Here is the thing... it depends on what you're willing to deal with. A lot of the smaller motel/inn style locations are bare bones. You're paying for location aka proximity to the beach. If that is the only thing you care about, you might feel okay with staying at a place like this BUT be warned. This is not just a "dive", its a dump. It reeks of old and new cigarette smoke everywhere.

There are no hooks in the bathroom, the towels are tiny (like something you might use for your hair instead of your body), the air conditioner units are FILTHY and the beds are as uncomfortable as you might imagine. Also, there is no hairdryer (I'm only saying this because I just took for granted there would be one and wanted to warn others). The guy at the front desk was very nice and the water pressure was excellent (those are literally the only good things I can say). We wore flip flops in the shower and also, the shower curtain and rod fell on me when I tried to pull the curtain back (just a warning lol)

We booked this trip pretty last minute (only a few weeks out) so it's on us that our options were limited. I expected it to be a beach motel, I wasn't expecting anything fancy, but this was unbelievably gross. The other huge issue we had was that the side entrance was open ALL NIGHT and led right into the stairwell up to the rooms. We got back to the hotel close to 2 am and it was still ajar so that didn't feel great in terms of safety.

I would not call this place family-friendly, I would not stay here if you have allergies or are sensitive to smells, prone to headaches/migraines, or anything like that...

It is only 3 - 4 blocks from the beach and you get to park on-site so that's something.

Again, it's what you can put up. I read the reviews and assumed we could deal with it but in reality, the smell was too nauseating for me and it was just in really poor shape. We can deal with outdated it just was not a healthy place to sleep. ( this isn't the occasional "oh someone is smoking somewhere" which wouldn't have bothered us at all...this is that stale, deeply embedded smoke that is in the walls and curtains and floors etc...)

I can't comment on the pool because we didn't go in it. I guess one benefit was we spent 99% of the time just enjoying Seaside Heights beach and boardwalk, mini-golf, etc... we didn't waste any time staying in the room! haha

Anyhow - point is - you're really close to the beach, the front desk guy was nice, and there is great water pressure - everything else is a liability to your health and safety!

To whom it may concern,

I was told to send this following information to you after a conversation I had with your customer service department on Saturday afternoon.

On 8/13/2019 I booked a one night stay at the Roadway Inn Island Beach State Park Seaside Heights New Jersey through the hotel directly. I spoke to Abdul. He suggested we take a large room. Which I was told would have two double beds and a double pull out couch. My memory of the conversation is very clear. Because we started to laugh he thought I said I had four dogs not one who is a Pup. He said he would include a roll-out bed for my older grandson because I felt that it would be to hard to put 4 adults and 3 children and the pup in one room. He assured me it would be fine that the room had plenty of space and he would include the roll-out bed for my grandson and the puppy at no additional charge because it would be our first 1st stay at his hotel.
(pdf attached)

On Thursday my daughter-in-law and son decided that they would book an additional room from booking.com.
They were concerned that it would be too cumbersome for all of us to be in one room. My two-year-old grandson tends to get up very early and they didn't want us all to be disturbed.
(pdf attached)

My husband and I arrived on Friday to check into our room. I asked if I could check in for the rest of my family also. Abdul once again realized we were the ones that were laughing over the dogs.
This is when all the confusion began. They had my reservation, but they said they had no reservation showing in their system for my daughter-in-law Jennifer M Clapp. My husband and I were told that somehow they did not have that reservation even though I had both our confirmation numbers. Next we were told that they were completely sold out. We could all stay in one room with two double beds or they had what he called their family room which he would give us for the same price as the original booked room. I asked to see both rooms because I was very concerned. I will say that they were very polite and very accommodating at that point. They showed us room 102 which had two double beds .Then they showed us Room 101. Room 101 is the room we all stayed in. I will say this is not somewhere I would have typically stayed. I would have gone elsewhere but there was nowhere else to go that could accommodate all of us at the Jersey shore.

The room was very old and dated. We were told breakfast was included and if you look at the hotel site it actually shows somewhere that there's a breakfast area. There is not. We were handed vouchers to go to a deli 3 blocks away where you could purchase a bagel and a cup of coffee or a muffin.

Once we were in the room and checked in, the room had two queen beds and a paneled makeshift partial wall that was put up with a king bed on the other side. There was no door for privacy. There was a shower stall with a light that had to stay on 24 hours because it was attached to their outer office and the shower door did not close all the way. Due to the makeshift wall there were two rooms but only one entry door and one toilet. There was a TV attached to the makeshift wall that was installed that did not work. As if all of this was not bad enough we went to go check out Friday morning I was handed invoices for two rooms!! One was for Room 101 which was the room that we reluctantly stayed in. The second was for room 307 under my daughter-in-law's name. This was from the reservation that we were told they could not find. We were not given the option nor did any of us stay in 307. All seven of us and the dog were in Room 101.

When I questioned the young man at the front desk he proceeded to tell me there was nothing he could do because Abdul was not there.

I proceeded to question him how could you give me an invoice for a room that I didn't even stay in. We stayed in 101 not 307. Once again he told me there was nothing he could do.
I told him I was putting both rooms in dispute, taking photos of the room and the awful conditions of the property and I was going to call Choice customer service when I returned home.

I did and your customer service rep called the hotel. They proceeded to tell your customer service representative that they gave us adjoining rooms. That is a complete and false statement. There was only one entry from the hall, no door between the makeshift rooms and only one toilet. That would in no way qualify as “adjoining” rooms

I request you refund room 307 which was never occupied.

Respectfully
Jo-Ann Clapp
On behalf of the Clapp family