the beautiful ocean view, everything was absolutely perfect! The food was also amazing, my guests are still telling me how much the loved the food. The waitstaff was also very attentive and friendly!

We booked at Ocean Place very last minute because of COVID. We were fortunate they had our date! We were able to hold our ceremony and reception outdoors, which was important to us. We loved that our guests were able to stay in the hotel after the wedding, convenience is huge for us! Everyone raved about their experience at our wedding, which is all we could hope for! The food, drinks, and service were great. We are so happy Ocean Place could turn out a wedding in 1 month. Thank you again for everything!

They offer a beautiful venue, with blue carpeting and chairs, with an ocean view. Berkeley and Kelly, were very attentive and accommodating. We had a small wedding on a Sunday afternoon in June. It was expensive, but worth it, and there were no added costs. They have a kosher kitchen, which was very important for us to have a kosher caterer. If you want to stay there, look through an online service, as the rooms are expensive.

The hunt for your wedding venue can be daunting but Ocean Place Resort and Spa had everything we dreamed of and more. If you're looking to get married on the beach, have hotel rooms on location for you and your guests, and have a reception hall that overlooks the ocean, this is your place! Two added bonuses: 1 - They are a pet-friendly resort, meaning Fido can stay with you and be a part of your beach ceremony (our English Bulldog was our ring bearer), and 2 - They import palm trees from Florida just ahead of summer, which gives the beach a nice, tropical vibe.

You can also arrange to have your rehearsal dinner on site, either outside with a bonfire or indoors at the resort's Seaview Restaurant. We opted for indoors since we had a smaller group, and I must say the food was absolutely delicious! A big thank you to Ann for helping us arrange the dinner and working with us on the menu!

I can't begin to thank Kerri enough for the amazing job she did as our wedding coordinator. She was very thorough and prompt with all of her responses, and was super accommodating. She made sure all of our needs were met leading up to the big day last July, and she, along with her team, decorated our beach ceremony and reception hall EXACTLY as I had envisioned it (I was a DIY bride so I created all of my centerpieces, table decorations, etc.).

I must also thank Kerri for letting me make the biggest decision ahead of walking down the aisle: Whether or not the ceremony would take place outside. The forecast that day called for rain – there was a 50% chance at the time she needed to make the call AND it was already drizzling. Rather than shutting down the idea completely, she allowed me to follow my gut and make the decision to keep the ceremony outdoors. And it worked out perfectly! The rain held up throughout the entire ceremony and my husband and I were able to keep our dream of getting married with our toes in the sand.

It was a perfect day and the perfect venue! Having all my guests stay on site made it a lot of fun. We spent the night before all hanging out at the Tiki bar outside, enjoying live music. The food was amazing and so much of it! My guests are still raving about it. The staff was super accommodating and helpful with everything we needed. I really could not have imagined a better place for my special day.

Stayed there the night of my wedding..it was awesome

We were married at Ocean Place June 19, 2011. It was wonderful. Everyone in my family is still talking about it. We had a small wedding with about 20 guests. The food was just amazing I must say. We ate dinner on the balcony facing the ocean. A few cons we experienced was that our wedding planner changed about 4 times. At the time I was worried if the previous planner was sure to pass on all notes to the current planner. Everything worked out fine though. Sadly, Ocean Place lost our our sand unity vase we made during our ceremony. That was really heartbreaking. Lastly, The price for this venue is great with everything you recieve. We are truely pleased and will return I\'m sure in the future for our anniversary some day down the road. I always recommend Ocean Place to any newly engaged couple. You can\'t go wrong with a beach wedding!!!

If I could go back, I would not change a single thing about my wedding day. Having the ceremony on the beach was absolutely breathtaking. The cocktail hour on the patio was absolutely perfect. The food was amazing and there was plenty of it! The staff was very professional and took care of everything. Having the view of the beach from the ballroom thanks to the ceiling to floor length windows. My guests loved their accomodations there. I would get married there a thousand times over!

