Wednesday, May 12, 2004 | 8:58 a.m.
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- Eccentric millionaire Clarence Geist wanted his own private playground, somewhere he wouldn't have to wait for a tee time.
Once, while he impatiently waited to tee off at a country club, his playing partner told him: "Mr. Geist, if I had as much money as you, I'd build my own golf course."
So he did. That was in 1914.
Ninety years later, the country club Geist founded -- now known as the Seaview Marriott Resort & Spa -- remains a golfer's delight.
Its turn-of-the-century charm, attentive service and close proximity to Atlantic City casinos have also made it a popular business meeting destination.
It features a 297-room hotel, an Elizabeth Arden Red Door spa for women, an indoor pool and two 18-hole golf courses that have won four-star ratings (out of five) from Golf Digest, all of it spread out on 670 acres overlooking the water.
A $3 million renovation this winter expanded the lobby and spruced-up meeting rooms, installing wireless Internet access among other things.
"We've taken the old-world charm and made it conductive to modern-day conveniences," said Maryann Vessotskie, director of sales and marketing, who calls the Seaview "Gatsbyesque."
Last year the resort hosted about 600 business meetings. Typically, it's booked by law firms, pharmaceutical companies and financial services outfits for meetings.
Owned by LaSalle Hotel Properties but managed by Marriott, the Seaview is also a popular site for wedding receptions, informal golf outings and parties, with guests often heading into Atlantic City -- only nine miles away -- at night to try their luck at the slot machines and blackjack tables.
"They come down, they play 36 holes, they drink lots of beer and they go gambling at night," Vessotskie said.
Golf remains at the heart of its appeal.
Each June, the Seaview Marriott plays host to the ShopRite LPGA Classic, a 54-hole event played on the resort's Donald Ross-designed Bay Course, which backs up against a salt marsh with sweeping vistas of the bay and Atlantic City's casino skyline in the distance.
Sam Snead won the 1942 U.S. Open here.
Amateurs like testing their skills against the two courses, which pose dramatically different challenges.
Putting on a practice green before his tee time one day this week, Eric Schmidt, 35, of Horsham, Pa., said he was part of a group of 12 friends playing three Shore-area courses over three days in their annual golf outing.
"It's the proximity to Atlantic City and the quality of the golf," he said, explaining the resort's appeal. "It gets high ratings in Golf Digest. It's more luxurious, service-oriented, as opposed to getting on (the course) and getting off quickly."
The rates reflect Seaview Marriott's seasonal appeal: From October to April, rooms can be had for $59 to $99. After the weather turns and the golf clubs come out, rooms cost $200 to $300 a night.
Greens fees range from $99 midweek to $129 on weekends.
While it doesn't compete for customers with the Atlantic City casino hotels, the Seaview Marriott has no shortage of competition for its customers.
"No one thinks of New Jersey as a golf destination," Vessotskie said. "If you live in metropolitan New York, northern New Jersey or Pennsylvania, you think of Jersey as a golf destination but you'll also think of Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach and other places."
Through the years, the Seaview Marriott has entertained its share of luminaries.
Among them: President Warren Harding, who played golf during a two-day stay in 1922; the late Grace Kelly, who grew up in nearby Ocean City, had her 16th birthday party and her engagement party here; and Denzel Washington, who stayed at Seaview during the filming last year of a remake of "The Manchurian Candidate."
The resort's challenge going forward is to improve offseason business. Typically, occupancy rates hover around 90 percent in the summer but average only 69 percent for the year.
The way Seaview general manager Robert Schmeck sees it, that's an opportunity, not a challenge.
"Our opportunity is to expose the resort and all of its grandeur to more people," Schmeck said.
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