The city of Ocean Shores, citing its ordinance granting it oversight of hotels and motels, has shut the Shilo Inns Ocean Shores for the second time in six months.

A “Notice and Order to Abate Unsafe or Unlawful Condition” dated Jan. 28 has been affixed to the entrance door of the hotel.

According to a Jan. 28 building inspection, the property was open and occupied. The notice indicated several violations of Ocean Shores Municipal Code, including structural and sanitation issues, plumbing problems, and the accumulation of junk and debris creating a fire hazard. The management of the Shilo Inns was ordered to remove all occupants from the premises immediately.

In July of 2025, the City passed an ordinance that states, in part, “The Inspection Official shall inspect each hotel premises, to include the physical examination of an appropriate sampling of guest rooms, not less than once every 24 months, for compliance with the provisions of this article. The Official may inspect or reinspect hotel premises more frequently and or vary the number of guest rooms included in the sampling as deemed necessary and proper to achieve and maintain continuing compliance.”

In order to reopen, Ocean Shores Building Inspector Dominic Deibel’s report said the Shilo Inns must:

Restore water service to the entire property

Obtain all necessary permits and pass all inspections required by the city of Ocean Shores

Schedule a joint inspection of the entire building with both the Fire Inspector, Building Inspector, and Washington State Health Department

All required city, county and state licenses need to be up to date

Remediate bed bug infestation cited in Jan. 27, 2026 Transient Accommodation Inspection conducted by city Code Enforcement

Last July, a Transient Accommodations Inspection Report prepared by the Washington State Department of Health indicated overflowing garbage, flies in the fitness room bathroom and spiders in guest laundry, lack of current boiler certificates, lack of adequate hot and cold water available to guests at all times, stained carpeting and mattresses and peeling wallpaper in certain rooms.

At that time, Mark S. Hemstreet, founder and owner of Shilo Inns, said that efforts were being made to deal with a propane gas leak and that the issues found in the inspections would be rectified after the leak was fixed. Upon learning of the code violations last August, Hemstreet said, “I have not seen (the Health Department report), but we will certainly take care of it, this is the first I’ve heard about that. We’re very proud of our long-term standing of providing cleanliness and friendliness customer standards to all of our guests over 30 years.”

Located on the northwest corner at the intersection of Ocean Shores Boulevard and W. Chance a la Mer NW, the property boasts 113 “luxury suites” and a 3,000-gallon lobby aquarium. The Shilo Inns Ocean Shores hotel employs an average of 15 people and 15 to 20 in the restaurant.

Last August, the author of the city’s ordinance, City Councilor Richard Wills, said, “The standards of maintenance and care of guests of the Shilo have been substandard for a long time. This motivates those owners because with this ordinance, the city has the ability to shut that hotel down.”

And shut it the city has.