I had a great experience at the Ocean Place and really feel that they worked with me every step of the way to make my wedding everything I wanted and more.

We did not end up having our event here due to COVID, however, we almost moved it to them if we received our initial deposits back more quickly. Beth was AMAZING. the most supportive, flexible, responsive, and genuinely interested coordinator we have spoken with throughout planning and replanning our wedding. I wish we could've made it work as Ocean Place clearly cares about their couples and guests. They were flexible and invested in outdoor accommodations for reasonable prices, when many other venues nearby were not. A huge plus too is the ambiance of the hotel as well as offering beautiful rooms for a full 'resort" experience for your guests. The rooms during the offseason were also VERY affordable for what you get. I very much recommend. The only flaw is their main room doesn't have windows... I hope they change that + the carpet in that room.

I had a little trouble with their room block system and the value for the cost. Nothing was included without a charge. All our wedding events were held at the hotel-bachelorette party in the spa, rehearsal dinner and bonfire on the beach, ceremony and cocktail hour on the outdoor patio, reception in the indoor ballroom, and breakfast the morning after. For that, something extra could have been included. But that said, everything went off without a hitch. The food was more than wonderful, the weather perfect, the staff friendly & professional, rooms nice and clean, bridal suite roomy and modern, the setting a TRUE "10". As a good number of our guests were from out of town, the hotel was the perfect venue for our activities.

Ocean Place is an exceptional site which offers everything that any bride and groom may desire. It's vast services and delightful/attentive staff will not disappoint you.

Ocean Place Resort & Spa (OCRS) is amazing - in every aspect. I had my wedding on the beach, the cocktail hour on the brick pavers next to the boardwalk, and the reception in the Atlantic Ballroom. OCRS provided an area for the string quartet to play on the beach, under the palm trees. They provided a perfect area for us to perform the dove release after the ceremony. The beaches were kept very clean and private enough. Of course there were people lined up along the boardwalk watching the ceremony - which makes you feel like such a princess! It was great standing under the gazebo before walking down the beach and having people just take pictures of you - that you don't even know! Michelle Cassarley was our coordinator from the hotel and she was perfect! She was highly organized and didn't let me see my hubby to be before the ceremony. She went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure nothing was out of place. They are extremely flexible, too! I had to move my wedding from Saturday to the Monday of memorial day, and they did, which no extra charge, no change of rooms and everything moved with ease. They even offered to help me move some of my other vendors. I woudl highly highly recommend this venue. We go back each anniversary for breakfast. It is the perfect place and a real treasure in NJ. We love it!

The ocean place is a great place for a beach wedding.

Ocean Place was GORGEOUS! everyone loved the setting. i didn't get to taste much of the food, but i heard it was excellant. They did not set up my ceremony location until 15 minutes before the wedding, but it all came together. Leah was wonderful to work with and always responded to my emails and calls right away.

Too many changes happened with COVID to really give a an honest assessment of the negations for this wedding. Some of them were by no fault of the Hotel, but I felt some were. I know it is a business deal at the end of the day-I get it. I don't like bartering and I don't like last minute changes. I hate that crap. I personally just have a bad feeling about those meetings and the constant changes. So, that being said, on the day of the wedding, that was perfect. They did an excellent job with everything. Extremely polite and went way out of their way to make everything go well. Our guests had nothing but good things to say.

The Team at Ocean Place was very professional and caring, their team is responsive and the venue is gorgeous.

We had an outside wedding at pics just turned out amazing.

PV

We had a few bumps in the road, but at the end my wedding turned out perfectly and that's what matters!

There were a few bumps during the planning process but overall my rehearsal dinner and wedding were amazing!

