Meridian Plaza — Hotel in Myrtle Beach

This review will be a bit long, but I want to cover the good and bad. Our original condo ended up being damaged in a storm so we had to find something kind of last minute (had concert tickets and couldn't reschedule our stay for a later date). I browsed through lots of listings and finally ended up choosing one that seemed to fit my wants/needs (king-size bed, oceanfront, indoor pool, and kitchen/kitchenette). I booked it with Big Fish Rentals but when they sent me the booking information, I noticed it did not have a king-size bed or an indoor pool. I was told they could relocate me to another unit that fit my needs, but there were only two options available, and my options were to choose one, or lose my money due to their no-refund policy. I had seen the first property they offered during my search, and it had awful reviews about mold and such, so I declined. The only other option was 1107 Meridian Plaza, so I accepted. A lot of the reviews complained about not having a front desk and having to do self-check-in, but those things weren’t really an issue for me- I actually like self-check-in. Even the way the parking is set up, though kind of silly having to go up to the room and retrieve the parking pass and then take it back when you leave, wasn't that big of a deal (of course, I would imagine in the busy season it would be much more annoying). |We got up to the unit and noticed it was a little warm in there and the fridge wasn’t very cold (it got colder but never really as cold as it should’ve been). It was clean enough except for a pretty dirty air filter and a big clump of hair stuck to the shower wall. The bathroom and shower were nice, and the towels were very plush and smelled great. My favorite part about the place was the balcony and view. AMAZING VIEW, though the chairs on the balcony need updated. The bed sinks in the middle terribly. We tried turning the mattress 90 degrees and that didn't help, as I'm pretty sure the box springs are busted. We ended up putting pillows under the mattress topper to help stop us rolling into the middle. It felt like we were filling inside a taco. The couch is much the same way. The a/c is limited to 68 degrees, but I can promise it never got anywhere close to 68 degrees in there (maybe because of the dirty air filter). The couch and bar stools are uncomfortable, and the kitchen has 3 forks. I made a pan of cookies and when I went to put them in the oven, it was cold. It looked to be pretty old and upon reading reviews of the place, I learned it had been broken for at least a year. The place has so much potential to be GREAT, but it just seems like the owner hasn't put any money into it in a very long time. All of the furniture and appliances really need to be replaced. Everyone we saw that worked at the property was nice. The security guards walked around checking things out constantly and we saw people doing landscaping and people cleaning. We saw pest control going into the rooms (we didn't see a single bug in our unit aside from the moth that hitched a ride in). Even though it was no smoking property, they had a little smoking area that wasn't a big deal to go to. The indoor pool was heated but it was only 3 ft deep, 3.5 right in the middle. The indoor hot tub burned our eyes, and the roof was leaking onto us from the rain while sitting in it, but the outdoor hot tub was nice and relaxing. The outdoor pool needed to be cleaned.|All these things aside, we were okay about our stay overall- until checkout time. We had packed up everything on a luggage cart to make sure we were out by 10am. Went to get on the elevators and no power. They were doing scheduled electrical work. During checkout time. Tried to call them and it went almost directly to voicemail. Immediately (9:48am) I get a text saying, “Sorry on another call, how can I help?” I tell them we are trying to check out and there’s no power to the elevator. No response. There was a staff member walking around with the pest control guy and he heard me ranting about how dumb it is to do this kind of stuff during checkout, and he offered to make a call and see how long it would be. He tells us it might be hours and I’m not about to make trip after trip, up and down 11 flights of stairs, carrying all of my belongings. So, I went back to the room to sit on the balcony. At 10:15am, I get another text- “will call front desk.” Roughly about 8 minutes later, I’m on the balcony and one of the housekeepers opens the door, asking me if I am checking out. I told her that I had been trying and there had been no power to the elevators, and she looked confused. Maybe she had just arrived at work for the day, I don’t know, but all of my stuff was out of the room. She told me she had just used the elevator, so I was excited to be able to finally leave. As I’m walking to the elevator, my phone rings; Big Fish Rentals. I’m assuming they are calling me to tell me the power is restored. I answer it only to be told my checkout time is 10am and the housekeeper is trying to clean my rental. I informed her I had been trying to leave since 9:45am! |They wouldn’t call me when I had a pretty legitimate problem, but they sure did call me when they thought I was staying past checkout time…|On the elevator, we met the sweetest little 70-year-old lady, who had made several trips up and down the stairs trying to get her stuff out. Even though she was only on the second floor, I still felt sorry for her having to do that. We got everything loaded into the car and realized we had to take the parking pass back up to the unit. When trying to do so, we couldn’t access the building because, I assume, the power was off again. That sweet little lady offered to take our parking pass to the main (off-site) office because she was already going...

