Great rooms for the price. The location if you’re a surfer fisherman or into windsurfing/kitesurfing is unbeatable for the money. This is not the motel six corporate. This is a family owned business and treat it , and everyone there like family.

The swell motel has thought of everything. Our room was clean with new furnishings. We had a kitchen with a stove, oven microwave and fridge with freezer large enough to hold a weeks worth of food. Our room was quiet and comfortable. Outside was a hose to wash off the sand, and they have a first rate fish cleaning area. They also have bikes and kayaks available for use. I highly recommend the Swell Motel.

All of you saying “super cheap but high quality” do NOT know what high quality is. And i can tell you, my boyfriend booked a birthday trip for me. My first time visiting outer banks ever, ill tell you now im someone who only stays at resorts/hotels and THIS STORY WILL SHOW YOU WHY. Once i was told it was a “motel” im staying at i was already skeptical as i know how LAZY the workers are for motels. Though i understood that this island doesnt really have “hotels” it more motels than anything, so i thought “surely the motel were staying at is actually a decent one” wrong. No actual housekeeping just the same person that works at the front office, if you look at her cleaning cart shes got just about NOTHING to PROPERLY clean a motel room, cleaning cart got a broom and some trash bags lol. It started off small, i had spilled some water and when i went to clean it, the paper towel came up BLACK thats how dirty the floors were, we noticed PUBIC HAIRS on the shower walls. I tried ignoring that as you know sometimes we do miss spots (and thats okay) i then notice dead bugs on the floor…. then i go to shower, i notice USED. WASH CLOTHS. WITH PUBIC HAIRS. ON THEM. ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING. Thats not even the best kick to all of this, then my boyfriend does a FULL SCAN of the entire room, the first place he checks, under the bed, what does he see? ??????DEAD. COCKROACH??????NEVER IN MY LIFE HAVE I SEEN SUCH A LAZY, DISGUSTING COMPANY. This cockroach look like it had BEEN there, under the bed had a whole bunch of dust and spider webs like no one has gone under to clean in a LONG WHILE. instead of hiring an actual house keeping cleaning they hire people from this lsland who HATE tourists and think that they will be able to get away with anything. When my boyfriend and i expressed these concerns to the lady at the front office, she completely disregards we found cockroaches and tried to label them as “waterbugs” im from the south. I am not stupid. “Waterbugs” are another word for cockroaches. My boyfriend and i told her we wanted our money back, as we DID NOT spend ONE SINGLE NIGHT in that room, we were told we would get contacted by management (we are 98% sure we were talking to the manager as she was very persistent on dismissing us) I get this is a small town, but you still have standards to meet, i dont care that you cant stand tourism, why own a motel if this is how you will treat the people PAYING YOU to stay at YOUR motel. Absolutely disgusting, no respect for others whatsoever. ????DO NOT BOOK WITH SWELL MOTEL UNLESS YOU JUST DONT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT HOW DIRTY YOUR ROOM IS???? and if the owners want to respond to this review it better be an apology and not no BS excuse on how this motel was “built in the 1950s” or that “we called exterminators already” Just take this bad review and accept it as i seen, most others with bad reviews share similar experiences. i see how the owner for this motel likes to respond to the bad reviews here and you prove my point on how businesses out here will try to get as much money out of tourists and take nothing of their concerns into consideration. (Yes please be offended on how i think im above you as this story was literally to prove WHY i think that, picture proof and all)

The Swell Motel is truly a gem! The rooms are spotless, well-kept, and the beds are extremely comfortable, making for a great night’s rest. While it’s a wonderful spot for anyone looking to stay at the beach, it’s absolutely perfect for fishermen. You can back right up to your door for easy unloading, and they’ve thought of everything—plenty of ice, a fish cleaning station, and even air for filling back up. We’ve stayed here four times this year already and plan to come back a couple more times before the season ends. After trying other places in the area, the Swell Motel has become our go-to spot. Highly recommend!

The rooms were clean, and the staff was very friendly and welcoming. There are a lot of fun things to do here! Swell Motel offers bikes, kayaks, horseshoes, cornhole, fire pits, a nice pool, etc. The complimentary coffee and access to a washer and dryer and air pump were very convenient! The nearby beaches are beautiful! The drive to get to the ferry, that took us to Ocracoke, was probably a little under 30 minutes. I cannot recall exactly. We stayed an extra night, and I am so happy we did. The live music was awesome, and the food was delicious. I hope to visit again one day.

My husband and I have stayed twice, and there will definitely be future stays for sure. Our room was super clean, and I mean super clean. The ladies in the office are super sweet. The location is perfect. Saturday night there was live music playing. I really enjoyed that sitting on the porch outside the room. The atmosphere at this little spot is prefect to get away and relax. Highly recommend.

My wife and I stayed here for our “parent getaway” week. We are so glad we chose to stay here. The rooms were clean with comfortable beds. The room size was perfect for a couple. The pool was our favorite. It was very clean and a nice amenity to have. There were so many amenities in addition to the pool-cooking area, water hose to rinse beach chairs and fishing poles, kayaks, bikes, fisherman’s area, ice machines, and within walking distance to several places. The owner, Laura, and her staff were friendly and attentive. They made sure you felt right at home. We are already planning our next trip back to the Swell Motel.

My husband and I were headed back from our trip to Hatteras and decided we wanted to stay one more night and enjoy the beach- this motel was perfect! The staff was friendly, from booking the room to checkout everything was a breeze, and the room was large and clean. I wish we could have stayed longer to enjoy the amenities, we will definitely be back! Bonus- it’s dog friendly!!

We booked Swell Motel based on the good reviews. Unfortunately, our experience was not swell. We were supposed to stay three nights and ended up leaving after the first night. When we checked in, we were under the impression we had booked a dog-friendly room but they did not have that on file. They were able to find a dog-friendly room for us, however, which was good until we actually got to our room. The room smelled musty and damp, with dead insects on the floor. The bathroom seemed grimy and out of date (I did not venture to use the shower). The main reason we chose to leave after the first night was because of the musty room combined with the utter lack of ventilation. Our room had a window, but it would not open. Even if we could open it, it had no screen. The front door also had no screen so if we wanted to get fresh air in the room we basically had to keep the front door wide open. Overnight we put the AC unit on hoping it would help with ventilation, but unfortunately it did not. We had a restless night of breathing problems. The next day our throats were very irritated and we were coughing. To add to the bad night, my husband woke to a spider crawling over him. Also saw a large one in the bathroom. The next morning we asked if the window could be opened and they said no because it was old. We then asked if we could move rooms but there were none available. We decided to cut our losses and leave. After we left, everything we had in the room reeked of the musty-damp odor. As we were packing up the car, a random guy pulled up and asked if we had gotten the window open. Confused, we said no, because we didn't even know who this man or how he knew we had a window issue. He then said something like he was sent to look at the window--ok, too little too late, but also if he was on staff (I assume) why wouldn't you open with, "Hi I'm X, the owner sent me to fix your window." I honestly thought he was another guest at first. We wanted to like this place because it was pet-friendly and had free bikes to take out. Unfortunately our experience was poor and I doubt we will be given a refund. I truly think we were given the worst room of the entire motel based on the other reviews.

We have stayed here while on a friends trip for the past 3 summers and rave about it every time. They are constantly upgrading to fit the needs of guests, the rooms are incredibly clean and equipped. Industrial Ice machine for coolers, fish cleaning area, air pump, the pool is always on point, live entertainment... They truly think of the little things and they do everything to ensure a good time. Most of all they seem to be great people!