We stayed for five nights as a couple for a beach getaway. The hotel was clean and had all the basics. The kitchenette was well-equipped (no wine glasses, though) and there were plenty of outlets. The breakfast was standard...a few hot items that rotated each day, waffles, granola, cereal, pastries, etc. There was a lot of seaweed when we were there, but otherwise the beach was nice and so accessible and walkable. We didn't interact with staff much, but everyone was polite when we did. We asked for a late checkout and were able to extend it by an hour at no charge. We walked on the beach at night and felt safe.
Pros:
Location! Perfect location and easy walking to Times Square and all shops, bars, restaurants, the pier, etc. Go the other direction and there's a nice park at the northern end of the island we walked to...Bowditch Point Park. The beach view was awesome from our room.
We got a card on the first day to fill out indicating what time of day we wanted the room cleaned and if we wanted a full cleaning or just towel service, etc. That was helpful.
Cons:
The pool/beach towels are pitifully small, not even as big as the bath towels in the room.
The hotel has NO beach chairs of their own and you must rent chairs and umbrellas from the stand on the beach. The prices are high.
Elevators are terribly slow, but stairs are accessible and we used those the whole time except when moving luggage.
TIPS:
Buy your own chairs, umbrellas, auger, and towels at Wal-Mart or Publix on the way in. We found a camp chair for $6 and towels for $6 each. We bought some plastic "grass" mats also and with the towels on those it was comfortable and kept the sand from being totally embedded in the towels. We spent about $70 total, but that was significantly cheaper than renting chairs for five days AND if you can take them with you if you want to visit another beach one of the days you're there. We did this twice.
When people leave they put their leftover wave boards, chairs, etc. by the bird cage in the lobby. I'm not sure this is really publicized, but that's where people are told to put their things and anyone can help themselves to it. We left our camp chair, umbrella and auger there that we hope someone got some use of.
Ask for a room towards the south end of the building, third floor or above. We had a corner room at that end so we didn't have the noise of the pool and could easily hear the waves with the door open at night. WONDERFUL view!
Overall it was a great stay. It's a no-frills hotel which is what we wanted and the amenities were as advertised. The location is perfect and the beach is great. We'd stay here again. less
Tim M, Owner at Best Western Plus Beach Resort, responded to this review
Wow, thank you for taking the time to compose a great review. The best part is that you would come back and see us, that says it all. :) We look forward to that day and we will keep improving with reviews and comments from our guest. Thank you for being our guest.