Anyone familiar with hotels at Daytona Beach?

[Snoopymom]

We need something for a last minute trip this weekend and after reading the trip advisor reports, I'm starting wonder if there are any nice hotels in Daytona, LOL.

We would like something as close to the pier as possible, so does anyone know anything about Boardwalk Inn or The Plaza Resort & Spa? Which one is closest to the pier? Are there any other's?

(Adam's Mark is booked and Ocean Walk requires a 2 night stay).

Thanks for any suggestions!!!

 

[sweetheart2576]

We stayed at the Boardwalk Inn in August 2003, We had an oceanfront suite. We had one bedroom with a tv and 2 double beds, and a living room with a foldout couch, a kitchen with full size appliances(fridge,stove,micro) The room was okay, I thought the air conditioner could have worked better but it was really hot also . The pool was average but my 6 year old daughter couldn't reach the bottom in the shallowest end so she primarily stayed on the steps or played under the mushroom sprinkler. The walkways and the stairwells to the room were just disgusting. The elevator was slow and the parking is limited if you are there at a busy time.(this really didn't bother us ) The walk to the pier is probably about 5 -7 minutes(pending on who was with me). THe entrance near the hotel is the last entrance to be able to drive on the beach, so you are really close to the traffic free area of the beach. That is really my major gripe about the whole place(the walkways). They are outside corridors,but just smelled and were filthy.. I know this sounds very negative but if they just cleaned the walkways and stairwells this place would be better. I would actually stay here again for the right price. This year we are booked at Oceanwalk resort for 3 nights in August. That place looks really nice. We drove down the street and found it hard to find one that i actually liked. Look in the roomsaver booklet for discounts for hotels in this area. We also asked to see what the rooms looked like at the Boardwalk inn before we rented. THey showed us the ones on the first floor(the hallway was clean), but we were on the third floor, where they weren't. I did see them cleaning the walkways the day we left though. Well good luck. I've never stayed at the plaza, but it looks much nicer than boardwalk inn. BOardwalk also has no balconies if you wanted a balcony.
http://www.roomsaver.com/search_display.php

www.roomsaver.com

 

[Snoopymom]

Well, we're back and I didn't get to read your post before we left so we stayed at the Boardwalk Inn!

(When I called The Plaza Resort, they said they were 3 1/2 blocks away from the pier and it wasn't really walkable, which wasn't true. They were just on the other side of Ocean Walk. I think we would have liked it much better.)

Anyway, I completely agree with everything you said!!! The place was pretty much a mess and the pool and deck chairs needed some serious cleaning. I could also see how parking would be a nightmare if it was a busy time, and the stairways are still disgusting! Even though the people were very friendly, gave us an ocean front room for the price of a standard room and let us check in at 10 am, I don't think I'd stay there again.

I tried not to be a germ/clean freak and we managed to have a blast, LOL. The location was great, we were able to walk everywhere. We watched a storm come through from the pier which was pretty neat, and we ate at the Ocean Deck and The Wreck which were both excellent!

We've stayed at The Beachcomer Inn, which is inexpensive, casual and quaint, but now I think it's a palace, LOL. It's a mile and a half away from everything, but it's clean, there is always someone checking the pool, wiping the chairs and tables down, the snack bar is great and always open, there are towels and free pool toys and water wings, it's just a nice family place and all of the rooms are ocean front.

We also have reservations for the Ocean Walk in September, and after we stay there, I don't think I'll want to stay anywhere else, LOL!

Thanks so much for the info, maybe it will help someone else!

 

[laurabelle]

I'm glad to hear the Beachcomer is good, I'll be staying there this Thursday-Sunday with 11 girlfriends, then it's off to the Dolphin! I'll be going back in July with my family and staying at Adam's Mark, which I think is in the middle of everything...

 

[kilee]

We stayed in the travelodge about 2 years ago. I think it is the WORST room I have ever stayed in!! It was only for 1 night, actually I wouldn't of stayed longer!! Planning on suprising DH and DS w/ tickets to the Daytona 500 this year--- only will make the commute from Orlando. It's such a shame that it's so hard to find nice accomodations in Daytona.

 

[Snoopymom]

Kile

You may be familiar with this but parking at the track for the 400 a few years ago was $25!!! so, it may be more for the 500! You'll also have a much more pleasant time if you avoid traffic by getting there extra early, like 6 or 7 in the morning and tailgating for an hour or two afterwards. It's fun to be there early, there's an exciting friendly buzz in the air with all the people walking around and chatting. Also try to park across the street from the track. It's definitely easier to make a right to get back to the highway, than a left across the median. I can never figure out why they don't have anyone directing traffic or why they don't make some of the lanes reversed. Hope this helps.

 

[sweetheart2576]

Sorry you didn't read the post in time. For a supposed newer resort you think they would do something with the walkways. We did not use the chairs by the pool except to throw our towels on, never sat in them or really paid attention to them. The hot tub needed cleaning there the first night but the 2nd day we were there they drained and cleaned it. The pool was actually pretty clean when we were there. Our room was clean, except for a yellow chair that was in the room which was stained all over, needless to say no one sat in it. The ice machine was also disgusting(did not use it either). I will let you know how oceanwalk is when we get back on 8/23. THe place does look really nice. Did you notice they have a special going on unitl 9/16(don't know your dates) for 109 weekdays, and 119 weekends?

 

[Snoopymom]

Sweetheart,

We had a stained yellow 70's looking like chair that we avoided too, LOL! Can you imagine staying there after staying at a spotless Disney Resort for a week, yeesh!

