Hello everyone. Well, we've returned from our trip and as promised I'm including a report on the Seabonay Motel. First, I would rate it as a one star, not a two star. The motel appears to be a pre-fabricated three story building of perhaps 1950's vintage. The rooms were comfortable and clean, but the motel has definitely been neglecting maintenance. The hot water faucet runs all of the time unless you close it so tightly that it is very difficult to turn on again. The bathroom floor sagged a bit towards the tub. (When standing in the bathroom the floor felt as if you were standing on a bit of an incline). Also, the sink wobbled if you leaned on it even lightly (although it didn't appear to be in any danger of falling off the wall). The room did include a refrigerator, a TV with a decent selection of cable channels (Comcast cable), and a digital clock (no radio). The wire from the cable box to the TV was in bad shape and when we first checked in, the picture was so full of snow on the lower channels as to be useless. I doctored the cable a bit and was able to get a fairly decent picture (oddly enough by lossening the cable from the tv and allowing only the center wire to poke in...apparently the shield (which was tearing loose from the connector) was causing the poor picture. The motel offers free coffee in the office for guests. The office is open from 7:30 AM to 11:00 PM (although on our last night there the manager asked if we needed anything as he was going home at 9 since the phone hadn't rang in over 4 hours!) :-) The pool was closed, so I was not able to evaluate its condition. To the motels credit, they were doing maintenance on many rooms while we were there, apparently preparing for the coming summer busy season. On the first night, there were perhaps 3 or 4 rooms occupied. On the second night we were the sole guests. The staff was friendly, but not too accomodating. As mentioned, they had plenty of empty rooms (all identical except for location). On check in, I asked if we could have any ocean front room. They said for the price we paid, we had to take a room overlooking the pool, but we could have an ocean front room if we paid an additional $55 per night (we paid $46 per night through Hotwire). The rooms, even oceanfront ones, are NOT worth that kind of money. They face the ocean, and the outdoor corridor could serve as a balcony of sorts (but no chairs), but the windows cannot be opened, so all you get is the view of the ocean if you open your curtains. That is close to the price we paid for the Dunes Manor hotel, which offered an ocean front room, balcony, windows that opened so I could hear the surf, etc. and was truly a 3 star experience (I would give them 3 1/2). Those who followed my posting may be aware that my wife and I spent our first two nights at the Dunes Manor, followed by two nights at the Seabonay. By pure chance, the two places are right next door to one another! (That was VERY convenient!) Maid service was sub par. On our return to the room, I did a check. There was still hair in the bathtub and toiletries had not been replaced. Sheets and towels had been replaced and the room vacuumed. (Contrary to the Seabonay's promise of immaculate rooms in the survey I found in the room.) There is no excuse for this as the motel did not have many rooms occupied. One oddity about this place....I noticed on check in to our room that the TV was on. Later, I noticed that the TV was on in all of the empty rooms. Why would a motel do this? It seems to be a waste of electric...are they trying to give the appearance of greater occupancy? Would I stay there again? Maybe, but not for more than one or two nights and only if I got a very good price and no one else offered a price that was on par. As I said, the motel room offered that basics of a clean place to sleep, but not much more. An interesting tidbit about this place...I learned from a local waitress that this motel is owned by the Harrison Group. This family also owns the two Holiday Inns, the Ramada, and the Seabonay all in Ocean City, MD. TCR
