Shell Island Resort - All Oceanfront Suites

All the rooms face the ocean, and the staff were so friendly and helpful. We booked Shell Island for our wedding and couldn't have been happier celebrating our special day in its beautiful event space. We'll come back every year for our anniversary.

I needed to get away after an overwhelming day, and the suite gave me the quiet I was looking for. The whole wall looked out over the ocean. I left the curtains open and the sliding door open for a couple of days, watching and listening to the waves. I sat on the small balcony sometimes, but mostly enjoyed the calm from inside. My room was on the 7th of 9 floors. The beach is an easy walk, so I brought a lawn chair and towel and spent time there too. It isn't the most modern place. The kitchen plumbing was dated but mostly worked: the filtered water dispenser on the left had pretty low pressure, and the spray nozzle on the right had the same issue. The extra bed in the living area folds down from the wall and has recessed touch lighting. There was a regular coffee maker with a carafe, and the main-room TV had Prime Video, Netflix and other streaming options, unlike the bedroom TV. I was glad there was a real bathtub for a calming soak. This is a resort, so bring what you need. There was no lotion, just a little shampoo and conditioner combo and a small hand soap in each bathroom. Dishes and cooking supplies were provided, and there are restaurant options on site and a quick drive away. I had breakfast at the on-site restaurant and it was good. Sorry I didn't get a picture of that wonderful omelette. Leave the waffle alone, though...

The setting and views are beautiful, open and peaceful, and hard to beat. The rooms are small and extremely dated, with the beds especially needing an update. The staff seemed distracted and sometimes didn't acknowledge me. I'd like to return, but I'll look at other places to stay first.

The beach at Wrightsville Beach was fabulous, and I was lucky to have good weather. The rest of my Sunday-to-Wednesday stay at Shell Island Resort was a disappointment. I booked a three-day retreat with beach walks, room service and perhaps dinner downstairs. Instead, the restaurant only served a low-quality breakfast. The breakfast burrito reminded me of one I'd had at the tiny concession stand in the tiny Green Bay, WI airport, and there were no other meals. The server was the only employee I encountered who seemed to understand customer care. He was attentive and positive. Housekeeping never came into my room: no trash was taken out, used towels weren't removed, and coffee wasn't replenished. I got coffee and filters from the front desk myself. The people there did their jobs and nothing more, with no smiles or questions about my stay or whether I needed anything else. When I asked how to adjust the thermostat, I was told to hold the plus sign until it changed. I would still be standing there. Maybe the instructions were on the brass plate above it, up at the edge of the ceiling. There were plenty of other small problems. The living room closet's folding door was too big for the space, and it held two cans of paint. The dishes didn't match. The under-counter fridge had a freezer compartment that thawed and dripped into the fridge. There were two TV controls but no instructions for them, and I couldn't figure out the second one. At registration I received a single sheet of instructions instead of the usual binder or folder. The business center computer was so slow it should've been replaced five years ago. Some things the hotel can't screw up, like a fabulous beach and good weather.