Tides Folly Beach Oceanfront, Folly Beach

I was so excited about staying at this hotel on Friday and Saturday for Valentine's weekend and it was our 8th wedding anniversary. As a former hotel manager, I understand that it cannot be totally guaranteed that a guest will get the room of their choice, however, i was totally disappointed. I had emailed and spoken with a front desk clerk about our plans and made sure that i asked for a suite. they notified that there were no suites in this newly renovated hotel so i asked for a king and she said no problem. i booked my reservation online for a king anyhow but i wanted to make sure they knew that "we" needed a king bed. as a former manager, we know that some guests ask for this we make special arrangements for special circumstances. Some people are workers and maybe it s one construction worker in a room and he asked for a king bed but in that instance, he could get a double room because it was just him. i am sure this is part of the training as I have worked for a Holiday Inn before. At any rate, we were given a double and when i checked in, i said something to the clerk, Jack, and he stated that they were full. okay cool but I made my reservation at least 2 weeks in advance and he assure me that they were full. okay, nothing I can do if they have no rooms left and it is getting ready to snow so I can't try to find another room for our anniversary on this weekend so i went to check the room. of course, only one elevator was working and i waited for 10 minutes to get on the 5th floor and this elevator was freezing cold! the next elevator kept getting stuck on open and would not move. i got to my room, 524, and it was two beds that we could not sleep in together, on our ANNIVERSARY! Boy did this suck! I left and came back after I had turned on the heat and returned about 3 hrs later and the room was drafty. i get that it was really, really windy outside but i am in a room and i am cold and have to stuff the door with blankets and towels. we met a couple on the elevator in the room next to us who had complained about the same thing, drafty and they said the heat in their room did not work. the desk clerk moved them to another room. wait a minute, they were sold out, how could they be moved to another room! okay, i did not say anything because i was angry and would have caused a scene. As we went out Saturday morning, a nice lady at the front desk was on the phone and apparently a guest had decided to stay over another night and they were accommodated. well, that means that the night clerk could have very well said i can move you on tomorrow if that was an option. we saw the manager and he was very nice and he gave us a free breakfast coupon and that was nice but not enough for the horrible stay we had for $250 to be cold and sleep separately on my anniversary! he could have comped the room, gave us a comp on another night on the off season or something but free breakfast with food that did not look appetizing at all? give me a break! During check out, that same young lady was at the front desk and asked us how our stay was and we said horrible. she replied,i am sorry, have a safe trip back. HUH???? you have got to be kidding me? I really hope to hear back from someone as i will go up the chain of command because again, i do know the hotel business. this was unacceptable.

The beach location is ideal; however, the services was lacking. No problems checking in, however, the keycards did not work. IT took two trips down to the front desk, and a service personnel to come and check in order to get cards that worked! Later, in the evening two false emergency alarms went off! Upon check out had to request a copy of the bill. When I got home my account was charged $20.00 over. When I called in the clerk explained that I should have advised them that I wasn't going to charge anything to the room. That's right advise them that I wasn't going to charge anything to the room. Three days after the stay that's been settled. There's more, but, I 'm trying to forget the whole experience.

Firstly please notice that most reviews are quite old on this site. The basic facts: Hotel has a newly remodeled lobby that is very nice. All rooms face the water and the view is wonderful, it really could not be better. The restaurant is also remodeled and attractive with a typical hotel type menu - nothing extravagant - and there is a beautiful outdoor bar and seating right by the beach. The rooms are what I would call a typical hotel room - nothing fancy. They have new furniture, but could use a little more updating. Service was good in my experience. This is the only chain hotel on the beach in the Charleston area and is in a small beachside community with several casual restaurants, bars and a couple of surf shops on the main street. Downtown Charleston is about a 15 minute drive. If you are looking for a hotel with a family beach trip in mind or want a casual visit, I would personally recommend it. If you are expecting a top notch hotel, or a romantic getaway in Charleston, this may not be for you. For this I would recommend a downtown hotel or a B&B (as a former Charleston resident, I recommend B&B's south of Calhoun St.). So it's generally good, it's a fun area area, it's a great view, but as I said, nothing too fancy. We paid $125 per night, which seemed high when I made the reservations, but was worth every penny for my family in the end. P.S. - Kids under 12 eat free. Lunch and breakfast about $15 per adult.

Came down for one of my friends birthday and had a blast. Loved the room upgrades look great. Very clean, staff especially Bevely very helpful! Not compliants will def come back. (We drank to much and Bev always was there at night to help make sure we all got back to our room safely.

We have just stayed 2 nights and enjoyed the room. There are just a few observations. The water pressure was very low; the condensation from the AC unit puddled up on the balcony and the condensation from the unit above dripped on our balcony and there is no venilation in the elevators.

Although the location can't be beat the hotel is disgusting. From the time I checked in I was kicking myself for booking and paying in advance and agreeing to a nonrefundable policy. The room smelled of stale urine, the bathroom had hair on the floor, the "balcony" that seemed to rationalize the $200 a night pricetag was so shallow that you could not fit a chair out there...only stand if you could find a spot that wasn't covered in fluid from the leaky a/c unit, the carpet was filthy and the bed was the worst I have ever slept in. Another thing to note is that the beach chairs and umbrellas that are shown in all pictures of this hotel will cost you another $20 a day if you'd like to use them instead of sitting on the sand.

We had a great time. The hotel staff will not let you check in before 4pm, but they will let you park and enjoy the features of the hotel. Everyone was very friendly. The hotel was renovated this spring, so the rooms are much nicer. We stayed on one of the ground floor rooms and it was wonderful. There are good restaurants within walking distance so we did not move our car once we were there. The outside bar overlooks the ocean and the view is hard to beat...at any price. They were completely booked while we were there, but you would never know if from the good service. We will go there again.

We arrived well before check in, and we understood that we might have to wait for a room. We asked the employees at the registration desk if we could leave our cell phone numbers with them so they could call us when a room was ready, and they refused. There is also no ATM at the hotel and no shuttle service (taxi ride from the airport is around $45 and traffic going to the beach this time of year is horrendous). At 4PM (check-in time), we were told our room was not ready, yet others in front of us, also in double rooms, who had arrived after we did, were given rooms. When we finally got to our room, the shower would not drain properly, there was barely any water pressure from the shower head, and the area outside the room was dirty. I will say, there was a very nice view from the balcony, the room was relatively quiet, and it was wonderful to be so close to the beach and ocean. Overall, the experience is not worth the price. I was here for a wedding and it was fine for one night, but I would not stay here for a longer vacation.

My husband and I stayed at this hotel a couple of weeks ago and really loved it. The view was fabulous, the staff awesome and the room was very clean. I did not see any rats or trash lying around like some of the other reviews said. The hotel was extremely clean on the inside and the outside. It was also beautifully decorated. We slept with the balcony doors open so we could listen to the ocean and slept like babies.We ate at Locklear's next door to the hotel and it was some of the best seafood I've ever eaten. I highly recommend it and will be returning as soon as possible.

I stayed here on the first floor I had very good time with beautiful view i reccomend the bottom floor but very pricey. This is definatley a beautiful place. It is very fancy and close to alot of restraunts. YOU SHOULD DEFINATLEY A GREAAT PLAACE TOO STAAY!!