Bethany Beach Ocean Suites Residence Inn, DE [Master Thread]
 

New Gold member. Looking forward to trying this new hotel and will report back on it when we get there. Booked a stay on points but I now see they won't be open in time. Is there compensation or anything else offered for this?
Thank you.

No compensation. But, you may get a few points tossed your way as a customer service gesture.

The risk of booking brand new properties. All it takes is some plumbing inspector getting out of bed on the wrong side and you're SOL.

Thanks! Should I wait for them to contact me? Booking is in 9 days

No.contact them and also say politely you think it's inappropriate that it's 9 days put and you haven't been contacted. Ask them politely how they intend to solve the reservation problem. Don't ask for anything up front, bit after they solve it - and it's on them to do so - them you cam let it go or not.

Cheers

Where are you seeing that it won't be open in time?

I don't see anything listed on the website anywhere, but I might not be looking in the correct spot. All I get is that there aren't rooms available.

I am 100% confident on this that if you have a reservation between now and Aug 1, they are honoring those reservations and you have a room. They are not taking new reservations beyond that until August 1 as only 1 of the 2 buildings have been completed. If you have you reservation for 9 days out, you will be fine, but you should call the hotel to confirm.

Just called the hotel. North Building is open. They had a soft opening yesterday (?) and they say I should be fine. South Building is the building with amenities and that is not open yet. They are not sure when it will be open.
Thanks for the good advice everyone. I will report back.

Has anyone here stayed at this hotel?

I'd love some feedback on what it's like to spend a week during the summer. How's the hotel...beach...water...crowds...restaurants?

I am considering staying at this hotel in summer of 2018. I would appreciate any feedback from folks who have stayed at the property.

--Jon

Overall, great property. The only hotel on the Beach in downtown Bethany. Walking distance to restaurants and shops. There are a few quirks. They are a Residence Inn, but don't offer the Mix. They can be difficult on late checkouts (last stay, as a Plat, was ultimately offered 1 PM, which suited my needs). They have a lot of activities for kids, which we liked. Rooms are well appointed and spacious, housekeeping was OK. Sometimes we had to ask more than once for extra towels, little things were missed, like replacing dish detergent. But overall we really like it, have stayed there 2 out of last 3 years and are booked again for next summer. Rooms run 600+ in high season, so this is a good use of points IMO.

LCPjr, thank you! I have a five night July 4th week stay reserved on points for next summer. The two queen bed studio suite format will work well for us (next best thing to a timeshare property where we can get 1 or 2 bedroom units with full kitchens).

A couple of more questions:

1) What is the surf like? I want to teach my preteen soon to be teen daughter to body surf. We have been to Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, and Duck many times. Of those three Myrtle was the best for reliable surf without it being too strong. I would expect Bethany Beach to be similar to Myrtle but am not sure having never been there.

2) How was the Ocean water temperature and did you have jelly fish (I know that varies a lot from year to year at all beaches, just trying to get a general idea)?

3) How is traffic getting in and out of the Bethany Beach area on weekends? We will be coming in from Western PA?

While we have liked Myrtle and Hilton Head a lot, looking for something new that is a little closer to us. We also stayed at a VA Beach SHS once and didn't like it. Hotel was very beat even though it had been very recently remodeled and we didn't like the vibe of the VA Beach area. The Boardwalk was nice and the beach was nice enough but too crowded. The lack of decent restaurants was an issue. Anyway, I digress...

Thanks Again,

Jon

Surf is generally calm. You won't see many surfers. You will see some people riding boogie boards, but generally they don't get huge waves and there the ocean is relatively calm.

In early August, water temp was low 70s. We were there 5 days this year, never saw any jellyfish.

Traffic on weekends can be difficult through the Rehoboth Beach area. The signage suggests those going to points south of Rehoboth use a route that is longer mileage wise but stays inland and then goes due east to the beaches. Haven't tried this...we went down on a Sunday and traffic was moderate.

The vibe is good. It's not a party town, but it's not dry either...a nice balance. You can get a nice dinner and have a couple drinks if you want, but there aren't any raucous bars. Party scene is in Dewey, next town to the north.

I have stayed here last year in the off-season so I cannot comment on any beach questions but I liked the hotel very very much. Much more luxurious than the usual Residence Inn. Full service restaurant on property, real silverware utensils and plates during breakfast. Had a nice two queen bedded room on the second floor right on the ocean and it was marvelous. Pool had a roof that can be opened during summer season. Would highly recommend this hotel but as already said here before, they aren't very good about late check outs and other Residence Inn typical features. But it is hands down the best hotel in the area!

You will be fine with the water temperature. A little cool in June, better in July and perfect in august. Bethany is more residential than the other nearby coastal towns, so the boardwalk and shopping are more limited.

I would definitely drive down to rehoboth for a night or two. Good shopping,restaurants and Funland is perfect for kids under 12. Dogfish, Salt Air and Henlopen Oyster House are my personal favorite restaurants. As said above, Dewey is more of the party town for drinking and music.

Hotel is very nice for a Residence Inn, more like a Marriott.

Bethany Beach Ocean Suites Residence Inn
 

We stayed there last week for five nights on points. Check in was easy and the front desk associate told everyone in my family to each select an item from the market as an extra welcome gift (in addition to the platinum welcome gift points). That was very nice and we had lots of ice cream for our first night. Rooms are nicer than your typical Residence Inn. The TV's support Internet TV with direct access to your streaming provider including Netflix, Hulu, etc. which we enjoyed (Netflix movie on a rainy afternoon). Staff was very friendly. Breakfast is served in the full service restaurant area so it is more spacious and better decor than the typical Residence Inn. We especially enjoyed eating breakfast on the outdoor veranda with a view of the ocean each morning. Never had trouble getting a table. Only negative we experienced was the pool had paint or something else coming off the wall/side surfaces. My wife and daughter both experienced the issue so we didn't use the pool after that. Being on the boardwalk and with direct access to the beach, we really didn't miss the pool.

For those who care about surf conditions, they weren't ideal during our stay. Two days the beach patrol posted dangerous surf conditions with rough chop. For context, I grew up on LI and have been body surfing in the ocean for 40+ years and am very use to it. Surf was indeed rough and going in beyond knee height would have been a bad idea. Still very nice to walk on the beach. They also just finished a beach nourishment project but I didn't notice much difference in the beach versus about 1 mile south at Sea Colony (where friends were staying) that opted out of the beach nourishment project. There were shells and larger pebbles in the sand in the surf on the beach in front of the hotel. I am not sure if that was due to the beach nourishment or just a general issue for the area. Some areas had more shells than others. We didn't have any issues with shells and pebbles when we swam at the Sea Colony beach.

I requested late checkout (wanted 2PM) and with some friendly negotiation got 1 PM (which was good enough for us). The hotel did seem to be full on the weekend and was even looking for some people to checkout early (offering 10K MR Points to do so).

There are many restaurants within a couple of blocks walking distance of the hotel. There are many more within 1 to 2 miles drive. Our two favorites were Blue Coast and Off the Hook.

Overall, for us, it was a very nice stay and we would gladly return for another point’s stay (cash rates were $700+ night which I would never pay). Coming from Western PA, it was great to only have a 7 hour drive versus 12+ hours to the Carolina beaches (Myrtle, Hilton Head, etc.).

--Jon