Z06RL:
Thank you for taking the time to post this detailed review of your trip.
Sorry to hear the HI was a little less then you might have expected.
I have never stayed there but most of the reviews are glowing.
Guess everyone has their own idea of what makes a hotel good.
Coins and BJ's have always been two of my favorites.
The crab cakes at Coins and the seafood skins at BJ's.
Glad to hear they still live up to their reputation.
It should be an interesting Summer in OC.
With the economy where it is including rising gas prices I would be concerned many people might pass on their OC trips.
Here in NY premium gas is running about $4.20 per gallon and we have yet to hit the Summer peak months.
How were the crowds compared to years past?
Any difference you saw?
As far as the OC police seems to me their priorities are backwards sometimes with their attention to some activities while others go on without any interest. Not really impressed with their leadership or the leadership of those in political office in OC. Sad....................
Thanks again for your report and glad you had a good time and most importantly a safe trip. Enjoy your Summer...........
Just got back from Cruise In and thought I'd share. We got there Wed. and stayed at the Holiday Inn Suites on 17th St. This was our first time there and these are my opinions of the hotel:
Nice on the outside. Very courteous staff. We had a nice room, but if I had to pay the $435 a nite in summer, I'd go elsewhere. It was a suite with a full living room, kitchen, and bedroom and bathroom with jacuzzi tub. The couch was filthy and the middle cushion was backwards with the zipper facing out.......when I turned the cushion I discovered why........ew! The kitchen seemed clean and fully stocked with dishes, etc. The bedroom was very nice and all of the linens were clean white and crisp. The bathroom.............well, there was dry pee on the toilet bowl. The jacuzzi tub seemed to be lower than the caulking since the caulking was up here.....and the tub was down there and a nasty looking space in between. The tile edges were gross with huge gaps, and the counter also needed repair. There was a huge chip in the table that caught our clothing every time we passed it. And one of the two remotes (there were two tv's) didn't work. Oh, and did I mention the water marks, and fingerprints on all the furniture? Like they didn't know what Pledge is for. So basically, their housekeeping needs training......aside from the beds which were clean and changed every day. So I'd give them a 7 out of 10.
Ocean City is getting soooooooooooooooo expensive! There was just my husband and myself and we couldn't get away with spending less than $40 just for lunch! Wow! We did eat at Burger King on the boards during the car show and that was $22, but even that's ridiculous for BK for two burgers, two fries, and two drinks! We did try the Horizon's restaurant in the Clarion for the buffet Friday night. It was mediocore at best. The selection was nice and I enjoyed what I ate, but we had to keep waiting for the hot crab legs (they had hot and cold and the cold was always filled). They weren't great or any better than Bonfire or Embers which from what I read on here, I thought they would be. Even when they brought hot ones out, they were still cool. I had to laugh because they don't turn lights on in there and it was during a rain storm so it was fairly dark. I actually saw a woman using a flashlight to read her menu.
The buffet price was only two dollars less than Bonfire too. It was $25.99 for early bird. The service was slow and not very attentive. The bone bowls were only emptied once and our plates were stacked up along with our empty glasses which only got one refill (small glasses). So the Clarion didn't score high in my book.
We love going to Cruise In and have been going for years and know what to expect as far as the show itself. That's never a disappointment. We actually got treated to a free concert by the opening band for the shows on Friday night. The band was called Still Surfin and they're a Beach Boys tribute band. They were doing a sound check and when about 12 of us sat down to watch, they played for over an hour! That was so nice and very appreciated.
The only damper on our trip was the OC Police. They didn't bother us or anything, but part of the fun of Cruise In weekend is watching the evening "cruisers". We had a perfect room for viewing the cars and what happened? The police blocked the cars from coming past the hotel and detoured them onto Coastal. We couldn't watch them at all except in the morning or afternoon! Yes the drunks were out in force with their chairs urging them to lay rubber or do burn outs. And yes, a lot of the drivers were accomodating. But that's part of the fun. I understand it's a safety issue for the police, but the majority of the drivers are in their 50's and responsible. It was really disappointing not to at least be able to watch the cars since this is part of what we were there for and had reserved the perfect hotel room to do that. They really need to lighten up a bit. Oh well.
We had a good time despite them.
Oh, and the beach is cleaned up from Monday's Noreaster. All was good in that area.
We ate at BJ's on the Water and it was good as always. The pizza at Four Brother's is still my favorite, and supper at Coins was really good.
We should have gone to Fractured Prune for doughnuts, but opted for the Dunkin Donuts close to the hotel. Yuk.
So that's about it. Till next year......................