Oceana Marina

The room was a converted garage at the back, reached through a narrow alley, and parking was a nightmare. The sink overflowed, and the towels were dirty, with pubic hairs and yellow stains I couldn’t identify. There were cameras everywhere, which made me feel like I was in a prison cell. The neighbors were rude, laughing late into the night, banging on our wall at 2am, and playing loud urban music. The TV didn’t work. The renter’s suggested remote only turned on my Insignia 17" flat screen, then showed a “scan for local channels” message. None of the other remote buttons worked, and neither did the buttons on the TV. When I picked up the keys in a local McDonald's lobby, the representative was curt, prude, and sarcastic. The whole setup felt extremely unprofessional. I also got repeated spam emails demanding valid ID, threatening extra charges, and mentioning a thirty dollar cleaning fee. I was very dissatisfied. I’d strongly suggest a local motel 6 instead of wasting time with this sham rental company.

After a 14 hour flight, being told our prepaid room was no longer available was the worst thing. We were held up at customs, so we called before the 9pm check-in time and staff said they’d give us a key code. After immigration, we called again and suddenly there was no room. I’ve never had a booking cancelled on us at the last minute.

The place felt neglected for years, dusty and shabby, with old linens, mold in the bathroom and on the baseboards, and a damp, run-down feel. There’s no parking, so after missing a street spot we spent an hour circling dark neighborhoods looking for somewhere to leave the car. Management offered no solution and made no effort to accommodate us. The listing said a two-bedroom beach house with a separate sitting area, but what we got was barely two rooms, just two bedrooms at the back of a larger unit. There was no living room. The photos don’t match the place. The “kitchen” was a cupboard with dishes, no sink or dish soap. The dishes were all dirty and unusable, as if they’d been rinsed in the moldy bathroom sink. At the entrance were dirty ashtrays and a miserable patio chair. Check-in at McDonald's felt shady. A dirty rip-off. Don’t bother.

I travel often and belong to IHG, SPG, Hilton gold, and several other groups, but I’ve never run into such unethical service or false advertising. This should be removed from Hotwire, Expedia, and other hotel sites as a hotel. It’s a house or apartment with no attendant. After booking through Hotwire, I went to the emailed address and nobody was there. The clerk on the provided phone number told me to meet her at a McDonald's over a mile away, in a neighborhood that looked sketchy. She said she had no car when I asked her to come to the property, so I took an Uber to get the keys. She had all her paperwork and asked me to sign a form and pay another $40 on top of what I’d already paid Hotwire. I refused and left.