Hotel Carolina 9 Marina Side Drive, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

"We booked a 2-queen suite for our family traveling through. Walking into the room we experienced a strong dank musty smell. Carpet and furniture were old but okay. The beds were very uncomfortable. They were cheap mattresses on metal portable frames and made loud noises anytime someone moved. The towels were small, rough and thin. The bathroom was dingy, the shower was old and appeared dirty. Low water pressure and the hot water did not last long. The walls of the room were also dirty with what looked like splattered food from multiple guests over time. Outside, the pool was ice cold. We would have gladly booked at a different hotel after seeing all this, but our reservation was nonrefundable and it was for only one night. Pros: air conditioning/heat worked well. There was a dehumidifier in the room but had to be emptied multiple times since the humidity was so high. It was relatively quiet at night. Location was good. Short walk/drive to most things. This hotel is in desperate need of remodel vs tear-down and rebuild. Please save yourself some heartache and book elsewhere, especially if you have any respiratory disorders. Edit 9/24/2023: The hotel claims there is no record of me as a guest, which is absolutely wrong. I booked this room through Priceline, therefore I can easily produce the receipts. It may be under my husband's name, but that doesn't matter. Clearly they don't bother to take any responsibility for the state of their room conditions or the well-being of their guests. A good business would get further information about the issue and verify the claim, not just LIE and say this person never stayed here. You're better off camping and bathing in a Burger King bathroom. Avoid this hotel like the plague, unless failure is a standard you're willing to accept."

"Absolutely terrible! Complimentary breakfast is just a water bottle and honey bun with an orange, pool was closed, old lady at front desk was very rude very very disrespectful and would not help when needed. When asked about the breakfast she was very rude about explaining limited breakfast due to covid yet covid has been calmed for quite some time. Would not recommend anyone to stay here unless you're broke and just don't have a place to stay"

"Pros and cons - Great location is the best thing this hotel has going for it. It’s close to plenty of shopping, dining and the beach (7 minutes driving). It is one of the best values on the island, so I guess you get what you pay for. Pros besides location were the lady at the front desk was friendly and helpful. Check in went well. The pool was nice—nothing wrong with it and we enjoyed it. The dehumidifier in the room was nice and necessary and helped. Cons were they don’t have pool towels at the pool. The toilet bowl in our room looked like it hadn’t been scrubbed in months. I’m not sure if it was stained or just dirty but looked dirty. The AC unit was weak and didn’t cool off our room very well. I’m certain we had it on A/C cool. The backing on the curtains had been removed, and the curtains were thin, (single layer) so when shut they still let in a lot of light. They leave the lights on outside along the walkways so it’s bright all night—this was annoying and so we didn’t sleep as well. The beds were very stiff, small, and uncomfortable. And there’s no room cleaning service unless you stay over 3 nights. We had to put trash and towels outside the door before noon for them to take it, but other than that there’s no service. Next time we will pay more to stay somewhere else more comfortable."

"The room is disgusting, dirty appearing, smelly. The carpet is sticky. The walls filthy. Blood stains in the couch. I'm actually laying in the bed now, in this room, as I write this, and I'm really mad I didn't demand a refund, vs tucking my tail and coming back to the room once the unapologetic staff member looked at me like I had 3 heads when I told her my concerns. Seriously, if we didn't have a sick baby and it wasn't 1am, we would be on the road back home. I feel like I'm on the run from the law, hiding out in a roach motel. That's how bad this is. Please spend the extra $100 a night to stay elsewhere."

"Decent price for the island. Older hotel that needs more updating. Reasonably maintained. Good Location walkable to Shelter Cove Marina, shops and nice waterfront restaurants. Pirate Cove mini-putt on site. Ingrd pool. Friendly and helpful staff. Room is a little on the small side and dated. Very clean. NO bugs. Quiet. Comfortable bed. Coffee maker with supplies. Big TV with multi channels. Microwave. Bar fridge. Plenty of free parking."