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Carousel Hotel
Rating Details »
Categories: Hotels, Skating Rinks, Delis [Edit]
11700 Coastal Hwy Ste 1Ocean City, MD 21842
(410) 524-1000
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
6 reviews for Carousel Hotel
I've come to Ocean City almost every summer since I was young and this was the first time I've stayed at The Carousel. I'm not really a fan. I guess the Ice Rink is kind of a big deal here...but I don't come to the beach to go ice skating!
The woman at the front desk was a bitch! No one seemed to communicate with each other, I got about 5 different versions every time I asked a question, the internet sucked and when I had a problem connecting after being their a few days they told ME to call the internet provider...sorry, didn't realize it was MY job!!
Several appliances didn't work in the room, the door closing off the washer and dryer came off the track and when the maintence guy came up to fix it, he asked if I had a problem with it being off the track...DUH, THAT'S WHY I CALLED!
The Seasons restaurant is pretty good, they had a decent breakfast buffet for $10.95, although when I first got the bill I saw that they had tried to charge my 17month old for the child buffet, but then credited it back. The beach bar and grill also seems pretty decent, the domestic drafts weren't too expensive.
Our room was, at least clean, so no complaints there, although the vents and fans look like they could stand to be clean. We reserved an ocean front room and had a view of the ocean...after you looked past roof of the atrium and lower floors...
Next year, I'm sticking with the Plaza!
The Carousel is a nice, affordable option for O.C. The hotel must be a good place for families because it was filled with families and little kids.
The room was nice. Two double beds, a large closet and dresser and a little kitchen area with fridge/freezer, microwave and a sink. There also was a table. The hotel has a high rise and an atrium part. We were in the three level atrium part and our room faced the ice rink and restaurant. Even though it was indoors, the room had a balcony with two comfy chairs to lounge in and people watch.
The hotel has an indoor and an outdoor pool. It also has a sauna and showers available in the pool restroom. There is an outdoor beach side restaurant and bar, an indoor restaurant and bar and a coffee shop type restaurant. The outdoor restaurant was great for lunch while at the beach. A decent sized menu with burgers, fries, hot dogs, pit beef, ahi tuna sandwiches, etc. All very good and reasonably priced. The bar had a very good happy hour with $2 drinks.
As another reviewer mentioned, the elevators are lacking. There are 2 for floors 2 to 11 and 2 elevators for floors 11 to 22. This means it gets crowded fast and tired, sandy people coming back from a day at the beach are cranky. So bring your patience and a good attitude. We stayed on the 3rd floor. So if we were not carrying beach stuff, we normally took the steps.
A nice plus (I'm not sure if this is standard or a promotion we received) was two beach chairs every day of our stay. You received a card and turned it in every day for the two chairs. The chairs were nice and comfy.
I stayed here over the weekend on a girls' trip to the beach and when I saw "resort" I thought "Awesome!!"
Well on my way there, a couple friends had arrived early and warned us saying "it's like the number one family hotel..." You know what that means!! Lotsa kids. I don't mind kids so much but when they're all over the place running around, not fun.
The place is very far from the boardwalk, which is fine by me as you get away from the overpopulated areas and can actually get a good spot on the beach. The building and decor is a little outdated - all the furniture in our room was covered in counter laminate material. In terms of size though, our room was pretty big. We had two queen beds and a kitchenette. Once we got over the awesome decor it wasn't too bad.
To save money we picked a room that overlooked the atrium instead of the outside. We just had fun with that. Our balcony was covered in carpet and came with two plush chairs. Our view was of the skating rink and the indoor tiki bar. We could watch people playing pool and ice skating which was neat, but when they blasted music or at night when people were just chatting, we could hear it all, very loudly.
Their elevator service is very crappy. I can understand it being busy during high traffic times but even when it's not, you still had to wait a long time. The elevators are also very SMALL and there are only 2 going for a span of about 10 floors so you had to wait A LOT. We used the stairs a lot. It was so bad that at checkout time we opted to carry all of our luggage down 4 flights of stairs after waiting at least 10 minutes for an elevator that could fit at least half of us came down.
