Port Royal Hotel — Hotel in Wildwood Crest

My husband and I stayed at the Port Royal July 21 to July 23. It was our first solo trip together in almost two years, so I admit I had high hopes. I will start with the positive, but because of what I believe to be racial profiling/bias that I experienced during my stay; I will not return to the hotel or recommend this hotel to anyone I know.

Positives The check in process was streamlined and the staff at check-in were friendly. The lobby and main floor area were beautiful, modern, with some décor pieces reminiscent of a ship. The food at the onsite restaurant was good, the location of the hotel in general was great, and there is a pool onsite if you don’t want to take the short walk to the beach. The beds were very comfortable and cozy.

On Saturday night, my husband and I returned to PR hotel sometime between 2:30am and 3:00am. We stopped in the lobby, so my husband could take a couple of pictures of me, because I had not gotten any prior to or while out in my dress. We were not drunk or being loud. Within less than a minute, we saw who I later identified as Jake come to the front desk. When I saw him, I said hello and he said nothing. My husband also spoke, and he said nothing, but we noticed he was shaking his head. When he did open his mouth, it wasn’t to greet us as you would expect a member of hospitality to do ...it was to ask if we were “even guest at this hotel” and with a very nasty tone at that. I was taken back by the comment and the lack of courtesy, because I have stayed in many, many hotels and had never had anyone (day or night) question whether I was a guest at the hotel. So sarcastically I answered, no we just came in here to take pictures. Then, he immediately responded, “oh no, you can’t be here”. I then told him, I was a guest at the hotel, and in a harassing tone he proceeded to question me about my room number multiple times, and when I provided the room number again asking me to verify my name multiple times while he checked the records. I was furious and let him know that I would be contacting management, and in an argumentative tone he let me know it was fine if I wanted to management – and he would even tell management himself. At no point during my entire experience with Jake was I treated like a guest at a hotel. Never in my life have I been treated so poorly at a place I was spending $300+ a night or even a $1 for the matter. I was very emotional and in disbelief when I returned to my hotel room and woke up first thing the next morning to speak to management.

I was able to talk to the front desk manager, who seemed generally apologetic that the situation happened to me, but also told me to “not go there”, when I mentioned I felt discriminated against based on race/appearance. As I said before, Jake did not even open his mouth to return a hello when we spoke to him. Also, the front desk let me know about the one black front desk staff that has worked there for 14 years, which I felt was irrelevant. The front desk manager, said she would pass the incident on to the general manager, but I am not confident if she did, because she did not take down any of my information (in case the general manager had follow up questions). I waited several days to write this review, because I wanted to make sure I rationally processed the situation.

The point is... we are living in a time were select people can do and say whatever they want to whoever they feel – even when you are a paying guest and they are supposed to be of service to you.

This fact hurts my heart...

We had a great stay at the Port Royal Hotel last week. We arrived on Tuesday and checked out on Friday. We enjoyed a covered parking garage (below the hotel) with easy access by elevator. It was great to be able to use the heated pool with the outside temperatures were pretty cold. The staff was friendly and courteous. When we requested extra tea towels for dishes, they delivered them very quickly (they beat me back to the room!). Though the hotel is older (I haven't used an actual key to enter a hotel room in quite a long time), it has been updated. Our room had some wear and tear (the edges of the carpets, a duct taped patch of carpet), but was overall nice. The couch was not very comfortable, but it is also a pull out bed, which may be why. We stayed in a room with a kitchenette and it worked well for our needs. We only ate one meal out all vacation. We loved the easy access to the beach and the fact that the hotel was not on a crowded block (parks on both sides). Our room had a great view of the ocean and also the Wildwood Boardwalk off in the distance. We didn't see a way to control the temperature of the room (and it was very hot most of our stay), but I'm not sure if that was something we missed (we didn't ask). During our stay the weather was wet and cold, so we were excited to utilize the game room. However, we were disappointed when the arcade games and the air hockey table were all out of service. The only thing to do in the game room was ping pong, which was very hard for our young child (though we made the best of it). There was a nice sitting room with a long table that looked like it would be a great place for a large family to gather for a board game on a rainy day (though no food or drink is allowed in there). Overall, we would...

I got a deal off groupon to go here and I expected it to be AMAZING (I mean, aren't we supposed to be getting a great deal on a usually very expensive place, right?). It was definitely nice, but not amazing. I have to say my first impression of this place was very bad. The moment we walked in, customer service was terrible. We weren't even acknowledged or greeted. The manager was behind the desk, he barely spoke to us and when he actually did, he was mumbling so much I couldn't even understand what he was saying. Also, we've never even been here before and we weren't even told how to get to our rooms or anything...very frustrating coming off of a long drive to get there. I DO NOT expect that going to a "fancy" hotel. I expect better than anyone else. I kind of expected our room to be a little bigger since we were apparently got such a great deal. It was a nice room, but I've been in cheaper hotels that have "more" in them. They looked very modern, though. The ocean view was very nice and relaxing, so that was nice. My husband and I loved the large pool. We spent a lot of time in there and that was definitely the nicest part of the hotel to us. I wasn't amazed at this hotel for being the "nicest in Wildwood", but it was nice and convenient. I'd give it 5 stars, but the customer service needs some working on in several areas & that's the most...