Myrtle Beach Message Board

Hi I am planning a last minute trip to Myrtle Beach next week and have never been there before. I am getting such different feedback from tripadvisor I am hoping to clarify a few things here. I am traveling with two 15 year old boys and am looking for a resort and area that has activities for them. I was looking at the Bay View resort which is on the boardwalk. I figured they can be on the beach or walk the boardwalk to some activities. However many people say this area is "seedy and rundown". Other people have said to stay in the area by the Breakers because there is a lot to do there. I don't seem to be able to find what there is in the Breakers area that is walking distance. Any info. you can give me will be appreciated. I want a nice, updated, clean resort on the beach that has activities the boys can walk to during the day. Thanks :)

Welcome to our message board!

The 15-year olds would probably enjoy the Boardwalk area since there is plenty of activity, restaurants, shops, etc

My husband Wally and I have been living here for 14 years, and I can certainly remember the days when I would steer clear of the downtown area, and hope that when I returned to my car, it would still be there. It got worse when the Pavilion closed in 2006. The only time I would agree to be in this area after dark was when there was a function we had to attend. That was then. This is now.

The area has been cleaned up, and I would no longer be afraid to go there, day or night. This does not mean it is crime-free. ANY ocean front resort city with 14 million+ visitors a year will experience crime. I always tell people to use common sense protecting valuables such as handbags, cameras, phones etc. when walking around.

Here's a link to 10 hotels near the Boardwalk. I suggest you search interesting accommodations by puttingt he name into the Search option at the top of this page to see what members are saying. And of course also search the hotels with google.

http://www.myrtlebeach.com/blog/post/10 ... boardwalk/

The Boardwalk and Promenade area is 1.2 miles along, between the 2nd Avenue Pier and the 14th Avenue Pier. This area has received good reviews across the nation.  Myrtle Beach’s Boardwalk was named 3rd best in the United States in National Geographic and number two by Travel & Leisure.

Another option that was not on the above list is Seaglass Tower, near the 14th Ave. Pier.
http://www.bluegreenonline.com/explore/ ... esortID=70

Since we live here and don't stay at any of the accommodations, I can't speak about them with first-hand knowledge.......but the rest of the members can, and hopefully will.

_________________
Brought to you by:
FunBeaches Myrtle Beach Vacations!
Please like our message board on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Myrtle-B ... 550?v=wall

If you like the BayView by all means stay there, it is close to Family Kingdom but it will not be open when you are here and you will be on the Boardwalk and 4 blocks south from the Arcades and Ripleys attractions.

If you stay at the Breakers you are 8 blocks north of Arcades and Rip's.

Both resorts are owned by the same family with Bayview being newer.

As Patrish says, any area that has the number of tourists as we do will have crime, as for the stigma of a number of years ago it was real bad, I never found that and families walked these areas all the time, yet I did tell folks to be alert and stay in groups and I still do.

Gary

I think you would be satisfied with the accomodations at the BayView. Our experiences have only been good. As I mentioned in another post the rooms/condos are well maintained. The parking is a short block away. We have stayed there in April a few times over the last few years. I did mention that the water facilities can be kind of crowded and noisy if there are very many children staying there. They have a small lazy river, pool and hot tub all inside. To the best of my knowledge there is no outdoor pool. The Starbucks on the lower level is very handy. We did not find the area that rough. Did notice that they had an extended golf cart which they used to take elderly or disabled people to the garage. The area surrounding the hotel has improved a lot in recent years. I would recommend just being alert when walking around after dark. That would be good advice anywhere you stay or go. Wherever you end up staying have a great time. Looking forward to seeing a trip report. This time of year we are kind of desperate for "trip reports".

