The Castle at Skylands Manor

I must say, the manor house itself is spectacular. The massive stone, the high ceilings and the elaborately carved wood. It is the New Jersey botanical garden. The plantings are amazing in the spring and summer, I've been there. The plants had already been removed from their beds, the water had been removed from the reflecting pools to prevent any chance of freezing. This fall trip was to see the changing leaves. We were not disappointed with the showing. A giant maple tree outside our window in tones of red. About our stay in the manor house, Thursday through Saturday. When we arrived, I met Nancy who is the administrator there. (The innkeeper was not set to arrive until later that afternoon. ) She checked us in and gave us our room key and parking permit. She was very pleasant and helpful. We went to check our room and it was gorgeous. The bathroom was very large. I had booked a room with its own bathroom. They have options for a shared bathroom. Not our cup of tea. We left for dinner to a diner Nancy recommended. It was a great choice. On our way back the innkeeper, Richard, called to check on our arrival back to the manor. He greeted us at the door, we exchanged pleasantries and information. Richard has a great personality, very pleasant, very informative. Normally you go to the dining room for the continental breakfast. However, because of a film crew working downstairs, and we were the only guests, he arranged to have our breakfast delivered to the door. The next night Richard was away and Kim was our innkeeper. Again, helpful, pleasant and informative. She offered to have our breakfast delivered, but we wanted the experience of eating in the manor's dining room. ( The film crew had left. ) We had a small issue of our room being too cool, a text to Kim and and heat was turned up. This was an amazing experience staying in an old mansion in the woods. I would recommend it to anyone that wants peace and quiet in a beautiful setting.

There was a film crew there filming something. The people were great. It was a little noisy sometimes at night. However, this is not a routine occurrence. Two days later and we would have missed it. No we were not asked to be extras...😄

The castle at Skylands Manor is a highly unique experience which we love and we have been there twice now. It is much more like an Airbnb than a hotel and it has not been updated since it was built in approximately 1925 however that's part of what we love. The breakfast in the morning made by Billy is excellent. It's an expanded continental breakfast and it is served in the beautiful dining room. In the warm weather you can also sit out on the terrace. The property is an actual mini castle built by a family in 1925 to resemble something from medieval times. It is in the middle of Ringwood State Forest so the location is stunning. The only negative is you definitely have to drive to get to a restaurant or bar. We found a few within about a 15 minute drive. You might have a hard time booking this on the weekends because it is a very popular wedding destination. We have booked during the week both times we stayed there. It is about a 30 to 40 minute drive to the Bronx so it is an option for parents of Fordham students.

Continental breakfast was excellent, better than most innkeeper was wonderful and from our hometown, he was more than helpful and accommodating.

The location is good and the place is beautiful. The problem is that The Castle doesn't have a nice personal to serve your clients. Vincent or Vinnie (never knew his name) was not friendly with me because he wanted I coming back each day before 10:00 P>M> I was on vacation. I decided to cancel two nights, January 3 and 5, and Vincent Promise me to refund the money. I have phone called him several times and no response, nor call me back. I'm missing the refund. I feel mocked. BOOKING is responsable about this situation too, because yo sell The Castle like a Hotel and the Castle is not a hotel and doesn't have none structure.....no wi fi......no personal....

to have an efficient and nice personal that know yo can't stay into the Castle before 10:00 P>M> If you are on vacation at 10:00 you are taking a dinner and more than the Castle doesn't have restaurant. BOOKING doesn't buy rooms with serious limitations without telling anything to us, the clients. I feel very upset with Booking and I prefer another platform for my next trips.