Ok this actually kind of hurts me to write this.
First I will say the actual wedding and everything leading up to it was fantastic. It was a wonderful day and I felt taken care of and the food was absolutely amazing!
After the wedding was when things swiftly went downhill. I had a wedding arbor that I personally built that was very large, and had arranged (so I thought) to pick it up Tuesday from the loading dock (wedding was sunday). Came to pick it up after confirming that morning, and it was completely torn apart in a dumpster. I have no idea why there wasn't a notice given to staff saying it was being picked up that day, but things happen I guess. So, myself my husband and a groomsman had to take all the pieces out of the dumpster ourselves to bring home. To be fair it was raining, but I had hoped for some sense of responsibility from staff to rectify the problem. Also realized afterwards that some of my personal items were never returned, probably taken by some staff, and the location of those items was never given to me after asking for their return. No formal apology was given for the mishap either, unfortunately.
All in all, yes the wedding was beautiful and I had a wonderful day, but don't expect them to care much after you stop paying. Take swift inventory of your items after your wedding.

I waited 38 years for my wedding day and sad to say I was disappointed with the venue. It was a destination wedding my welcome bags were not given out properly, they broke my cake topper, my guest were not changed correctly. 3 of them has a second charge 3 months after the wedding. The food was cold, the lights were bright all night. The only good part was the cocktail hour. The worst part of it all was that when I complained NOTHING was done. A free weekend at the hotel would have been a nice way to smooth thing over but instead I got nothing not even a response. So if you want a beautiful wedding please do not book it at Ocean Place Spa and Resort in Long Branch NJ

Let me start by saying our ceremony was beautiful and we had a ton of fun at our reception (bc we had a good dj and a kickass photobooth)We decided on a September'15 date and booked OP in August'14. The wedding coordinator we booked with, corresponded with, worked out many details with, etc left the company unannounced to us in July 2015. I had tried reaching out to her via email, was not receiving a response, called up OP and was told she was no longer worked for the company. In fact, the woman who I booked a hotel block through for the weekend of our wedding (at OP), also left the company unexpectedly. To make matters worse, the employees who took spots of both our wedding coordinator and wedding block specialist had NO RECORD of any of my communication with these former employees. I was back at square one with only two months until the wedding. My husband and I had to take a trip down there (we live in Northern NJ) on a Sunday to hash out all of the details with our new coordinator. Then they tried to say that policies had changed and that we would have to pay more money as they weren't honoring our contract!! It was a disaster and a fight to get everything put back together and we still ended up paying more than what we had anticipated. We felt robbed; we had already invested so much time, money and energy into OP that there was no way we could change venues that late in the game. We were also told that we were going to be responsible for all of our setup and take down of decorations the day of the wedding. Please tell me how me or my husband were supposed to do that AND get ready for our wedding? We had also made "welcome bags" for our guests staying with us at OP, which we knew would cost $2/bag to have placed. We found out from our guests that the bags were not in the rooms but since we had told them about them, they called the front desk. Front desk told them to come down to the lobby to retrieve. Front desk still charged us for 'delivery'.

