609-522-1234 Call the Matador Book now

Opens our booking system. Open May – October.

Check availability

Opens our booking system. Open May – October.

Or call us on 609-522-1234 — someone in the family will pick up.

Since 1978

Three generations, one motel

The Del Montes sold a house in Philadelphia, cashed out a retirement fund and borrowed from relatives to build a motel they knew nothing about running. Nearly fifty years later, their son and daughter-in-law are still here every day.

The front exterior of the Matador Oceanfront Resort seen from the lower sundeck, red awnings over the office entrance
How it started

Carl and Rosalie

Carl and Rosalie Del Monte moved to Wildwood in the 1970s to start a new life. A piece of ground at 3rd and Ocean Avenues in North Wildwood would become the home of their newest business endeavor: the Harbor Light Family Resort.

The Del Montes had zero knowledge about the motel business and had no idea what they were getting themselves into either. Even though they spent many years vacationing in Wildwood, NJ near the boardwalk, running a motel is a different animal. However, they were up to the task. Carl and Rosalie sold their home in Philadelphia, cashed out their retirement fund, borrowed money from relatives and started construction on one of the top hotels in North Wildwood, NJ in October 1978.

Fast forward to the spring of 1994. The Matador Motel, which was owned by Rosalie's Aunt Josephine, became available. The Del Montes acquired the Matador in 1995 and thus began a new chapter for the family.

The Matador Oceanfront Resort seen from the beach side, its red MATADOR OCEANFRONT RESORT sign facing the boardwalk, with the pool deck below
Where it stands

Robert and Heather run it now

Carl and Rosalie sold Harbor Light in February 2023, after forty-five years. The Matador stayed in the family. Their son Robert and his wife Heather run it, and between the two properties the Del Montes have now been letting rooms in North Wildwood for the better part of five decades.

What that actually means for a guest is small and specific. The person who answers the phone knows which rooms have the better balcony. If the ice machine breaks in August, one of the owners is the one fixing it. And the family who checked in with a toddler in 2005 are now booking two rooms, because the toddler has children.

We are not a resort and we have never pretended to be. What we are is the place a lot of families come back to, and we would rather be very good at that than mediocre at something else.

The Matador may not have a spa or restaurant bar with umbrella drinks, but its a place that becomes familiar, like a home away from home for all its guests. Now if you are a true NJ shore vacationer, that's what you truly want.
The Quinn family

That was written by a guest, not by us. There are more of them on the reviews page.

The front exterior of the Matador Oceanfront Resort seen from the lower sundeck, red awnings over the office entrance
Open May – October

Come and see it. Open May – October.

Or call 609-522-1234 — someone in the family will pick up.

Opens our booking system. Open May – October.