Sandcastle Suites Question/Your Opinion

We took a look at Sandcastle Suites and that resort looks interesting but we have a couple of questions:

Assuming that the walk from Breakers Tower is about 5 minutes, how far is the walk to the park entrance near Magnum?

These are 2 room suites, why are the costs cheaper than the Breakers?

How good is the restaurant at SS?

Why is pool view more expensive than lake view?

Thanks in advance for all your help

Hi worm,
Ive never been there but ill be working there this season:)
Over the winter break they did some renovations to the rooms and the hotel so it should be pretty nice this season despite what some ppl say. Just got to remember ppl post when things are bad but never take the time to post when they are good:)
Sandcastle is right on the point surrounded by water so its got a nice pretty view.
Breakwater ive heard has good food thou.

Its about an 8 minute walk to the resort gate from SS. But you can take a shuttle if you don't want to walk.

Breakers is the higher end hotel. That's just what I feel like saying.

Breakwater Cafe at SS is a good place to eat. Good breakfast there.

A room with a view of the pool is the same as one with a view of the lake. The pool and lake are on the same side of the hotel. If you have a view of the pool, its a view of the lake too.

I stayed at SS several years ago in August. The rooms were fine but one of the staircases had been infested by bugs at night. Personally I prefer Breakers. Probably because it's more convenient. Breakwater Cafe is a good place to get a sit down breakfast and it's not usually crowded. Hope that helps.

We stayed at Sandcastle last summer, and it was fine. I don't think it is the caliber hotel that usually commands the price you will pay; but, unfortunatley, you're paying for location. The rooms were clean; however, the door between our 'living room' and 'bedroom' was broken. The views are very nice with a little balcony that you can sit out on and relax. (And smoke - since Sancastle is all non-smoking). It is a bit of a hike to the park entrance, which is not a problem in the morning, but it seems to take forever after the park closes to get back to the hotel. I have to agree, the breakfast buffet at Breakwater is a good choice. All in all a nice hotel, but we decided to go with the Breakers this year only to avoid the walk.

When my son was younger, we always stayed in SS because of the two room option. We could put him to bed and have a littel "alone time" ourselves and we always enjoyed sitting on the balcony at night. We also liked having Breakwater Cafe right there for an early morning breakfast and a quite lunch in the late afternoon if we were in need of a rest.

It is a bit of a walk to the Magnum Gate, but to me, not that much further than LHP.

The *real* answer to the pool view/lake view question: Pool water is actually clean, and you would WANT to look at it.

I kid, I kid. Lake Erie has really cleaned up over the past few years.

-josh

If anyone is familiar with AAA ratings .....what rating would you give SS.

The AAA website lists Breaker Express at only 2 diamonds. I can't find a rating of SS or Breakers.

*** Edited 4/5/2006 5:49:40 PM UTC by wormpir***

Sandcastle: 2-3

Breakers: 4 Its got everything you'll need (pools, arcade, concierge, shops, etc..).

I stayed there last August for a package deal. I would rate it 2.5 diamonds. The room was clean, although the furniture was showing some wear along with some of the paint. Our main disappointment was that we couldn't hook up the XBOX to the TV in the "living room" cause it had no coax plug. Just the old style spade terminals. The TV in the bedroom did, but my friends wife is not a late-nighter like us :) We opted for the "non-view" room, which ended up being on the ground floor on the opposite side of a wing that faced the pool. We were at the end, the lake was probably about 20-30 yds from the exit. I figured "non view" would mean a view of the parking lot, but you could see the lake, and at night we saw several watercraft and a coal carrier cruise by from the patio. The walk to the gate was not bad, probably about 10min, slower at the end of the day of course. A shuttle was running, but it was very busy. We had planned on breakfast at the Breakwater but that morning they were short 2 servers and the prescence of some shreiking children convinced us to go elsewhere. As for the cheaper Breakers rooms, if they're the ones I saw when making reservations the other night, they're in the old Bel Aire wing of the original hotel. No elevators, some only have stand up showers. I stayed in one of the "tower" rooms on the end of the old wing once. Nice view, and very roomy, but the fold out sofa bed felt like it hadn't been unfolded since Jimmy Carter was president. I'm staying at SS again this year. If they have updated the rooms, great, hopefully they'll get some modern TV's!