El Ray Motel — Hotel in Wildwood

First let me start by saying this was a fairly affordable place to stay for the bike rally weekend, which is one of the largest rallies in the Northeast. Now, with that said lets talk about the place itself. The room: looks half decent, seems that the turquoise colored desk was thrown in the room as a filler to the wooden headboard, bureau, end table and mirror. The room consisted of 4 bear white walls (boring!) and a tiled floor. The floor: when shoes are wet (either from walking in the rain or walking through the walkways to get to the room after they decide on a Saturday morning it's time to spray the front of the rooms with water, Windows and door included) the floor is extremely slippery and hazardous, as I almost slipped and fell twice. The walkway: outside the rooms are chairs, like any other hotel/motel at the beach. However, if you are sitting in a chair you must get up to allow enough space for someone to walk past you. The pool: while it was nice on a HOT and humid day, it was very cold water. There was a garden hose in the pool which was feeding ice cold water into the pool. There were numerous dead insects and other debris floating about in the pool as well as on the floor of the pool. Pool needs to be skimmed (there is a skimmer hanging on the fence around the perimeter of the pool, did not see it being used the three days we were there). Overall cleanliness: where do I start? Not thinking I should have to look at how clean the shower is, I took a shower one night after walking on the boardwalk and getting all sweaty. While in the shower, there were several long black hairs on the shower wall (no it was not from anyone with me, as it was 2 short haired guys in the room). There were also some hairs on the plastic interior shower curtain. Hairs were also found on pillow cases, the bed sheets, towels and tiled floors. Under the bed was very disgusting. It looks as if dirt from the floor from around the room is swept under there instead of picked up. While on the toilet (which is tight quarters because of the sink) the faucet was dirty with what looks like dried toothpaste that someone had spit out after brushing their teeth. This dried toothpaste dirtiness was also present on the cabinet doors of the bathroom sink, as well as on the wall around the sink and the toilet paper holder on the wall aside of the sink. No complaints about the cleanliness of the toilet. However, after returning to the room after all day and evening of being on the boardwalk, we found the toilet was running (apparently from earlier that morning). After jiggling the handle it turned out the stopper in the tank had tangled and not gone down, which is prone to any toilet, so not their fault there. I was very disgusted with the amount of hair and filth found around the room. One good thing I can say is that when you have the 'do not disturb' placard on your door, housekeeping will still leave fresh, albeit hair covered, towels on a chair outside the room for you. Overall, not too happy about the room. Will not stay here again. When checking out you are not even asked how everything was, almost as if they know the answer they will get so they don't even bother asking.

STAY AT...

This is my second time staying here, and I absolutely LOVE it here! The managers are so warm and welcoming. I booked a last-minute, mother-daughter trip and got this room for an absolutely unbeatable price. Ironically, I'm staying in the same room I stayed in 6 or 7 years ago. I have nothing but good things to say about the El Ray! It's super close to the boardwalk and beach (right in front of the Convention Center). There is ample parking, and the rooms are very clean and beautiful! I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone. Our room was literally spotless when we arrived. We will most definitely be coming back in the future! 5 stars across the board for sure!

Please ignore the 1-star reviews. In my opinion, they're all bogus. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the pool. Someone claimed that "four people almost drowned because it goes up to 9 feet and you have to sign a waiver that releases the hotel from responsibility if you get hurt in it." Just about every hotel I've ever stayed at in Wildwood makes you sign a waiver, and the pool is VERY CLEARLY marked with signs telling people how deep it is in which spots. Our room is absolutely spotless and everything works perfectly. I've talked to a few of the other guests and seen another room, and it looks just as beautiful as ours. I think some people are too picky and will find anything to complain about. After reading the review that said "not to look under the beds," I immediately looked under both beds and saw nothing but the floor. I'm not sure where people come up with this stuff or why they feel the need to post it (especially the person complaining about the - again - VERY CLEARLY MARKED signs on BOTH sides of the pool that tell you how deep it is... If you can't swim, maybe don't go in past 3-4 feet). Also, they said that it was slippery around the pool area. I would imagine that's because it's a POOL where people swim and water gets everywhere. The managers clean the pool every night AND every morning. Tonight (our second night out of a three-night stay), they left the pool open until almost 8pm because kids were still swimming. They could've kicked them out at 7pm, but they didn't.

I review A LOT of places on here, and I give VERY honest reviews. When I say that I truly believe that this is one of Wildwood's most precious "hidden gems," I mean it. The prices are literally unbeatable, and we haven't had a single problem at all! I absolutely urge you to give them a chance and look at all of the 4- and 5-star reviews. They very much outweigh the negative ones. I still can't believe somebody complained about the depth of the pool. Unbelievable. I'll be coming back here as...

I am very disappointed that I have to write a bad review. My parents have stayed here at the El Ray a few times and never had any problems. When me & my two daughters arrived I checked in and waited as the owner was on a phone call. The phone was very loud and I heard the guest on the phone demanding the very best room( obviously he was a regular) and she quoted him a price that was roughly $30 cheaper then what I paid. Also she asked if he could pay within the next few days.( I had to pay the min I booked the room, which I thought was standard)That bothered me but I didn’t say anything just chalked it up to a very good regular customer n hoped I’d get in those terms too next year! When I went to my room I had to go into the gate by the pool and up very steep concrete stairs to my room which was difficult with a small child and few bags but I’m pretty low maintenance, so whatever just had to walk very slow and carefully. There was a lot of people sitting outside their rooms smoking and drinking,and I don’t judge so as long as they were nice to me and my kids I have no problem. The room was nice , had 3 beds( which the owner asked me not to use all 3)a tv, fridge, coffee maker . The air conditioner didn’t work great and the door didn’t shut all the way but there was a chain lock so wasn’t a big deal. Me and my kids got ready , went to boardwalk, came back pretty late , ready to pass out! My older daughter turned down her sheets and found a bed bug . She checked entire bed onmy found the one. I was horrified! I paid $160 and couldn’t believe this! So I checked the 2 other beds found another dead one in the other bed, none in mine but lots of hair, lint, stains , clearly they didn’t change the sheets and wash the linens. I went to complain but it was 12:00 the office closes very early . I was so angry , would of drove home immediately but I live over 2 hours away and was way too tired to drive that far and wanted to address this w the owners in the morning. The next morning as I was checking out I told the owners about the bugs very calmly didn’t freak out or ask for refund. The woman got very defensive and kept telling me to be quiet so other guests wouldn’t hear me . I showed her all the pics of the live bug,dead bug and disgusting sheets ( we all slept in my bed on top of towels ) I told her I would be extremely upset if I brought these bugs home w us. She deleted my pics without my knowledge n pretty much shushed me out the door. Her husband was much nicer about the situation but we won’t be back. Thankfully I took all the steps necessary to make sure no bugs came home with us but I want to make sure other people don’t...