Ocean Place Resort & Spa — Hotel in Long Branch

Not what it used to be...||Where to begin? I called to book my stay on Monday, March 11 at 3 pm. First, I called the Spa to arrange a couples massage, left a message and waited for a reply. At 4:30 pm I called what I thought was the front desk and spoke with a gentleman named Jesse. He said if I book now, I cannot cancel the reservation. I informed him I was waiting to make sure the spa could arrange a massage so I did not want to book until I knew I could confirm the massage. I should have known he was offsite when he conferenced the spa into the call to inform me I could not cancel an appointment for tomorrow if I scheduled it today. ||When choosing a price, the AARP rate was the best option; however, he told me I could get 20% off everything if I paid the full rate. Everything (I was told) was included: the spa, restaurant and bar/drinks. I asked if the restaurant was open because I thought I read on-line it was not; he stated yes, everything was open and I could use the 20% off discount. I was staying there because my home was being renovated and just wanted to sit in the hotel and relax without leaving to get anything. ||The room was only $219.00 per night; however, that does not include the “resort fee” and other taxes/fees. When it was all said and done it cost over $300 for the night. Being familiar with the area I inquired about an upgrade seeing as there is no “resort” (beach, outdoor pool, outdoor bars) during the winter, and if I could get my room upgraded. I booked the room and I asked if he was working on Tuesday, he said no but I would see him on Wednesday morning when he worked again. | We checked in on Tuesday and there has never been an employee named “Jesse” working reservations at the front desk. Apparently, they have an off-site booking service through their direct line. Upon check-in we find out the restaurant and bar are closed so now we have to walk up the boardwalk to get any food/beverage (no discounts). We got our massage, I requested and paid extra for a deep tissue massage. It was not worth the extra money.||We were able to order a $45 bottle of wine after the massage, they did take 20% off the massage but not the bottle of wine (as promised when we booked.) I inquired about that at the spa as we were leaving and was told the front desk would take the 20% off upon check out. When we checked-out we were informed that the spa manager was supposed to sign off on the 20% discount charge. ||At check-out I inquired about the $45.00 resort fee. We are local to the area and understand it is winter time. What exactly am I getting for the $45.00 fee since there is no indoor restaurant, bar, outdoor beach, outdoor pool, (the resort part); and there is no room service available. I was told the “resort fee” includes parking, (the lot was almost empty) gym/indoor pool, and the two water bottles in my room. We have traveled extensively and every hotel chain and/or boutique hotel we have frequented offers these amenities as part of the overall experience. We decided to leave Ocean Place and booked the Marriot Suites for 3/14/24. Marriot Suites provided parking, two (2) bottles of water in the room and a gym/pool as well, no resort fee, and had a good on-site restaurant with room service and much a larger room. Breakfast/coffee was also available the next morning. We spent approx. $250 total and that included the deluxe king suite/room service/dinner/breakfast/tip.|We have stayed at Ocean Place numerous times since it was built. We have visited and enjoyed the restaurant, bar, and spa off season in previous years. The hotel feels like it is being neglected. Since the deep pockets of Hilton are no longer running it, I assume whoever owns it (United Capital Corp?) cannot afford the upkeep? ||We definitely want to complement each and every staff member working so hard to keep the place running as the ice machine was not working on my floor and the person working at the front desk had ice up to me in record time. Susan who manages the Spa was also excellent. I told her about our massage and our dissatisfaction. She could not provide an additional discount; but understood my issues with the resort. I told her I would be writing a review. The staff itself seems to understand the importance hospitality plays in the overall success of the hotel; however, they cannot deliver the quality they know the resort requires since the corporation does not provide the financial resources. We would have enjoyed the spa much longer, relaxed entirely on the premises, had dinner and spent more money if the...

