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Carroll Villa Hotel

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Our History

The urban legend is that Harry Kulkowitz won the Carroll Villa Hotel in a poker game. Well, he was playing cards with the owner, probably poker, and he most likely won, but the reality is โ€“ he fell in love. Where others saw what might best be described as a โ€œfixer upper,โ€ Harry was a dreamer and saw a gathering place for those who loved good food, beautiful art and beautiful surroundings. The price tag was $96,000. Although he owned the prestigious Kenmore Art Gallery in Philadelphia, Harry did not have the money to buy the Cape May, NJ hotel.ย  However, a man he met in Cape May, Henry Gorelick, happened to take a shine to him and put in a good word with the bank. In 1976, Harry Kulkowitz became an innkeeper and restaurateur.

He named his restaurant The Mad Batter. At the time, Cape May had few good restaurants and no gourmet dining to speak of, but Harry had a knack for spotting talent and in no time, The Mad Batter Restaurant was garnering a reputation for fine food. After a favorable review by nationally acclaimed food critic Jim Quinn, which appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on a Friday, The Mad Batter Restaurant was discovered. Thus, began the start of the Cape May restaurant scene.

While Harry was launching his Cape May lodging property and restaurant near the beach on the Jersey Shore, his son Mark was in the Army doing a three-year stint in Europe. His father kept writing to him telling him about what a great place he had in a town Mark had never heard of โ€“ Cape May. He kept asking him to come help him run it, but Mark had other plans. He describes himself as a โ€œNew York Jew who got traded to Philadelphia [where the family moved] who hated it and moved back to Woodstock, New York. Iโ€™m a counter-culture hippy, anti-intellectual-intellectualโ€ who decided to see what this town of Cape May was all about after his discharge from the Army in October 1978. โ€œI went to Frankfort,โ€ says Mark, โ€œwhere I was discharged. I threw my uniform in the trash. Put Civilian clothes on and got on a train to the Kaiserstuhl. The next day I was picking grapes. I returned to the United States in January 1979.โ€

He headed down to Cape May, met a woman by the name of Pam Huber, who was working for his father until Harry fired her โ€“ again. โ€œI had this Russian hat on,โ€ he recalls, โ€œfrom Bullwinkle and Rocky. My sister introduced us. She said, โ€˜This is Harryโ€™s son.โ€™ Pam said, โ€˜I didnโ€™t know he had a son.โ€™ And against her better judgment, we started dating and we got married.โ€

Harry fired Pam and Mark (always separately) several more times over the years but, he maintained, โ€œHad to hire them backโ€ because he โ€œneeded the help.โ€ Amidst the family dramas, Pam and Mark have managed the Carroll Villa Hotel and The Mad Batter Restaurant for over 30 years and had three children in the process, who also grew up with the family business. Pamโ€™s artistic sensibilities are reflected throughout the property. Her mosaic tile artistry can be seen in the newly refurbished bar and she manages the art gallery, which regularly hosts the best photography and art in the county. โ€œShe is the heart and soul of the place,โ€ says Mark of his wife of 29 years.

And now the third generation is posed to step in. Marta, Kyle and Tess โ€“ three Huberwitzes (as Mark and Pam refer to them) are now taking an active part in the business. Kyle runs the bar. Marta, along with her mother, has updated the guest rooms to be more contemporary, moving away from the Victorian sensibilities which characterized the property over the decades. And Tess is there to help in the summer months when she is not in college.

Summarizing what he likes best about running both a Cape May, NJ hotel and restaurant for 30-plus years, Mark says simply, โ€œIโ€™m a Kosher ham. We tried to provide a very warm atmosphere here. And thatโ€™s the thing thatโ€™s hard to realize, that the staff does a great job. In the Mad Batter, we serve over 75,000 people a year or something like that and everybody needs a โ€œHelloโ€ and a โ€œThank you.โ€ You lose sight of that sometimes because the summer is so driven. And that was my fatherโ€™s philosophy of life too. You work hard all your life, and you deserve that. You deserve a warm โ€œHelloโ€ when you get here and a โ€œThank youโ€ when you leave. And thatโ€™s my job and I love it.โ€

 

 

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Premier King

Large bedroom with gray wooden sleigh bed, white bedding, gray upholstered chair, and dark wooden dresser

Premier King – Room 4

Large bedroom with antiqued headboard, white bedding, sitting area with tan upholstered chairs, and antiqued wooden dresser

Premier Two Room Suite – Room 6

Bedroom with dark wooden ornate headboard, white bedding, gray blanket, hardwood flooring, and ornate wallpaper

Premier King – Room 13

Bedroom with antiqued headboard, white bedding, sitting area with tan upholstered chairs, hardwood flooring, and ornate wallpaper

Premier King – Room 20

Bedroom with dark wooden headboard, white bedding, gray blanket, hardwood flooring, gray dresser, and modern wallpaper

Premier King – Room 21

Bedroom with large gray headboard, white bedding, gray blanket, yellow and black pillows, and vase full of pink flowers

Premier Two Room Suite – Room 28

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Bedroom with light wooden ornate headboard, matching footboard, white bedding, gray blanket, hardwood flooring, and mirror

Deluxe King with Twin – Room 31

Large bedroom with gray wooden ornate headboard, matching dresser with marble top and mirror, white bedding, hardwood flooring, and brocade wallpaper

Deluxe King with Trundle – Room 34

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Large bedroom with ornate antique headboard, white bedding, hardwood flooring, sitting area with upholstered chairs, and antique dresser with mirror

King – Room 8

Bedroom with large gray headboard, white bedding, yellow pillows, hardwood flooring, gray walls, and gray dresser with marble top and mirror

King – Room 9

Bedroom with large ornate seafoam headboard, matching dresser with mirror, white bedding, gray blanket, hardwood flooring, and light brocade wallpaper

King – Room 11

Bedroom with light-colored wooden headboard, white bedding, gray blanket, hardwood flooring, sitting area with upholstered chair, and large mirror

King – Room 14

Bedroom with large light-colored ornate headboard, white bedding, hardwood flooring, and sitting area with upholstered chair

King – Room 16

Bedroom with dark wooden ornate headboard, matching dresser with mirror, cream-colored bedding, and dark wooden nightstand

King – Room 19

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Bedroom with light-colored ornate headboard, white bedding, hardwood flooring, brocade blue wallpaper, and sitting area with white slipcovered chairs

Queen – Room 1

Large bedroom with light-colored ornate headboard, white bedding, blue blanket, dark wooden dresser, and sitting area with upholstered chairs

Queen – Room 18

Bedroom with gray wooden headboard, white bedding, hardwood flooring, light gray patterned wallpaper, small upholstered chair, and mirror on the wall

Queen – Room 23

Bedroom with light-colored ornate headboard, white bedding, gray blanket, hardwood flooring, and light gray walls

Queen – Room 25

Bedroom with large dark wooden ornate headboard, white bedding, gray blanket, light-tan and modern wallpaper, and wooden nightstands

Queen – Room 26

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