It was a beautiful weekend weather wise, so I decided to take a day/overnight trip to the beach. Stayed at the Commander hotel near 15th street. It's my second time there..i love the beach front suites that lead right out onto an elevated patio overlooking the beach and board walk. Great views and they even have rocking chairs for you to pass the time n take in the sites. If you want to hit the beach, it's literally about 30 feet away. The beach itself is huge, clean and the sand is nice too. I try not to spend much time in the room, although they are very nice. Spacious, clean, wood floors, ceiling fans...a really cool beach bungalow type ambience. The beach front suites have small kitchens..enough to prepare n store small meals.
I always eat out. I treated myself to boardwalk treats the day I arrived while walking from the hotel down the boardwalk all the way to the inlet. Thrashers fries swimming in vinegar and a Khors twist I've cream cone..def classics. That night I drove over to the bay side for Mexican food. Pancho n Pete's was my choice and I wasn't disappointed. I lived in San Diego so I'm a bit of a Mexican food snob. The nachos were great and the seafood burrito I had was stuffed with fresh, sweet scallops, lobster and shrimp. I don't drink but there was a huge bar, very nice for hanging out n watching sports or getting up with friends. There was also a guacamole cart if that's your thing.
I walked down to the beach that night, saw an amazing moon and star show then walked back to my room for a great night of sleep while hearing the waves crash.
September is a great time for a beach trip in oc. Great weather, not too crowded and everything is pretty much open still. The next morning I woke up to an amazing sunrise and a porpoises show as I was packing up to leave.
Great trip..room not cheap but there are other options. If your into good food stay away from the places near the boardwalk..find other places. If you prefer quiet, stay higher up on the streets away from the lower end of the boardwalk. The commander is great..not too close, not too far.

The hotel is in an ok but not great location. It's on the boardwalk, but not near enough to be super convenient, not secluded enough to be quiet. Note that there are no decent convenience stores within walking distance and the "shop" in the lobby consists of some candy and a small case of bottled water and gatorade. If you want so much as a carton of milk you have a several block walk or to drive.

Parking is the first challenge. There is almost none. There are two big parking lots next to the hotel but they are not for the hotel. There are maybe 10 spots tops, and maybe another 10 that are for pick up/drop off. Why there needs to be so many just for short term I have no idea. The actual parking lot for the hotel is across the highway, down a block, through a dark alley, behind some very shady apartments and some dumpsters, in a dark gravel lot. You do not want to walk to and from at night, nor will you want to carry much of anything that distance. We arrived at night and didn't have a choice and on the way back had to go past all the sketchy apartments with loud, raucous parties full of drunks and shouting. Those checking in late really should be allowed to park in the short term parking until morning at least, or the hotel needs to work out some kind of deal with whoever owns the lots next door that never did have many cars in them. You do not want to make that walk with kids!

The outdoor pool is decent, but fronts the highway so it is anything but relaxing. The indoor pool is about the size of a large hot tub or kiddie pool.

The rooms are decent enough. We had a corner suite and so it was larger than most. The beds are memory foam mattresses and pretty comfortable. The linens were all very clean and soft. The towels were above average. The bathroom is pretty small but functional. The balcony is larger but nothing like the pictures on the website. It does have a bump out but there is no chaise, just regular chairs, and the bump out is directly in front of the balcony so every other balcony looks directly at it. In other words, no privacy at all. Because of the parking lots on the side, and highway, it is very loud. There is no hotel next door to block the sound.

My biggest objection is the late check out policy. There is none. If you want to stay past 11 you have to pay for an extra day. No one was checking into our room after us. There was no way housekeeping was going to get to our floor before late afternoon anyway (and they didn't before late), but they were very inflexible about check out. I got inconsistent information about it and then told that it at best we could check out at 11:30.

We booked a last minute trip to OCMD and could not stay at our usual hotel. We booked a room at the Commander Hotel. The staff were all friendly and helpful but the room was filthy! When we pulled the blinds up to see out the windows were gross where you would open them. Also, behind the pullout couch/bed was nasty. The room was also very outdated. It looks like they tried to paint things but didn't finish the job. Definitely not what we were expecting but it was in a convenient location and had a pool to enjoy after the beach. They also did not have the option to make hot tea just coffee.