Tides Inn

This was a great experience. The BandB was vintage with a beautiful home style feel. The room was decorated in an old fashion sort of way that had nice cute amenities. The room came with a private bathroom, breakfast and a nice cheese and meat tray with a choice of local wine or local beer at their Market Bistro. Everything from the breakfast was made fresh and the inn keeper was very pleasant and accommodating.

I really wanted to like this place.
I made reservations for my husband and I to visit this resort for our anniversary. I upgraded the room to a waterfront balcony room. I also booked 4 hour spa packages for us. We checked in on a Friday and were supposed to stay until Sunday. We ended up checking out on Saturday because we were bored silly! Let me preface this review by saying that I am in my late 30’s and my husband is in his early 40’s…Here is a breakdown of my experience:
We arrived on Friday at about 4 pm and we were greeted with cookies and lemonade. The staff was EXTREMELY nice and accomodating. Customer service was top notch. Everyone was extremely welcoming. The grounds are beautiful and very well-​kempt.
Upon arriving to our room, I was immediately disappointed. It was neat and clean but it smelled like mildew. Its seems like it has not been updated in a while. The bathroom was very nice. The balcony was carpeted — yeah, never seen that before and our waterfront view was some murky, dirty, nasty body of water with bugs, and random stuff thrown in it. Needless to say, we didn’t venture out there much.
We immediately went to dinner at the resort and the dining room was empty, sans the wait staff. It was weird — almost like that scene from «I Know What You Did Last Summer» when those 4 folks were the only ones on the island. The food was mediocre at best but very expensive. The two of us had selzer water, two drinks a piece, an appetizer (salt and pepper shrimp — NASTY) and we both had crab cake entrees. I ordered dessert. Our bill was $ 174. OUCH! After dinner, we took a walk and noticed that NO ONE was in our age range. Seemed to be a lot of older people there. We went back to our room and my husband took a nap and I watched TV. A couple of hours later, we decided to venture downstairs to see what was up. It was like a morgue. We sat at the bar — ALONE and drank Lancaster Lemonade (their signature drink), got drunk and stumbled back to our room.
We were so bored so we decided to check out the next day (they were nice enough not to charge us for the extra day) but we had made spa appointments in advance and when I tried to cancel, they told us they would charge us the full amount so we went. I walked in and was DISAPPOINTED. The spa is not cozy or inviting. It has not been updated since Miami Vice was on TV. I wanted to walk out but didn’t and its a good thing because our services were AWESOME. And the folks performing the services were even better. That was the highlight of our entire stay at Tides.
Needless to say, this place needs a facelift AND more activities. I would consider going back if that happened. But to spend almost $ 300 a night and not be in luxury is a little disappointing. 3 stars for the staff and specifically for Shane, the massage therapist :-).

We might feel differently about this place if it had been less expensive. My husband and I stayed here on a Saturday night in June. The WiFi didn’t work. The lobby area needed updating and dusting. It was very dirty under the bed in our room. The location was close to the beach but the neighboring houses were not very appealing to the eyes. The breakfast pancakes were good but the coffee was not good. Luckily, there was a coffee shop next door. Consider looking around before choosing this location. I definitely wouldn’t want to stay here more than one night.

Friendly service– the owner was very personable! The food is delicious!!! And the beds are soooo comfortable. We stayed in the Karen Ann and it was so cozy and perfect! I will definitely be back!

Not for non-​smokers! Although the owner posts a No Smoking sign in the front room, the entire inn reeks of cigarette smoke. When I asked about the smoke smell, she said that she smokes. In other words, it is NOT a non-​smoking establishment. Do not stay here if cigarette smoke bothers you– the smell is pervasive throughout.

We made a spontaneous decision to stay in Colonial Beach, after visiting Ingleside and eating at Seaside. I walked in, after dinner and called out for someone, anyone, to answer my entreaties. The lobby was nicely decorated with antiques and shabby chicness. A sign thanking you for not smoking was on the desk, even though the room reeked of cigarette smoke. I went back and forth calling and going next door knocking on the door marked Private. After several tries, I got the owner.
Since there was 4 of us, we took the two adjoining rooms and were charged 150.00, for the night. There was only one other room rented, so it was fairly quiet. The rooms were nicely appointed with antiques and linens. The lamp beside my bed looked exactly like one my grandmother used to own. Could it have been a garage sale purchase? We did use to live close by.
One of my daughters and I took advantage of the complementary golf cart and took a ride around the area, while she ate her ice cream.
Since this is a B&B, breakfast is included. The brochure mentioned, among other things, farm fresh eggs, which we were looking forward to. We were served a delicious blueberry puff pastry and bacon. My vegetarian daughter needed protein, and it didn’t seem like eggs were arriving, so I requested some for her. She didn’t seem too thrilled, but did oblige with some scrambled eggs.
All in all the visit was pleasant. The location is perfect, if you are planning a stay on «the playground on the Potomac.»

My friend and I had a great girls’ getaway at The Tides Inn. A few days before we headed to Colonial Beach, I called to confirm my reservation and ask if we could leave a few items inside the inn since we’d be arriving before check-​in. We were informed that there was no one staying in our room the night before, so we could check in any time. Nice!
We arrived around 10 a.m., found the owner, Megan Davis, and checked right in. She showed us our room, gave us a quick description of the Colonial Beach area, and let us know there was a cocktail hour around 5 and continental breakfast the next morning. When she found out we were planning to hit the beach, she also offered us beach chairs to use for the duration of our stay, and told us what areas were nicer for laying out.
Our room was actually across the street from the Tides Inn at The Breakers, an old building that had been used as a hotel since around 1906. Our room was newly renovated with white carpet, two queen beds and a marble bathroom. There were lots of windows, making for a really nice, airy room. The TV didn’t have cable, but Megan had put three girl-​weekend-​friendly DVDs in our room, so no big deal. Our room didn’t have soap or other toiletries in it, but I think it’s because we arrived early and a few final details hadn’t been set up in the room. Again, no big deal since we both travel with our own stuff, but I noticed other rooms had them, so I’m sure we could have gotten some with a call to Megan.
We spent the day on the beach, then returned to our room around 5 for wine and snacks. We enjoyed a nice glass of sauvignon blanc and some DELICIOUS hummus and toasted bread from Megan’s daughter’s The Tides Inn Market, which is in the front of the Tides Inn. The Breakers has a long patio with lots of chairs, which were nice for sitting out during cocktail hour and breakfast the next day.
Speaking of breakfast, it too was very good. Each person got a homemade quiche, and there was delicious bread, preserves, butter and cream cheese, along with orange juice and coffee.
My only minor quibble: I’ve never stayed at a B&B before, and once or twice it was a little hard to find the owner if we had a quick question. I forgot to bring a wine key with me, and felt kind of bad barging into the market when I wanted to see if I could borrow one. Similarly, I went into the market when I couldn’t find Megan right away to check in and check out. I don’t think this was a big deal, but I just felt bad bothering Megan’s daughter when she had her own business to run. Each time I went in with questions, everyone was very polite and found answers for me, though.
I’d definitely return here the next time I’m in Colonial Beach. It was the perfect place for an affordable, elegant weekend away.