Best Affordable Beach Resorts

$69: Caribbean Motel
New Jersey

Owners George Miller and Carolyn Emigh saved the Caribbean Motel, a Midcentury gem, from the developers’ wrecking ball five years ago. The Caribbean—near the superwide sandspit and lively boardwalk—is one of the best examples of Wildwood’s signature doo-wop style. Its swooping 30-unit low-rise exterior is painted in shades of lime green and egg-yolk yellow and surrounded by clusters of the plastic palm trees for which the motel (and later the town) has become known.