I have to say I would not recommend anyone get married here. The only reason why I am not giving them an F is because I did absolutely love the location on the beach and also found that their food was of a very good quality.
I want to share my entire experience with The Ocean Place Resort. When we first went there, they impressed us with their location and great price. They informed us if we got married prior to June, the room rates would be less for our guests as well. Our Sales and Catering Manager, Leah, directly told us the rates would be about $150.00 per night. We decided to get married on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend due to price and availability. I had informed them upfront, that I also work in the hospitality industry, so I was familiar with many terms, phrases, and conditions. They still tried to pull many tricks on me. The first upset came when I received the contract. I noticed they had put down a $25,000 food and beverage minimum for the wedding on the agreement. Based off the fact that we were going to have 140 people at a $130.00 per person rate – our total would have been closer to $18,200. I called The Ocean Place and asked why they never mentioned the food and beverage minimum to me before. Why did they put it in small print on the contract? Were they hoping I wouldn’t notice? Leah, my Sales and Catering Manager, informed me that there had to be a food and beverage minimum. Oops – sorry she forgot to mention it. I quickly informed her we did not have that kind of money, so we could not work with The Ocean Place. The only way I might be able to swing it, is if that also included the rehearsal dinner we were going to have there along with the breakfast we would have the day after the wedding. She promptly told me they would not do that for me and we hung up thinking we would not get married at The Ocean Place. Sure enough (again I work in the industry) Leah called me about three days later and told me she talked with her director and that the $25,000 would include rehearsal dinner and breakfast. Still too expensive, but fine – we loved the location. Before we signed the contract we had another issue. There are two ballrooms directly across from each other at The Ocean Place. Many places I looked at I immediately disqualified if there was a possibility of two weddings going on at once. I asked Leah several times if this was a possibility. She told me that in the past three years they never had more then one wedding on Memorial Day. She assured me the likelihood of this happening was basically 0. She even went a step further, and blocked the ballroom on the other side of the hallway as backup space for our ceremony if it were to rain. She assured us, since the other ballroom was blocked, there was no way another wedding would take place at the same time. At this point, we reviewed the agreement and signed. A few weeks later I decided to set up my rooming block. I spoke with a woman who is no longer there who quoted me $250.00 per night for the rooms. This was $100 more then Leah had previously suggested. Since many of my guests were going to be staying two nights, this was not a good option. I eventually needed to talk to the Director of Sales (also who is no longer there) about the mis-communication. He decided we could do $199.00 per night. The hotel also tacks on about $20 in additional “fees” for beach towels and beach access, which is ridiculous on top of their room rate. The rooming sales manager also informed me that if I blocked rooms and any of the rooms did not get reserved, I would personally have to pay for them. Again, I work in the hospitality industry and this never happens with wedding groups. This is called attrition and typically only occurs with huge group blocks (over 50 rooms) and when the group does not have what is known as a “cut-off” date. I was not having any of this. Being as though I was already going to spend over $30,000 at this hotel – how dare they try to charge me if one or two rooms wasn’t booked!?! Again I spoke with the Director of Sales. We came up with a compromise, that my “cut-off” date for the May 30th wedding was going to have to be December 30th. This means that over my Christmas holiday I had to spend every day calling family/friends and begging them to make their room reservations, or they might not be able to stay at The Ocean Place during our Wedding. You’d think after all the money we were going to spend there; they could have at least given our guests until March or April to reserve. But no, if I wanted it that way I was going to have to pay for it personally.
The Ocean Place found unique ways to nickel and dime us at every single corner. We had to block a group of rooms at The Holiday Inn down the street as well. When asked if The Ocean Place shuttle could pick those people up, they quoted us a price. When we asked for different colored items, they quoted us a price. Everything was extra.
Finally it was time to book our tasting. Leah told me we were allowed only to try 2 appetizers, 2 salads, and 2 entrees. I didn’t mind this except, I wanted to try more then 2 entrees since, we had to pick 2 entrees for our wedding. I wanted to try at least 3, this way if there was one we were not crazy about , we could select the other two for our wedding. I asked Leah if we could try maybe three of four entrees instead, so we could pick two from there. Leah replied to me that it would be $70 extra to try two additional entrees. Considering the amount of money we were about to spend for this wedding, they STILL wanted to charge us more for our tasting! I couldn’t believe this. This was an issue I fought and explained to Leah – how were we supposed to choose entrees without trying a few? Finally, Leah caved on this – but not without me having to fight for it.
