Sea Vista Motel — Hotel in Topsail Beach

Sunday, 8/26/18, Check in time 3 pm according to Katherine (Check in Clerk) when she called my home Sat., 8/25. Room not ready until 4:45pm. Sat in heat outside with a pet. Never offered to sit in a/c lobby. The cleaning crew in my opinion were treated like slaves. The Cleaning Crew has to do the top floor 1st and then the bottom floor per Katherine and Rebecca. Rooms should be cleaned as needed for arriving guest pre-booked rooms. We were treated rudely and felt very unwelcome by Katherine and Rebecca. Our door knob did not catch to hole in door jam and key to dead bolt would not come out unless in unlock position. I went and talked to Katherine about it and I had to hear a long story about 16 yrs. of safety. She made me feel like I was causing trouble. The door handle was never fixed, but a sweet house cleaner came and sprayed a lubricant on dead bolt and key did remove better. Rm#205. Next morning went to make coffee to notice no complimentary coffee, sugar,cream in room even for 1 cup. I went to office as had seen a coffee maker there. There was another quest there as well. Office hours 8am, Katherine and her Granddaughter arrived 8:20am. The other quest had called general phone number,then alternate number to be hung up on at 8:15am. He had already driven 5 miles to get 1 cup of coffee. 8:20am when Katherine arrived there were 4 guest waiting. They both were rude and did not say Good Morning,kiss my you know what. Totally ignored all 4 of us. My pet greeted them verbally,wagging her tail. That was all the communication that occurred. Wednesday asked for clean towels and there were none available. By 3pm went to Office and asked had towels arrived to Motel and again treated rudely by Rebecca and again they treated Cleaning Crew rudely as well as myself. Those cleaning girls were very friendly, worked so hard and treated so rudely by Katherine and Rebecca. I noticed they ate lunch while working and never had a break. Which is against the NC Employee Regulations. Katherine and Rebecca need training in Customer Service and general hospitality, friendliness to their guest and House Cleaning Crew. Poor Communication between Katherine, Rebecca, Guest, Staff was spoken to me and very noticeable. I felt like if I asked a question to Katherine or Rebecca I would be made to feel like it was trouble making, so other Guest and ourselves helped each other along with the help from the Cleaning Crew. I have never felt so Unwelcome by both Katherine and Rebecca at any establishment. If you want to stay at a Motel and be totally ignored by Hotel Clerks and treated unfriendly, this is your place. It is in a quiet part of the beach and we stayed there a lot yrs. ago before previous owner passed away, just to return and made to feel so in welcomed by Katherine and Rebecca. Good Morning and Hello goes a long way to Patrons and your Cleaning Staff. Guess Cleaning Staff Slaves and Guest are not locals is how I left feeling. All people are due respect no matter what level of employment. Katherine and Rebecca made it very obvious to us all the disrespectful way they called Cleaning Crew phones and spoke to them in person. Those girls worked so hard and cleaned those rooms immaculately and timely. Maybe Rebecca and Katherine should try to help their staff instead of bullying them and their Guest. 3 days after being home I am still thinking of Cleaning Staff in sympathy and Rebecca and Katherine in their Very Poor Customer Service Skills. I hope and Pray someone in Upper Management finds this post and takes appropriate action with Katherine and Rebecca. No longer a Continueing Guest. Vacation is meant to be relaxing and treated as though you do not exist and do not not bother me attitude Rebecca and...

I stayed at the Sea Vista Motel with two dogs recently. While the room was clean and comfortable, and the location was excellent, the experience was marred by unclear fees and a hostile tone toward pet owners.

Hidden Pet Fees on Booking.com: I booked through Booking.com, where the property advertises itself as pet-friendly. However, nowhere on the listing was it clearly disclosed that there is a $50 per dog fee (max 2 dogs). After booking, I received an email informing me of this charge, which added $100 to my total. Fees like this should not be buried in post-booking communication or vaguely mentioned as "may apply." Transparency on third-party platforms is a basic expectation, and it’s unacceptable for guests to be blindsided after booking.

Excessive and Threatening Rules: The pet policies and cleaning fees felt unnecessarily punitive. In the room, there was a warning of an additional $25 cleaning fee if I didn’t put away the dishes or left an “extra mess.” This was on top of the already high room rate and pet fees. It’s insulting to charge guests for pets and then threaten further fees for reasonable use of the space.

Their emails are even more off-putting. For example:

A sarcastic tone about picking up after dogs: “It is your dog, as is everything that goes into, and comes out of your dog. It isn’t ours.”

Mocking service animal owners: “We don’t know how to say it anymore.”

Dismissive attitudes about legitimate questions: “We don’t have elephants, and we don’t have a pool.”

These statements aren’t professional or welcoming. They give the impression the property tolerates pets only reluctantly and uses rules as a way to make things more difficult for pet owners.

Deceptive Pet-Friendly Advertising: While they call themselves pet-friendly, their policies and tone suggest otherwise. If you’re charging $50 per dog, you should provide something in return—perhaps a dog-friendly area, treats, or some acknowledgment of the fee’s purpose. Instead, the emails and in-room notices feel like they’re designed to make guests second-guess bringing their pets.

Tired Property: On top of these issues, the property itself is dated and in need of updates. While the room was clean and the location is great, the overall condition doesn’t match the rates they charge—especially after adding hidden fees.

Final Thoughts: If you’re booking through Booking.com, be prepared for fees that aren’t disclosed up front and to feel like an unwelcome guest, especially if you’re traveling with pets. Their sarcastic emails and laundry list of rules detract from what could otherwise be a pleasant stay. Transparency about fees, a professional tone in communication, and a genuinely pet-friendly approach are long...

My husband and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary by booking an efficiency king room with a kitchen, for 2 nights, for a little over $400. The view of the ocean from our room was gorgeous, and the ladies at the desk are nice, but those are unfortunately the only positives I can list. The motel is quite literally falling apart - the entire room’s floor slanted inward towards the center of the building, the storm window frames were rusted and the brackets were coming off the walls as were the curtain rods, the wall paneling was peeling off, the only wired light fixture had a bulb out and the other side of the room had 2 tiny useless lamps, the AC didn’t work well, and there is no sprinkler system despite having a full kitchen. Upon arrival, neither key we received worked on the deadbolt so we were only able to lock the handle lock during our stay. I was NOT told upon booking that our room would be conjoined with another room, with only two regular doors separating us - I heard the other guest we were attached to drop his fork on his plate, sneeze, drop his keys on the table, let his dog bark, etc. through the door like he was in the room with us, and I’m sure he heard us the entire time as well. And before the staff responds and says they could have addressed it if we complained…no staff is present after 7:00pm, AND you can not ask the guest in the adjoining room to not eat, sneeze, etc. the issue with him wasn’t his noise level, it was the clear lack of sound proofing or insulation. Absolutely no privacy. The guests on the floor above us had children that ran laps the entire time and quite literally sounded like they were coming through the floor, for hours, as late as 9pm. The bed was hard as a rock, creaked at every movement, and the pull out couch did not come with linens for us to even try it. Being on the beach and having direct access to it is nice, but I was severely disappointed at the quality of this place considering they charged us over $200 per night after taxes and fees. I honestly can’t believe their reviews are as good...