The Carousel is in a good location, with great views, in walkable Ocean City. You can see, and can…read morewalk right on to OC's beautiful beach. The boardwalk is beyond walking distance, so you will have to drive and pay to park there, or buy a bus pass. Still, there are other attractions in the immediate area.
We stayed in Condo 602, at a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom condo on the 6th floor of the Carousel. The living room and master bedroom have fantastic ocean views. The master has a king bed, the second two queen beds, and the third 2 singles, so it sleeps 6 comfortably and children can share the beds in the second bedroom. The beds in this particular condo were firm and comfortable.
The condo is great for families, extended families, three couples, and groups of friends, but not cost efficient for just one couple. For groups of at least four, the number this condo accommodates makes it as cost efficient as you can get in the current market. We were three couples who are friends. The couple who took the master bedroom paid more of the bill than the other two.
You can also walk to a Food Lion supermarket right across the street, and to a range of restaurants. The kitchen is well equipped. You can cook from scratch, store food, and supplement a takeout order, thus making dining over a week-long vacation convenient and cost efficient. The common area is enough room for a group of people to hang out in. There is an open plan with kitchen, dining area and living room, plus a furnished balcony that runs the length of the entire condo (living room and master bedroom). You can access the balcony from both rooms. The east-facing windows are floor to ceiling, comprising the entire eastern exposure. This adds to the ambiance and provides a great ocean view. You can sit at a picnic table on the bay-side deck. You can watch the sun set in the west if you get tired of looking at the ocean in the east.
There are negative reviews that note that the Carousel is older and noisy, but most of the these relate to the hotel rooms rather than the condos. I read that the lower hotel portion is noisy with various activities going on, but the 6th floor is above all that. Still, there are some caveats: The hotel is boisterous and seems geared for families with children, but not for romantic get-aways. The 2nd and 3rd bedrooms lack views, unlike the master, which has an ocean view. The internet is slow. During busy times, the elevators get busy. We occasionally walked down 5 flights. The boardwalk is beyond walking distance, so you will have to drive or buy a bus pass. Still, the Carousel is a good base of operations for a beach vacation. The 3-bedroom condo on the 6th floor at the Carousel was convenient, comfortable and as cost efficient as you can get in the current market. If we can get another group together, we will happily return.