Mango Motel

Our annual trip to the shore includes two related married couples, so we always try to find a place really close to the beach that has a room with two large beds. Last year we stayed at the Tropicana and thought it was okay–not well taken care of but the location was good. This year I took a shot booking a room at the Mango after reading mixed reviews–it appeared to me that the negative reviews were perhaps isolated incidents and need not be taken too seriously. One block farther away from the beach and $20 cheaper, Mango blew Tropicana out of the water! The distance made no difference because it is already on the road we take straight to the boardwalk–short walk away–and for $20 less we got a nicer room (wood flooring), better amenities (flat screen tv and better beds), cleaner facilities, super friendly manager, better parking (they have 2 lots), and perhaps a bit more family friendly, if you're looking for that. We were well pleased with our stay, and give bonus points for being allowed to stay in the side parking lot with our parking tag for the rest of the day we checked out without having to pay for parking anywhere! Super sweet! We booked the room through Kayak, and there were no problems–just showed ID and the card used, signed the receipt, and got the key. We didn't even have to formally check out when we wanted to leave and hit the beach–we just left the key in the mail slot. We'll likely stay here again for future trips to the shore!

Water pressure in the shower was light and temperature fluctuated a bit, bit this isn't really a problem. We were there for the beach and salt water, not awesome showers; so, not a big deal.