Hi-Tide Oceanfront Inn — Hotel in Seaside

At first, I wanted to give this place the benefit of the doubt because the staff really is great. From the front desk to the cleaning crew, awesome people! There are a couple of issues however that while they did not ruin our experience, made our stay less enjoyable.

The first and biggest issue was the fireplace. It was a major selling point, but did not even reach a flame worthy of calling a fire, and had a chained cage instead of glass cover. It is controlled by an old timer switch, like a hot tub or sauna, that makes a fast clicking sound...yeah, not relaxing at all. The fireplace in the office had a full flame with a glass shield, and no annoying click, so they obviously know how it is supposed look and feel...they just shortchanged the rooms in order to save money at the expense of the guest.

The second major issue was the pool. After walking the cold beach, we decided to go for a swim in the heated pool, which was great...until we went for the jacuzzi, only find maintenance putting chemical in, telling us that we would have to wait ten minutes, then said he was doing the pool next, and we would have to stay out of the pool for a while. We were disappointed but figured we were almost done anyway, when all of a sudden, the overwhelming chlorine fumes were so bad that it burned our eyes (there was little to no ventilation, so the heat spread the fumes throughout the area), so we were forced out of the pool. More importantly, our two year old was swimming with us! Talk about another hazard for our child. Check-in is in the afternoon and the pool doesn't close until 11pm, so why at 7pm on Christmas Eve does this happen? And why is this done while guests (including a small child) are present?

While the room was pretty standard, the kitchenette was great! Filled with dishes, pots, pans, etc. The bed was extremely uncomfortable however. My wife and I sleep on memory foam, but that has never prevented us from sleeping comfortably on a hotel mattress. As a matter of fact, we have yet to run into any issues in all our years of traveling, but this one was by far the worst to date. We could really feel those springs.

Continental breakfast was decent. There was a lot to choose from. The waffles and juice were good enough for our boy and that is all that mattered to us. They did a good job with it. The freshly baked cookies were also really good.

There were three things that we were looking for when booking this hotel: An ocean view, an indoor heated pool, and a decent fireplace... We carefully selected this hotel, and the negative reviews seemed like isolated events, so we decided to book it. However, after our experience, we will choose a different hotel during our next trip to Seaside, in a couple of months. The staff is great, but this hotel is more like an above average motel, which makes paying that little extra a little more difficult to swallow. 2 out of 5 stars is what this place deserves. It would be more if it weren't for the fireplace and having our pool access limited, both of which should not have been an issue.

Overall, I feel that this "Hotel" misrepresents itself in order to charge a little more for their rooms...something that has unfortunately become common practice for many places. Seaside and Lincoln City hotels always seem to be the exception to this (at least in our experience), so Hi-Tide really needs to step it up if they want to compete with their neighbors... lucky for us our enjoyment isn't solely dependent which the hotel we stay at, but it does make a difference.

Great staff... we just didn't get what we paid for, and that is a shame, especially when it comes...

This is a very mixed review. The location is fantastic. Additionally, the service is worth 5 stars. The ladies at the front desk are very friendly and knowledgeable about the area. The bed was heaven! I slept better than I do when I am at home. All with a gorgeous ocean view.

We picked this location for various reasons. Traveling in January, there is a really good chance that the weather will be bad. The advertisement of a fireplace in the room was enticing. We were surprised to find a faux fireplace instead. It had imitation flame images on a screen thing. There were no flames creating heat. Going into the room was like stepping back into time. It was clean, so don't get me wrong there. It has just been a long time since we saw 80's era wallpaper boarder. In addition, the bathroom area goes back even further. The yellow toilet and sink that reminds you of the 60s or Dijon mustard.

By our 2nd day, the toilet began to have problems. Maintenance came twice to fix it and never did. A lampshade fell off a light during the middle of the night, waking us up. This is just minor stuff.

We were a group of 4 and booked 2 rooms. When we booked, there was nothing asking any questions as to need. Turns out that one of the 2 rooms that we were scheduled for was across the street in another building. It is a 2-story building with no elevator, and one member of our group is disabled. The gal in the office did a decent job of moving them over to the main inn where we were, but this meant that an 86 year old was now sleeping in a roll a way bed instead of the queen bed that had been reserved for her.

A few other minor things to note: the pool and hot tub are accessed by going outside. We were looking forward to a dip in the pool but not the walk from the hotel room to the pool house and then back again when the weather was as cold and wet. The hotel was also noisy. It seems like there was a decent amount of noise that we could hear in our room from outside as well as from the neighbors around us. It was an enjoyable time with an exceptional view.

The attached photo is from our 2nd...

I spent six days at this motel in late October. The weather was gorgeous but unfortunately my accommodations were not as good.

I have no problem with a room being “outdated” if it’s well maintained; the one I had was not. I spent my first hour there with the maintenance man trying to fix a long list of problems: the bath faucet wouldn’t turn off; the toilet wobbled and kept turning on and off; the privacy flip-lock on the door was hanging crooked from the door frame and wouldn’t have stopped anyone from getting in; the fireplace didn’t work right; the light outside the entry door was burned out so I spent four days fumbling with my key in the dark until it was fixed; there was a terrible smell in the kitchenette that gel room deodorizers and a half can of Lysol spray couldn’t banish.

I will say that they took one night’s charge off my bill because of all the problems, which I appreciated.

I also was dismayed by the lack of concern for guests by management. There was a sign at the front desk saying the pool closed at 8 p.m. When I accidentally found out it was really open until 11, I was unhappy, since I would have used it more. When I asked the person at the desk, she said they were told by the manager to leave the incorrect sign up. Why in the world would you purposely lie to guests? Supposedly people were to be told about the new hours when they checked in, but I did not get that information.

Also, there was a “grab and go” breakfast, and I and others would struggle with carrying a number of small items back to our rooms. On my last day I discovered a stack of trays hidden on the dark lowest shelf…why not put a small sign there to point that out to help people?

And when I extended my stay by one day I wasn't told that I had to get a new key until I was locked out by the old one.

The view from the room was wonderful and the staff was very nice and helpful. However until the rooms are remodeled and management changes its attitude toward guests, I can’t recommend...