Hotel Bethany Beach — Hotel in Fenwick Island

We stayed 6 days at this hotel in July 2024. PROS: *The hotel is clean, pleasant, relatively quiet, very safe with a great location, 8 minute walk to the beach, 15 minute walk to the Bethany Beach shops. Several restaurants within walking distance. *Nice, clean pool, good, hot breakfast. *Pet friendly. *Complimentary beach and umbrellas each day as well as mini golf. *Room is adequate, comfortable beds, great A/C, good shower. Nothing fancy, just the basics, but well kept and clean. *Nice outdoor area with a pond and a fountain and two benches. Very relaxing to sit and read. CONS: *Unfriendly staff, for the most part. Learn to smile, please! Learn to look your customers in the eye and say:”Good morning,” “How is your stay going?” etc, etc. It’s not hard. You really, really, REALLY need to work on your warmth. Most staff looked miserable, especially the ones in the breakfast room. Long faces from the staff are no way to start your guests’ day. Exceptions to this unfriendliness were Janis at the front desk (very nice and kind), the lady at breakfast area who kept telling us our dog looked egyptian (did not catch her name but she was a riot!), one of the housekeeping young men, and Arleigh at the front desk. Arleigh was the best, and more than made up for the lack of warmth from the rest. She should be teaching seminars. *The rooms need a table with chairs to sit. *Extra fees. $25/day to park in your hotel parking (where you are already staying) seems unfair and steep. I saw people were also complaining about extra, unexpected fees added to their totals. Beware. Ask for a preliminary breakdown and printout of your total fees, right at check in. Solve any discrepancies right there and then. $150 pet fee also seems steep for 6 nights. Housekeeping has to be requested and is $25 for every time you request it.

CONCLUSION: I would definitely stay here again, especially if we bring our dog with us. There is room for improvement, but this is definitely not some motel off the highway. It is clean, quiet, pleasant, has a great location, is pet friendly, has a nice pool and serves good, warm breakfast to get you going on your Bethany adventure. Get up early and go watch the sunrise across the street at the beach. It is a relatively short walk and it is a beautiful experience. Everybody here is either a local or a tourist like you. This is a well to do area and it is well lit, patroled and feels safe. Everything is expensive, so be prepared for that. We paid $23 for a regular plain pizza, and $9 for a medium milkshake. But it was a very...

Unbearable Bleach and Chlorine Smell

We arrived at the hotel before the official check-in time and decided to wait by the pool. When my husband received a call that our room was ready, he went to the room to drop off our luggage. Upon his return, he mentioned that the room had a strong smell reminiscent of a swimming pool.

We spent the day by the sea and had dinner, but when we returned to our room, the odor was overwhelming—an intense mix of chlorine and bleach. I found the smell so overpowering that I could barely breathe. We went to the front desk, where a young lady came to inspect our room. She too found the smell intolerable and suggested using a suction fan and some air freshener. We requested that she do whatever was necessary to eliminate the odor. She provided a suction fan for 35 minutes and sprayed deodorant, but once she left, the smell returned, and nothing had improved.

We requested a room change but were told the hotel was fully booked. The staff member seemed unfazed and mentioned that the room had been deep-cleaned following an incident. It was evident that management was aware of the issue yet continued to assign this room to guests.

Reluctantly, as we had no other options, we spent the night in that room. The persistent odor kept us awake all night and resulted in severe headaches that lingered. Our vacation was essentially ruined by this experience.

The next morning, exhausted and still suffering from the bleach fumes, we requested a full refund for that night and the remainder of our stay. After a few hours of waiting for the manager, we were refunded in full. We also asked to have the manager come and experience the smell firsthand, but our request was ignored—likely because she was already aware of the issue. We did not receive an apology or any explanation, which felt particularly rude given how our vacation was impacted. While the receptionist apologized, it was clear that the issue lay with management, who were responsible for assigning guests to a room in such poor condition.

I am incredibly frustrated and disappointed that our vacation was ruined by such poor management. Beware of Room 107 and be sure to thoroughly check your room before...

Unbearable Bleach and Chlorine Smell|We arrived at the hotel before the official check-in time and decided to wait by the pool. When my husband received a call that our room was ready, he went to the room to drop off our luggage. Upon his return, he mentioned that the room had a strong smell reminiscent of a swimming pool.|We spent the day by the sea and had dinner, but when we returned to our room, the odor was overwhelming—an intense mix of chlorine and bleach. I found the smell so overpowering that I could barely breathe. We went to the front desk, where a young lady came to inspect our room. She too found the smell intolerable and suggested using a suction fan and some air freshener. We requested that she do whatever was necessary to eliminate the odor. She provided a suction fan for 35 minutes and sprayed deodorant, but once she left, the smell returned, and nothing had improved.|We requested a room change but were told the hotel was fully booked. The staff member seemed unfazed and mentioned that the room had been deep-cleaned following an incident. It was evident that management was aware of the issue yet continued to assign this room to guests.|Reluctantly, as we had no other options, we spent the night in that room. The persistent odor kept us awake all night and resulted in severe headaches that lingered. Our vacation was essentially ruined by this experience.|The next morning, exhausted and still suffering from the bleach fumes, we requested a full refund for that night and the remainder of our stay. After a few hours of waiting for the manager, we were refunded in full. We also asked to have the manager come and experience the smell firsthand, but our request was ignored—likely because she was already aware of the issue. We did not receive an apology or any explanation, which felt particularly rude given how our vacation was impacted. While the receptionist apologized, it was clear that the issue lay with management, who were responsible for assigning guests to a room in such poor condition.|I am incredibly frustrated and disappointed that our vacation was ruined by such poor management. Beware of Room 107 and be sure to thoroughly check your room before...