This review will be a bit long, but I want to cover the good and bad. Our original condo ended up being damaged in a storm so we had to find something kind of last minute (had concert tickets and couldn't reschedule our stay for a later date). I browsed through lots of listings and finally ended up choosing one that seemed to fit my wants/needs (king-size bed, oceanfront, indoor pool, and kitchen/kitchenette). I booked it with Big Fish Rentals but when they sent me the booking information, I noticed it did not have a king-size bed or an indoor pool. I was told they could relocate me to another unit that fit my needs, but there were only two options available, and my options were to choose one, or lose my money due to their no-refund policy. I had seen the first property they offered during my search, and it had awful reviews about mold and such, so I declined. The only other option was 1107 Meridian Plaza, so I accepted. A lot of the reviews complained about not having a front desk and having to do self-check-in, but those things weren’t really an issue for me- I actually like self-check-in. Even the way the parking is set up, though kind of silly having to go up to the room and retrieve the parking pass and then take it back when you leave, wasn't that big of a deal (of course, I would imagine in the busy season it would be much more annoying). |We got up to the unit and noticed it was a little warm in there and the fridge wasn’t very cold (it got colder but never really as cold as it should’ve been). It was clean enough except for a pretty dirty air filter and a big clump of hair stuck to the shower wall. The bathroom and shower were nice, and the towels were very plush and smelled great. My favorite part about the place was the balcony and view. AMAZING VIEW, though the chairs on the balcony need updated. The bed sinks in the middle terribly. We tried turning the mattress 90 degrees and that didn't help, as I'm pretty sure the box springs are busted. We ended up putting pillows under the mattress topper to help stop us rolling into the middle. It felt like we were filling inside a taco. The couch is much the same way. The a/c is limited to 68 degrees, but I can promise it never got anywhere close to 68 degrees in there (maybe because of the dirty air filter). The couch and bar stools are uncomfortable, and the kitchen has 3 forks. I made a pan of cookies and when I went to put them in the oven, it was cold. It looked to be pretty old and upon reading reviews of the place, I learned it had been broken for at least a year. The place has so much potential to be GREAT, but it just seems like the owner hasn't put any money into it in a very long time. All of the furniture and appliances really need to be replaced. Everyone we saw that worked at the property was nice. The security guards walked around checking things out constantly and we saw people doing landscaping and people cleaning. We saw pest control going into the rooms (we didn't see a single bug in our unit aside from the moth that hitched a ride in). Even though it was no smoking property, they had a little smoking area that wasn't a big deal to go to. The indoor pool was heated but it was only 3 ft deep, 3.5 right in the middle. The indoor hot tub burned our eyes, and the roof was leaking onto us from the rain while sitting in it, but the outdoor hot tub was nice and relaxing. The outdoor pool needed to be cleaned.|All these things aside, we were okay about our stay overall- until checkout time. We had packed up everything on a luggage cart to make sure we were out by 10am. Went to get on the elevators and no power. They were doing scheduled electrical work. During checkout time. Tried to call them and it went almost directly to voicemail. Immediately (9:48am) I get a text saying, “Sorry on another call, how can I help?” I tell them we are trying to check out and there’s no power to the elevator. No response. There was a staff member walking around with the pest control guy and he heard me ranting about how dumb it is to do this kind of stuff during checkout, and he offered to make a call and see how long it would be. He tells us it might be hours and I’m not about to make trip after trip, up and down 11 flights of stairs, carrying all of my belongings. So, I went back to the room to sit on the balcony. At 10:15am, I get another text- “will call front desk.” Roughly about 8 minutes later, I’m on the balcony and one of the housekeepers opens the door, asking me if I am checking out. I told her that I had been trying and there had been no power to the elevators, and she looked confused. Maybe she had just arrived at work for the day, I don’t know, but all of my stuff was out of the room. She told me she had just used the elevator, so I was excited to be able to finally leave. As I’m walking to the elevator, my phone rings; Big Fish Rentals. I’m assuming they are calling me to tell me the power is restored. I answer it only to be told my checkout time is 10am and the housekeeper is trying to clean my rental. I informed her I had been trying to leave since 9:45am! |They wouldn’t call me when I had a pretty legitimate problem, but they sure did call me when they thought I was staying past checkout time…|On the elevator, we met the sweetest little 70-year-old lady, who had made several trips up and down the stairs trying to get her stuff out. Even though she was only on the second floor, I still felt sorry for her having to do that. We got everything loaded into the car and realized we had to take the parking pass back up to the unit. When trying to do so, we couldn’t access the building because, I assume, the power was off again. That sweet little lady offered to take our parking pass to the main (off-site) office because she was already going...