Overall the place was a bit weird for me but not bad for what it had to offer - a few tiki bars, restaurants, indoor and outdoor pool, skating rink, pool, net access (which sucks by the way), kitchenette. It just wouldn't be my first choice.
I stayed here on a family vacay along with Sheila F. and Sara N. in August. I had never been to Ocean City, nor had I ever stayed here before, so I had nothing to which I could compare this place.
On the whole, I really enjoyed my time here. I would be thrilled to come here again, mainly because it was close enough to good restaurants and fun stuff yet far away from the loud, rowdy parts of Ocean City. My MIL did a fabulous job of picking it out!
One nice thing about this place was the cable TV--many hotels offer 20 (if that!) channels, but this place offered a full spectrum of channels, including several sports stations. Sure, I didn't come here to watch TV, but when I wanted to catch up on NFL preseason action, I was able to do so. I really liked the outdoor bar and music too--they had live music on one afternoon which made for an enjoyable lunch. They had Yuengling (sp?) on tap for $2.50 or so, which was cool because we don't have it here in Cleveland and it made relaxing outside with a drinks a low cost activity. When (not if) I come here again, I would like to spend more time chilling by the outdoor pool--unfortunately, it wasn't that hot while we were here =(
Our room was nice and well-maintained, although the climate control system made the room either frigid or steamy hot.
I liked the big atrium area, and when I come again, I'd like to spend more time relaxing in there too. They constantly played music in there over the loudspeakers, making it a fun place to be. We caught the ice show on our last night there and it was pretty good.
My biggest gripe about the place was that it had a bit of an Orwellian feel to it--there were signs EVERYWHERE telling people what they could not do and every time one wanted to do something simple (i.e. check out lawn chairs, enter the pool area) we had to show room keys, sign in, etc. All of that had the sum total effect of making me feel on edge...seriously, I just wanted to take a dip in the pool, why should I have to fill out a huge form to do so?
I highly recommend the Carousel. It's not a loud party hotel though, so don't show up here with a few 24 packs of Natty Light and expect to be loud all night long!
Ah, the wonderful weirdness that is The Carousel. I've stayed here a few times now (once upon a time in the condos in college, and recently twice for an annual conference.) It's an old, huge beach hotel with an ice rink inside, so take what you'd like from that.
The wireless connection sucks. I affectionately call the place "The Gulag" because it appears to be built out of concrete and cinderblocks, and it's old. It's really weird to sit out by the ice rink at night and check your email, but a girl's gotta get her fix. But if you're there for a beach vacation only and not work you shouldn't care about that so much.
Beach access is right there, and the ocean views are nice. My boss got me a room that had (get this) a full-sized whirlpool tub right by the bed. Plus it had a beachfront deck. The rooms themselves are not fancy by any stretch, but were clean (which is really mostly what I care about.) The bed was okay.
The outside bar is too expensive for the venue, and I had to return my margarita because of the salt lick at the bottom. But if you're in OC, why are you drinking at the Carousel anyway??? Get your butt to Seacrets. ; )
The grossest thing about this trip was the FLIES! There were just way too many of them in the lobby by the snack area. I think there must be something they can do. My friends and I went across the street to the Greene Turtle for lunch. I wasn't interested in eating the conference lunch. Flies. Ick.
The front desk staff and housekeeping are all very friendly, and overall it's a comfy beach hotel, with the caveats I've listed. There are plenty of other options, as they say, "Down 'e ocean" but I'd stay here on my own again, in a pinch.
I first stayed here a few years ago with my family and not much has changed, though that is a good thing. I love the variety that the Carousel has to offer. The first room I stayed in was oceanfront and extremely nice, I loved being able to walk out our balcony and be on the beach. The ice skating rink is something that is different but nice, it is the only hotel i've been to and heard of that offers this. It is a great place for kids as there is so much to do well staying there. The second time I stayed here was during Bike Week this past August, i think. That room was just as nice, but wasn't oceanfront. It is a little on the expensive side but worth it when you consider all they have to offer. I can't wait to return.