Surf Side Hotel

This is our favorite hotel anywhere, and our go-to when we’re in the OBX. The rooms are always clean, and every room has amazing views. Jason and Elvia were so helpful, and their Christmas decorations made it feel like home for the holidays. Breakfast was better than any Hilton breakfast you have to pay for. Already looking forward to our next visit!

The wine social and cookies were a nice touch, and the rooms were very clean. The staff were phenomenal, with some of the best customer service I’ve had, from check-in through breakfast and housekeeping. Wonderful people, five stars. I’ll stay here again whenever I’m in the area, and encourage you to as well. You won’t be disappointed.

The beach was off limits for sitting outside while we were there because Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda churned up the water and the flags were Double Red. Otherwise, I’d have made good use of the beach chairs they offer. On nicer evenings, there’s a west-facing porch with seating where you can watch the sunset. We came to Nags Head for a post-wedding break after I’d planned our daughter’s wedding. My husband said I needed a vacation, and when he asked me to pick a place, I chose Nags Head, where I’d never been. I asked a Facebook group for hotel suggestions and, after looking into the options, picked Surf Side Hotel. We definitely made the right choice. We had an ocean-front room, cookies every night at 8pm, full breakfast daily, delicious biscuits and sausage gravy, wine and cheese hour, an indoor pool and hot tub, comfortable beds, clean rooms, kind staff, plenty of parking, and a great location. Everyone we met was kind. We had one very minor issue with the TV starting to go bad. I showed the front desk a video, and it had been replaced by the time we returned later that day. If we make it back to Nags Head, I’d stay at Surf Side again and look forward to the renovations they have planned.

I would give this hotel zero stars if I could. My husband, our four children, and my parents stayed here this past weekend. Two children were with us, and the other two stayed in my parents’ room. Around 9:30 PM, a man later found to be under the influence of drugs started stalking us and partly forced his way into our room. Our children were terrified and hid in the corner of the back patio so he wouldn’t see them. My husband and father had to physically push him out. The room phone didn’t work when we tried to call the front desk. Also, the door in that room was hard to shut and needed extra weight to click closed. Afterward, the kids were too scared to sleep apart, so we asked for accommodations. There were no rollaway beds or cots, and the hotel was full, so they couldn’t offer another room. We ended up sleeping on the floor. What made an already frightening incident worse was the hotel’s lack of response. They provided no meaningful help or effort to make things right, and offered no refund or compensation. Customer safety and experience clearly weren’t a priority. The night was chaotic, with groups of kids partying in and out of the hotel. We also learned about a serious incident reportedly at this property in the past. Based on what happened to us, I’d strongly advise families visiting OBX to stay somewhere else.