Dunes Manor Hotel

This is my fav OC hotel. The rooms are very clean, the bathrooms are clean & updated, there’s a direct path to beach, and the rooms are a good size. The hallways are clean. No sand everywhere. There’s a kids small arcade section. My thing is the cleanliness. They do a great job on that! But…the young front desk girls are absolutely horrible. They ignore you when you ask for help. They literally just stand there talking about seashells. The desk girls also cater to white clientele but thats nothing new. The onsite restaurant has flavorful food. The beach view is nice. I think it’s a good place to stay overall because of its cleanliness. Also, it’s relatively quiet. But my experience was on week days right before off season. Im not sure how crazy it might be during peak season.

Took a quick and last-minute summertime trip to OC - my lodging options were limited due to my last-minute planning. I chose this hotel because I am a Hilton Honors member and this hotel had oceanfront rooms available for my travel dates. The property's reviews seem to be all over the place, so I hoped for the best. I knew this was a pet-friendly hotel prior to booking so I somewhat knew what to expect -- but I would not recommend staying here if you aren't traveling with a pet (or don't enjoy being around other people's pets). I am a dog owner x2 and love my pets, but I don't always love being so close with pets that I don't know. For example, I was riding the (small/slow) elevator and an anxious and large pitbull boarded the lift. The very small and frail female owner was having a difficult time calming the dog down. This in turn made me and the other riders anxious. If the dog attacked or acted out, we would not be able to safely remove ourselves from the situation. It was in that moment that I decided pet-friendly hotels are not my thing. I'm not sure if the hotel requires vaccination/health history proof, or has pet size restrictions, but I was talking to another guest who said they did not need to show any medical records for their pet at checkin. Biggest irk - there are no luggage carts that are free to use. You must hire a bellhop. Sir, this is a Hilton Garden Inn, not the Four Seasons. I like handling my own stuff and dislike feeling forced to have to use a "service" that requires gratuity. Because of this "policy," we had to "schedule" a bellhop on our departure day - 40 minutes later than we planned to leave - because we were told that we could not independently take a luggage cart to our room for loading. We had to wait until the bellhop was available to do it for us. If we didn't have a heavy cooler, we would have carried our stuff in our arms. It's great that the assistance is there if needed, but we shouldn't be forced into it in order to access a cart. Not the biggest deal; it's the principle. As a side note - I did see some people using carts on their own, so if this property doesn't require bellhop use in order to access luggage carts, they may want to explore whether they have certain staff members who are strong-arming guests so they can get tips. Another irk - you have to pay for parking. I expected it, but WHY? The room rate is already extremely high, IMO. Amenities - There is one pool (indoors) and it's relatively small/narrow, but looked clean. No special decor. Fitness center is spacious and decent. No outdoor pool or jacuzzi, etc. I'd say this hotel is geared more towards older travelers versus children/young families. Common areas are nice and well-kept. They diffuse a scent into the common areas - heads up to anyone who has strong aversions/allergies to air fresheners. It was better than smelling wet dog, which is likely why they do it. Outdoor deck has lots of rocking chairs overlooking the beach. I wish I had more time to sit and enjoy. Pizza/snow-cone shop in lobby is a small but great benefit to have on site! This definitely elevates the hotel's offerings. On site bar (which extends outside to deck) is nice, drinks are inexpensive and staff was friendly in both places. Food from bar area and pizza was good! There are only two elevators - they are SLOW and SMALL and easily become crowded. The property desperately needs to improve this. Signage for stairs is non existent unless you look at the tiny map plaques. I ended up using the stairs all of the time, which is not ideal for high-level rooms. Room only had 3 bath towels. I groaned when I saw this upon our initial entry because after a long day of traveling, we all just wanted to shower. I didn't love having to fetch more towels immediately. The number of towels should match the room's occupancy. This is an easy fix that could go a long ways! Oceanfront balcony room was spacious, clean and nice. I'd say it was a step up from a Hampton Inn room, but with a nice view. Wish the balcony had a slider door and not a regular door. One of our bed's headboard reading lights was busted and only the stem of the lamp was left sticking out of the headboard. It should not have been left like that prior to a guest arriving as someone could have hit their head on it. Also made me question the level of care and attention a room is given during cleaning. One light switch in room's entryway did not work. Fridge was not cold. We relied on our Yeti -- this was fine EXCEPT the ice machine on our floor was broken. So we had to traverse floors (using the stairs because the elevator took FOREVER) in order to get ice, to keep our food cold, because our in-room frig was a bust. For every one working ice machine, two were broken. It felt luxurious to find a working one. A lot of rigamarole for a room that cost nearly $500/night. Front desk staff - all I encountered - were super nice and welcoming/helpful. Location is great. You are on the beach, right off the north end of the boardwalk, and the "beach bus" stops right near the hotel. Lots of mini golf, restaurants and shops in walking distance. Highly recommend using the beach bus to get around town. Very easy to access the beach as well. Lounge chairs and umbrellas are available to rent on the beach, directly outside the hotel. Would I stay here again? Likely no, but only because there were just too many pets in such close spaces/on furniture, etc. That aside, we had a great time and I would recommend this hotel to anyone traveling with a furry friend.

It is really a shame what has happened to this place. We used to come every year when it was the Dunes Manor. Several years back, Hilton purchased it and promised a great renovation and improvement. Trust me, it is far from improved. Yes, the rooms have been modernized and so is the interior. The improvement stopped there. First, you are paying Hilton prices. Upon arrival, we were told that we have to pay for parking. I’ve been coming to Ocean City for 60 years and I’ve never ever paid for parking as a guest at a hotel, even the most or least expensive hotel. I told the young man at the front desk that I thought it was outrageous that they were charging parking on top of the already High room rate. He said, “It’s a choice.” Seriously! I told him if I had another choice at that late moment, that I would be walking out the front door. Then we were told that the pool and the gym are both unavailable - both amenities related to the steep Hilton prices and yet unavailable. Then we were told housekeeping is not available unless we make a special request first thing in the morning. We expressed that we would like housekeeping every day. The same man at the front desk said he would put a note by our room and that we would have room service daily. Well, it’s now 4 o’clock and there has been no room service. I called down to the front desk and was told that the most room service you can get is every other day. I’m paying for a room every day, not every other day, and this is not what we were told yesterday when we checked in. She said that daily room service is not Hilton policy. My policy is that when I am on vacation and am paying a ridiculous price per night, I expect to be treated like a guest. That does not happen here. Save your money. There are much better options for the same or less per night. We will never be back. Save your money. There are so many other options in Ocean City that have the same and better features, and will not try to gauge you by charging you to park.