ocean city
 

Im thinking about possible planning a summer trip to ocean city, could anyone suggest a good hotel, in or around the area that wont cost my childrens education ;). No seriously Iam looking for any suggestions for a decent hotel. thanks

Are you talking about Ocean City Maryland or New Jersey??

sorry, I meant ocean city maryland, but i will take infor on nj as well. thanks

Ocean City NJ is touristy. We drove slighty farther south and stayed in Wildwood. The Days Inn was very 1950's and wonderful. it was off season and we got a 2 room suite for $50 a night. There is a wonderful Italian pizzeria that delivers the pizza to your door. Acroos the street is the Ocean. Part of the view is obsecured by the convention center but there is a nice board walk to enjoy sunrise and sunset. We walked over to this in our pj's and with our coffee. It was great.

I would recommend The Commander or Howard Johnson in Ocean City, Md. They are both on the boardwalk and should be reasonable, although nothing is real cheap during the summer months at OC. Your kids would love Dumser's for ice cream. There are several locations throughout the town. You have to get Thrasher's french fries and the Dough Roller has good pizza. The Brass Balls is a good place to eat on the boardwalk and not too expensive. Nick Idoni's and JR Ribs are good places to get ribs. There is a real neat Kite shop on the boardwalk. I beleive it's called the Kite Loft. They usually have a lot of kites flying out on the beach. Use the bus for transaportation. It's cheap, like a $1 or $2 a day. There's too much traffic to drive everywhere. It's safe for older kids. They have preety good rides for the kids, also. Plus there is an amusement park called Jolly Roger that is good for kids, also.
Have fun!

There is a fairly new Holiday Inn in OC that is excellent in every way, although more expensive than other properties.
Includes several pools, slides, lazy rivers, very kid friendly so it fills up fast.
However it's unlikely you'll find availability unless you get in on a cancellation.
Wildwood is the epitome of tacky.
Wildwood Crest is nicer and more family friendly IMO.
They're all touristy; they cater to tourists as do all vacation beaches.
Do a search here for many other threads with additional and similar information.
Hope you can go.
You'll have a good time wherever you stay.

Stay at the Princess Royale - absolutely beautiful. Visit Website

Best hotel I've stayed at in Ocean City, Maryland: the Dunes Manor. All rooms oceanfront, and laid out so you can hear the ocean from your bed.

Best value for the buck, also oceanfront: the Rodeway Inn next door to the Dunes Manor. Surprisingly good oceanfront rooms and indoor and outdoor pools. But you most specify oceanfront here, as they have other rooms and a whole second building behind the oceanfront one, which they call misleadingly "ocean view," much inferior.

I have stayed at the Carousel and do not recommend it. Tired and a little depressing. I have not stayed at the Commander, but have heard very good word of mouth. Haven't stayed at the Princess Royale either, but if it is the one I am thinking of, it is on the Bay rather than ocean side, if that matters to you.

If you don't care so much about oceanfront but would like a moderately-priced, old-fashioned, very traditional family type Ocean City hotel that is right at the heart of the amusement and food area, the Atlantic is a well-kept, interesting slice of days gone by.

The haziness of my memories about a couple of hotels I discussed above caused me to decide to check the Tripadvisor.com reviews of them.

I found I was in error on the Princess Royale--it is oceanfront, not bayfront. I did, in fact, have it mixed up with another hotel.

I was struck by how many reviewers have also considered oceanfront rooms at the Rodeway Inn Oceanfront an unexpected "find." The hotel's relatively low ranking on Tripadvisor is somewhat deceptive as it's pulled down by people who didn't like their rooms in the smaller, older, nonoceanfront building I warned about, including a couple people who have stayed in both and point out how dramatically better the oceanfront rooms are. Value of the oceanfront rooms for the price was often praised, especially by one woman who said she had priced every true oceanfront room in town and these were the lowest priced.

Somehow Tripadvisor shows a higher average price for the Rodeway than the Dunes Manor next door, which I'm quite sure is inaccurate, as I've often found the average prices they quote to be inaccurate. I did think my room at the Dunes Manor, certainly a fancier hotel with more amenities generally, was even better than the one at the Rodeway, justifying it's higher cost, although I thought the Rodeway, surprisingly, had better pools (both their indoor and outdoor ones often praised in the Tripadvisor reviews.)

There are no user reviews for the Atlantic Hotel at Tripadvisor, but they have a web site indicating they're still in business, and a look at their rates confirms they might be very attractive to a family on a tighter budget. You should be aware, though, that the rooms there are very stark and plain by today's standards, if well kept up and on purpose typical of how the places looked which most families stayed in at the beach a hundred years ago.

Stayed at a hotel the first time we went to OC, MD, but then rented condos thereafter. Ahough you lose the maid service, linens, etc, you can usually get a much roomier and comfortable place, for a reasonable price. The only drawback is that in the summer, most condos rent by the week only, and the rental periods usually being on Sat, although there are a few Fri or Sun rentals. I've been very happy with Coldwell Banker as a rental agent for several rentals. We must have done ok with price as we're already footing one college tuition bill!

Not to get away from the hotel question but this may be of interest if you want to see a cam of OC boarwalk, check out: http://www.oceancitycam.com/
Also, can link to Rehoboth & Bethany cams. Also some other beach links on the site.

If you are going for a week, definitely rent a condo. We've been going for 11 years now (live in NY) and always rent a condo in the northern part of Ocean City.