This hotel on Beautiful Fire Island is terrible. With a daily cost of $340. per night you would expect a room door that closes and locks without extensive exercise, a stall shower that leaks all over the floor and a room larger than the average bathroom. ; but not here.

The undersized double bed was against the wall so entrance aad egress by the inboard guest required climbing over the guest on the outboard side. This wasn't as big a problem as you might think. The matress was so hard and lumpy that there was little sleep especially when the guests in the adjoining rooms were serenading us with their snoring.

Next time a tent on the beach will be our home .

My first time on on Fire Island, we spent most of the time at the house rented by a family member, but as part of an overlow after-wedding party, we booked two nights at the Fire Island Hotel. We read the TA critical reviews and were prepared for the worst. We stayed in cabin B. And, indeed, from the 60-grit sandpaper towels, to the bathroom mold, to a broken bedroom door, no hair dryer, the list of things to complain about is long. Still, all was not terrible. Guests seemed to be enjoying the pool and the poolside eatery. The young staff was friendly and helpful. We thought of our stay here as comparable to staying at a campground. But then there is the price. Simply outrageous. But the rates at nicer hotels on the island are even more outrageous. Because we spent little time at the hotel, we went with the "budget" rate. And if that is your situation, you will find the Fire Island hotel acceptible. Small, rooms, few amenities, a decent night's sleep.

But the sad truth about Fire Island is that if you do not own or rent a house on the island, a better shore vacation can be held elsewhere.

Not only was the ferry ride over enjoyable and relaxing, but as soon as we got off the ferry there was a golf cart waiting with a bellhop to carry all our luggage for us and directed us to the hotel. He was very informative on the nightlife of the area and how to travel around the island. Then upon our arrival which was about a 5 minute relaxing walk to the hotel, our luggage was placed in the lobby until our room was ready which was ready at a reasonable time. We did not mind because we were able to use the hotel bar and pool...PLUS! the beach was right around the corner literally 50 yards away. All the rooms were newly decorated with ipod docks and flat screen tvs. This was one vacation that you can just call an escape from reality that you never want to leave.

Stayed a weekend in August with two other couples and their kids, in total we had three rooms.

Please note that even though the official Tripadvisor entry shows this property to be in Ocean Beach, it is really in Ocean Bay Park. They are two different places on Fire Island with some significant differences.

The Pros: Location to the beach. Easy access, beach itself is great. Flat screen TV in room had limited channels but had a built in DVD player which was great to keep the kids busy during down time.

The Average: The pool was fine, the kids enjoyed it, it looked clean. The on site bar was ok as well. Hotel entrance and lobby were nice and the desk and hotel staff were friendly and helpful. Air Conditioners worked with no issues in all three rooms.

The Cons: The rooms are small and uncomfortable and they are not inexpensive. The beds are thin and hard, so are the pillows. Inexpensive linens, towels are small and thin. Bathrooms are cramped, our room had the sink and toilet in one room and the shower in a converted closet. The shower was worn out, had a leaky shower head, and mold all over the bottom sections of the shower stall. Of the three rooms in our party, two of them had no odor issue, but one had an unpleasant smell. There are general maintenance and repair issues such as our entrance door sagging to the point it was difficult to open and close.

Bottom line - If you know what you're getting into and don't mind the price for what you get, you can stay here. It's not a place we will personally return to. I think the hotel staff does it's best with what it has, but the rooms just don't cut it.