The Palms Hotel

Stayed there for two nights last summer. Other reviews have mentioned how small the rooms are so I won’t go into that. There is one thing I feel very obligated to share with anyone reading this. Our room was INFESTED WITH MOSQUITOS. We could not get rid of them. Even in the bathroom. Management was incapable of helping or even caring. Because of the ZIKA VIRUS
and WEST NILE returning I would be very afraid to go near that place this summer. BE CAREFUL. When we complained management gave us a bottle of cheap wine and a few chocolates. As far as I know neither of these are are a preventive for the viruses. LOOK OUT.

Location is really key because it’s legit in the middle of the action and a very quick walk to the ferry/​water taxi.
Staff was friendly. The rentals for bikes, towels and beach chairs is VERY convenient.
Our room was really small but clean… enough. When we got there, there was sand all over the floors. I get it it’s a beach town but if its my sand that’s fine, someone who stayed before us and walked around with sand on them — and the housekeeping didn’t sweep, that kinda made me get grossed out when i took off my flip flops on day 1.
We were in a bungalow when we stayed, there were ants in our bathroom. Small ones, the whole week. I killed 8 once we got there, then the next day more were back. We didn’t eat on the room and kept the trash out of the room or tossed any small snack we had when we left to go out in the outside trash can. I’d only come back for a groupon deal, wouldn’t ever pay what they quote normally to stay.

Totally disorganized and not what I paid for. If I could do it all over again I’d never have chosen this place for my wedding. What was meant to be the happiest day of my life was quickly turned into a disaster. It rained heavily but this doesn’t excuse the cold food, rude wait staff, and having our guests badgered constantly about their dinner choices. Most of our guests left because dinner wasn’t served until late. Later in the evening, our cake was just brought out and left there. no one even told us it was coming out. I’m sad that I can’t do it over again at another venue. hopefully, I can save someone else’s wedding from the same fate as mine.

If you are planning a trip to Fire Island there is no need to look any further than The Palms Hotel! The friendly and courteous staff and owners of the Palms have truly thought of everything one could need/​want while on a beach vacation. The reason I keep coming back to the Palms is knowing that I all need to carry on the ferry is a small bag with a bathing suit and clothes and I am set! No lugging chairs, towels, wagons, etc. They even have their own coffee shop in the lobby! The whole hotel smells delightful and the beds and linens are all a crisp white! The décor is totally out of a chic hotel from NYC or Miami! Go to The Palms and you truly will think you took a 3 hour plane ride out of Long Island to a hip resort! And while your there grab a «Rocket Fuel» and a meal at C.J.‘s you can thank me later ;)

The palms was the nicest, cleanest, and friendliest place I have ever stayed at in Fire Island. The rooms were clean and nicely decorated. The hotel had everything you needed in one place. I will only stay at this hotel when I go back to Fire Island every summer. Highly recommend it!

Bathrooms smell. Front desk obnoxious.
For $ 500/​night you would expect a bathroom that didn’t stink. Also no bath tub to wash your children.
Because for $ 500/​night the hotel doesn’t have a pool for my 6 year old and 4 year old to swim in. I asked the front desk if there was a place on the island that had a pool we could pay for the day. Her snooty response was «no we don’t, but we have a great big ocean you can swim in».
Well lady, why don’t you put your 4 year old in the ocean with the 5 – 7 foot waves.
P. S. — Try to be courteous to your customers that are spending $ 500/​night for a closet size room, not on the beach, with a foul-​smelling bathroom you can barely fit in.

I had a great experience on fire island this past weekend, the staff at the palms were extremely helpful especially Jose Z. He helped my family and I become much aware of the Town of Ocean Beach. Jose enlightened us about all the restaurants and ice cream shops along the strip. We had a nice time on the outdoor patio, that is an great space for anybody staying at the Palms. Our stay wasn’t cheap but it was worth it. The fire island atmosphere is displayed perfectly.

