Icona Golden Inn

Address:	7849 Dune Dr, Avalon, NJ 08202, USA
Phone:	+1 609-368-5155
Site:	icona.com
Rating:	3.8

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 4

Tonya Middaugh

When checking in we were not welcomed when we walked through the door. We had to Stand at the front desk counter for 15mins while the only employee was taking a call. The employee finally put the person on hold, looked at us shoved 1 finger up in the air, then said "Hold on" and walked away. 2 mins later he came back with someone that had a front desk manager name tag on.. he looked at us in an unfriendly and unwelcoming tone said "whats the problem?" When I told him we are trying to just check in, the said "Oh well I dont know why I was brought out here then". Again, not what I was as a first impression at all! Then to name just a few issues we experienced after the first night was... 1. We were promised a room upgrade on Saturday by the front desk manager on check in night , when Saturday rolled around no shock to us, the front desk claimed they have no idea what we are talking about! How unprofessional? No communication clearly! 2. Our room had the following issues- every time the a.c. kicked on, there was a very loud annoying bass sound coming from the roof, our shower door didnt close so every shower resulted in the entire bathroom floor getting soaked and very slippery, the bathroom sliding door didnt shut the whole way so there was no privacy at all!, free WiFi only worked half the time were stayed, the a.c. only went as low as 69 and in the dead of summer that is not comfortable enough 3. The pool hours were only 10am to 8pm, what kind of pool is only open till 8! The pool was beautiful at night with pretty lights under the water, but no why would they want to let their guests use the pool or hot tub at night? 4. Had to complain to the front desk yet again because when sitting in the got tub in the morning, all you smelled was rotten garbage coming from the bar behind us... then since couldnt stand the smell of that any longer, we went to go into the pool but that was a no too because the pool water was so cloudy you couldnt see the bottom! Why would we swim in that, the ocean was clearer than their pool! 5. The elevator we had to use to get to our 3rd floor room was so tiny that it barely fit my husband and the luggage cart. I also want to add that we had to reduce the load on our luggage cart because it wouldnt fit in the elevator so I had to wait downstairs for my husband to go upstairs, unload the cart then come back down the elevator to pick the rest of the stuff I was waiting with... then he took a second trip to the third floor via this elevator while I had to walk the stairs because the elevator didnt for 2 people plus a luggage cart! BS! I would say it is safe to assume after paying $500 per night that Icona will not be taking another penny from us! They dont deserve our business and especially no more of our hard earned money!

A Private User

Rented the top of the line suite with seperate bed room, full liviing area, 2 full baths, full kitchen and ocean view. $495/night. Summary: hotel is excellent; restaurant - food good, service spotty. Room was excellent w/ the exception of a malfunctioning refrig (which the mgmt. replaced the next day) and sliding doors/screen doors that would hardly budge and were falling off the track, respectively. Kitchen came w/ pot and pans but no kitchen utensils to cook anything. Very few plates, cups, etc. Hotel iterior is top notch with beautiful marble, cherry wood, carpets, etc.. Hotel exterior is good w/ a nice pool, a limited supply of poolside chairs/tables and a bar/lunch grill. Free towels are provided at pool side for bathers. Hotel restaurant has good food, but they need to tighten up their management of this part of their operation. Service is spotty. Also, they were not well stocked w/ basic supplies. Ran out of Beefeater gin the night we had dinner. No lemons the next day at lunch for iced tea. The night we had dinner there, barmaid was not friendly by any measurement. Delicious appetizer of Fried Gouda cheese was to be serverd w/ a horseradish creme fraiche, but the fraiche was not served. When I asked the bartender if the appetizer was missing the creme sauce, the bar maid said she didnt know and she took no steps to rectify the issue. She also gave an elderly couple sitting at the bar a hard time for wanting to split a crab cake dinner. Alternatively, our waitress for dinner was very attentive and a pleasure to deal with. Kitchen was slow and under-staffed. Lunch and dinner served in a late fashion. Hotel provides a limitied supply of free beach chairs and umbrellas which is appreciated. A couple of other "issues"....if Im spending $495/night, I dont want to know that Im being billed $1/day for unlimited local/long distant phone service. Just tell me that I have free phone service. Also dont charge your guests $1 per cup of coffee in the lobby. Just like a free newspaper, guests of a high end hotel expect certain things. Overall, I rate the hotel an A-.

Deirdre Flanagan

We spent three nights at the Golden Inn two weeks ago. The place was filthy. The first night we endured a $450+ room that was disgusting, pretty sure the sliding door to the unkempt patio hasnt been cleaned in years. The bedding was outdated and clammy to the touch. The next room, $310 per night, which I had booked ahead, was not on the ground floor as promised. I had asked for an extra bed and we had a pull-out couch, sadly no bedding, sheets, pillows, etc. We were charged for three beach passes when our 7 year old didnt need one. Our anticipated lobster dinner was a complete disaster and we were comped for a meal that was completely inedible. No money but still hungry. I spoke in great detail to the night manager regarding how dismal the entire stay was and he assured me he would speak personally to the Manager who would be in touch with me. Checking out the next morning yielded a manager who pretended to know nothing regarding my concerns. I told him that I was not going to repeat my kind and articulate words from the night before. He said that he would talk to Dwayne and call me. I told him we had a 200 mile ride home and would be on the ferry. He called my cell phone once when we were on the ferry w/o service. He did not leave a message. Dwayne called the next day and left a message that he would give us a $50 rebate. When I went through my credit card charges, lo and behold, The Golden Inn charged my card $487.20 for one night in the luxurious dump, $758.20 for two nights in the room w/o bedding and $284.61 for God knows what.....they rebated my account $56. In my entire life I have never spent so much for filth, disinterest and thievery.....run, dont walk from this sham of a resort hotel.

A Private User

I travel frequently and have stayed in many top-notch resorts. While the Golden Inn certainly isnt the Four Seasons, it did not disappoint me at all! We took advantage of a Valentines Day special - four course dinner, room and buffet breakfast for $99 FOR TWO; at that price I wasnt sure what to expect, especially after reading the reviews, but I would definately return! Rooms were immaculate; linens were clean and smelled fresh, and the bathroom was just fine. (Little things like hair in the sink tend to nauseate me, so I DID look!) The hotel has been renovated, and a few imperfections were visible, but overall it was very nice! The dinner was excellent: we had shrimp and lump crab cocktails, filet mignon and rack of lamb, both tender and cooked precisely to order. Too full for dessert, we asked if we could get them to go, which was no problem at all - she even gave us forks! The staff couldnt have been nicer, especially April, who I believe is the restaurant manager, and bartender Herve, who was friendly and attentive despite the large crowd. Even our waitress for both dinner and the buffet breakfast (who must have been exhausted!) greeted us with a big smile! The only "negative" was that the hallway carpeting was a bit worn and stained, and wine glasses outside a nearby room door when we arrived were still there the next day. The beach location was not a factor in February, though my friend took a morning walk along the surf. Overall a great experience!