Ocean Sands Beach Inn, St Augustine

I have never written a bad review, but I am writing this review to save some headaches for someone else. First of all,when we arrived, I was very disappointed because the hotel looked nothing like the deceiving pictures, both inside and out. The reason that we picked this hotel was because we thought it was beachfront, however the very busy highway made the walk to the beach extremely dangerous. There were so many rules posted throughout the hotel (ie, no using the ice machine for coolers, no using towels for the beach, no ashes on the balcony etc), we found this to be very unprofessional. To top off the entire trip, I was charged not only for our 2 night stay but also an additional $500 for a missing cable box! Do not make the mistake that we did, stay somewhere else!!

I called on Thursday May 12th to book a room for Saturday the 14th, upon arrival we were informed that our reservation was made for Friday the 13th. The man that I booked the room through spoke very little English and obviously mixed up the dates, no problem, mistakes happen, right? Well, we were also in formed that our credit card had been run for Friday night (the day BEFORE our reservation) and that it was too late to get a room for Sat because they were full. No attempt to accommodate us was made, Lisa at the front desk was very unapologetic, and we left with no place to stay for my husbands birthday! Luckily there are a few other hotels, not motels, on that steet in Vilano Beach and we were able to secure lodging for the night. We called back Monday to speak to the manager/owner, I suppose, and he said, "well, all I can do is apologize" WRONG!!! What any other hotel would do in a situation such as this is reinburse for their mistake, discount another night, and/or upgrade to a better room. ZERO customer service! We will never go there again, and I sincerely suggest that none of you do either. They will only charge you for a room you don't stay in and not care one way or another if you, the customer, is satisfied! UNACCEPTABLE!

My family and I have stayed at Ocean Sands many times over the past six years. We have just stayed on the weekends and for weeks at a time and we love it. The staff is awesome and the price is right. I love the beach because it's very quite. However crossing the road to get to the beach is a little bit of a pain when you have small children. For the price you pay to stay right on the beach somewhere else is not worth it to us because Ocean Sands is actually closer to the beach then most beach front hotels or motels in St. Augustine. We have stayed at many places in St. Ausustine and we truly think that Ocean sands is the best place for the bucks. The rooms could use a little update but just ask the staff and they will do all they can do to make your stay as nice as they can. The area is growing and they are trying to update that part of St. A so just give it a try. I always call and speak to someone when booking a room....AAA members get a discount.......

stayed here w. some other family members. The rooms could stand to be updated and there was a lot of moisture in the rooms. The pool was nice and heated. I loved the proximity to the beach, it was a private beach and never crowded at all. The biggest negative I would say was crossing the road to get to the beach. Its a fairly busy road and people speed. My daughter and I almost got ran over once. Even though the area says "watch for pedestrians", no one does so be careful! Its the perfect distance from downtown st. augustine if you dont want to be directly downtown. The workers were nice, I left an IPOD and some jewelry out once and when i returned, the bed had been made and the items put right back where they had been. Desk workers offered to help me carry our pool items out once too.

The only good thing about this hotel was the view... Will not return, place is an old building.. Could of been a lot more cleaner.. Will spend an extra $70.00 a night to stay somewhere else..

Very nice place to stay, loved the beach (not busy) and close to St Augustine. Great rates and very friendly staff. Would stay again if ever in the area.

We spent 3 days here the end of June '08...it was perfect! The Inn is dirctly across from the beach,which was clean. We had shuttle service[which was soo prompt]to & from the Inn to the welcome station train depot.[I purchased tickets in advance thru AAA] The staff COULD NOT have been more courteous & helpful!!! The Historic district & attractions are ~8minutes away. We WILL stay here again...outstanding visit to such a beautiful,historic place. Loved it!!

Location is great. Ponte Vedra Beach is only about 10 minutes away and St. Augustine is only about the same. Very clean and quiet. A great value and close to everything.

The picture are decieving as far as access to the beach. If you have children it is a very busy highway to cross. Then you have to climb up a ramp with several steps. The motel itself was not bad and their little breakfast was nice.

We stayed at the Ocean Sands on Dec 9th. The motel is right on A1A and across A1A from the beach. The beach is sandy, but, also has a large number of shells that haven't totally been ground into sand yet. They will have to do a beach renourishment soon, but, that's the government's job. The beach was great for walking. The motel itself was nice and clean, the room was clean and had a GREAT view (we were on the second floor facing the ocean). We slept with the sliding door open and the sounds of the ocean was soothing. The sounds of the cars going by much less so (but that wasn't the fault of the motel). The staff was friendly and helpful. The free breakfast was everthing you can imagine from a free breakfast. Interestingly enough, everyone who was staying that night, came down at the same time to eat. The smallish room was quite full of friendly people. Would we stay here again? You bet ya!