The Palms in Ocean Beach offers very nice accommodations at a premium price, but hey you pay a premium for everything on Fire Island. The Palms is made up of several different buildings located throughout Ocean Beach.
Last year we stayed in the main building. It was really nice, but wow was it small. I mean we had to keep our luggage in the bathroom in order to have 4 square feet of room to move around in. No real room between the bed and the end of the room either, well there was about 6 inches but that’s it, I literally had to slide across the bed to get to the other side. Hallways are big enough for one person to walk down at a time. It’s tiny, but it is kept clean, nice and updated inside and we weren’t in Fire Island to stay in the room all day so not a real big deal.
This year we shared a suite with another couple in a different building. What a difference in terms of space. The suite was basically a one-​bedroom apartment with a pull out couch and day bed in the living room (sleeps 6). There was a full kitchen and a deck. There was tons of room and it’s also very updated. The Palms offers BBQs to use at their main location and at their private bay «beach». Which is great. To be honest, we will probably never stay in a regular room again. Our first full day housekeeping never came and we had to ask that our room be cleaned around 5pm. After we did, housekeeping came right away.
Now on to the service, if you plan on staying here make sure you bring your patience with you. This is the only «high end» hotel I’ve ever stayed at that only employees teens and people in their early twenties. 90% of the staff seemed like stoned surfers, they are all very nice, but it takes a lot of patience to deal with them. Seriously, I think Jeff Spicoli actually works here. The other 10% of the staff seems helpful enough. Leo in the courtyard was very helpful and never minded grabbing our bags or cooler so we could grab something, *cough* cold beer *cough*, out. He also set us up every morning with chairs, umbrellas, towels and a wagon for the beach and said hello by name.
Overall, if you are looking to stay a few nights in Ocean Beach, you can’t go wrong with The Palms.

We stayed at the Bungelows at the Palm Hotel. The room was small yet efficient. The vaulted ceilings were nice and the room was decorated with beautiful chandeliers. King size bed was comfortable. Nice size bathroom and their was even a small refrigerator in the room. Turn down service was a nice touch at night. They left chocolates and a little inspirational message. I was impressed with all the people who work there. Ryan, the Asst. Manager was really nice and greeted us by our first names and remember we were celebrating our anniversary. Leo and Periel helped us with checking our bags and holding them until the room was ready, they also will hold your bags even when you check out, so you can enjoy the day without worrying about your luggage. Leo and Periel assisted us with beach chairs, towels and gave us bikes to ride around the island with. When I was on the ferry, I realized I left a package at the hotel. I immediately called and Gina said she would check for the package, She called me right back and said she would ship the package to my home. I can’t say enough about this hotel, from the outdoor patio with lounge chairs to the kayaks you can rent, they really go out of their way to make you feel you feel special. I will definitely go back!
Maureen D

The staff at the palms was extremely helpful they allowed us to check in an hour early and when we had a problem with our room Ryan was right on top of it! They were unable to fix our TV so Ryan left a bottle of champagne and chocolates and extended our check out time to compensate. Leo was very helpful getting us ready for the beach and for riding bikes he was extremely pleasant to deal with and very friendly! We enjoyed our stay!

The staff is super friendly (Leo rocks!). The room is cute and clean (thanks Anna!). There are grills out on the private patio that are awesome for BBQ, and bicycles available to use for tooling around. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Stayed at the Palms main hotel in the Upper West Side Suite. Perfect for a group of 6, though a tad expensive, but what isn’t on gouge, i mean, Fire island.
The cabana team that helps provide towels, wagons, and gets you ready for the beach were all top notch and provided a very high level of service. Leo at the main location, was especially helpful and hooked us up in record time.
Only downer is the no refund/​exchange only policy, but hey, they got ~15 weeks to cover there entire year.

Great place, great ammenities, and the staff was very helpful. Rooms are very clean and comfortable. We rented bikes (complimentary) and Leo was very helpful in giving us newbies to the island tips on where to go. If you’re looking for a hotel that takes care of everything for you this is the place, they even provide beach chairs, towels and a wagon to carry it all down!

The worst experience. Our check I was hours after 4 and our suite still missed necessities such as toilet paper and towels. I would never recommend this place– horrible and poor business practices!

Stayed here for the weekend, small rooms are ok but old beds and too much light coming into the room made sleeping difficult. Room was sandy and not well cleaned at all, found a random persons old sock under the bed. Staff was friendly but largely not helpful. Private beach was nice, don’t expect much from the breakfast other than a Danish, coffee and bagel. Would have been worth it if the hotel charged $ 125 per night, not $ 500!

