Crystal Coast Oceanfront Hotel — Hotel in Pine Knoll Shores

My girlfriend and I decided to take an impromptu vacation to Atlantic Beach, and we decided on this hotel for a two night stay. About two hours into our drive to the hotel, staff called to inform us that the pool and hot tub were closed due to covid-19. We understood, but would have liked to have been notified earlier about such amenities being unavailable. Let me just say that whoever did the photography for this hotel, should win some awards. This hotel looks hardly anything like the well lit, edited photos that they post online. Its appearance is bleak and rundown. When we arrived we were a bit underwhelmed as we pulled into the parking lot but were willing to forgive the cosmetic details in return for an ocean front room. As we walked into the dimly lit lobby to check in, our hearts sank even further. We were “greeted” by an absolute airhead of a girl at the front desk who did not seem interested in acknowledging our presence until a vast amount of time had passed. After the off-putting reception we made our way up to our room only to be disappointed further! The room was very warm and humid, and appeared WAYYY smaller than was pictured online. The bathroom was not much bigger than your average refrigerator and did not have a tub. We were also shocked that they did not even have hand soap while we were in the middle of a PANDEMIC. There was sand and dust all over the fake tile floor and was even in the sheets of our bed. The sheets and “comforter” were cheap, uncomfortable and just were not what one would expect from a hotel. The mattress was VERY firm. The walls were paper thin and each morning we were awakened by loud banging from above. The room did have a GREAT view and its appliances were adequate but there was no sink in the kitchenette. The colors, furniture and tv were nice but the sandy floor, tiny bathroom and terrible noise above made it difficult to enjoy the positive aspects of the room. The hotel restuarant had insanely weird hours and when my girlfriend inquired about the hours for takeout, she was met with an incredibly rude response from an older blonde female staff member. She acted like we were idiots for asking about takeout hours.The sign only said “take out all day everyday” , and did not mention specific times for takeout, only for dining in. We had to pay $20 a day for beach chair rentals, which in my opinion is ridiculous being as we paid $430 for two nights and were let down with our whole experience. On the day of our checkout we packed all of our things and got into the elevator. We pushed the button to go down to the lobby. The doors shut but for a slight crack and the elevator didn’t move, it just started making this beeping noise with an automated voice that said “This is an emergency, please exit the elevator” but we were stuck. We both couldn’t force the doors open. Apparently maintenance was working on the elevator next to ours and yet there was no warning sign. After about 5 minutes of us screaming and yelling (which felt like forever), a very kind maid got us out somehow and helped carry our things down to the car. It was our first time being stuck in an elevator and hopefully our last. Needless to say, we will not be returning to this hotel. It’s a real shame because the view really is amazing and with the hotel having a restaurant and bar on the lobby floor, it has a lot of potential. You can tell the rooms are updated, but because the floors were disgusting, the bathrooms were tiny and the customer service is SO bad we had to give this review 2 stars and honestly, that’s pushing it. With the pictures advertised looking so nice, we were so excited for this stay but unfortunately we were incredibly...

I’ll start by saying the oceanfront views are spectacular and the whole reason why I booked this hotel. However, I am extremely disappointed by the cleanliness of this hotel based on the price in addition to the unnecessary NIGHTLY resort fees.

Issues: I found long black hairs on almost every surface of my room upon check in. In the sheets of both double beds, the towels, and on the shower floors. There were layers of dust that caked on several surfaces, and the shower fan was crusted with dust/debris. Beware this is a dog friendly hotel and staff will do nothing about noise complaints. I called the front desk about a dog that was barking incessantly over an hour. When I called, the staff took the time to correct me bc I guessed the dog was on the 4th floor and they told me no dogs get assigned on the 4th floor so it must be the 3rd. Even better. I could hear them from another floor. Nothing was done. I had to put earplugs in to sleep because the barking was still nonstop by 10:30PM. In addition to dogs barking, the walls are super thin and you can hear your neighbors talking, moving around.

