The Sanderling

Last week my wife and I had a wonderful stay at The Sanderling Resort that included celebrating our 60th Wedding Anniversary. We have stayed there numerous times in the past, and were looking for a quiet spot and a relaxing getaway. Certainly this time of year The Sanderling provided just what we wanted. We were impressed with the recent renovations and glad to see that the resort has not lost its beach side charm. As always, it is the staff, and their attention, that make the visit truly outstanding. We would like to highlight several of those folks that contributed to our great experience: • Heather was our first contact at the resort when we confirmed our reservation prior to our arrival. Upon hearing it was our 60th anniversary, she graciously indicated she could upgrade us to a special room. The room she put us in certainly made the stay memorable. Our view of the sunset was one of the most spectacular to date. Her consideration made the trip really special. • Calvin, the Guest Services Manager, was manning the reception desk on our arrival. He also helped with baggage, passed out resort information, and local tips. We saw a lot of him during the stay--seems he spent a lot of time on duty. I suspected that if we had needed some maintenance action, he would have been the one to show up. • Tracy, at the Life Saving Station restaurant, was amazing. She appeared to be the only person working the front of the restaurant and was the waitress, server, bartender, and clean-up. She was always moving, fun, and never missed a beat. • Vicky provided our housekeeping support. Unfortunately, we never had a chance to meet her, but appreciated her efforts and our room was always immaculately kept. • We enjoyed conversations at the front desk with both Callan in the evening and Lisa at checkout. Both very personable and pleasant. We thank all of them for their efforts in making our stay special and memorable. Best regards, Chuck and Phyllis

amazing stay, delicious food, and wonderful staff!!! I'll absolutely be back with my boyfriend and friends to celebrate my 30th in the summer!

I do not know how anyone can give them more than a 1 star review. The restaurant had 1 other table for lunch. When we arrived breakfast was still sitting on all the tables not cleared off. It took us 30 minutes to get our drinks. Another hour to get our meals. When it was time to check out it took another 45 minutes for them to figure that out. There was a total of four people in the restaurant for over 2 hours and they could not take care of us. We did not end up staying in our hotel because it stunk so bad! I have not seen worst customer service than we witnessed!

In a word: Yikes. In as many as Trip Advisor will allow: First off, I’ll give credit where credit is due and say the staff was friendly enough and the bed was comfortable. Now that I’m finished with the positives…My wife and I got married on a Friday, and we were so excited to spend a mini honeymoon on the OBX. When we booked the room we were asked if we were celebrating anything and obviously we wrote we would be coming down right after our wedding! When we arrived, two of our bank cards (from completely unrelated accounts) were declined and we were told we had to contact our bank. Welcome! After speaking to our bank, we went back insisting it was not our issue and sure enough one of their payment terminals doesn’t work properly and it was a known issue on their end. Then, after a rushed rundown of the very few “amenities” we were given our room. Not once in the entire process were we given so much as a “Congratulations!” We weren’t looking for free hand outs, but why even ask if there’s a special occasion if you aren’t going to do a single thing? I’ve worked in restaurants for 15 years and I’ve given away more to $100 birthday dinners. The entire place gives off a general sense of disrepair. The men’s room at the outside bar was insane. Cracked and empty paper towel holder, no soap, and the bar at the top of the door was literally ripped off the wall with 2+ years of rust damage and preventing the door from being opened properly. The bathroom was locked up before I could get a picture. What I have attached a picture of is the door latch to our back balcony, which room service LEFT OPEN on our second day. Don’t expect to feel safe here. Again, it’s only a $40/night resort fee what do you expect? Don’t worry though, through all this stress you can find comfort in an outdoor solo cup cocktail for the low price of $18-22. One of the weirdest parts was that multiple times that we would head out for a meal, there would be two staff members just standing at the door waiting to open it for us. Really feels like putting the cart before the horse, acting like they’re giving us white glove service meanwhile our thermostat is reading low battery and our back door can’t lock properly. A final word of warning. I spent 5 years of my restaurant career on the OBX, as well as personally dining all over the beach. I can honestly say that the health inspection score of the Lifesaving Station Restaurant on the property is the lowest I have ever seen, two whole points lower than the Kitty Hawk McDonald’s used to be before it was shut down. Dine at your own risk. I look forward to an AI generated response from the new GM, and I hope the time I’ve taken to write this will prevent anyone from making the same mistake we did.

The Sanderling has undergone a long overdue thorough renovation where the rooms and common areas have been completely transformed. The vibe is what I woould call "coastal elegant." The location is superb, right on the beach in Duck , on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We did a lot of walking around on the sound side nature trails and reading ion the second floor of the Beach House. There are also nce restaurants and bars on the property and pools and bikes available. Finally, the staff is very knowledgable and friendly.