Aloft Ocean City — Attraction in Ocean City

I hate giving reviews, but I felt it was my responsibility to warn hardworking individuals like myself not to stay at this hotel. After booking for 5 days, I was informed of the accidental fee each night and was assured that there would not be a parking fee until Memorial Day because it was still the off-season. However, when I checked in, the front desk staff informed me that parking was $20 per night. As I entered the room, there was a stale odor, the carpet was unclean, and the furniture was dirty looking. I had to travel to Walmart late at night to purchase carpet cleaning products, candles, air fresheners, etc. The bathroom was oddly built, with no designated toilet tissue holder, and no shelves in the shower for storing soap, wash cloths, shower gel, etc. The bed was hard and stiff but clean. I must admit the best feature of the room was the ocean view. The next morning, I committed to not letting yesterday's difficulties get to me. I ordered breakfast online and picked it up at the designated mobile counter. I noticed that the menu pricing differed somewhat from those posted online. Some of the lobby furniture was moist and closed off, unsure why but it was very unpleasant to look at. On my second night, I observed that the hotel was dog friendly, which is a plus for dog lovers; unfortunately, not everyone has the same grooming standards for their pets, and the hallway outside our room smelled like we were stepping into a doggy daycare. I could hear barking every time I walked to my room, and throughout the night, even when the television was turned up to the highest setting possible. The owners would let their huge dogs sniff the kids in the lobby and respond with "Oh, he doesn't bite." I believe that there should be designated rooms and areas on another floor for patrons who have dogs. Housekeeping had to be requested after two nights, per front desk. I requested housekeeping. Housekeeping knocked on the door ten minutes later and I requested for her to come back in 10 minutes since my family and I were ready to depart. As I was closing the door, I heard the housekeeper say loudly and clearly, "If I don't clean the room now, I might not get to it today," while checking her watch, and the other hand on her hip (very unprofessional). Outside the weather was chilly, and the outside pool was closed. I knew about the weather coming and had no choice but to make the most of my vacation. My family were in the heated pool (not really heated but a little warm) before other kids had entered. All of the kids in the pool were horsing around, diving, and doing typical kids things. My aunt and I got out of the pool since the other kids were playing ball and splashing water, which didn't bother me. I'd prefer the kids to have fun. However, a hotel employee entered the pool area with an attitude, slamming down the towels, and went straight to my family, telling them not to splash the water. First and foremost, there were other children in the pool, so why did you approach my children? When I indicated to her I was the kids' parents, she transformed her frown into a phony smile. Anyway, the towels should have been isolated away from the pool area, as the towels were easy to get wet. As I was checking out, the front desk informed me that I still had financial obligations ($21.50), unsure where that came from as I didn't charge anything to my room. I told the front desk that I settled the balance (parking) yesterday, but if you can provide me with an itemized invoice, I would gladly pay. After all of this, I started reading the reviews and realized that this horrific experience was not exclusive to me. To spend up to $341 a night while dealing with all of the above issues is beyond me. If you are looking for a relaxed, serene vacation, this is not the place to go. It is far too expensive for this type of issues. The hotel staff is incompetent, has an adverse disposition, and the hotel is not particularly welcoming. There is more to this story, however, the character limit for this review has...