Later that same day, after we had our tasting, we had our cake tasting at Palermo’s. When we first booked with Ocean Place they were using a different bakery. When we had first gone to Ocean Place they’d shown us a book full of fabulous looking wedding cakes. When we visited Palermos we were promptly told – “You want fondant? That will be extra, Ocean Place won’t cover it. You won’t white chocolate? That will be extra, Ocean Place won’t cover it”. Essentially those same pictures we’d seen at Ocean Place, somehow didn’t translate at the tasting. We were given very basic options for our cake.
I called Leah after this appointment and she told me they would not cover the extras. I was a little upset about this, and the only comment I made here was “I’m a little disappointed”
When I got home that evening I had received in my email a letter from Leah basically telling me I was the worst bride she ever dealt with. I was completely taken aback. She yelled at me for telling her I was disappointed. Even if I was not the easiest person to deal with ( I will quickly admit that I am not easy, especially being in the business) – this was extremely unprofessional. The fact that she found it necessary to write me an e-mail which ended with her telling me if I’d like to have my wedding elsewhere, it was fine with her. I wrote back to her as professionally as I could. I tried to explain to her that it wasn’t her I was really upset with, but the fact that I felt so incredibly nickeled and dimed about everything at The Ocean Place. I felt really lied to about what was and wasn’t included – from day one with them failing to tell me about the food and beverage minimum. After this I did not hear from her again for awhile.
A few weeks later I asked her to please put these feelings aside, and promised I would try my hardest to be “nicer” . I really wanted to cooperate to make the big day as wonderful as possible. I started becoming a bit more numb to their additional fees and charges. On the wedding weekend, it was an extra $3 per room to deliver Out of Town bags. Again, this was fee was totally unnecessary.
A few weeks prior to the wedding I asked Leah if she ever ended up booking another wedding for the same day as mine. She told me that their might be one, but much earlier in the day. I decided to re-ask this question two weeks prior to my wedding. This time she informed me she did book another wedding the same day.
I quickly picked up my phone and called her. In the nicest way possible, I asked her what time the other wedding was. She informed me that it was at 5pm and mine wasn’t until 6pm. Thus, there would be another wedding directly across the hall.
What upset me about this was that – instead of professionally notifying me when this wedding booked ( I would have understood, again being in the business I do realize, making money = making money) I had to repeatedly asked her. She dodged my questions and even lied about it being “much earlier in the day”. She had also lied about blocking that other ballroom a year prior so their wouldn’t be another wedding at the same time. She told me not to worry and that I would not even notice the other wedding. She was correct, the other wedding did not bother me much – but it did completely affect the entire timing of events during my reception.
Since it was only two weeks before the wedding at this point, I had already created bathroom baskets, flip flop baskets, and other things for the wedding that the other wedding party could easily use. It wasn’t fair that I spent my own money on items that could now become theirs. I had spent about $300.00 on these items.
As the day arrived, my nerves subsided and I realized there was not much I could do but enjoy the day. A few days prior to the wedding we visited the Ocean Place and went over some last minute details. I had never even seen the Bridal Suite before since every time I was there in the past they claimed it was being used. Finally I saw the suite, which was definitely just a meeting space they were calling a Bridal Suite. This space has nothing Bridal Suite about it. It is a plain room with a bathroom that is empty.
Leading up to the wedding, we were nowhere near our food and beverage minimum so we had to add several additional items in order to attempt to make the food and beverage minimum. We added passed cookies for later part of the wedding, which maybe five people got to enjoy since they did not come to serve them until exactly midnight, when 85% of the guests had already left. We also added a signature cocktail, which was nice but extremely expensive ($5/drink) considering alcohol was already included and only about 20 people maybe had one. In the end we still missed our minimum by about $1,000 but I do think Leah realized there was nothing more we could add.
