North Wind Motel
401 Ocean Avenue
North Wildwood, New Jersey 08260
1-800-768-3339 or 609-522-0746
(609) 729-6007 (winter)
 
Official site:
http://www.thenorthwindmotel.com/
 
http://www.thenorthwindmotel.com/content/uploads/northwind09.jpg

 
 
Wildwood Doo Wop profile:
http://wildwooddoowop.com/North+Wind+Motel/
 
 
Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=101830811245
 
 
The North Wind Motel is one of the older Motels in this most northern section of our island.  It is a classic Mid Century low-rise Motel.  Its structure housing its units is L-shaped.  It originally had approximately 33 units.  With the room layouts noted on the Motel's official site, I get the impression some units are now combined to provide larger accommodations.  
 
The North Wind is located on the Southeast corner of 4th and Ocean Avenues, and is about a block or so from the beach/ocean, with JFK Blvd. to cross.  It is a 3 floor masonry structure painted white, with a bit of darker brick trim between the units, floor to ceiling glass, and wooden jalousie outer doors, also in white.  Individual, white lights for each unit are at about 3/4 height.  Amazingly, it has what appears to be its original, aluminum railings along the balconies, the sundeck, and some of the pool area.  Great to see...  Units stretch across its 2nd & 3rd floors. The ground floor is home to the lobby/office with an blue canopied entrance, and more units.  Level two has a sundeck that breaks from the L-shape, and on the Northwestern portion of the property.  Some parking spaces are located partially under the deck.  The irregular-shaped pool area appears to be recently redone, but based on the original design.  A relatively newer, backlit roadside sign, is on the property's Northwestern corner.  Its vacancy indicator is in neon.  Wildwood Palms dot the pool area and sundeck.
 
The North Wind has an overall has a neat, clean look.  The only serious criticism I can give it is the lack of a neon sign.  A re-creation of either of the original neons, whether the rooftop or the amazing roadside sign, would be a great upgrade.  In all my recent memory, the property has always appeared very well maintained.  Seems like a great, low-key little place.
 
I welcome your thoughts on the North Wind.
 
 

This place is so far off the beaten path for a Crester like me that it's like making a new friend every time someone mentions it and I'm always pleasantly surprised to be reminded that it's still "alive."
 
I'm happy to hear you have such a positive impression of the place, Martin. Since it is not that close to the beach, hopefully rapacious developers will leave it alone even if the market picks up enough to get them salivating again.
 
You're right about the signage... once again, a reminder of how lucky we are that Claudia had that directory and was able and willing to take the time to post it for us. I wonder why both of those signs perished? Notice, though, that in the image from the Duke of Music site you can see a romantically styled sign for the Jade East behind it and that sign, too, is gone, of course.  
 
Here is how it looks in the Bing bird's-eye view:
 

Source: Bing.com (click image to view location on Bing) • hosted by

Quote from fuzzyscorpio on Feb 4^th, 2010, 10:32am:

 
 
Especially since the demolition years, I make a point to drive thru there.  Like the rest of the island, it wasn't unscathed from unneeded changes, but it survived much more intact overall than the southern part of Surf Avenue, for instance.  It's a very nice area, though it's not home to me like the Crest is.
 
There's a lot of treasures up there.  Al put together a thread for the Isle of Capri years ago - that's one of my favorites of these little Motels in the northern part of North Wildwood.
 
http://www.doowopusa.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1181234853

Quote from MMM on Feb 2^nd, 2010, 11:49pm:

 
 
The system won't allow me to edit.  That should be louvered, not jalousie.

I was thinking of you and the Aloha when writing this, Frank.  You took to staying in this area pretty quickly, no?  Miss staying in the Crest?

Quote from MMM on Feb 4^th, 2010, 10:25pm:

 
 
Yes martin, to a degree. We miss walking around in the crest looking at all the motels, that we do in the North but there are just not as many as in the crest. The crest has more places to eat within walking distance.. Don't miss the Sahara desert like walk to the ocean tho

It's basically about 10 block to the start of the Boardwalk from here. Not a tremendous hike, especially if you're on your own. But, it is a bit of a distance to get to the "heart of everything."
 
The North Wind, and the other motels in this area, attract mostly families. The very short distance to the beach (and the shortness of the beach along JFK Blvd.) is the big draw. As Sean C. noted in another thread, this district is calm, quiet, and very serene at night. Especially with the option for walks along the seawall, and the Hereford Lighthouse glowing in the background.  
 
North Wildwood's entertainment district is not too far away, either. Though places like Moore's Inlet and the Beach House are now long gone, there are still plenty of bar/nightclub options up that way.
 
Can't way for sure, but I think you'd enjoy a stay in NW, Bryan. This is the specific area I would recommend to anyone planning to vacation up that way for the first time.

Quote from BeachBum on Feb 22^nd, 2010, 1:43pm:

 
Yeah, I figure it's all good for a change of scenery, but I don't know how I'd deal with my walk home from the Boardwalk being in the complete opposite direction.
 
I'm not completely moving to NW, but figured it's worth trying if the price is that much better than in the Crest where I'm used to.
 
Al, thanks for the tip.  It's amazing how little I know about the ins and outs of NW, even from when I was young.
 
Still, why not venture out and check out some other places.  If I head up for the BBQ fest, I may have to look into a place like the North Wind.