We love-​love-​love The Palms Hotel… Great Service and Awesome Location!
Looking for fun? This is the place! My boyfriend and I stayed at The Palms Hotel for 2 nights in July. It was awesome! The location is excellent. Only a short walk from the Ferry and steps away from shopping, restaurants and nightlife. The room was super cute, clean and modern. Our kingsize bed was comfortable, the A/​C was cool and the amenities were top notch. The evening turn down with chocolate and positive message from «Thoreau» was a nice touch. Service at the hotel is exceptional. The staff was extremely friendly and accommodating. Everyone went above and beyond to make our stay enjoyable. We had the opportunity to spend some time with the owners, Chris and Laura. What a great couple and supurb hosts. We highly recommend this hotel and we’ll be back.

This review is ONLY for the catered BBQ offered using Palms and CJs food. So you will find my review on both of their pages to warn all!
I was working to book a BBQ for a group through Palms/​CJs. After MULTIPLE un-​returned phone calls to both Palms and CJs, attempts to contact with the vendors and one of the RUDEST conversations with a vendor, I decided to heck with this place I will use someone else. The final straw went as follows, me: «Can I please confirm X date is reserved?» PALMS «One minutes while my PC boots up.» ME, hold for 2 minutes. PALMS «Another girl says, the lady you were talking to had to run out and will call you back!» ME: «Later today or in a few minutes?» Palms «In 10 minutes.» Six hours later and no returned call. I was done dealing with these folks and was going to another vendor. For whatever reason, another person in my group said she would take over and deal with them.
Fast forward to day of event… The Good: Servers were very nice. That is where the good points start and end. The bad, everything else. A side and dessert were never offered/​brought to the table. When asked where the 2 «planned» vegetarian meals were they said there were none. They were then offered to order off a CJs menu. When the food came, they were presented with a bill. They refused to pay and that was fine. Finally, the total price was to include, servers/​food/​space rental/​gratuity. At the end, the planner was told gratuity was not included and she had to pay right then.
It was BY FAR the worst vendor experience I have ever encountered. We would have been better off doing absolutely anything, but this.
If you want headaches, un-​organization, crap food, paid food that is never served then this is the place to go!

Hands down THE WORST HOTEL I have had the misfortune of booking. I paid $ 334 for a HORRIBLE «Two Bedroom Suite with a shared bathroom» that was the size of a broom closet.
I bought a Groupon for this hotel after looking at their website which makes it appear like the property is on the beach. It is NOT. We arrived at noon and were told that check-​in time is at 4pm. Fine. We return at 4pm to find a mob of people being told to return at 5pm because the rooms were not ready. Check out time is 11am which gives the staff 5 hours to clean the rooms but NONE of the rooms were ready.
One of the three teenagers in charge of the front desk whips out a long box of drink vouchers to hand out to disgruntled guests. Apparently they are used to giving these out and extending check out time to 12pm. We proceeded to CJ’s (a sister property) to get our «Bartender’s Choice» drink and I was served the worst margarita on the planet.
We return at 5pm and were finally given the keys to our «two bedroom suite a shared bathroom». As I enter our room I was almost bowled over by a teenager running out of the room with a rag in her hand. She had just finished turning over the room and was fleeing the scene and for good reason. The comforter and blanket were damp and there was sand and hair on the pillows and bedsheets! What the??? So we complain at the front desk and were told that they would turnover the room again when we went out for dinner. A teenager comes 10 minutes later telling us to get out of the room because she has to clean it. Ugh!
Our two bedroom suite with a shared bathroom was terrible. No closet, no table, TV remote was not working, blinds were messed up and the bed, the lovely bed, was worse than any bed I have slept on at a no star hotel in a third world country. The bathroom was at one end so if you stayed in the far bedroom then you’ll have to go through the other bedroom to get to the bathroom.
We go down for dinner and were met by what I think was the owner offering fake apologies and homophobic comments about Cherry Grove. Everything about that woman was fake, head to toe. Y’all know what I mean.
The following morning we ask for the proudly advertised «Starbucks Coffee for $ 3.00 a cup» and the free pastries. NO COFFEE, NO PASTRIES. We finally see yet another teenager arriving with the coffee and pastries at around noon, just in time for lunch.
We left The Palms shaking our heads and wondering how on earth it got 4 stars on Unilocal.Now I’m glad to see that it’s down to 3. Hopefully it will be down to 2 stars after everybody they screwed over writes a review.

