Henlopen Oceanfront Hotel — Hotel in Rehoboth Beach

Since my review was deleted and NOT addressed by the hotel .... here it is again! Based on the beautiful photos on the Expedia website, I booked a partial ocean view with a king bed room. When we arrived I requested a room with an ocean view if one was available and was told the hotel was completely booked and the partial view was the best they could do. The bathrooms IN THE PHOTOS all showed double sinks and the rooms IN THE PHOTOS were well appointed and large. The bathroom we got was tiny with a single sink and a mold stained tub. The room we actually got was on the second floor where our back sliding door, that was broken and could not lock, went out to the common area courtyard where people were constantly passing by our door. We had to step out of the room to see the ocean. And the curtains had to stay closed unless we wanted to be on display for people passing by our room. When we travel, I always check the mattress for bed bugs and while no bed bugs were found, staining from past bugs was found and there were small dead bugs found in the mattress. From a filthy tub and shower head to spider webs in the corners holding dead bugs, it was a most unpleasant first impression of the room. I called the front desk and was told once again that the hotel was completely booked and they could not help us. After seeing other things in the room that were disappointing, I went downstairs to the front desk in tears begging for another room as the hotel was so grossly misrepresented on the Expedia website. Miraculously, a room became available and I was given a keycard to go and look at room 605 to see if that was a better, more acceptable room. At least it was on a higher floor so that we could (kind of) leave our drapes open without people passing by and looking in. We still had to step outside and look to the right to see the ocean. Privacy is an issue in this hotel as directly across the courtyard are the condos which also have balconies. The second room we were given was a bit larger and had a double sink, still looking nothing like the photos that were posted in Expedia. The hotel is very dated and poorly maintained as far as updating and upkeep. A lot of rusty areas and new paint is needed. There was construction being done on the property so we woke up at 7:30 to the sound of super loud banging which was the sound of workers taking down scaffolding on the building next door. I have video of that as well. The first person that checked us in was very adamant about the hotel being fully booked and seemed annoyed when I requested a room with an ocean view and explained to me that I should have booked and "ocean front" instead of an "ocean view". When I went down again, there were two different staff members behind the front desk and they were much more accommodating and were genuinely empathetic. I think here name was Lauren and she was training a young man named Richard who was super nice and they really tried to help me. They offered us the 6th floor room where we ended up staying for the three days. Please don't ever go by the photos on websites or Expedia and make sure if you want to see the ocean that you ask for "ocean front". I'm not sure if the issues still exist in the other rooms but at least the view will be better. And due to covid, don't expect the complimentary breakfast to be there either. Hopefully, now that restrictions have been lifted, they will bring the free breakfast back.

I’ve emailed the property three times now and never...

As someone who can be particular at times, I would take some of what I’m about to say with a grain of salt- but I wanted to provide an honest and hopefully helpful review for those hoping to stay at Henlopen Hotel. I want to be fair in my criticism so I’ll asses both the good and the bad qualities I’ve found during my stay.

My partner and I stayed at the standard King Bedroom for two nights We paid around $675 for the total stay. This was our experience.

Pros: It has the basics covered- Our room was clean and had a simple, but cute vintage vibe. The AC worked nicely. There was plenty of room to work with. Standard amenities: mini fridge, coffee maker, microwave, ice machine down the hall. Small balcony with partial beach view. The room itself was secured via key card. The location of the hotel was great. The access to Rehoboth Beach was excellent. The boardwalk itself is directly next to the building just a few buildings down and the ocean is literally at the back door.

Cons: The TV in our room didn’t really work well. Either the service or the TV itself was glitchy and didn’t necessarily work well. Noise was a little bit of an issue. Either the walls were too thin, or the locked doors that connected the rooms allowed for too much noise to pass through. I did wake up once or twice in the middle of the night due to this. The patio space provided in the room is small and the outside furniture was a little dirty. The bedding in the room left a little to be desired. The blankets were kind of thin and the few pillows provided were flat. THE PARKING SITUATION IS TIGHT. I own a compact car and it was quite a squeeze to get around the provided garage.

That all being said, would I stay here again? Maybe not for a long term trip, but for the small vacation on a budget with the expectation of being mostly out and about the majority of the time, it’s adequate. If I were to do the trip all over again, but stay for a longer period of time, like a week, I would probably opt for somewhere a little bit nicer, but that’s a personal preference. If you’re someone who wants the basics and it doesn’t matter if your stay has an essence of “luxury”, I suppose, I would recommend it. It simple. It did the job. Tastes vary by individual, but this was just my personal take. I hope this helps someone out there narrow their options down on their next...

We stayed there for five days, four nights. Overall, it wasn’t the worst ever experience, but it wasn’t amazing either. We got a suite, which looked nice at first glance, but the weaknesses revealed themselves as time went on. The main mattresses were okay, but the sofa bed mattress and frame felt ancient and uncomfortable for our daughter. The paint job in the room was done terribly with significant paint splattered on the carpet. Lighting wasn’t very good and didn't fill the rooms in the evening. The A/C units were old, really loud, and unpredictable. The door between suite rooms didn’t open/close smoothly; it could only be closed with a slam and open with a bang. The bathroom door was also loud. The shower head was pretty cheap and old. The room for the shower and toilet didn’t have an exhaust fan, leaving the air in the room feeling humid and sticky after a day at the beach. The toilet paper holder fell off the wall numerous times. You had to hold the toilet handle down for awhile to get it to fully flush and we did have to ask for a plunge once. The phone in the room was really staticky whenever we had to call the front desk. The people working there were generally very nice, though they didn’t let us have a late checkout after 11am, even by a half hour. We’ve never had that request denied. They were nearly out of room keycards and, at first, our party of four could only get a single keycard. During the entire week, one of the two old elevators was out of order. The second elevator broke on our checkout day. So, we had a full cartload of suitcases and beach equipment that had to be taken downstairs by hand. Thankfully, staff members came up to help bring them down, but that’s really bad. I’m not sure what guests in a wheelchair would have done. A technician was working on it as we were leaving, but why didn't they hire a technician for the other broken elevator earlier? Pros: It’s right next to the beach, the staff members are kind, it’s relatively affordable, and it’s not completely awful (e.g., there weren’t any infestations). Cons: owners need to invest in renovations and upkeep; guests may have several inconveniences and/or...