Yes, I cancelled my first reservation for $139, and had to rebook at the $109 on line. They said they couldn't give me that price by phone. They refunded me the 1 nights deposit on the first reservation, but they have not charged me in full for the second as my confirmation says, and it's been a month! Looks like I'm going to have to call them and ask. They also have/had a $99 special that you have to pay for up front and it can not be canceled. It was worth the extra 9 dollars to me to be able to cancel.

Gosh, won't it seem like a bargain to The Boardwalk? I hope it's nice! Have a great time!

 

[sweetheart2576]

It made my ressie april 9 and they just charged my account on 5/4, so it did take awhile also. Apparently they have a new indoor miniature golf course there now and a water playground for the kids
.

 

[sweetheart2576]

You will love the oceanwalk resort. we just got back and ended up staying 6 days. The first 3 were oceanfront the last 3 were not. There is so much to do at the resort, we had a blast and will definitely be going back there again, everytime we go to daytona.I cannot say enough about having the washer/dryer in the room. We just got back a few hours ago, i will find my paper and let you know some of the activites they had going on there.

 

[Snoopymom]

That's so kind of you to remember to report back. I'm so excited about our trip and now even more so. I'm also looking forward to having all of our clothes washed before heading to Disney, it sure is cutting down on the amount of clothes to pack.

I did end up having problems with my reservation. I called to add a night onto the front of our stay and they couldn't find my reservation at all. It took me about an hour to clear it up. I started to fear that we weren't going to be able to stay there at all let alone add a night, but they got it worked out!

Did you try any good restaurants? Oh, and is there a mini golf at the resort? My ds will be in heaven if there is. Do they have a kids program/babysitting kind of thing like the Disney resorts do? I'm kind of leary of that sort of thing, so I'm not sure if will use it, guess it depends on how the whole place feels.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[sweetheart2576]

We went to adobe gila's a mexican restaurant in the oceanwalk shoppes but were not to crazy about it. They do have a little cafeteria type area called mcgregors near the lobby of the south tower, but do not get breakfast there if it consists of eggs. All 9 of us agreed it was awful. We did not venture to far from our hotel because traffic lights were out all over the place from Charley. We were told at check in that Walmart which was 10 minutes away(not bad) was the only place selling perishables. Publix and some other businesses were closed the first couple days. Restaurants that were open had very limited menus, such as denny's. Near the end of our stay they were just fixing the traffic lights.
As for the mini golf, they have a 9(i believe) hole mini golf course on the 4th floor in the north tower. They do have an activities center on the lower level with a game room open from 7am-11pm. They also have gamecube and playstation 2 gamesystems in the activity center as well as internet access. They also have a great fitness center. On the lower level my daughter was able to get her hair wrapped which was $1.00 an inch, and that included beads. They also had video rentals. During our stay they had a poolside cookout with cheeseburger, ribs, hot dogs, chicken ranging in price from 2.50-4.50. They had ladies pampering one morning, which was complementary, water aerobics. They had ice cream socials which was $3.00 and diffent activites for the kids that ranged in price from 1.00-5.00. They did have a kids night out which was $15 from 6:30-9:30. We didn't end up doing to much of the stuff. We spent most of the time at the beach and the pool, where they had a dj and kids verse adults tug of wars(which was fun). They had poolside massages that were $1 a minute on select days. Make sure you get an activites list, there is so much going on at the hotel, too much to list. I hope you enjoy your stay as much as we did the hotel is really great in my opinion. You could see dolphins on the beach in the morning. Towards the end of our stay we went on the manatee cruises that was in New Smyrna and we saw so many dolphins, it was amazing. There is a closer boat tour that is on beach street if my memory is correct. IT is called a tiny cruise line . Both of these were about $16 adult and $10 for children if you were looking for something like that to do. The tiny boat cruise line was closed due to a family situation. They also have the trolley boats that pick up at the ocean walk shoppes right next door. Any more questions i can answer just let me know.

 

[Snoopymom]

Oh Wow, I'm glad Charley didn't ruin your trip. I've been there during a bad storm with flooding and it's pretty scary.

I'd love to see dolphins, so I will definitely check out the Manatee cruise and we are planning to do the trolleyboat. It looks like fun.

Thanks for the heads up on the eggs, we'll probably do cereal in our room. We were planning on trying the Mexican place too, but we love seafood so we'll just skip it since there are so many other choices.

Thanks for all the info!!!! I will post when we get back!

 

[sweetheart2576]

I was just wondering how your trip went?

 

[Snoopymom]

Originally posted by sweetheart2576
I was just wondering how your trip went?

Hey!

Thanks for asking. We didn't get to stay in Daytona at all because of Hurricane Francis. We got off at the exit on the morning after and there were police cars blocking International Speedway Blvd. I don't think we would have been allowed to cross the bridge. Street lights were out and everything was boarded up so we drove on to Orlando and fortunately Disney let us change our reservations and check in early. We tried again to spend a night there on our way home the following weekend, but Ocean Walk was booked because all of the other hotels including Adams Mark were closed do to water damage. The whole area was in a sad state. We were really disappointed, but we did get to have a nice lunch at The Ocean Deck which looked to be the only restaurant open. We spent the night in St Augustine instead. We're thinking about going for a few nights during New Years Eve weekend. If we go, I'll be sure to post a report. Hopefully everything will be back to normal by then. There was this thread on the Budget board with a list of restaurants you may want to check out if you're going back. Take care!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=642639&highlight=+DAYTONA

 

[DukeStreetKing]

If you do stay in Daytona for the Christmas holiday, which for the life of me I don't know why you would want to, lol, make sure you go back to St. Augustine. Most of the downtown area is very nicely decorated. It is a beautiful town throughout the year, but during Christmas it is spectactular.