There wasn't a good sign for check in so we had to ask, but it was fine.
Check in was a little hectic, but it was right about 4pm (normal check in time), so there was a long time, but they moved everyone through pretty quickly.
The Ellie is definitely an older hotel (it's the old Springmaid resort), but they have done a good job of updating it where they can. The rooms are updated and clean (no bugs), the bed was soft, and the shower had great water pressure.
The elevators are slow, and the parking deck poles made me nervous to park there, so we just parked outside (I was afraid I would hit them trying to park).
We didn't venture over to the DoubleTree, but it was nice to know that we could use their pools as well. Just be sure to wear your wristband!
I didn't realize exactly how far down the beach we were when we booked, so we had to travel about 30 minutes (or more) to get anywhere that we wanted to be-Barefoot, Broadway, etc but that's on me.
We were basically across the street from the airport, so expect to see and hear planes arriving and taking off, as well as the helicoptor tours going every 5 minutes. If you're going to be at the hotel during the day, that can get annoying.
It was very nice being able to walk out right onto the beach from the pier.
Bottom line- its a clean hotel, right on the beach.