Summer Wind Oceanfront Hotel — Hotel in Myrtle Beach

We had reservations with a great resort Thurs-Mon. We decided to surprise our 2 kids & leave out Wed after work & drive (7 hours) straight to the beach - or as far as we could make it before getting too tired to safely drive. We didn't know how far we'd make it before having to stop so we didn't make a reservation before leaving, we just decided to 'wing it' so we could give the kids (& us!!) an extra day at the beach. Right around midnight we were about 30-40 minutes away & since we just needed a place to crash long enough to rest, get a quick shower, find breakfast then go play on the beach/in the ocean until we could check into our ACTUAL reservations I went online to a hotel booking site to get a name & address of any place with a 24 hr. desk that didn't cost an arm & a leg. It didn't have to be fancy as the only things we required were a couple of beds & a shower but it did need a 24 hour front desk since it was so late. I only chose this motel because honestly it was the cheapest one that popped up that was right on the beach (I thought it'd be nice to let the girls get their feet in the ocean for a few minutes when we got there before we fell asleep that way they'd be even more excited for the next morning of getting to spend the whole day on the beach a day early). I plugged the address in the gps & drove straight there to see if they had a vacancy-didn't book online because I didn't want to chance the reservation not confirming before getting there since it was so late & then end up having to paying twice. "Luckily" (not really luck) their sign said 'vacancy' so my husband stayed in the car with the kids to wake them up & I went in & paid for 1 night. Staff was nice enough for 1am. They gave me a key to a room on the 3rd floor & we drove on down the lot to find a parking spot. The only open spot was along the side/back near the pool, & it just so happened there were cops there with lights flashing, dragging someone off the beach in handcuffs...not really a promising omen...not exactly what I wanted my girls waking up to. Anyway, after they left we were almost too afraid to walk to the ocean but we hoped they'd cleared out all the rif-raf & it'd be safe enough so we chanced it, besides, we believe in the 2nd Amendment plus my husband is a body builder. After about 15 minutes of giggles & splashing around we let the girls get their blankets from the car, we got everyone's toothbrushes out & left everything else for morning & went to the room. There's no elevators but it's only 3 floors so no big deal. The stairways & balconies look dingy & dirty but I kept telling myself "it's just a few hours & it's cheap". My husband finally gets our very stuck door unstuck & opened & I immediately saw a bug scurry across the floor. I was close enough to stomp it, couldn't tell what it was afterwards but I'd hoped it was just something that came in when the door opened. I immediately noticed one bed looked fine while the closest bed looked broke & very obviously sagging in the middle like a hammock, I’m talking the middle touching the floor like a cartoon bed. We were too tired to argue with the office about wanting another room or another bed or a refund to try to find another vacancy at this hour so we toughed it out & didn't say anything although in hind sight we should have. I went to check out the cleanliness of the bathroom before having the girls brush their teeth before bed - it was as expected for this price. Turn back towards the beds, another bug, this one very obviously came from under the good bed. Squish it too & hope there's no more all while still chanting "it's just a few hours & it's cheap" to no one in particular. I thoroughly check the beds for bedbugs just in case since there seems to be other bugs & didn't see any thankfully but did squish a 3rd & 4th bug while walking from checking the broke bed for bed bugs to go check the good bed…. “It’s just a few hours & it’s cheap”….The girls were too freaked out at the thought of bugs crawling everywhere to even pull back their sheets so they each turned their blanket into a sleeping bag & slept on top of the bedding. The sheets & pillows were comfy enough but that broke hammock bed - sheesh! I thought I was tired enough to sleep through just about anything but I was wrong. It was a fitful night of uncomfortableness from sleeping in the shape of a banana & constantly waking worrying about bugs, feeling like they're crawling all over me (I had no bites the next day so I don't think they did but still...). The next morning I'm the 1st awake - since I hardly slept - & I squish 2 more bugs 1st thing. At this point I'm fairly certain they were roaches but I'm no expert & I'm not exactly experienced in bug identifying so who knows. I fight with getting the stuck door open then closed again as quietly as I can to keep from waking everyone else. I go to the car & get everyone a change of clothes & a few toiletries – there’s no way I’m bringing our actual luggage in this room & chance carrying out a creepy little hitchhiker. I get back to the room, fight with the door again to get in, everyone’s still asleep somehow. I’m in the shower & my youngest wakes up & comes in the bathroom. She declares she sees another bug. I peek my head out of the shower & see a black speck on the towel/rug thing. On closer inspection it is most definitely a dead bed bug. I’m hoping since I didn’t see any on either bed last night that maybe it’s an old one stuck to the fabric still from laundry from an old infestation or something. My daughter then informs me it’s dead because she killed it. Yikes! I never did see any more in the room or any other bugs after that but at that point I didn’t have much time to. I cut my shower short, woke the others up & had everyone go ahead & change to the clean clothes I brought up (they can shower at the next place!!). I found a large bag to put the girls’ blankets & all the dirty clothes in & sealed it tight & we checked out. I was hoping during checkout they’d ask “how was your stay” but I guess she could tell by the dark circles under my eyes, my wet hair & my eagerness to get out of there how it was. After all of that we went & found a great place to eat breakfast to try to forget our bad night then checked in early at our resort. They have laundry facilities so we went ahead & washed anything that had been in that room in water as hot as it would allow a couple times to kill anything that could have migrated on to our things. The theme here is "it's just a few hours & it's cheap". I don’t care if a place is free, I expect there to be no infestation of bugs inside the rooms & the furniture shouldn’t be broken either, especially a main piece like a bed. And maybe I’m being overly picky about the “cons”, I guess it just depends on what you’re used to. There were bugs, yes, but we didn’t get any bites and I didn’t see any bedbugs on the beds. At 1st glance the rooms actually look freshly painted and esthetic. And like I said, the linens were pretty nice. I never sat or laid on the good bed so I can’t say how the normal beds would sleep, it looked average enough though but the broke one was AWFUL. I’m sure the other rooms probably have 2 good beds like they’re supposed to. The location of this place is good (aside from vagrants being arrested on the beach which may not be the norm). Also it does have a pool but I never saw it in daylight to say how good it is and it is directly on the beach. The staff I spoke to during check-in/check-out was pleasant. The morning we left when I went to the car to get some clothes there was a maintenance worker I passed that looked at me like she’d rather shoot me than smile at me…but it was pretty early, maybe she hadn’t had her coffee yet?? The price was very cheap. Would I ever stay here again? Heck no!! But for someone who really wanted a beach vacation but couldn’t afford better, as long as they didn’t have high expectations & realize you get what you pay for this may not be too bad…just bring bug spray I guess & double check the room BEFORE paying to make sure everything worked and wasn’t broke. Had there been no bugs and TWO functional beds it’d have been well...