I was very hesitant to book our cousin reunion for about 20 of us, due to very negative reviews I had read online. I spoke with both their sales manager (Erica) and new hotel manager (Manny) before securing rooms about six months prior to our event, and they both assured me that they had changed the culture and environment of the hotel and staff, and they guaranteed our satisfaction. About a week before our stay, I emailed both of them to insure everything was in order for our reunion. Neither of them responded. I called the hotel three days prior only to discover both the sales manager and hotel manager were no longer with the company. The front desk supervisor claimed to know nothing about their promises about them securing ocean front room locations and early check in for all of us. However, she was nice enough to honor both of those requests. It helped that we were arriving on a Sunday and the hotel was nearly empty partially due to inclement weather. The front desk staff was courteous on check-in. My room was very clean and nicely appointed with a beautiful view of the ocean. The sling chairs on the balcony were pretty cheaply made so I sat on the balcony using the desk chair, The bed was comfortable, the mini-fridge and coffee maker worked fine, and the shower had hot water and good pressure. I received an email from the new Sales Manager and Hotel Manager, and the new Hotel Manager called me to make sure check-in for me and my cousins went smoothly and asked me to call if I needed anything; I really appreciated that. The bartenders were very nice and drinks were delicious and reasonably priced, but the food menu at the Seaview Restaurant was very pricey with poor reviews so we ate elsewhere. The indoor pool, jacuzzi, and gym were nice, and there was a pool table, giant chess/checker board and piano in the lobby, We sat in the lobby area at night playing games and doing doing sing-a-longs around the piano. No one ever came to complain. The hotel is within easy walking distance (

You can hear doors slam every 10 seconds. You hear everything walking above you. It's an overpriced subpar hotel. Ask for room away from ice machine or that's all you'll hear all night long.

Room: •Seaview room is over some old rusty rooftops. Incredible sunrise though. •Toilet seat not secure. •Lighting in bathroom poor hard to see. Need a makeup mirror for use on the desk. •Sink cracked •The outside of building itself needs a washing and a paint job and the letters fixed. •The sliding glass doors to deck are so heavy and unable to slide well ...same with closet doors. Oh and there is a huge plate of metal by your foot and you will stub your feet everytime you go in and out. •A metal plate on the wall somehow related to the HVAC system rattles and is so annoying. It is either be hot or listen to the incessant rattling all night. I would have complained about it but I don't want maintenance in my room and I am not packing up all my stuff to move to another.

Pros: (actually basic things one would expect at any price point.) Room is clean. Lots of closet and drawer space. Towels are fluffy and clean, and staff kind. Clean Linens. Shower: good water pressure and easy to regulate nice hot water. Beds: super clean and comfy. Pillows are decent. A good amount of outlets and USB ports on both sides of single center nightstand as well as on TV console area. The private beach area is well kept and plenty of chairs and umbrellas as well as dedicated lifeguards.

Every single door in the place is very heavy.

Amenities •resort fee does not even include breakfast. •You are paying for beachfront access and the very nice outdoor areas for seating which everone on the boardwalk also comes and uses. Parking is included or it better be. •Free Yoga on the beach 7am Friday, Sat and Sunday. That is worth about $20 a day per person..so do take advantage of this perk. For a family of 3 that's $60.00 a day. If you stay 3 nights≈$180.00. At least you'll get something for the room and resort fee. •Pretty Decent Gym and good equipment. •Pool table is older and needs to be replaced.

Indoor Pool Hot tub works well and is hot and seems  clean enough. But no supervision and kids as little as 4 years old in tub. Railing stable. However the whole indoor pool area is in need of care. Rust and peeling paint. Ceiling tiles down. Dirty Bandaids on wall and side of pool not moved the whole weekend. Used towels everywhere. No excuse. I have been to chain hotels less than half of what this place costs that were cleaner and better kept.  I don't know what will happen over the whole holiday weekend when it's packed. Bathrooms in pool area are a plus and relatively clean on an empty weekday. Same bandaids there for 4 days!!! No one cleans the pool.

Indoor pool closes at 9pm and it's kinda dreary although the pink lights are cool. Floors can be slippery in some areas. Windows old and dirty and some broken. Elevators are all the way on the other side of the building so that when you get out of the pool you have to walk across the long lobby in a wet bathing suit. Hint go through spa exit and up stairs to outdoor pool and elevators.

Outdoor Pool $65.00 a night resort fee and pool supposed to open on Friday.  Here at 1130am beautiful weather. Pool is not ready. It's hot and we can't use the amenity we paid for. Absolutely unacceptable.  Also outdoor hot tub not open at all looks like they're just starting to fill it. Lifeguard chitchatting with his girlfriend the whole time. In what world does a lifeguard walk away from the pool area while kids are swimming?  215pm and they are still trying to get the pool right. We can't go in again. Please tell me what we are paying for. Finally get the outdoor hot tub filled of course it's cold and full of screaming little little kids jumping in it and lifeguard does nothing too busy hanging out with his girlfriend. They emptied outside hottub now and it's not working at all.  This is the one amenity I was really looking forward to and paid a...