My fiance and I stayed here:
http://www.dunesmanor.com/ It is 1 block off the boardwalk at OC, so you don't have to deal with the noise and what-not of that. And you get a clear view all the way to the water, which is just right over a dune in the back of the hotel.
And the great part about being so close to the boardwalk is, in the morning, you can wake up and bike ride up and down it. We went to The Dough Roller on....12th street every day we were there, and a few times all the way down to those cool old style shops past 1st street.