I read some reviews before I came here and arrived with low expectations, fearful that I’d be sleeping in furry sheets and needing to contact my doctor about a round of antibiotics when I got home. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised with the actual results… I thought our 4 person efficiency at the Palms Bay was well worth the price for a mini-​vacation on Fire Island. While there were a few mosquitos flying around the room, it was basically clean and comfortable. We didn’t notice any foreign hairs on our sheets, and the pillowcases were clean. The staff was EXTREMELY attentive and made the stay totally worthwhile! Our attendant, Ghita, made sure we always had fresh towels, ice, and water — and he even fetched drinks and take out for us so we didn’t have to leave the private bay beach area. The other staff members, especially Kenny, were also very helpful.
The rooms are teeny tiny, but four 30-​something ladies were all able to shower and get ready without too much hassle. If you’re staying here, make sure you know exactly what you’re getting in the room! I was stuck sleeping on a pull-​out sofa that wasn’t too comfortable. The fridge and microwave in the room was great and saved us from eating out every meal. I would recommend this hotel and would stay here again.
…minus one star because the hotel was only able to give us one key, claiming that they «didn’t know where the other ones were.» But the staff that was always on duty at the Palms made sure we were able to get into the room if we didn’t have the key with us. Still, it makes me wonder exactly how secure the contents of our room were if keys had gone missing. Luckily nothing was taken from us.
And in regard to one of the reviews of the Palms Bay from a while ago — we did have privacy locks and «Do Not Disturb» signs in our room. So maybe the hotel is listening to some of the criticism.

Just horrible.
I’ve stayed at the Palm establishments a few times already. I’ve stayed at the one on the Bay, the suites upstairs in the original, etc.
Oddly enough, I’ve also always recommend Palms to any/​all people that I know going to Fire Island… until now.
However; this past weekend, I had the incredible displeasure of staying at the new Palm Bungalow.
By far, it was one of the absolute worst hotel experiences I’ve ever had.
While the staff were kind (mostly 18 year old kids), the conditions were just terrible.
For $ 500 a night ($ 1,000) total, I stayed at a room that was the size of most hotel room closets.
Please note that I’m not complaining about the size — I understand that Fire Island is a different beast, and space is not always easy to come by but this was just unreal. It was the smallest room I’ve ever been in — the size of a shoebox.
The weekend dealt a ton of blows, one after the other
* Specks of blood on the walls
* Sink was not working at all — the drain was backed up, filled the entire weekend with dirty water.
* Towel bar was missing, with spackling on the wall and bits of the wall (that was neglected to be cleaned up) on the floor
* Finger-​prints all over the makeup mirror
* Sand on the floor
* Black makeup/​mascara on the pillow sheets
* Brown makeup all over the sheets
* Loud music constantly — not kidding, from start to finish
* Thinnest walls/​ceilings EVER — I’m shocked this place hasn’t crumbled yet — I literally heard footsteps/​banging/​toilets flushing from beginning of weekend till the end of the weekend
Then, the worst and weirdest thing had to happen:
* Right before we’re about to go out for the night to a friend’s engagement party, my girlfriend’s dress that she hung on the door (because the room was so small, that there was NO closet) ended up getting ruined with gasoline. Not believing her, I pressed my hand on the door and it was soaked.
What was supposed to be a nice weekend was ultimately ruined because of how awful of a hotel this is. I don’t understand how/​why this all happened but I believe that for that price point, my expectations should not have only been met — they should have been exceeded. I was paying Ritz Carlton prices for Howard Johnson Motel experience.
So, what did this hotel do in response? Well, they credited a few bucks for the dress, but it was not replaceable.
Being that I spent a $ 1,000 for the weekend, I thought they’d step up and take care of a night for me — but no, the concept of that literally blew their minds. They absolutely refused to take care of a night for me, knowing that I’ve been many times, and have always praised their hotel — instead, they offered 1 free night on a Sunday through Thursday (after countless emails and calls). What a joke.
All in all, awful hotel. Don’t stay here. Stay basically anywhere else. Sleep on a park bench for free, same end result…