My honest review of this hotel property and the three associates that I saw working. When I first arrived the hotel was clearly the smallest facing the ocean. It sits right next to an enormous hotel with many floors and lots of guests. Upon check-in the front office has many hand written notes for guests. When I first checked in the young man at the front desk was soft spoken and checked me in promptly. He was nice. I arrived in my hotel room to find it pleasantly surprised. It was large, clean, it did not have a coffee maker and trash can, but it did have toiletries, and a garbage bag. It had a TV with analog cable and the remote. I only needed one night since I had an early flight so the only thing I needed was sleep. The walls like most older hotels are not as sound proof like newer ones so the occasional loud noise was heard but muffled. The pool was empty and not available for use.

About 10pm, one of the maintenance guys turned the generator on and started power washing the pool. They traded off the power washing between the maintenance and, possibly the housekeeper. These guys were on a mission. They even brought a small gas can. Clearly, the power washing was done on purpose. I found it rather comical. I'm not sure what the objective is by power washing this late at night. My only conclusions were either to get a rise from the guests or to get more negative reviews? My other thought about these two guys were how is it possible for someone to have been working all day and now have the energy to power wash through the night... makes me say hmm. Security was sent as the sound from the generator was now becoming a nuisance to the nearby hotel's guests. As I sat listening to the generator, my only thought was of the little baby in the room next to me. I wondered if the two guys power washing, who seemed to be concerned about "not concerned about others sleeping" really cared for the small baby and children that were trying to sleep in the hotel. Probably not.

This location is a great location so I can see how it can work for the hotel. I see all the hotels along the beach and this little one has captured my heart. It has the potential. But when did it start to lose its glimmer? The maintenance guys are rather young so it must not have been too far long ago. Or maybe it's just another neighborhood cycle and just like many other places the old is out and the new is in. I wonder about the owners too and what they have to say about this property. I feel like I have more...

The woman at the front desk was so rude and snarky each time my sister or I spoke with her. The toilet was backed up when we arrived so we could not even use the bathroom. The carpet was stained in at least six places with stains bigger than my hand. There was only one towel in the bathroom and less than half a roll of toilet paper upon arrival. We had booked a room with a full kitchen but when my sister called to confirm the room, she was told that there would only be a mini fridge and a microwave. It took multiple calls to get that resolved and they refused to let anyone speak with a manager or supervisor. Our power was shut off the second night we were there even though we were not running multiple appliances or using multiple outlets. Of course the front desk woman was rude to me for asking when the power would be turned back on. She was not even phased at all that the power had gone out (or been turned off?). The ice maker in the freezer did not work and the ice machine in the office was suspiciously out of order although I heard the rumbling of ice falling inside it. Chunks of the wall along the bathroom door frame were broken out. Also, the description of the room stated a fully furnished kitchen including cooking utensils, pots and pans and the like, but there was nothing. It was a completely empty kitchen. The snarky front desk lady said they don't supply those items anymore because people steal them. That is fine, but don't advertise what is flat out not going to be there. There was insufficient parking but I can understand that space is at a premium on the waterfront. Just saying this because it was a bit of a hassle to park at times. They were cheap but it was not only a cheaply priced hotel. It was cheap as in zero customer service, zero concern for the customer experience, zero quality of product. I was genuinely surprised that there was WiFi, though it was not a strong signal. The excuse they kept giving again and again was that the hotel had changed ownership but that does not excuse the foul conditions and rude...