Wylder Tilghman Island

This place has a lot of potential! Pros Nice property close to water Charming Nicely renovated Good AC in the rooms Nice room with a small bathroom Very.cozy robes Friendly staff Ticklers Crab Shack good food, drinks, and great atmosphere Cons Small tv in room Minimal shaded areas to relax outside. The only shaded area was 2 chairs and a hammock in front of the property. On the weekend the pool was packed. There were 9 umbrellas and about 18 chairs. The umbrellas didn’t move/tilt so you were mostly in the sun at temps that felt like 101 Overall we enjoyed our stay. This place would be perfect in the off peak summer months when it was cooler. We enjoyed playing games in the air conditioned bar area during the day. In the evening sitting outside was delightful but bring bug spray. Saint Michaels is a 15 minute drive to restaurants, shopping, and a nice brewery.

I rarely write reviews. When I do, I try to be balanced. It's difficult to be objective when you are locked out of the hotel and have no means of contacting the hotel staff. When it seems like one's only options are sleeping outside or calling the police for assistance, it tends to color one's judgement. Wylder, why is there no way that guests can get in touch with staff after 8PM? I'll explain in greater detail below. In short, the Wylder has potential, but as other reviewers have noted, there is an overall lack of care and/or thought put into the guest experience. I'll list the pros and cons. Pros: Tickler's Crab Shack: I echo the sentiments of others that the food is good, as is the view from the patio. Location: There is a view of the bay from most parts of the hotel. Dog Friendly: There were plenty of dogs on the property and they generally felt welcome. Cons: Rooms: Although our room was updated to provide a nautical feel, the bathroom fixtures appear to be original, the TV is miniscule and lacked basic channels (such as ESPN), and the room was incredibly cramped. The Pool: For a hotel of its size, the Wylder's pool is very modestly sized, located far away from any restrooms, and was overcrowded. I estimate that there are roughly 15 beach chairs, which were always occupied. The Service: The reception is only manned from 8 AM 8 PM, after which, hotel staff are unreachable. The main hotel line is only answered during those hours. If you have a problem outside of these hours (for instance, a toilet clogging, or A/C failing) there is NO way to get in touch with staff. I've never encountered this at a hotel, and it was unlikely to be relevant absent a mishap. Unfortunately, we DID have a mishap. While most rooms have exterior facing doors, the room to which we were assigned was in the main building above the lobby. When we were taken to our room, we were brought through the interior of the lobby and up stairs. The staffer who checked us in did not inform us of any other methods of entry. We figured that, like most hotels, the lobby would remain open 24 hours. Around 11 PM that evening, we were enjoying one of the firepits outside with our dog. Numerous guests were out and about, but Tickler's had closed and there were no visible staff on the grounds. Ready to turn in for the night, we found that ALL of the main level floor doors had been locked, leaving us with no apparent way to get back into the main building and access our hotel room. We could not locate any staff on site. The provided room key (or amenity key) did not work on any of the main floor locks. No staff member had come around to tell us that they were locking up the main floor, nor did anyone inform us of any other entry points. Further, there was no main floor signage indicating how to obtain access to our rooms. Typically, hotels have a security guard or other staffer at the main desk or on the property at all times not the case at the Wylder. I called the hotel main line at 11:30PM, found it was unmanned after 8PM and never received a call back. Faced with the prospect of sleeping outside, we were fairly upset and on the verge of calling the police. Around midnight, my enterprising partner, through trial and error, found another entrance (which required going up stairs on the front of the property, going inside through a side building and back out again, through private balconies on the back side of the property and back around to the front side of the property). It seemed that the Wylder had a policy in place of leaving only a hard to reach second floor door unlocked for after hours access to our block of rooms. However, we were never informed of this policy and there was no readily visible signage making this clear. This is unacceptable for any hotel, let alone one that markets itself as upscale (with prices to match). While we ultimately made it back to our hotel room after an hour or so, the experience just underlined the overall sense I got that the guest experience is not a priority for

The grounds are beautiful, the pool is small but pretty. (The pool could stand to have a much larger fenced area, twice as many chairs with umbrellas so there are shade options all day, less piped muzak. It is great there is free still water and sunscreen by the pool. They do have a waiter come to the pool to take food and beverage orders as well. At times our visit felt really serene, particularly sitting in some of the many Adirondack chairs looking out over the pretty water view. At other times our visit was fun and lively, eg at tickler’s when the party was on and the live music was going. The staff were universally friendly and helpful. We loved Tickler’s so much we ate dinner there twice it’s so convenient to not have to leave Tilghman Island at night. (Tip: do make a reservation for dinner especially on weekend nights. The bar at Tickler’s is top notch great drinks menu, generous pours, fun atmosphere especially when there’s live music. The waiters were friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive. For breakfast, the hotel option could stand to be enhanced quite a bit in terms of offerings, quantity, and quality, but just around the corner is the restaurant Two If By Sea, which has abundant, delicious, affordable breakfast. If you love dogs on vacation, this is the place for you. So many dogs frolicking about. There are lawn games, lots of fire pits, a hammock, a tree swing, a sauna, as well as first come/first served bikes, kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards. There seemed to be plenty of all of those. With that and the pool, it felt a little bit like summer camp.

We recently had a weekend getaway at the Wylder. Here are our pluses and minuses: THE GOOD: Good food and drinks at Tickler's. We really enjoyed the relaxed vibe during meals. Plenty of kayaks, paddleboards, and bikes. Salt water pool was nice, too. Great location and sunrise views on Tilghman Island. Good massage! THE NOT SO GOOD: Rooms are not great. The rooms were NEVER fancy whenever this thing was built, and they have not grown better with time. The amenities do not match the room cost. Few comfy indoor public areas. I do not know where one would want to curl up with a book if it was raining outside. A large family reunion basically colonized the comfy chairs outside the bungalow building for a whole weekend. They were nice folks and they had a good time, but they were not going to let anyone else enjoy that space. BOTTOM LINE: If you want a simple room and some good food by the water, Wylder is fine. Just don't expect resort level amenities and private water views.

Stayed here with 12 friends over the weekend for a friend’s 40th bday, we all had an amazing time, staff was great, food was amazing, spent all day Saturday in the saltwater pool. Not one of us had an issue with anything the whole weekend. Highly recommend. We will definitely be back as couples as well.