Hampton Inn & Suites Outer Banks/ Corolla

The staff made me feel at home as soon as I checked in, and the clean, modern room was a lovely place to wake up to ocean views. I especially liked having both indoor and outdoor pools, and direct access to the beach made it easy to relax without fuss. I came for a weekend break and left feeling completely refreshed. I'd happily return.

The best part of our three-day stay, which should have been four, was breakfast. The breakfast staff and the people who cleaned the rooms were also the only ones who were consistently sweet. Adam was helpful with sightseeing and places to eat, though his attitude and the promises he made were a problem. The rest of the front office needs to be fired, in my view. Every Hampton Inn I've stayed at has been awful, and they should be embarrassed. Hampton Inn should be ashamed of itself. I understand it's scheduled for remodeling in 2028, but that doesn't excuse failing to keep up with maintenance. We couldn't see the ocean at all because the sand dunes were so high, which made the photos misleading and felt like false advertising. Other guests and families we spoke with wanted refunds too. The property itself was in bad shape: mold in the carpet, patchwork everywhere, sliding doors and screens that stuck, and stucco falling off the outside. The indoor hot tub and heated pool kept trading problems: when one worked, the other went cold. The hotel also has no cameras. I was especially upset about the room arrangement and cost. I had called days ahead and spoken with Adam, explaining that we'd paid $2,400 and needed my 67-year-old disabled veteran father-in-law in a room next to ours. After a seven-hour drive, we arrived without adjacent rooms. Adam rudely cut into my conversation and said policy wouldn't allow a promise, even though that hadn't been made clear on the phone and the hotel was full. Karen, the general manager, checked us in at 4 p.m. When I raised the issue, she said she had authority Adam didn't and would see what she could do. She waived one $75 incidental fee, then upgraded one room to a suite and said we'd be in the same wing, but not next door. We were then charged another $925 on top of the $2,400 we'd paid in March. It felt like a trick and a rip-off, and the business seemed very shady. A maintenance worker named Dan was rude and disrespectful on several occasions, and seemed to be trying to provoke us. Once, while we waited for my father-in-law by the elevator, Dan tried to ride with us to the third floor. The doors timed out while he was trying to get on, and he got angry with us. Other times he went into the elevator ahead of us instead of letting guests go first. Each encounter made my family uncomfortable.

Dogs were the main downside for us. We heard barking during the night, and twice found dog poop in the halls. It was cleaned up quickly, though a faint smell lingered during our stay. On the beach we saw dogs peeing in the sand, and one family had set up right beside it. I let them know and they moved, but the beach smelled strongly of dogs. If you're a dog lover, this might suit you; if you want a more typical stay, it may not. We otherwise had a really enjoyable time. The staff were great, breakfast was amazing, and nearly all the activities we wanted were within 20 minutes.

The rooms were a letdown for what we paid, over $300 a night. The carpet was old, stained, and torn in places, and there was mold around the bathtub base. In contrast, the lobby and pool areas were wonderful, the beach was easy to reach, and the front desk staff were very helpful.