Surf City Hotel

wow, never been there before and extremely disappointed. Went for Friday night trivia. I will say Mike, the trivia guy was great... our waiter was good too. The food was awful and the hostess, OMG- so rude , angry, and just plain obnoxious. Because of her, I will never go back. Surf City, get rid of your rude host who sits people. No need to be nasty.

We had drinks and a snack at a table by the bar. The waitress was great at first bur all of the sudden she disappeared. We waited for our check after asking for it. 10 minutes went by and we didn't see her so I asked the bartender. He disappeared in to the kitchen for about 5 minutes or so. 15 minutes later we told them we had to leave. The tab finally came out but the waiter who brought it to us didn't return to take the money so we left it on the table. This was our first visit and definitely an odd experience. Hopefully just a strange day but the lack of communication by the bartender was mind boggling.

Giving 1 star is too generous. On 9-15, around 9pm, we were greeted by a rude hostess who obviously was not happy to seat us. Unfortunately, that set the tone for further disappointments. Server was not friendly; the trivia game and music was awful. We decided to get our food "to go". Waited a long time for the food. Steamed clams were the worst I've ever had. They were cold, chewy and extremely salty. The burger was undercooked, and the clams oreganata were a soggy, mushy mess. Terrible experience.

3 separate points of emphasis: management/hotel staff, rooms, restaurant 👍Management/hotel staff: Folks, you don't get much better service than when you walk in the office door. Checking in and out was a breeze and staff was on-hand to help in any way they could. Beach passes come with the room stay and, provided you bring them back, staff allows the passes to be used all day, even after you've checked out (just please bring the passes back!). 🫤 Rooms: Staying in "The Cottage," rooms definitely were not overly modernized. Don't expect Hilton accommodations, but know that you're getting the bare essentials: bed, TV, 3-piece bathroom. If you plan on spending time outside of the hotel and this room is just a place to sleep and freshen up, it does its job well enough. Definitely a bit "used," the room served its purpose, but I would not stay in the same one next time if given the chance. 😕 Restaurant/bistro: Busy, busy place with limited access to outside seating unless you want to be near the bar. We happened to eat here on trivia night (Wednesday) so it may have been more crowded than usual. Inside, the music and conversation was very loud, so we opted for outside, though the garden area was filled and stopped serving out there at 8 PM. The only other option was by the bar in the back parking lot. The music outside by the bar was loud, as well, and table service was difficult to come by as the bar patrons were the first priority. Our burgers came out fairly quickly, but were overdone and tasteless. They started shutting down the lights at the bar, as it was after 8 PM, and it took a while for us to get our check - maybe because they forgot about us in the dark? It may be worth trying another meal on a different day, but this one was not worth writing home about. All-in-all, a pleasant enough stay (thanks to the great staff in the hotel!) in a place that does its job for beach-goers and families.