I suppose I should start with the fact that "Meridian Plaza by Beach Vacations" is a misnomer. Beach Vacations has very little to do with Meridian Plaza anymore; what's more they're in a dispute with the Meridian Plaza Homeowner's Association over this. Beach Vacations administers a few of the units in Meridian, but that's it nowadays.

What this means is that you need to pay close attention to your booking, in the sense that you don't typically check in at the building itself. You probably have to go somewhere else to get your parking pass and door entry codes before coming to the building. And yes, you do need a parking pass to use the garage across the street.

Having said all that, Meridian Plaza is a sweet little condominium building where each unit has its own character. These aren't cookie cutter hotel rooms. The ocean front units are "shotgun" apartments, where you walk directly through the front door, into the bedroom before passing through the kitchen/living space on your way to the balcony. The balconies are the width of the unit and are separated from neighbors by a wall. So you may hear them but you won't see them unless you're leaning way out (I don't recommend this).

Ocean View units give you the benefit of two ocean views: one from the open-air hallway to the north, and another from the unit's balcony. The building has been designed so that all of the ocean view units' balconies are angled slightly to maximize the view you get. There aren't any bad seats in that theater, folks. Ocean view units are more like true apartments, with a hallway to the bedroom that passes the bathroom and finally opens out to the kitchen/dining area.

The kitchens in all units are small but they're full kitchens, with refrigerator-freezers (a little smaller than typical but we're not talking dormitory size), sink and oven/stove ranges. Cooking tools are provided. Nearly all the units have microwave ovens. Some, but not all, units have dishwashers.

The sleeping capacity of each unit depends largely on how the owner decorated it: some units have two double beds, some have a single King or Queen size bed. Many units also have a (typically Queen size) fold-out sofa bed. Check the listing carefully before you book (regardless of the management company).

As far as building amenities, the building is literally steps away from the beach, but if the ocean isn't your thing (or it's night time), there are two pools on site: one indoor (heated...nice!) and one outdoor. There are also two hot tubs (in/outdoor). These are great for relaxing after you've been out all day doing the Tourist Thing. If you haven't been touristing, it's still pretty good.

Speaking of which, the building's location (2300 block of North Ocean Parkway) puts you close to all the action but not in the middle of it, so you can do the stuff you want to do but you also have the option to retreat from the rowdy crowds. Meridian Plaza is also literally walking distance from the Convention Center, so if you're in town for an event there, you're in luck.

Are you a baseball fan? The Myrtle Beach Pelicans is a minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, and the stadium is quite nearby (maybe too far to walk but a very short drive). Minor League baseball is fun no matter where you go, but a Pelicans game is always entertaining, parking is free and there are no bad seats.

So if you're looking for a cozy, homey place that's convenient to pretty much everything, but you don't want to pay for a lot of stuff you weren't going to use anyway, this is definitely the...