Our group of 10 couples stayed at the Royal Hawaiian in Wildwood 4 nights. The rooms were clean and comfortable and provided a beautiful view of the ocean. However, we will never stay there again. The reason: indifference and the lack of courtesy by staff at the front desk.

There were several incidents of minor problems which were responded to with half-hearted or zero assistance. One example: Incomplete directions to a shopping center resulted in the driver getting lost and never arriving at the destination.

All in all, our group had a wonderful time and is planning a return trip to Wildwood in the spring. There are a number of nice beach hotels, and we have decided to stay elsewhere.

We have stayed at the Royal Hawaiian for the past few summers during the time between camp and school in late August. To be fair, all prior visits were fine...good location, fun pool with little island, nice view of the ocean, etc...I guess you can never really know how bad customer service is until something goes wrong.

A word to the wise: Do Not let them put you on the south side of the hotel. One of the rooms they attempted to pawn off on our party was located on this side, facing the back of another property. No sunlight, no view, except for a very small balcony off the common area. Clearly not a lot of turnover in this room as it reeked of mildew, mustiness and possibly mold. The linens and pillows were dirty and musty as well. A complaint merely brought in some industrial strenghth disinfectant spray. That didn't do the trick, so the following day after complaining again, they moved these members of our group from the dingy side of the hotel to a much smaller room on the sunny side of the hotel.

Then the real fun began. Remember folks, you are not dealing with a chain like Hyatt or Hilton. If they get your money and you never stay there again, not such a big deal to them. A request was made to refund the difference between the cost of the smelly room and the new room. The day managers ("Sis" and "Lester") said they didn't have the authority to make any adjustment and would have to contact the owner. Instead of contacting us, we had to chase after them to get a response. Ultimately, they spoke with a bookkeeper, not an owner, who only agreed to a small refund. Unbelievably, they would only provide the small refund if a release was signed. This was was rejected.

Bottom line - they do not stand behind their product at the Royal Hawaiian. If you have a problem or you don't get a room that is pool view of ocean view, you are basically screwed. There is nothing worse than being taken advantage of while on a family vacation. This is exactly what happened to us at the Royal Hawaiian.

The Royal Hawaiian Beachfront Resort is a very nice, clean & friendly place to stay, oh yes and a very reasonably place to stay on the beach in Wildwood Crest, NJ. It is a little out dated but very well kept, which is very important. From the first contact to make our reservations to the check out was a very pleasant experience. The pool was cleaned daily (and kept clean) and very spacious; the hot tub area was large but was filled with teenagers so my husband & I didn't get to enjoy that unfortunately. Our room was clean, had a 8-10 cup coffee maker, microwave & fridge, the A/C unit was a little on the loud side, but tolerable, a ceiling fan for air circulation, comfy bed & pillows, the ice machine on our floor was always full of fresh ice for our cooler/drinks and the maid service was wonderful. The ocean view from our room/balcony was just that...so calming and beautiful! The only thing my husband didn't like is they didn't have the ESPN channel to get the baseball game scores...he survived though without it! :)

If you are "empty nesters" like us, couples or a family this is a wonderful place to stay while in the Crest. The beach is kept so clean, the water is beautiful and is within just a few steps from the Hotel, plenty of parking for their paying guests only. We even got to experience the “earth quake” tremors from Virginia while on the beach which was quite an experience to say the least. We also had a mandatory evacuation due to the threat of hurricane Irene by 11:00 AM the day we were scheduled to check out, we couldn’t have planned that any better, thank goodness. We got gas the evening before and waited in line for at least an hour, good thing because the next morning all of the gas stations (all two to three of them) were closed along with most all businesses/restaurants. We were fortunate to have found The Vegas Diner, 1307 New Jersey Avenue, North Wildwood open before we departed; we highly recommend this eatery for some wonderful Greek/American eats & great prices too.

We had never experienced anything like this before and everything went smoothly. We go to the Jersey shore each year and this was our first stay at the Royal Hawaiian Beachfront Resort and I don’t think it will be our last…I don't think you'll be disappointed with your stay here. Aloha!

This is our third year staying at the Royal Hawaiian and we love it. The people are nice, the pool and hot tub are wonderful and its an easy walk to the beach. Will be back next year!!