Ocean House

My friends and I traveled to the Ocean House for my friends wedding weekend. The rooms were incredible and the Ocean House has so many activities. The only aspect of the Ocean House that was a little alarming, was the service. 1. The Valet- I called for my car 15 minutes before I needed to leave for hair/makeup appointments and my car was never ready when I came down. The hotel was obviously really busy, however if there was a 30 minute wait for my car, I could have gone to get my car myself or waited at the bar. 2. Room Service- I ordered room service around 11:45 pm one night and waited 1 hour while watching a movie and it never came. I had to call down and cancel. 3. Last but not least, an incident happened at the wedding that many people witnessed including myself and I almost wanted to cry. I met a girl at the wedding who has a boyfriend who is African- American. After the wedding, we went to the cocktail hour before the reception. My friend's boyfriend & I went to the bar to get drink. The bartender named JAY refused to serve my friend's boyfriend because he thought he was in the band. See the conversation below. My friends boyfriend- "Hello sir can I get a Whiskey Sour please" JAY- " Um.. are you with the wedding party?" My friends boyfriend- "Yes, I am a guest" JAY- "Im sorry sir, I cannot serve band members." My friends boyfriend- "Sir, I am not in the band. I am with the wedding party" JAY- "I cannot serve the band members. You'll are not allowed to have drinks" My friends boyfriend- "Wait, but I'm not in the band" After me painfully watching them go back and forth for 1 minute, JAY FINALLY served my friends boyfriend. Immediately after I went to tell my friend and she of course went to speak to the bartender without her boyfriend. My friend- "Its really funny how you would not serve my boyfriend alcohol because you thought he was in the band" JAY- "Sorry, when he walked up he looked like he was in the band and we cannot serve band members" My friend- "First of all, how are you going to assume he is in the band? Just because he is black? Thats racial profiling." JAY- " No offense taken but he looks like he is in the band. He is wearing a white tuxedo jacket" My friend- "Um.. look around.. that's the attire for the wedding. You cannot assume that people who are black and in tuxedos are in the band. That is not okay. Also the band is performing right now and they are in ALL BLACK. I don't like the way you treated my boyfriend and asked if he was in the band. That is so rude. You did not ask the white guy wearing a white tuxedo that ordered a jack & coke before my boyfriend if he was a guest of the wedding party" JAY- "Please tell him I am sorry. He was wearing band-like attire and I thought he was in the band." My friend- "WOW...." At this moment everyone around me was extremely dumbfounded and we all felt SO bad for my friend and her boyfriend. We tried to not let it spoil our time at the beautiful Ocean House, but it is hard to not think about.

This is probably one of the best hotels I have stayed at ever. The hotel has been beautifully refurbished. The rooms are big with big bathrooms. The furniture quality is top notch. The hotel has its own private beach with number of bars and restaurants. I love the no tipping policy. The staff here is nicer than any other staff I have met at hotels. We stayed here for three nights while attending a wedding. The venue is incredible if you want to have a destination/beach wedding. If you plan on getting married here, you have to plan years ahead.

This truly is a beautiful hotel in a wonderful location. The staff was attentive and courteous, however a little stiff at times. The grounds are a photographers paradise & the beach is soft & picturesque. I loved exploring the little town that's located just down the hill!

Ocean House is one of our favorite American hotels, but our third visit was not quite as charming as our first two. This trip marked our first summer visit and we were very much looking forward to the opportunity to avail ourselves of all that Ocean House has to offer during the season. We knew from previous visits, that some dining and other options are simply not open in the “off� season. We enjoyed the new “Secret Garden� (Veuve Clicquot champagne bar) and Below Deck (doughnut and gelato shop) and loved the opportunity to finally have lunch on the Verandah (and one delicious lobster roll). But visiting in season also means many more people and we learned that more people means less service. Perhaps we were spoiled by our first two visits and the personalized service we enjoyed then. Or maybe this was just an off week. But we noticed a difference in how we were treated this time compared to previous visits: the service was still very good, but it often felt perfunctory rather than personal. We reserved a Club-level room on this visit meaning we had access to the Club Room for meals and the Club deck (right off our room) for drinks or just sitting outside. While we enjoyed the location and easy access to dining and drinks, we didn’t necessarily feel that the higher price was worth it. We did enjoy the friendly service from Rob in the Club Room and very much appreciated the opportunity to talk with the wonderful new wine director (Charlotte) and friendly new assistant food and beverage manager (Justin), both of whom listened to us and offered terrific wine suggestions for our two meals in the Club Room. Our experience in the Spa was even better on this trip than on previous trips and Caroline was a terrific aesthetician. The fact that Ocean House has our favorite relaxation room of any hotel spa in the world certainly made our spa experience more memorable. One of the highlights of Ocean House is the private beach and we’re happy to report that it’s as beautiful and welcoming in season as at other times of the year. It’s large enough that it doesn’t feel crowded (and wasn’t during our visit despite great weather). Part of the enjoyment of Ocean House is the strong level of service from staff across the board. On this trip, some of that was a bit lacking, perhaps because the ratio of guests to staff had changed. Ocean House is a wonderful property and remains one of our favorites. But we may revert to visiting in the off season to ensure we enjoy it as much as we have in the past.

OK, so I only had a drink. But it was wonderful. We enjoyed an Aperol Spritzer (please don't judge) on a magnificent sunny spring day while sitting on the spacious patio deck that surrounds this phenomenal hotel. We listened to white-clad croquet players as we sipped our drinks and imagined ourselves (having hit the lottery) staying here for a night. We'd do it for sure. All we need now is the right 5 numbers. But you really do need to check this place out.