The resort fee is taxed. So you are paying $22ish per night for “resort amenities.” Your resort amenities are listed as free parking, free wifi, pool access, beach chairs, and towels. Parking, wifi, and pool are included in most major hotels nowadays without an additional resort fee. The beach towel you get is literally paper thin, as pictured, and you’re allowed ONE towel. I went swimming in the ocean and couldn’t even dry off because one swipe of the towel made it soaked beyond use. The shower towels in the room were thicker than the beach towel. The chairs are unlocked and just sitting by the beach. Anyone walking the beach could grab on, hotel guest or not. Parking requires no pass, and you don’t even need to swipe into the hotel to come in and out or to use the pool. So I think these resort fees are extremely outrageous for the lack of value. If anything, maybe charge a one-time fee for stay and not nightly. When checkin is at 4pm, you’re barely using any “amenities.” Beach equipment gets picked up by 6pm.

I encourage all guests to double check their credit card statements and receipts. I booked through booking.com. Upon check in, staff tried to tell me I didn’t get charged for resort fees and I’d be charged that separately during my stay. I had to pull up my receipt and show them I did get charged and it was listed out itemized right on the bill. They kept trying to tell me that “didn’t seem right” and they usually charge. So I refuted that. Then I saw I got charged for the entire stay twice. Once by booking, and once by the hotel on another card. I had to go back to the front desk to ask, and they said their system “automatically” processed the charges and they’d reverse it. So, had I not checked or spoken up I would’ve been charged resort fees twice, and then the full amount of the hotel stay + resort fees again.

Overall, the cleanliness and experience was on par with a budget hotel and not with a “luxury” hotel that charges resort fees. I would find somewhere else if you want to stay oceanfront, or find an Airbnb as there are plenty options and the fees end up...

We have been coming to Atlantic Beach for a few years now and the very first time we stayed here when it was The Clamdigger Inn. We stayed a couple other times an always had a great experience and loved that it was right on the beach. This past weekend we came to celebrate my son's 11th birthday and we were VERY disappointed! We knew there had been renovations and had some questions about the rooms. So, after looking at the website, I called and spoke with the staff. It was myself, my husband, 14 year old and soon to be 11 year old coming. Which room would accommodate us the best. She told us the "junior king suite". A large king bed and a pull out sleeper chair that we did see on the website. After talking to our kids and agreeing that they would take turns sleeping in the chair and in the bed, we made our reservations! We arrived midday Friday and our room was ready early, great! We go in and, "where's the sleeper chair?!" We call down to the front desk and I was told, "oh, we got rid of those a couple of weeks ago." I proceed to tell them that there are 4 of us and we can't all sleep in this bed and I reserved this room because of the sleeper chair! The girl than tells me, "I'm sorry ma'am, but there really isn't much we can do, we even took them off our website." I told her how they were absolutely there when I made my reservations just a few weeks ago and someone should have had the decency to call anyone that reserved a room like this if there were changes! I was so mad, I was almost in tears! We were there for my sons birthday and it wasn't starting out good! She puts me on hold and someone else gets on the phone and says, "we're sorry,but we did remove the sleeper chairs from all of the rooms and our website too." Why would I check the website after I made my reservations,everything was taken care of??! She then tells me that they can see if they have a roll away bed housekeeping can bring up and they won't charge us this time. This time?! Really, why even say that?! Of course you shouldn't charge us!! We finally got the roll away bed and that was that, but it really just put a bad taste in our mouth! The staff is definitely not as friendly as they used to be! The bartender at tge Tiki Bar by the pool was very nice, but was so busy. She had to make drinks as well as run inside to get food. Why wasn't someone helping her?! Then on our last night, the TV wasn't working! I called to the front desk and they said there was nothing they could do about it. It was the whole hotel. They had to wait until the next day. That was fun with 2 young kids. I can't imagine tge families with even younger kids that just wanted to watch TV to chill out! They could have knocked off a bit of money off of everyones bill, that would have helped! All in all, this used to be one of our favorite places to stay, now we will never go back!! Oh and guess what?! Those chairs are still showing in pictures on the website! False...