Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina

Our room was clean and the beds were comfortable, but the rooms were sparse. We stayed in what seemed to be the older orange-roof part of the resort, so this may not apply to newer areas. The place felt more like summer camp than a resort. Inside was clean, but outdoors there was trash in the parking lot and the pool and bar areas looked a bit disheveled. The lobby coffee and hot chocolate machines were nice. I wish there were snacks to buy, since chips and candy weren’t available. The room only had two accessible outlets, both in the table lamps, unless you moved furniture. There were no smart TVs either, so you’re limited to the local cable provider.

The beach club side was amazing, with a very big, nice pool, and the family suite there was clean and well maintained. The red-roof side was a disaster. Our first room had stains everywhere, and the manager said he couldn’t move us that night because everything was booked. The next day he got us into a family suite on the beach club side, which was a huge improvement. The pool is best in the morning or at night.

This is about the Marina facility, not the hotel. The location is nice and the docks and equipment are good. The rest has been a nightmare. I signed a short-term contract that I understood would be switched to long-term several months ago. I only noticed in a recent bank statement that it never changed, and I’ve paid about $14,000 for 10 months of boat storage. They wouldn’t offer any credit and wanted me to take an annual contract with a two-month penalty if I moved the boat early. The manager talks a good game but hasn’t helped. Accounting sends you to the front desk, the front desk sends you to accounting, and everyone else sends you to the manager. I’m moving my boat to another marina in the next few days. The new place is happy to work with me and charges about half as much.

The location was the only saving grace. I can’t recommend staying away from Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina enough. We called to book by phone on the same day we lost a family member. We packed as soon as we got home, got in the car without a destination, and made the booking on the road. I spoke with Andrew and explained I wasn’t in the right state of mind to handle it myself and needed help, including the total cost. He quoted a price, took the card details, and said an email quote would arrive. It never did, though I was still grieving and not thinking clearly. When we arrived, the first room had a balcony door that wouldn’t lock and a broken fireplace. We asked for another room and were moved to a corner room without the harbor view we’d paid for. We were tired and just wanted to rest. That room was dirty in the bathroom and on the floors, the fan didn’t work, the moulding was cracked, the bed frame creaked, and the decorative pillows smelled. Near checkout, the AC/heating unit stopped working too. They offered to send someone the next morning or move us, but checkout was close, so we put up with it. We’d been willing to accept the original charge because the stay gave us an escape while grieving. Then the card statement showed more than $400 above the quoted price. I checked my email and spam folder and found no receipt. At checkout they said they’d send one to the email address I provided, and I even had them spell it back to me. When I called about the charge, they said it was resort fees and taxes, and admitted resort fees hadn’t been quoted because they assumed people knew. They said I should have asked for the total, but I had. A manager offered a small credit that barely touched the difference, and the simple request for a receipt still hasn’t been met. I felt taken advantage of, especially after explaining that we’d lost someone that day and needed help and a safe place to rest. I usually book online and read reviews. If I’d been in a sound state of mind, I wouldn’t have chosen this place, since the negative reviews are accurate. I’ll never book here again. Spend the money elsewhere, because you can get a nicer, newer, better-run hotel for the same cost.