I was looking for a simple and reasonably priced hotel in Wildwood since we planned to spend most of our time outside the room anyway. The Pink Champagne Motel came up as the second most affordable option, and I liked that the room included a small kitchenette. The building appeared to be three stories tall, so I was concerned about possibly having to carry our luggage up to the third floor if there was no elevator. I called the motel to confirm. The attendant was courteous and explained that, since the building was 90 years old, it did not have an elevator.

I mentioned that I had found a good online rate for a queen bed with a kitchenette, but if the room was on the third floor, I wouldn’t be able to carry all our luggage. He informed me that the queen room was on the second floor, and there was also a king efficiency available for the same price on the first floor. When I asked for their direct rate, he offered a price about $50 cheaper than what I had found online. I was pleasantly surprised. I confirmed that it was indeed the Pink Champagne Motel in Wildwood and asked if it was okay to bring a baby with us. He said that was fine, so I booked the room for three nights with my credit card.

When we arrived, he handed us the key and told us that housekeeping would only come upon request—not daily like at most other hotels. Upon entering the room, we were disappointed. It was the last room in the corner, under the stairs, next to the laundry area. Every other room had two chairs and a table outside, but ours did not. Other guests were drying their wet clothes on those chairs, which we didn’t even have access to.

As soon as we asked to switch rooms, the attendant seemed irritated and insisted that I had asked for the cheapest room over the phone, which was not true. I never used the word “cheapest.” He had said that both the double bed with kitchenette and the king bed with kitchenette were the same price, so I chose the king bed since we had a baby with us. I reminded him of this, but he kept repeating his claim. Then he said I was free to leave and he would refund me, adding that “Wildwood is open for business,” in a tone that made me feel uncomfortable and unwilling to escalate the situation further.

Eventually, he gave us the key to a different room with a double bed efficiency. While we were checking the kitchen in that room to see if it had what we needed—since we had forgotten to bring some items—he suddenly showed up and told us we could look at the room but not inspect anything inside. I didn’t want to argue, so I said we would stay in that room. Overall, the interaction with him was unpleasant.

We’ve been going to Wildwood almost every year for the past ten years, so we’ve stayed at many hotels. This was by far our worst experience. The front desk guy, Daniel Young (he gave me his card), was the only staff member we saw during our stay. I’m not sure if he’s the owner.

The room itself was very small. There was a table with two chairs right next to the bed, and I bumped into the chair almost every time I walked through that narrow space. There was no closet for clothes, no iron, and no hair dryer. The bathroom had a standing shower, but it was a struggle to use the sink comfortably in such a tight space, especially after closing the door—which didn’t even have a lock.

I would not book this hotel again.