Ocean City Beachfront Hotels: On the Boardwalk or North of 27th Street?

Ocean City numbers its streets north from the inlet, and the Boardwalk stops at 27th Street. That splits its beachfront hotels in two. Below 27th, you step off the Boardwalk onto the sand. Above it, there's no boardwalk at all, just the Atlantic and the high-rises along it. For a first trip, book Holiday Inn & Suites Ocean City at 17th Street: the top-rated hotel on this list, with suites, kitchens and a lazy river.

Booking for live prices · Review for our take

Those are entry rates for an off-peak weeknight, before tax. July costs several times as much. Every hotel above stands on the ocean side of the street, with the beach outside the back door. The beachfront resorts hub runs the same test from New England to the Caribbean.

Which Ocean City beachfront hotel should you book?

Start with the Boardwalk question. If you want the rides, the arcades and the fries a few steps from your room, stay below 27th Street and book the Holiday Inn & Suites. Most rooms are suites with full kitchens, and the pool deck has a lazy river for kids. Check Holiday Inn & Suites availability early – rates climb steeply into July.

Want the Boardwalk for less? Book the Grand Hotel. If you'd rather have a guaranteed ocean view than the Boardwalk itself, the Hilton Garden Inn is a block past its end. Families who want the biggest pool deck book the Hilton Oceanfront Suites. Off-season, book the Princess Royale for its indoor atrium pool.

Still deciding? See Holiday Inn & Suites rates – a Boardwalk address, a kitchen, and indoor and outdoor pools.

On the Boardwalk, below 27th Street

The Boardwalk runs from the inlet to 27th Street. The hotels on it front the boards directly, with the sand on the other side.

Holiday Inn and Suites Ocean City by IHG

The all-rounder. Harrison Group runs it at 17th Street and the Boardwalk, and a complete renovation finished in 2021.

Most rooms here are suites with a full kitchen and a private balcony. Booking.com also sells a few standard rooms, so check the category name. Expedia lists 210 rooms in all.

The pool setup is the draw. There are two elevated outdoor pools on the oceanfront, a kids' pool with slides and a lazy river, the Deep End Pool Bar, and an indoor pool for cool days. It's also the highest-rated hotel on this list on Booking.com.

It's the priciest of the three Boardwalk picks at entry level. Book this one if you want the Boardwalk at your door and a kitchen in your room. Check Holiday Inn & Suites rates.

Hyatt Place Ocean City Oceanfront

The chain-hotel pick on the Boardwalk. Hyatt Place stands at 1 16th Street, directly on the Boardwalk, with a heated indoor pool in the oceanfront building that stays open all year.

Know which building you're booking. Hyatt added a second building away from the beach with city-view rooms and studio suites, so the oceanfront building is the one you want for the beach. On Booking.com, look for "Ocean Front" or "Partial Ocean View" in the room name.

There's a seasonal outdoor pool at each building, plus the SeaScape Pool Bar in summer. Hyatt charges for parking.

Book this one if you want a Boardwalk room with an indoor pool open all year. Check Hyatt Place Ocean City rates.

Grand Hotel Ocean City Oceanfront

The big Boardwalk hotel at the lowest rate. The Grand stands at 21st Street with more than 250 rooms.

Rooms run from "City view" up to "Direct Ocean Front." The gap between them is modest off-season, so book the ocean side. There's an indoor and an outdoor pool, a seasonal pool bar, a full-service salon and a game room.

It's among the most-reviewed hotels in this guide on Booking.com. Book this one if you want the Boardwalk without paying Holiday Inn & Suites rates. Check Grand Hotel rates.

Just past the Boardwalk, in midtown

North of 27th Street the boards end, but the hotels still stand on the beach. You're a short walk from the action instead of on top of it.

Hilton Garden Inn Ocean City Oceanfront

The value pick, and the one where every room faces the ocean. This was the Dunes Manor until owner OTO Development renovated it. It reopened in May 2023 as a Hilton Garden Inn.

Every one of its 170 rooms has a balcony overlooking the Atlantic, according to OTO's opening announcement. Its general manager puts it 175 steps from the Boardwalk. Inside there's an indoor pool, the Solstice Oceanfront Bar & Grill and an oceanfront rocking-chair porch.

These are hotel rooms, not suites. Hilton charges for parking. Book this one if you want the cheapest guaranteed ocean view on this list. Check Hilton Garden Inn rates.

Hilton Ocean City Oceanfront Suites

The family resort. The pool deck is the reason to book it: Harrison lists two elevated, heated oceanfront pools, a swim-up pool bar, a lazy river and a children's pool with slides and fountains.

Expedia counts 225 units, and every category on Booking.com is a suite, with full-size kitchens and private balconies. Booking.com sells oceanfront and poolside suites at the same entry rate. Pick oceanfront.

There's a summer kids' activity program, an arcade and the 32 Palm restaurant. The Boardwalk ends five blocks south. Book this one if the kids rank the pool above the Boardwalk. Check Hilton Oceanfront Suites rates.

The north end

OceanCity.com's family guide calls North Ocean City much quieter and less crowded than downtown. The catch is distance: it's a drive or a Coastal Highway bus ride to the Boardwalk.

Princess Royale Oceanfront Resort

The one that works in February. The Princess Royale bills itself as Maryland's largest oceanfront resort, and its centerpiece is a four-story tropical atrium around an Olympic-size heated indoor pool. The resort calls it the largest heated indoor pool in Ocean City.