Welcome to the forum! :)

The other week someone had mentioned the Bay View here and it sounded great. I did some research and had some of the same concerns as you did. Not sure what to believe of the TripAdvisor reviews. My main concern was the location of the parking garage. It is a block away from the hotel and you have to walk past a "seedy hotel". From the hotel responses at Trip Advisor they seem to have things covered. They have 24/7 Security, shuttles to the parking garage and escorts if you need them. Bay View had the biggest appeal because of the Boardwalk. Just to walk around and grab a quick bite.

Probably close to 10 years ago we stayed at a Days Inn around 21st. Never had any issues and that was in July. Since then we just moved father North. Less congestion and much quieter. Those places were located around 68th street - 77th street.

We've never stayed at Bayview, but for what it's worth, I would trust the information on this forum more than Tripadvisor anyday. We stayed at the Landmark Resort for many years and always enjoyed it. To read the reviews for that place on Tripadvisor, you would think it was the gate to hell. Good luck wherever you decide, I'm sure you will be just fine!!Enjoy your trip to the beach!!

_________________
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain!

Thanks for your vote of confidence, Peanut. TA is an excellent go-to site for information on travel to almost anywhere in the world. It's a gorilla of a site, and I don't mind our members being referred there if the information is helpful to them.

However, I know people who manage some resorts/condos here in MB, as well as people who work for these accommodations. It's a fact that some employees are asked to go home at night and write reviews to TA under a false name to either glorify a resort, defend their own workplace, or make derogatory remarks about the competition. It makes for a very mixed bag of reviews.

Ours is a relatively small group of people compared to TA. Over the years, I have met many of our members, and I am proud to call them my friends. No one hides behind false monikers. We watch the number of posts/topics our members write about, and I encourage people to take issue with a post they don't like or feel is inaccurate.

When researching trips, I so often wish I could find a board like we've got here. So thanks for giving me the opportunity to once again thank all our members who give up their own precious time in order to help others who love Myrtle Beach as much as they do. Y'all are the greatest!

_________________
Brought to you by:
FunBeaches Myrtle Beach Vacations!
Please like our message board on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Myrtle-B ... 550?v=wall

I'll just add this about Trip Advisor, a year or so ago I made a post about a report from either CNBC or MSNBC it was one of those, the report took place at a conference for resort owners/management and one of the speakers talked about how his company had a backroom full of "trusted posters" (these are people/names/avatars who have been signed up for some time on many forum sites) and for a price would post great things about your resort and recommend it to those asking questions.

The post was removed pretty quickly, why would a legitimate forum/company with nothing to hide remove a post like that? I can think of one reason.

Most of the "destination experts" on the site do not live in the Myrtle Beach area, heck I know one who only comes here in January he and his wife have never been here any other time, not even for a weekend, yet he is a destination expert, he's a great guy and all but come on, it is misleading.

I could add quite a bit more about this company but I'll leave that to the reporter working on the story.

Gary

I think you have to look all around at reviews. I start here for MB Travel, but go to lots of travel review sites if the place I want to stay is a "mixed bag." Like most statistics, you throw out the high and low and focus on what's left. The truth usually lies somewhere in between. Yahoo Travel, Expedia, Orbitz, they all have reviews. Some are linked to TA...some not. Do an average. Some people are never satisfied. Some people are thankful for a bed and running water. You need to decide what your deal breakers are and go from there. Good luck!

_________________
LISA

SeaWatch Resort 2010
Monterey Bay 2007
Dayton House 2005
Crown Reef Resort 1998
Palace Resort 1997
Bluewater resort 1994

Interesting you bring that up Gary. In Wisconsin we have Wisconsin Dells. I laugh at a lot of the "expert" responses because I have been there so many times I just know. The restaurant and especially Hotel make me laugh. Granted some people are just hard to please, but I can almost spot those who are not posting with true intentions.

I take Lisa's approach a lot of the time. It does work. I also look at a person's previous posts, to hopefully get a even better feel on their intentions.

As for this forum, it is usually my only go to. Unless in like the case of Bayview I couldn't really find anything on it. :(

I wish more destinations had a place like this forum.