Typical Jersey Shore squalor
Yes,the proprietors were friendy and talkative...And the $74/couple/night rate($110 total,with the various regional taxes included)was thrifty by the very low-bar local standards.
But,to call a spade a spade,the Leonardo Hotel is just another in a seemingly endless number of worn-out,down-at-the-heels Jersey Shore flop-houses.
It's all about location there,you see...It's pretty handy to Sandy Hook from the Leonardo,so they get $74 for a room one would never rent for $39 a few miles inland.
(At least not without a hooker thrown in.)
I've found this to be the case from AC on up the coast.NJ must lead the nation in terms of getting way too much for their "hotels".
Believe me,you won't find a reliable chain-hotel near the water.They must be zoned out,or something.
Being a transplanted New Yorker(upstate),and used to a little competion driving the standards a bit higher,I have found myself appalled by what passes for decent accomodations along the Jersey Shore,and for nearly 20 years now.Yet my wonderment has "got a grip"...It is the reality of the situation,very bad rooms at premium prices.
Go ahead and stay at the Leonardo anyway,if all you want to do there is sleep.(They have maybe 10 stations available on what few TVs they have there!Unbelievable,in this day and age.)It's a fairly quiet location,and you won't do much better in Sea Bright,at twice the cost.
Then,get up early and hit the road for Sandy Hook,and forget all about the place.(Until next summer,anyway.)
