Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times
The scene behind the hotel, which is a block from the ocean.
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Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times
The Cactus room, designed by Federico Saenz-Recio.
Rooms start at $159.
Basics
Playland Motel is emblematic of the changing face of Rockaway Beach after Hurricane Sandy. As the community has rebuilt itself, new establishments have popped up, including this hotel that is more hipster Brooklyn than old-school beach. Named for the Playland amusement park that was once the neighborhood landmark, this brainchild of four entrepreneurs who run nightclubs and restaurants in Williamsburg opened in July in a two-story 19th-century building refurbished with reclaimed barn wood. Behind the building, a pebbled "beach" has colorful deck chairs, and a stage for concerts. Like many impossibly cool establishments, its entrance was difficult to find. My husband and I walked past the building several times before the nice lady at the Chinese takeout next door guided us down an alley toward a set of stairs leading to a room where a fittingly stylish (and blasé) receptionist wedged amid cleaning supplies checked us in.
Location
A block from the Atlantic, the hotel is an easy trip by subway, ferry or car from Manhattan. (The train ride takes about an hour.) It's surrounded by bodegas and surfer haunts like Rockaway Taco.
The Room
Each of the 12 rooms was designed by a Brooklyn artist. Our corner room was airy and pleasing to the eye. The hotel's quixotic Web site explained that this room's décor "investigates the problem of simplicity, celebrating the human error." Though we weren't quite sure what this meant, we did appreciate the pale wood detailing on the white walls punctuated with little cactus pots. The queen bed came with a trundle bed. The lack of a closet was bothersome, as were details like the thin, exposed foam "cushion" on the sole chair. The noisy air-conditioner would have bothered us had it not been drowned out by pounding music from the hotel's restaurant below that lasted past 4 a.m.
The Bathroom
The Web site neglected to mention the communal bathrooms: four toilets at one end of the floor, four showers at the other. (And there were no bathrobes.) The stalls were largely clean and equipped with scented lotions and soaps from Goldies, a local company. The shower was a problem: mine, though just cleaned, had stains on the floor. And besides two towel hooks, there was no logical surface on which to place clothing. When I placed mine atop the trash can, the lid caved in.
Amenities
Free Wi-Fi, which was slow and spotty in our room.
Breakfast
At check-in, we were informed that the hotel's restaurant, the Playland Diner, served breakfast from 9 a.m. on weekends. So we were surprised to find the metal grates still down just before 10 a.m. The manager casually said she'd decided to change the start time that day, shrugging when we asked for an exact time. "Eleven?" she volunteered. The diner opened at 11:30. The brunch menu had eggs, pancakes, sliders and more for $7 to $12. Our fried chicken and waffles were delicious, but the haphazard service resurfaced. As we waited for our check, a waitress shuffled across the largely empty room to ask, "Has anyone taken your order yet?"
Bottom Line
A basic hotel for the party-hearty and those not wedded to a good night's sleep.
Playland Motel, 97-20 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Rockaway Beach, N.Y.; (718) 318-1035; playlandmotel.com.
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