There's a Tiki bar in the atrium, a spa, an arcade, Schooners restaurant and The Current Oceanfront Bar & Grille. Rooms are suites with kitchens.

Watch the categories here too. The entry rate is a "Best Value Suite" with no balcony and no view, and Booking.com's price includes a nightly resort fee. Direct Oceanfront suites cost more. Book this one if you want a resort that still works when the ocean is too cold. Check Princess Royale rates.

Ashore Oceanfront Hotel, Ocean City, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel

The Marriott option at the far north end. It reopened in 2023 after a renovation. In May 2026 it joined Marriott Bonvoy, managed by Stonebridge, under the Tribute Portfolio flag.

Ashore Oceanfront Hotel has 250 rooms at 101st Street, with an outdoor pool, a hot tub and a fitness center. Food and drink run from the Wahoo Beach Bar to the Tide Room, a seafood restaurant. Many rooms have a balcony. Its Expedia listing says it was remodeled in 2026. Look for "Oceanside" in the room name. The minimum check-in age is 21, and Marriott charges for parking.

Book this one if you want the north end, away from the Boardwalk crowds. Check Ashore Oceanfront Hotel rates.

More Ocean City hotels on the sand

Six more pass the same test. They didn't make the grid, but each fits a specific trip.

On the Boardwalk:

• Courtyard Ocean City Oceanfront, 15th Street. Harrison-run, recently renovated, with an indoor pool and balconies. Booking.com reviews are strong but few, and check-in is 18+. Check Courtyard rates.
• Comfort Inn Ocean City Boardwalk, 5th Street. An indoor heated pool, an oceanfront outdoor pool, kitchenettes and free breakfast, close to the inlet end. Check Comfort Inn Boardwalk rates.
• Park Place Hotel, between 2nd and 3rd Streets. Oceanfront rooms have balconies, per Frommer's, and every room has a kitchenette. Its cheapest Booking.com rooms face the bay. Check Park Place rates.

In midtown:

• DoubleTree by Hilton Ocean City Oceanfront, 33rd Street, a block north of the Hilton Suites. An indoor pool, an oceanfront pool with a bar and a rooftop pool, open year-round. Check DoubleTree rates.
• Quality Inn Oceanfront, 54th Street. A five-story tropical atrium with exotic birds, a koi pond and an indoor pool. Don't confuse it with the Quality Inn Ocean City Beachfront on Baltimore Avenue, a separate hotel. Check Quality Inn Oceanfront rates.

At the north end:

• Carousel Resort Hotel & Condominiums, 11700 Coastal Highway. It has the only indoor ice rink in Ocean City, per the hotel, plus two- and three-bedroom oceanfront condos. Its Booking.com rating trails every other hotel in this guide. Check Carousel rates.

Searching for hotels "on the water" can also turn up the bay side. The Cambria Hotel Ocean City – Bayfront sits on the bay side, as its name says. Sunsets, yes. An ocean beach outside, no.

Which Ocean City beachfront hotels have an indoor pool?

Most of them. Two stand out. The Princess Royale's Olympic-size pool sits in a four-story glass atrium. The Quality Inn Oceanfront pairs its indoor pool with a five-story tropical atrium of exotic birds.

Holiday Inn & Suites, Hyatt Place (oceanfront building), Grand Hotel, Hilton Garden Inn, DoubleTree, Courtyard, Comfort Inn Boardwalk and Carousel all list an indoor pool too. The Hilton Suites' showpiece pools are outdoors and heated. Ashore lists an outdoor pool and hot tub.

Five of these hotels are one company

Harrison Group runs the Holiday Inn & Suites, the Hilton Suites, the DoubleTree, the Courtyard and the Quality Inn Oceanfront. Its own site lists a dozen-plus Ocean City properties, including the Holiday Inn Oceanfront at 67th Street and the Plim Plaza on the Boardwalk. The family built Harrison Hall, on the Boardwalk, in 1951.

So comparing those five means comparing one operator's flags. If you want a different company, the Hyatt Place, Grand, Hilton Garden Inn (OTO Development), Princess Royale and Ashore (Stonebridge) are all outside the group.

How to choose your street

First trip or young kids: the Boardwalk, below 27th Street. Book the Holiday Inn & Suites, or the Grand for less.

A view and a walk, not the crowds: midtown, just past the boards. Book the Hilton Garden Inn for the view, or the Hilton Suites for the pools.

A long weekend in the off-season: the Princess Royale. Its atrium pool doesn't care about the weather. Check Princess Royale availability for winter dates, or lock in the Holiday Inn & Suites before summer rates set in.

When to go

June through August is peak season, and Google search interest in Ocean City bottoms out from November to January. The price gap is real. The Hilton Garden Inn's oceanfront rooms go from around $70 on a November weeknight to over $400 on a July one, and mid-September still sits well above winter.

Swimming is a summer thing here. The Ocean City Beach Patrol guards the beach daily from 10:00 to 17:30, from Memorial Day weekend until the third Sunday after Labor Day. The town says to stay out of the water when lifeguards are off duty.

Off-season, Winterfest of Lights runs from late November through New Year's Eve. That's prime time for the indoor-pool hotels. Atlantic hurricane season runs June through November, so check the cancellation terms on late-summer bookings.

For more of this coast, the Maryland beachfront guide starts here, and Virginia Beach runs its own oceanfront boardwalk further south. The Outer Banks run the same barrier-island trip in North Carolina, and Myrtle Beach buys you warmer water and a longer season. Heading north, Cape Cod's beachfront hotels swap the strip for dunes.

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