Sea Garden by the Sea — Hotel in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea

Let me start by saying that the staff was very nice and quite helpful. We had a late flight heading out, and they accommodated us with a late checkout and did so in a very pleasant and friendly manner. The facility has pretty much everything you need for a beach stay, namely, a nice pool, free parking, beach access two blocks away, beach chairs, umbrellas and towels, a small kitchen with stove, microwave and kitchen accessories. The bed was very comfortable. ||Now for the downside. This place is in desperate need of renovation. It's clean, but old and crumbling in spots; at least our room was. The bathroom was clean but ancient; the bathroom door was chipped, warped and quite decrepit, but functional. There was a wall AC unit that was ridiculously noisy and cycled on and off continually. The power cord for the AC was literally hanging off the wall and the molding below it was cracked or missing in spots. Someone did a "shoemaker" repair and left it. The light fixture in the bedroom looked like an add on with external wiring added and connected to an electrical outlet. If you needed the outlet to actually provide power, the overhead light needed to be on. The closet contained a sizable water heater which was quite unattractive and looked more like a maintenance area than a closet. The sitting room was sparsely appointed with a "couch" (if you can call it that) that essentially fit one person and was not very comfortable. The TV in the sitting area was old and small and there was no TV in the bedroom. Granted, you're not going to the beach to watch TV, but a bit more attention to comfort would have been welcome. ||The place is serviceable if you're just looking to go to the beach and don't care much about fancy appointments, but it really does need to be updated...

Amy, Melissa and the staff were utmost kind and helpful!||||We got to the hotel earlier, and Amy lent us beach towels and allowed us to use the pool.||||The hotel is very close to the beach. We had a full apartment, with a kitchen fully equipped. We noticed that the microwave was working but not turning. No problem for us, but we let them know. That same day, when we returned from the beach there was a new microwave!||||Besides being really clean, the room has this cozy coastal decor, which made the stay even happier, and reminded us that we were, indeed, enjoying one of the nicest beaches on Earth.||||The place is quiet, guests were really nice as well, and the setting is just fantastic! Although there are rules to follow, we had that feeling of being at home.||||The heated swimming pool was sooo enjoyable as well!! A great spot to commute from the beach to the room. And having beach towels, chairs, umbrellas, a Frisbee and a football ball saved our days at the beach. Thanks a lot for making all those items available!||||Location is also outstanding!! Just a block away from Publix made a big difference to our budget. And the Lauderdale by the Sea small center so close gave us a great spot to enjoy the evenings there.||||Wifi works great as well!||||I don't think we'll check on other places in our next trip to Florida. Most certainly we think of the Se Garden by the Sea as our "beach house".||||Thanks a lot for making this fantastic place available and affordable!!||||Alejandro, Guido...

Do not stay there if you have another choice. 1) smoking is permitted anywhere on the property except inside rooms. There are signs posted outside the rooms that say no smoking, however this only applies to the interior spaces. Which is deceiving because the signs are posted outside directly next to the pool deck and other pool rules signs which apply to the outside area. I informed management, Amy, about my sensitivity to cigarette/ cigar smoke and she said she would do something, but nothing changed. They actively promote smoking with ashtrays on the tables. 2) the room doors don’t seal (letting in smoke) and don’t have a lock. The door locks when shut but does not have an interior lock. Let me state that again… there are NO INTERIOR LOCKS. I’ve stayed at 50+ hotels/ motels/ Airbnbs and they all had an interior lock. I did not feel secure at night. 3) the AC unit is in the kitchenette and not in the bedroom. It was ok at night but I’m sure in the summer the bedroom can get quite warm. 4) the refrigerator door does not open on the correct side of the very narrow kitchenette. It makes the fridge almost unusable. 5) the bathroom window does not lock. 6) the couch was super small and very uncomfortable. It reminded me of the cheap college dorm room furniture. Overall - the price ($300/ night) was too high for the issues we...