On the weekend itself, the hotel accommodated many of my guests by checking them in early. Part of the wedding agreement on day one was a “complimentary upgrade for the Bride and Groom”. Well, we never got that. I understand it is based on availability, but just to be sneaky, I checked on the availability of a suite that morning – and it was available. Ofcourse we did not get this. I had been joking all along that there was no way they would give us something for free. I always imagined spending my first night as a newlywed in a nice suite, but another wish not fulfilled by The Ocean Place. I know the hotel has many suites, they couldn’t set one aside for us?
The first evening was our rehearsal dinner. The Ocean Place did a wonderful job with the food and setup of this event. They did not, however, warn me that there would be another rehearsal dinner right next to mine. The other rehearsal dinner had some musicians, which sounded lovely, but obviously no one could hear the music I brought. Again, a warning would have been appreciated. Kalpesh was our Maître D all weekend. I could tell he was trying hard to do a great job but certainly missed the mark at many points. Even though there was only 30 of us at the rehearsal, twice during the night random people walked into our private event. There was one couple sitting at our bonfire for twenty minutes, when I finally approached them and had to ask Kalpesh to please say something. It was inappropriate. Trying not to be completely negative, I personally had a great time at this event and loved the bartenders. The event was beautiful. I loved it.
On our wedding day itself, there were certainly a few bumps along the road. The most outrageous thing that happened during our entire planning that we never could have accounted for was that a member of the Ocean Place Staff actually drove through the back of our beach wedding in an ATV. I think he was there cleaning the grounds from the previous wedding, but it was the most shocking thing that could have happened. Again, it was unprofessional and extremely tacky. How could this person not have seen that there was a wedding going on? Here we are trying to say loving remarks to one another, and one of their own employees on an ATV drove right on through. This was degusting and tasteless.
Everyone found that the cocktail hour was the highlight of the event. The food was good, the drinks were flowing, and there was a great amount of room and seating. We found out at this moment that the hotel doesn’t allow you to take shots. This is completely acceptable, but something I wish I would have been told. When you buy an all inclusive all you can drink package, it’s expected that shots might be available. Please make sure you inform other weddings that this is unavailable. I know for a fact there is no NJ law against this, since I’ve been to several other weddings in NJ. In any case, we had another one or two people who did not belong there wonder in, and again I needed to point this out to staff. The man with the fanny pack clearly didn’t belong there.
Once the reception began, things felt very rushed. The appetizer, salad, and entrée all came out extremely quickly. By 9 o’clock (only an hour and a half into the event) all three courses had been served. My husband was given the steak with no steak knife. I do not understand why our event was rushed so much, except to say maybe they were working in coordination with the wedding going on across the hall. Our event was meant to last until midnight, and I’d even paid extra to extend the party until midnight. Unfortunately, the Ocean Place decided to serve cake at 10:15 – meaning many of my guests began waving goodbye to me at 10:30. This is a wedding standard – after dessert, many believe the party is over. There was no reason to serve dessert at 10:15 for a party that ended at midnight. Again, I think this was affected by the other party.
My mother took a strong disliking to Kalpesh in this moment. Half of the ballroom got the additional desserts (chocolate covered strawberries and profiteroles) while the other half did not. Half of the ball room was forgotten about. My mother brought this up to Kalpesh who tried to apologize and tell her it didn’t matter. I do not know if the other half got those desserts. Our cake was half red velvet half vanilla. It was meant to be served (as directed to Palermo’s) with one piece red and one piece white on each table –this way everyone could sample the two flavors. The Ocean Place did not do this. My husband’s favorite flavor is Red Velvet – which is too bad since pretty much everyone got the vanilla. (Including both of us).
The timing of the whole event felt very odd. This could also have been partially the DJs fault, but I doubt that highly.
Finally, we had breakfast at The Ocean Place for about 60 people. The breakfast was casual and everything tasted greats. Finally – I have no complaints!
In summary, dealing with The Ocean Place was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. I think this hotel has a huge potential to do great but completely misses the mark on service. I have worked in many hotels over the years and have my degree in hospitality and do think there needs to be some major changes at The Ocean Place if it wants to keep afloat. Many of my family and friends always come to me with hotel recommendations, and I will consistently warn them against The Ocean Place. I will also be sending that same warning to NJ Brides. Please let me know if you have any further questions, I would be happy to answer and actually really do have hopes that The Ocean Place will improve.

