Ocean Ritz 1803

We’re here now, booked through VRBO, though it’s a vacation rental company. The unit is okay, but we’ve had a deplorable stay for what we paid and won’t return to Ocean Ritz. Parking is my biggest issue. The condo says it sleeps 12, and our group of nine brought two vehicles, but we’re guaranteed only one tight garage space. The overflow lot across the street is tiny and full. When I messaged the VRBO host, he said the final confirmation explained that the overflow lot “occasionally” fills and that parking costs a “small” daily fee. In practice, “occasionally” means daily, and “small” means $12 a day, adding $84 for the week. We even came back from the grocery store to find someone in our assigned space. There’s nobody on site to handle problems, so we had to message the host again while my husband waited for the owner to return. The master bedroom bed on the right as you enter is uncomfortable, like sleeping in a hole with a big hump in the middle. The kitchen is extremely small and cramped. The triple bunk is really for little kids, and the ceiling fan is right above it, so the blades will definitely hit someone on the top bunk. DO NOT STAY HERE!!!

My daughter booked our stay in 1901 at Ocean Ritz. There were seven of us, and the large living and dining area worked well for the group. Every bedroom had a bathroom, two bedrooms opened onto the big balcony, and the mattresses were very comfortable. We also liked the heated pool and jacuzzi. The beach in front was groomed, with beautiful creamy white sand, and the balcony view was spectacular. There were some real drawbacks. The one parking space was very hard to get into, squeezed between concrete support columns and a wall. Extra parking was across the busy frontage road, with the crosswalk at the end of the condos next door. The sheets and mattress cover slipped around all night and bunched into uncomfortable lumps. When guests were in the condo above, we could hear their chairs scraping across the wood floors early in the morning while we were trying to sleep after a long night of fun. Noise from parties in the living area also made it impossible to sleep in the bedrooms. For our seven days, each bathroom had only one roll of toilet paper and the kitchen got one roll of paper towels. There was unrepaired cosmetic damage to the baseboards, and extension cords ran through a wall to one bedroom’s TV and dresser. All in all, the accommodations were okay, but there are better places to stay in the beautiful beachfront community of Panama City.

We were told before booking that there were three handicap parking spots, but on arrival found there was only one. All the other spaces were assigned to individual apartments. We arrived in two cars, so the person who needed handicap parking used the assigned space, while our other car had to go across the street.

The balcony was the one good part of Unit 2101 at Ocean Ritz: it’s spacious, furnished well, has great views, and seats 10 or more. The rest of our stay was a letdown, and I wouldn’t recommend this unit or Ocean Ritz. From what we saw outside Unit 2102, with TWO boxes pictured below by the balcony door, the neighbors seemed to have a better setup. Maybe check that one instead. Our floors were filthy when we arrived, turning our feet black. Housekeeping came but only used a wet Swiffer, which didn’t solve it. They need a professional steam cleaning. The kitchen was cramped and cluttered with appliances, so we had to move some into lower cabinets just to use it. The dishwasher detergent door wouldn’t close, meaning the detergent never released. The freezer didn’t freeze properly, the ice maker didn’t work, and the refrigerator couldn’t maintain a steady cold temperature. The couches were stained, uncomfortable, and had worn-out springs. Honestly, you don’t want to use a blacklight here. In the bedrooms, entertainment centers were being used instead of dressers and needed repair. There wasn’t a single hanger in any closet, so we had to use drawers and hang clothes over cabinet doors to avoid wrinkles. The elevators rarely came to the 21st floor unless we pressed both up and down. Only three carts serve a 23-floor building, which made check-in and checkout chaotic. Parking spaces are tiny, so don’t bring a truck. We used the public parking deck across the street, and that wasn’t too bad. The pool was small, just 4 ft deep, and overcrowded. Kids threw footballs with no staff watching.