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Ocean City · Hotel shortlist

The best hotels near Inlet

Ellie Brandt

Ellie Brandt Southeast Asia

Updated 1 September 2026 · 61 Ocean City hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Ocean City, out of the 61 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.5 down to 4.2.

All five are inside 1.5 km of Inlet, so you can walk it.

Gateway Hotel & Suites Ocean City, an Ascend Collection Hotel

Highest rated of the five

Gateway Hotel & Suites Ocean City, an Ascend Collection Hotel

★★★★★4.5 from 565 reviews

Gateway Hotel & Suites Ocean City, an Ascend Collection Hotel comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.5 from 565 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is a 4 star property and found under poi.

61 hotels in Ocean City qualified for this list and five made it. Cambria Hotel Ocean City - Bayfront is the one I would book if the first is full.

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All five, ranked

  1. Gateway Hotel & Suites Ocean City, an Ascend Collection Hotel1

    Gateway Hotel & Suites Ocean City, an Ascend Collection Hotel

    ★★★★★4.5 from 565 reviews

    1.0 km from Inlet, about a 12 minute walk

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    • Cambria Hotel Ocean City - Bayfront2

      Cambria Hotel Ocean City - Bayfront

      ★★★★★4.4 from 859 reviews

      1.0 km from Inlet, about a 12 minute walk

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      • Park Place Hotel3

        Park Place Hotel

        ★★★★★4.4 from 805 reviews

        1.2 km from Inlet, about a 15 minute walk

        • Pool
        • Restaurant
        • Bar
        • Parking
        • Kitchen
        • Kid friendly

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      • Comfort Inn Ocean City Boardwalk4

        Comfort Inn Ocean City Boardwalk

        ★★★★★4.3 from 1,029 reviews

        1.5 km from Inlet, about a 19 minute walk

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        • Madison Beach Motel5

          Madison Beach Motel

          ★★★★★4.2 from 1,311 reviews

          900 m from Inlet, about a 11 minute walk

          • Pool
          • Parking
          • Kitchen
          • Air conditioning

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        How this list was put together

        61 Ocean City hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to Inlet second, then took the top five.

        Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

        The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

        What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

        Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

        Ellie Brandt

        Ellie Brandt Southeast Asia

        Works weekends at an animal shelter and saves the pay for off-season flights. Hostels, night buses, and volunteering at animal sanctuaries for a bunk. Six countries in three years.

        Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.