Our stay at Ocean Place Resort & Spa was disappointing and unacceptable. All our guests, vendors, and ourselves were excited for the wedding weekend of August 24th , but it was plagued with several issues.

Guests complained of sand-covered floors, and two fire alarms the night before and morning of the wedding created chaos. No clear communication was provided, leaving everyone confused and uncomfortable. The conflicting reasons given for the alarms—from a kitchen fire to no emergency—were distressing and scary. This disrupted my sleep and schedule, causing delays with my photo and video sessions.

Our guest’s safe was broken, causing them to miss most of the bonfire dinner we paid for. One of our guest were locked out of their bathroom, told to "use a coin" to open it next time. Room service left doors open, towels were never provided, and guests felt unsafe.

My Wife’s hair and makeup team was sent to the wrong room, and no water was provided as promised in the contract. My WIFE who was getting married that day had to retrieve bottles from the front desk herself, and staff never followed up. The artists were also upset by the fire alarm disruptions, causing further delays to our wedding schedule.

At 2 am family members were frustrated when security was unavailable, leaving them locked out of a room that was required to set up for the wedding. There was also a room mix-up for our planner, despite confirming the correct setup in April. This issue wasn’t resolved until late at night, adding more stress.

Additionally, we have reached out to many upper management at Ocean place resort & spa about our frustrations and have yet to get a response from anyone. Advertising as a “resort” and a 4 star hotel and getting 1 star experience is an absolute shame. I can get better customer service and a better experience from a motel down the street.

Overall, this experience was far below expectations, especially given the high room rates. We CAN NOT recommend any services provided by Ocean Place Resort & Spa and will be reaching out to the Better Business Bureau, Consumer Affairs, Local fire department, and Attorney Generals Office. In addition we will be reaching out to all our wedding vendors to inform newly weds to STAY AWAY from Ocean Place Resort & Spa.

Lack of communication and miscommunication between staff. Misleading information given to us. We have no plans to have our event at this venue let alone stay here anytime in the near future for that matter. No trust formed here.

Our wedding was 11/4 at McCloone's Pier House- which was beyond amazing and fantastic! We wanted to block rooms at Ocean Place for our guests. We were told the following by Todd upon booking: we can always add to our room block and they would call if rooms were running short to give us a chance; we were responsible to pay for all the rooms in our block from the time we booked a year out even is someone canceled; our autistic niece would have an adjoining room so she and her sitter and parents would have access to each other; the bar would be open until 1 Am after our wedding; our brunch would be 19.95 a head and we would have a section of the dining room for our guests.
After booking: our reservation was seriously messed up about a dozen times shorting us rooms until we called higher up multiple times to fix it; they tried to put my autistic niece and her parents in a pet friendly room because it was all that was left adjoining; they booked the entire hotel and we couldn't add to our block with no notice given to us, of course they were able to find a few rooms that costed well above our block pricing; Todd was emphatic the bar would NOT remain open for the 75 people we were expecting even though the hotel was supposedly booked with a band playing; brunch was now 25.00 a head and no reserved space would be left for us, the dining room manager could also not be bothered to speak with us; and our guests were seriously on every floor and corner of the hotel. This place and Todd were total nightmares and the definition of unprofessional. Plus we paid 20 a head more after 2 people per room, and $40 of hotel amenity fees In addition to room cost and tax, and we were charged $2 a bag for our check in bags for guests. We SERIOUSLY LOVED ALL OF OUR VENDORS AND HAD A DREAM WEDDING; however, Todd and Ocean Place were the least professional, efficient, and accommodating business people I have ever encountered. Make the drive to stay somewhere else.

The very beginning everything seemed perfect!! We worked with Dominique & it was awful!! She never returned our calls & when she did she argued with me!!! My bridal room was not at all what I expected & the first time I saw her on my wedding day to ask if everything was ok was 3pm & wedding started at 5pm!!!! A couple days after the wedding we were notified by our linens vendor they were missing ten napkins. We called Dominique who said she would look into it & of course we NEVER got a phone call back!!!! Would NEVER recommend them!!!