Amazing Views
Written: Aug 26 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Right on the boardwalk, balconies, large, clean rooms, great views, good restaurant
Cons: Desk staff could be more professional, hallways a little creepy
The Bottom Line: Go for the location and the views, and be prepared to overlook mediocre service and shabby hallways.
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| Profilewriter's Full Review: Atlantic City - Boardwalk Days Inn |
The Days Inn is the only non-casino hotel in Atlantic City that sits right on the boardwalk. Balconies on its ocean front rooms, in fact, put guests closer to the surf than they can get in any other hotel along the boardwalk.
The Days Inn is located on the southern end of Atlantic City, between the Hilton and the Tropicana casinos. This end of the city has the best beaches, by far, and they are just steps away from the front door of this hotel.
It is often impossible to get a room in a casino hotel on a Saturday. Most often, there are no rooms at any price. The few rooms that do come available carry price tags that start near $300 and go up to well over twice that. The alternative is a non-casino hotel, and this Days Inn may be the best of the lot in terms of location and views.
The rooms are surprisingly attractive, too. The one we stayed in was right on the ocean. We decided on the spot that it would be a fine place to spend a week's vacation, which we hope to do next summer.
Only about 12 of the hotels' rooms hang over the boardwalk. Ask for one. They command a small premium, but are worth it. Half of the rest of the rooms are angled toward the ocean and have excellent views, too. The other 50 percent overlook the Tropicana's blank side wall. Even those rooms, though, are not horrible. Each room has a balcony, and the Tropicana is far enough away that guests have some light and air.
When we arrived at the Days Inn for an overnight stay, we asked for an ocean view, and the desk clerk said we would have to pay $30 more than the $122 for which we had reserved it on Orbitz. As we were negotiating for our room, an unhappy guest was complaining about the taxes that had been added to her room. She was in the wrong, of course, as the hotel has to add tax charges, but the clerk quickly became surly and argumentative in a way, we were quite sure, that clerks in larger hotels would be trained not to.
From the desk we proceeded upstairs in a tiny elevator. The hallway was depressing. It looked, for instance, as though someone had punched in the walls in a couple of places and the management had done a poor job of papering over the holes.
There is no pool, which is a drawback in New Jersey, where the ocean can turn icy cold, or fill with jellyfish or seaweed in an instant. Sometimes, as was the case this summer, it is just too hot to go to the beach. This is especially true when there is a strong west wind, bringing flies and a swirling, unbearable heat to the sand, which quickly begins to feel like molten glass.
The Days Inn restaurant, the Country Kitchen, serves Denny's-like food -- skillet breakfasts and the like. The food is good and the comfortable room overlooks the boardwalk.
Rates at the Days Inn are all over the place, as tend to be the case in Atlantic City. On a prime summer Saturday, a room will cost $300 or more. On a winter Wednesday, the same room will be less than a quarter of that.
While the indoor pools, spas, room service, and overall luxe of surrounding casino hotels are missing at this Days Inn, we thought the view -- straight into a cut between two dunes for a close-up look at the surf beyond -- made up for it all.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Profilewriter
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Trenton, New Jersey
Reviews written: 495
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