Carolina Beach Inn — Hotel in Carolina Beach

Overall, my wife and I were very disappointed with our stay at the Carolina Beach Inn. That said, there were a couple positives; one being the "Pet Area" that is located directly behind each downstairs unit. Not only was it convenient, but was very attractive... beautifully landscaped. AND... With just a short walk to the beach, the location of the Carolina Beach Inn couldn't have been better. Unfortunately, we cut our 2-night stay short and never took advantage of the proximity of the ocean. The reasons why are as follows.

In a time frame of just 17 hours (the time we arrived to the time we left) there were 3 inconveniences that influenced our decision to check out early... one of them being serious in nature. AND I MEAN "NATURE!" The First one was the Hair Dryer not working. In and by itself, not a serious problem. It was Management's response to this situation that troubled me. (More later). The Third situation was that there were no coffee cups. The unit did have a nice, little Keurig with Pods, Creamers and Sweeteners... just No Cups. Again... not the end of the world. HOWEVER, it the the Second situation that was most problematic. It was around 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning when I discovered that the toilet wouldn't flush. It was a couple hours later when "nature called" my wife. With my situation, I could've waited until later in the morning to notify Management, but with my wife's... that was a different situation. We had to drive for miles in the dead of night to find a place for her. What follows is my Major Complaint about Carolina Beach Inn.

MAJOR COMPLAINT REGARDING OUR STAY: Upon leaving, I notified Management that we were doing so and explained why. The lady at the other end told me that I should've called and that they'd have someone come over. As far as the "Hair Dryer" situation, there was no time. We had dinner reservations. As far as "No Coffe Cups"...no big deal. There was a McDonald's around the corner. But with Situation #2, there was No Time to make phone calls. #2 WAS REALLY ABOUT #2! There was no time to make a phone call.

IN CLOSING... It is Management's policy for guests to call them when a situation arises. That rule is Carved In Stone, and was made very clear to me. Ridiculous, in my opinion... especially concerning the second situation. The lady at the other end of the phone was polite, but also in my opinion, was wrong by not willing to return to us our money for the second day. I'm not one for believing the old adage, "the customer's always right," but this time we were. IF NOTHING ELSE... Management was wrong. They should've been wise enough, and agreed that having us to adhere to their Policy by making THREE COMPLAINT PHONE CALLS in less than a day was reason enough for us to leave. They should've agreed to reimburse us the money for the second day that we paid for, but didn't use. Had they done the right thing, writing this poor Review would not have been necessary. P.S. Before leaving, I recorded each of the problem areas... including the toilet that...

The positives: This place had cute decorations, it was affordable, and the check-in process was smooth.

The negatives:

1. There was hair, stains, and little particles on the sheets when we arrived

Carolina Beach Inn owner responded saying it was probably my black dog I brought that caused the hair on the bed, but there was hair when we arrived and my dog can’t even jump on the bed! They seem to be avoiding accepting responsibility

2. The water came out brown when we turned it on

3. The window units seem as though they have never been cleaned - there was what looked like black mold and completed covered with dust that the filters did not even seem to be working. The ceiling vent was also completely coated with dust.

4. The hand soap came out completely water

5. The back porch light did not work

6. They may have disclosed this, but parking is first come, first serve. It is public parking along the road and we had a hard time finding parking spaces as people going to the restaurants or the beach would use the spots on Harper Ave and in front of the motel

7. The walls are paper thin - I know there's a risk staying at a dog-friendly place but we could hear our neighbor's dog barking all day and night very clearly

8. There was a laundry basket full of water left in the shower when we arrived. Not sure why that was there.

9. The couch was very pricked and seemed dingy - like it needed a good cleaning

The pictures online were very deceiving. We may have had higher expectations than we should have, but we left a day early because we felt too uncomfortable...

We stayed in the best room that they had was more considered a sweet with a living room dining and kitchen area . I've stayed here many times over the last 20 years and apparently there's a new owner. Unfortunately they completely redecorated all the rooms got rid of all the beachy fun colors and decorations that the prior owner always maintained which was a big disappointment. To my wife and I they completely undecorated . There's been some good improvements like a nice back deck but it was really not needed as there's no View in the backyard. It's very pet friendly there was actually a pet cage in our bedroom which is nothing but in the way. The kitchen was well appointed but it was very strange that the refrigerator door swung the wrong way. Completely easy fix I don't know why they haven't done that. The other thing that we found kind of weird was there was no Matt at the front door or inside so if your feet were wet and dirty it just tracked through the room . As far as service there's really isn't any you have to do everything you buy via text there's no one on site completely online check in which is smooth but very inpersonal completely different than the last owner that was very personal greated you and walked to the room answered any questions that you had etc. That's all gone. So after 20 years of fantastic stays not sure if we'll...