Sanderling Resort

Hotel provided complimentary fruit.

The front desk staff were patient and kind.

Overall: 3 stars for cost versus what you can get for similar prices just a little north in Corolla. Clean rooms, clean beach, great staff. Expensive stay at grandparents slightly decayed beach house. 5 star service without a doubt. Lisa was INCREDIBLY accommodating and helpful at check-in. Every single staff member made sure to say hello and had a smile on their face and were eager to be helpful. The rooms were cute and clean. If you want a view of the ocean make sure you request a 3rd floor room, otherwise you will be looking at the sand dunes. The sunsets on the bay side are beautiful (picture included). Location is an easy walk to the beach and the beach was beautiful and peaceful. Quick drive north to Corolla for food and shopping as well as south to Duck for the same. Again, if the price were about 20% less this would be a 5 star stay all day. They definitely need to give their photographer a bonus for the photos.

I would not recommend The Sanderling Resort. My husband and I had been anticipating our first trip to the Outer Banks for almost a year and arrived to find out that the room I booked in October 2024 (directly through the hotel and even called to confirm the type of room we booked b/c the confirmation didn't have the type of room on it) was not available. We were supposed to have an ocean view suite with sitting area, fireplace, and bathtub. What we were given was a standard room on the backside of the hotel that faced the busy road. While I know this is not the end of the world, our annual vacation is something that we look forward to, and a large part of our enjoyment is the room. We enjoy being able to sit on a balcony where we can see and hear the ocean, and having a fireplace is icing on the cake. We were given no other explanation than our reservation had been changed in their system in June and unfortunately, they had no other ocean view rooms to offer us. Actually, the confirmation that I received less than a week before our arrival (which I presented to the person at the desk) showed the ocean view suite. Then we were told that they sometimes overbook the resort. Whatever the case was, we booked a room directly with the hotel 11 months before our arrival, and somehow we were bumped from our room with no courtesy of letting us know ahead of time. And considering the weather was extremely windy and rainy most of the week, we spent more time in our room than expected. Had we been in the ocean view suite, it would've been much more enjoyable. So I would never stay at The Sanderling Resort again, nor would I recommend it to anyone unless you want to book a room only to have it changed with no warning to a room you didn't pick. The only positive thing I can say about our experience is that they did refund us for the difference.