The Islander Inn of OIB in NC is perhaps the worst hotel on the island. We had a terrible experience at this nc beach resort. The room was not ready for 45 minutes after our check inn time. So we sat in the sweltering heat for about an hour with two young kids and a dog (which cost us an additional 60 bucks). You might say “why didn’t you guys go on the beach to kill a little bit of time”…which is exactly what we did and resulted in a fine from the OIB Police for having our dog on the beach before 6pm. Our bad, but you think there would be a sign on the hotels enterance to the beach…which is another disaster. You have to go through the pool area to get to the beach cross over…a pool area with two sets of outward swinging safety gates…guests and their kids running around, a maze of lounge chairs, and busted up concrete….did i mention the two kids, the wife, the dog , and bags of kid supplies..uggg. if you are even slightly handycapped i wouldn’t even consider touring this crap hole. All this aside, we finally get the mexican cleaning crew out of our room and decide to relax on the back porch to enjoy the view of the ocean …which was great so long as you ignore the ratteling humm of the rooms a/c unit which is as much a fixture of the decore as the stackable white (mildewed) form-molded pvc chairs. Then the gang of homeless cats arrived (I swear you can’t make this stuff up)…dog is going wild..kids now crying…wife about to freak out…i must react quickly so i go down to the gravel parking lot of the islander inn and shoe them away…but their retreat is just a transient ploy…as soon as i get back up to the porch they are back…only with reinforcemnets to boot…aah, but i am far smarter than a cat…even 10 of them…while the gravel lot was poison to my feet it provided me with some ammunition for a full on assault…i lined the stones along the porches edge just under the railing and waited for the perfect shot. The mangiest of the crew was in sight…my wife diles me in ..”a few clicks to the left”..”you are set”…my foot is drawn back like a driver…fire!!! Hit…Dismay…the vermin thought i was kicking food to them…Yet another defeat…i return inside with hopes that they dont start to nest in our van. The night fanally draws to a tylonol pm induced end and all attempts are made to ignore the rattle and humm of the out dated ac unit…after all who the heck would want to sleep to the sound of that silly ocean. 3AM…EEERT!….EEERT!…EEERT!…EEERT!!!…and i arose to see what was the matter “alarm clock?” “radio?”…”Fire?”…”FIRE!”…”FIRE!” no fire extinguisher in room …may have to exit off 2nd story porch…no fire escape latter…must go uot front door…alls clear we (me, wife, 2 small kids, dog, 2bags kid stuff) make our way to the parking lot. Our building is fine so i go back up get the rest of our stuff and we drive 2 hours home in a van that now smells of cat urine if you use the vents so i can get enough sleep to go to work in the morning. Realy freakin cool way to drop almost 300 bones on a room and about that on gas and food. We call the Islander Inn and are told a manager would contact us…he did not…and continues to avoid our calls…Thank god we put it on our AMEX…they are going to revearse the charges. Still managed to spend a bunch of money on gas, made our entire family miserable, and worked a 10 hour shift that following day on 3 hours of sleep. Thank you Islander Inn NC 
Worst Hotel Ocean Isle Beach, NC
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
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i had a equally horrible experience with the islander inn of ocean isle beach. the manager refused to call us back then lied to amex in an attempt to avoid a charge back. bunch of dirty cfooks in that joint
I’ve stayed at the Islander Inn for the last seven years. Each and every stay has been wonderful. The staff is courteous and professional. The service has been exemplary. We saw the cats on our last visit, and they got nowhere near our vehicle.
All I can think to ask is if you’d rather the fire alarm had NOT gone off?
And what is up with that “Mexican” crack, Racist?
I say you’ve missed your calling, this melodrama indicates you should persue a career in fiction writing. Would you like a little cheese with that whine?
I’d like to say to the first reviewer that you need serious help if you throw rocks at kitty cats and are alarmed by seeing children and families at the beach. As a mental health professional, this seriously concerns me. What also concerns me is your extreme criticism of a retreat close to my heart. I frequent the inn several times a year when in the area for professional trainings. I have always been a very satisfied guest and think your comments are not only untrue but vulgar!
Look guys…im not a racist or a cat hater. i was simply giving an accurate review of this terribls hotel on ocean isle beach. anyone who has stayed at the islander inn can attest to the fact that there are cats roaming the parking lot, the cleaning crews are from south of the boarder and speak little english, and the pool area/ beach crossover is not safe for children, the elderly or handicapped individuals. Further the a/c units are loud and and the furnature is junk making relaxing on the porch impossible. The room was not ready for around an hour after check-in and the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night (which i would be appreciative of if there was in fact a fire). this is why we left for home at 3am and called the manager in the morning with our complaint. we were told he would be in at 1pm and would call us. he never called us and continued to avoid our calls. They stole our money and treated us like dirt. If this sounds less like a sincere complaint and more like whining I suggest you do yourself a favor and avoid my posts.
Baptista, you are dillusional or dishonest if you can deny the presence of homeless cats and the potential danger navigating through the pool area with children. I am also glad you find the management pleasant and professional. Perhaps in the field of “mental health” it is not customary to return phone calls, but in my world it is. I hope one day you can experience a stay in a place of higher standards with a staff who cares…only then will you see how sorry and delapidated the islander inn is.
Great read..First time to your blog. Greatful for sharing. I must bookmark this site. I am way fascinated by dog behavior. I really think that cats are super smart creatures. I guess we will soon find out!! Thanks one more time.
The reviewer obviously had a bad experience and wish to speak about it. For dues the fact that the cleaning crew was Mexican makes no difference but I don’t see that he wrote anything racist. Yes, throwing stones at cats is out of order but so people do not like cats. I have stayed at hotels where the cats will jump onto dinning tables thanks to other guest feeding them. Everyone has their own opinion and has a right to write about it.
That experience will last and it will really hunt you down. I mean, you go there to relax and unwind but you get the other side of it. I hope they will improve soon.
I’ll be sure to make note of this one when we do our North Carloina review. Thanks for the good write-up
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