We had read the reviews, but made a reservation anyway since a friend recommended this place. Like us, she had a daughter and grandchildren here from out of state.
After we paid the non-refundable $850 for two rooms for three nights, we went to the room. I was going to just let them have the money and go somewhere else, but was convinced that it would be wrong to just let them have our money. The room was clean - I never saw any roaches or other bugs - but the bedding was stained and the towels were so thin they wouldn't get us dry. You always have to ask for towels. I did note that the maids were taking off dirty sheets and washing them, they were just very old and stained.
I thought we had a Murphy bed, but it was a old stained matress that had been stored in the closet. We pulled it out so we could hang stuff up, so the matress became the focal part of the room. The toilet was unstable and everything was just ancient. Not quaint and charming, just old, stained, and tired. When I asked for a coffee pot, I got an old one without a lid which quit after two days. One bright point was that the window A/C unit was so loud that it drowned out any noise. Another not so bright point was that the parking lot is very small and most of it is taken up either by construction workers who are building a big condo next door, or else by people going to the beach, since there is public beach access between the condo and the motel.
The worst part was that when you opened our door, the bar ice machine and large bags of trash were right there in front of you. Not a great sight at 7 am. Plus a hose that people used to clean off their sand was right outside our window. If you took a right out of our door and took five steps, you would be with the bartender behind the bar. Luckily, we were there during the week and the bar closed at about 9:30. However, no one cleans the bar area after they close, so food such as half-eaten chicken wings and burgers are left on the tables. Plus the drinks and beer cans are left on the tables.
We were having a drink there one night when the bar closed and as soon as the lights went down, a baby possum mosied up to check out the food. Plus early in the morning we saw stray cats, roaches, and even a coyote, all drawn by the food that's left out.
Our friends had adjoining rooms and one door lock never worked so they had to all go in the same door. My friend told me that one woman who had been at the bar all one afternoon got locked out and couldn't reach anyone with the hotel, so she slept outside her door.
We ended up having a good time because it is right on the beach, but will NEVER stay there again. There are too many other, better hotels around. We checked out the Palms, which is also on the beach. It has been beautifully renovated and has a great looking restaurant and bar. Although it is $50 a night more, it would have been well worth the extra money.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC