101 Reviews
Howard Johnson by Wyndham Toms River
Toms River|1.84km from Protectors of Freedom
This was our one chance to get away all year. We arrived on Tuesday, August 22 and left on Friday, August 26. The cost was $464.94 for the three nights. We arrived a little early, the lobby was a little run down, and we were put into room 112. No amenities: hair dryer, iron, ice bucket or coffeemaker. The room was not new by any means: the fridge worked but the seal was cracked, the surface under the fridge had definitely been wet many times and you could see the press board where the veneer was missing. The light as you first came in was broken. Room was fairly clean. The man at the front desk took about 20 minutes to find an ice bucket, wash it, find a liner and then brought it to our room. He tried to give us service. We had dinner in Christopher’s Pub on Tuesday. Good food, bartender was excellent, a nice home town feel to the place. Wednesday, we went to the beach and then came back to shower. No water in the shower. We had to get a new room, move all our stuff and then finally shower. The second room, 116, had the 4 amenities mentioned above, the light worked and the shower worked (cold water). We went to the Pub at 7 and a man was yelling at the bartender to close up. I asked the woman at the front desk for a good local restaurant recommendation. Her reply was to google it. Usually, we’re able to get a recommendation and get something good off the beaten path. Ordered in Chinese. Thursday, went to the beach. Shower water was fine. Ate in the Pub. Open mike night was okay. The food was not nearly as good. We figured out that this is a welfare hotel. There is no housekeeping. People put their garbage and dirty towels out in the hall. I had to go to the front desk to get towels, no facecloths available. The breakfast options were about what you would expect: cold cereal, waffle maker, Danish, coffee. One girl was sitting at the table with a blanket draped over her head. You could tell many of the guests were not paying guests. We had packed our own yogurt and fruit so we only got coffee (had to the first morning as we had no coffeemaker) and went back to the room. We were not expecting the Ritz, but were expecting some service and friendliness from the front desk. We got no service other than the man with the ice bucket. This was our one time to get away all year and I had a good time outside of the hotel, but inside was very disappointing. We will never come back. Makes me wonder about the quality of the Wyndham chain. 
74 Reviews