I hate giving reviews, but I felt it was my responsibility to warn hardworking individuals like myself not to stay at this hotel. After booking for 5 days, I was informed of the accidental fee each night and was assured that there would not be a parking fee until Memorial Day because it was still the off-season. However, when I checked in, the front desk staff informed me that parking was $20 per night. As I entered the room, there was a stale odor, the carpet was unclean, and the furniture was dirty looking. I had to travel to Walmart late at night to purchase carpet cleaning products, candles, air fresheners, etc. The bathroom was oddly built, with no designated toilet tissue holder, and no shelves in the shower for storing soap, wash cloths, shower gel, etc. The bed was hard and stiff but clean. I must admit the best feature of the room was the ocean view. The next morning, I committed to not letting yesterday's difficulties get to me. I ordered breakfast online and picked it up at the designated mobile counter. I noticed that the menu pricing differed somewhat from those posted online. Some of the lobby furniture was moist and closed off, unsure why but it was very unpleasant to look at. On my second night, I observed that the hotel was dog friendly, which is a plus for dog lovers; unfortunately, not everyone has the same grooming standards for their pets, and the hallway outside our room smelled like we were stepping into a doggy daycare. I could hear barking every time I walked to my room, and throughout the night, even when the television was turned up to the highest setting possible. The owners would let their huge dogs sniff the kids in the lobby and respond with "Oh, he doesn't bite." I believe that there should be designated rooms and areas on another floor for patrons who have dogs. Housekeeping had to be requested after two nights, per front desk. I requested housekeeping. Housekeeping knocked on the door ten minutes later and I requested for her to come back in 10 minutes since my family and I were ready to depart. As I was closing the door, I heard the housekeeper say loudly and clearly, "If I don't clean the room now, I might not get to it today," while checking her watch, and the other hand on her hip (very unprofessional). Outside the weather was chilly, and the outside pool was closed. I knew about the weather coming and had no choice but to make the most of my vacation. My family were in the heated pool (not really heated but a little warm) before other kids had entered. All of the kids in the pool were horsing around, diving, and doing typical kids things. My aunt and I got out of the pool since the other kids were playing ball and splashing water, which didn't bother me. I'd prefer the kids to have fun. However, a hotel employee entered the pool area with an attitude, slamming down the towels, and went straight to my family, telling them not to splash the water. First and foremost, there were other children in the pool, so why did you approach my children? When I indicated to her I was the kids' parents, she transformed her frown into a phony smile. Anyway, the towels should have been isolated away from the pool area, as the towels were easy to get wet. As I was checking out, the front desk informed me that I still had financial obligations ($21.50), unsure where that came from as I didn't charge anything to my room. I told the front desk that I settled the balance (parking) yesterday, but if you can provide me with an itemized invoice, I would gladly pay. After all of this, I started reading the reviews and realized that this horrific experience was not exclusive to me. To spend up to $341 a night while dealing with all of the above issues is beyond me. If you are looking for a relaxed, serene vacation, this is not the place to go. It is far too expensive for this type of issues. The hotel staff is incompetent, has an adverse disposition, and the hotel is not particularly welcoming. There is more to this story, however, the character limit for this review has...

This hotel was recommended by someone due to its proximity to both the beaches and Seacrets, and also because it had a pool. When we arrived, two desk members were standing behind the concierge desk, apparently trying to figure out some kind of issue. This continued for about a minute before greeting us. After the issue seemed to be resolved, they greeted us and both were very gracious and thorough in explaining the hotel layout, amenities, and whatnot. ||Upon checking in, our room appeared clean (albeit small), but that was okay because it was just the two of us. It did have a stale smell to it, so we opened the door to the balcony to air it out. Not a big problem. However, when doing so, we found an empty box of cigarettes on one of the patio chairs that housekeeping missed. ||As far as the bed was concerned, the pillows - when laid upon - flattened in the middle like pancakes, and the bed was WAY too soft, the point that I sunk several inches into the bed itself. The shower was clean and spacious but upon turning on the head, the water pressure was definitely on the lower side. The shower head was not removable, which was somewhat inconvenient, since it made it quite difficult to wash sand off your feet - which should be a common practice for a hotel located so close to the beaches.||Additionally, there were no shelves in the shower, so my face wash and soap needed to be either put on the shower floor, or I had to open the door and put it out on the bathroom floor. The toilet paper holder in the wall appeared to have been broken and at one point and put back in the same spot (it would spin and the toilet paper would fall off, since the holder was only screwed in on one side).||Upon leaving our room first thing in the morning, housekeeping was playing music and singing quite loudly, which I am not at all opposed to... but... not so early in the morning where some people might still be trying to sleep! ||The outdoor pool is quite well designed and the pool itself isn’t heated; again, not a huge deal since it wasn't quite warm enough to swim. However, in checking out the pool, we noticed a cigarette in the water, and what appeared to be small pieces of paper or plastic. They also have an indoor pool, which was heated, and had a nice view of the bay. ||Adjacent to the pool, they had a little game room with a pool table and various board/card games but the giant 3-foot high Connect Four game was broken, the bottom had fallen out causing the pieces to not stay in place - which, for those of you who are familiar with the game, more or less defeats the purpose. ||The view of the bay on the outdoor pool deck was very nice, especially during sunset, and they had some nice chill, tropical-y music playing, but only a few minutes after we arrived poolside, a DJ took over and began blaring rap music and a way-too-high volume, to the point where we had to practically shout at each other to be heard. I wouldn’t have minded that as much if they started at a little bit lower volume and then increased it as the evening went on and more people showed up.||Lastly, the hotel had a strong cleaning/industrial smell to it- I do wish they’d try and freshen things up with a different kind of solution that can both clean and disinfect while not smelling like we stepped into...