Resort Review: Anniversary Trip to The Colonial Inn, Smithville New Jersey

Good morning everyone! If you saw my photos on Instagram last week, you may have noticed that Nick (my husband) and I took a mini-vacation to Smithville, New Jersey for our FOUR year wedding anniversary! I wanted to find something that wasn't too far (less than 3 hour drive), decently affordable, was close to by a nice beach and had updated rooms! I stumbled upon The Colonial Inn while I was searching on Groupon (I literally almost gave up, I couldn't find anything I liked!) There were TONS of five star reviews, no one had anything negative to say.  It also looked so cute and I have always wanted to stay at a Bed and Breakfast! From there on out, I knew it was the one!! I also loved that you could book for two nights on Groupon, which I thought would be the perfect amount of time to enjoy everything!


I took this photo from the gazebo across the lake! This is the gorgeous village across the lake right before sunset (our room was on that side of the village). My favorite part was walking around the entire village each morning and night! 

This was also taken from the Gazebo! The village looked SO pretty at sunset! However, I got some REALLY huge, bad mosquito bites all on my legs because this was by the water.  Next time I would definitely bring a repellant bracelet or lotion before we went out at night!

My outfit for our first night! I have these tanks in every color. 
When we went, it was the hottest days of the summer so I didn't even curl my hair until the morning we left! 
Black Tanktop and HERE // Leopard Shorts (c/o Shop Hopes) and HERE

Another thing I loved was that the resort had SO many precious animals roaming around freely! Chickens, hens, geese, baby birds, roosters! It was the sweetest thing.  They would travel in packs and you could follow them around. It was so cute!!! 

When you arrive (and everyday you stay!) they offer you complimentary lemonade or iced tea! I got a lemonade each day and let me tell you it was delicious! One of the other guests told me the Peach Iced Tea was amazing.  I regret not trying that one too! It was SO refreshing, especially on a hot day when you're walking around the village! This is the bridge you walk through to get to your room in the village! 

On our first full day, we went to Brigantine Beach! It was only about 20-25 minutes away from our B&B.  We were debating going to Long Beach Island, which was about 45 minutes away.  It had the NJ boardwalk which I really wanted to go to.  Even though Brigantine didn't have a boardwalk, I didn't even notice because it was beautiful! The water was so clear and the beach was huge.  A fellow NY'er was even kind enough to give us their beach parking pass! 

This is my first one piece bathing suit adventure and I really loved how it fit! 
Flamingo One-Piece (C/O of Zaful) and HERE


Maxi Romper Dress (exact one - almost sold out!)
Similar HERE and HERE

This may be my favorite photo from the trip! I loooved this view from the dock every night! It is the CUTEST little place ever! 


I knew I had to get a blog photo on the carousel! The worker was kind enough to let me on it lol! I was super excited to wear this outfit - it was my favorite one.  I am head over heels for all things overalls! I cannot wait to get a black pair.  I paired them with this really cute "lettuce trim" striped tee, they're totally a 90's throwback and I am here for it! 

Room: Our room was nestled right in the village of shops! They also have a room out of the village that is called The Barn.  I got to pick our room which was fun! We stayed in Room 203.  What's cool is that each room is different so each time you visit, you can pick a different room to try! I wasn't sure what to expect but it was SUCH a nice room! Nicer than most hotel rooms I have stayed in! It had huge 15 ft vaulted ceilings, a brand new bathroom with a steam shower and tons of space, super comfy bed and we also had a porch that we ate breakfast on every morning! I would absolutely stay in the same room again.  The village area is pretty quiet, so some people will be walking around the village but it's nothing crazy or annoying.  You can check out all their rooms HERE on the website!

Food: Each morning, they gave you a little menu to check off what you wanted for breakfast. I would go down and "fetch" my breakfast basket to bring back to our patio and it was THE CUTEST thing ever.  Reminded me of Little House on the Prairie! They gave you muffins, croissants, yogurt and orange juice.  I also got iced coffee for free! It was really yummy and satisfying!
There were a few restaurants on site, right in the "town" that you could just walk to each night.  We really wanted to try the greek but it closed at like 6PM every night! There was the Smithville Inn but it was a little too "wedding-esque" food for us - too fancy!  We like simple stuff like nachos, etc. basically junk food LOL! So for both nights we went to Fred & Ethel's Lighthouse Restauraunt.  It was really good! We had the shrimp appetizer (too spicy for me but Nick loved it) and I had the Mac & Cheese Burger which was AMAZING. One of my favorite meals! On Monday it was mexican (our favorite) so we got the nachos, taco salad and I got a burrito! My favorite was the nachos!! 

B&B Activities: There was a lot to do at the resort (my husband said it's not a resort hahah) that you didn't even have to leave! They had two antique arcades, paddle boats around the lake, a cool "fake" shooting range game, ice cream and TONS of shopping!! It's so nice because you're supporting small businesses! We went into a lot of the shops.  My favorite was the Little Egg Harbor Soap Shop! They had tons of natural soaps and natural skincare.  We also went to the pet shop, peanut butter store, oil shop (I got some different sea salts!), Christmas shop. It was the cutest village ever! You could shop for hours. They also play this cute wild western instrumental music throughout the village.  OH and they had a train that runs through the village too ($2 per ride) I didn't get to to go on it but next time I will! 

The cons: We were there on a Sunday and Monday so the shops and ice cream/dessert place called Scoops closed at about 6PM.  We always finished dinner at like 730PM so we never got a chance to try the ice cream shop! We both agree that we wish it was open til at least 9PM.   There is also no pool, but going to the beach makes up for it!

Overall, I absolutely loved our stay at The Colonial Inn!!! It was so magical and I felt like I was at a fun summer camp the entire time.  I didn't even want to leave!! I recommend everyone stay there if you live in the Tri-State area.  It's perfect for an anniversary trip, birthday trip, bachelorette parties and families would love it!! It was so precious and I cannot wait to go back!! I keep telling everyone about it and that they need to go! I am already thinking of our next trip there and hope to make it a yearly tradition! (PS this is not sponsored lol!) 



Post a Comment

Follow @ Instagram