Picture it, the perfect anniversary getaway by the ocean in a cottage that we paid extra to stay in...Old Orchard Beach sounded so nice! We found the website of Crosswinds Hotel and Cottages that promised to be "just 75 yards from the ocean" which was a big selling point for us because we like to hear the water. They would have been well-advised to add to their claim "...and just 50 yards or less from the train tracks!" Waking up multiple times in our vibrating cottage throughout the night to the Amtrak whistle or a freight train rumbling by wasn't exactly our idea of a good night's sleep. So THAT'S why the 2 pieces of artwork on the wall were screwed on! Perhaps we should have known something was up when there was no sink in the bathroom and some other creative (and desperate) guest had taken the mini-bars of soap and used them to shim the ceiling fan, our only source of air conditioning/movement in the cottage. After hubby the electrician fixed the globe on the light of the ceiling fan which proved to be the only source of light other than the ceiling pull-chain bathroom light we decided to try the bed. (Just for sitting don't worry!) We aren't picky people but this bed was B A D. Being 8 mos pregnant I wasn't expecting to sleep like a baby so to speak but the backache I woke up with both mornings I slept there didn't make me happy either! On the plus side there was only a little bit of duck tape holding the remote for the TV together and both the TV and remote worked for the duration of the stay, though the TV had a habit of turning itself up at random intervals. And if you're planning on staying out after dark be sure that your outside light works, ours didn't and we were groping around in the shadows to get the key into the lock! Oh, and in the bathroom there was an electrical box with some seriously scary looking wires over the toilet. Hubby was not impressed with that though he refused to tell me why, whether out of desire not to talk about work on vacation or to keep me from freaking out I'm not sure...

Good points: small pets allowed (the owner's dogs will come right on in if you let them) which is nice if you need to bring Fluffy or Fido, the owner is very nice and will give you all the local information you need, it IS close to the beach (but every motel/hotel/inn on the strip is 75 yards from the ocean since it's all in a straight line!) Also the sand on the beach is super soft and wonderful, not coarse and grainy. It's an easy and flat walk to the Pier which is nice enough with lots of tourist shops, but don't expect to be able to walk out to the end and admire the water. You end up in a club at the end of it and will be asked for ID in order to enter!

We just returned from a week-long stay in Old Orchard Beach at the Crosswinds Motel & Cottages. The Motel was situated accross the street about 75 yards from the beach. We rented a two-bedroom cottage, which was clean and quite comfortable. It was average. The only thing about the accomodations was that there was a very functional train track that was about 12 feet from our back door, it came by about a dozen times during the day and night. Our cottage was one that was situated in the back of the motel, which was fine as it kept us away from street noise. After you got used to that noise, it was okay. It advertised daily maid service, but we never had that. They did, however, change our towels daily. The pool was small, but we knew that from the pictures on the website. They said that they had a hot tub, but it was the same temp as the pool.
The best part about staying at Old Orchard Beach itself was that the beaches (7 miles of it) they were amazing, clean, beautiful white sand, and no jellyfish. The water was cold, but very refreshing.
There were lots of people, lots of things to do, the Pier, which has an amusment park on the beach beside it was a 10 minute walk from where we were staying, there was a lot of shops that were resonably priced. There are several spots for familys to go to that are nearby as well.
Despite any shortcommings, we would go back to Old Orchard Beach again, and probably stay at the Crosswinds again.