Pre-Cruise Hotel at Port Canaveral

[Frozen2014]

Taking a cruise out of Port Canaveral with our two kids who will be 15 and 11. We won't have a car. Since we are adding a couple days at WDW after our cruise, we need something convenient but not blowing the budget IYKWIM.

I've narrowed it down to the following 3 places. Any comments in terms of cleanliness, pool, stuff in walking distance (esp place for lunch/dinner and breakfast if hotel doesn't include), family friendly, safe area, etc

• Country Inn & Suites Port Canaveral
• Radisson Resort Port Canaveral
• Days Inn by Wyndham Cocoa Beach
• Best Western Cocoa Beach
• Quality Inn & Suites Port Canaveral

Flights aren't booked yet but assume we arrive around lunch time (so just a couple meals and afternoon).

 

[Capt_BJ]

pssst ... you list FIVE places not 3

how close to the beach do you want to be? Your first two are near the port but further from the beach .... none you mention are ON the beach.

Rad' has an above average pool area according to many reviews. It is only a couple of blocks from Residence Inn and Quality Inn. There is fast food and local 'family Italian' close to all .... and the 'Port Canaveral trilogy' is a short UBER away .... <Grills, Fishlips, Rusty's>

You've ruled out the 'new' Homewood Suites?

 

[ntbubbles]

We’ve stayed at the Radisson and my daughter (6 yo) LOVES the pool. It’s an older hotel so the rooms are definitely nothing fancy, but the pool and bar area is great. They have a restaurant, and there is also an Italian place and a sushi place next door. And multiple other restaurants and shops right around there too. We like it and will likely stay there whenever we cruise out of PC.

 

[Frozen2014]

pssst ... you list FIVE places not 3

how close to the beach do you want to be? Your first two are near the port but further from the beach .... none you mention are ON the beach.

Rad' has an above average pool area according to many reviews. It is only a couple of blocks from Residence Inn and Quality Inn. There is fast food and local 'family Italian' close to all .... and the 'Port Canaveral trilogy' is a short UBER away .... <Grills, Fishlips, Rusty's>

You've ruled out the 'new' Homewood Suites?

Lol...sorry about that. I had an initial 3, and then was eyeing the last two so added them to the list as well for feedback.

I had noted Homewood Suites on my spreadsheet but it's quite a bit more than the other two, which is why I didn't include it.
Thanks. The Radisson pool does look nice.

A beach is a nice to have but not priority. Plus I think I'm the only one in my family that prefers a beach over a pool...but does make a nice walk and pre-cruise vibe.

 

[Frozen2014]

We’ve stayed at the Radisson and my daughter (6 yo) LOVES the pool. It’s an older hotel so the rooms are definitely nothing fancy, but the pool and bar area is great. They have a restaurant, and there is also an Italian place and a sushi place next door. And multiple other restaurants and shops right around there too. We like it and will likely stay there whenever we cruise out of PC.

Thanks for the feedback. We don't mind if it's a bit older as long as it's clean. One question about Radisson....what did you do for breakfast? It's the one hotel in the list where it is not included.

 

[Shanon1217]

We stayed at Homewood Suites and it was great! Very convenient for the port, quiet and clean. I can't say much about the price since we used points for it. Hope you find what you are looking for!

 

[Frozen2014]

We stayed at Homewood Suites and it was great! Very convenient for the port, quiet and clean. I can't say much about the price since we used points for it. Hope you find what you are looking for!

Thanks. I have heard good things. It's a bit pricier but same area as Radisson and country Inn.

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

We have stayed at Country Inn a few times and never had any issues. Breakfast was pretty good it will fill you up but it's your typical free hotel breakfast. We looked at it again for our next cruise and seems there's been some unfavorable reviews lately. I like to take those with a grain of salt and spend time looking and reading through to see patterns. Maybe it's time for a refurb or something. We have not stayed at the Radison but we are going to stay there for the next cruise. There is no free breakfast but it has a restaurant and a McDonald's across the street. We are usually too stuffed to eat much at embarkation anyways and for dinner there is the Kelsey's next door. Highly recommended by me And if you were looking to save a few dollars we have stayed at La quinta because it's the original 7 astronauts. The downside is the breakfast area is a little small. We stayed there and had our car so we left and drove to Ihop.

 

[Frozen2014]

We have stayed at Country Inn a few times and never had any issues. Breakfast was pretty good it will fill you up but it's your typical free hotel breakfast. We looked at it again for our next cruise and seems there's been some unfavorable reviews lately. I like to take those with a grain of salt and spend time looking and reading through to see patterns. Maybe it's time for a refurb or something. We have not stayed at the Radison but we are going to stay there for the next cruise. There is no free breakfast but it has a restaurant and a McDonald's across the street. We are usually too stuffed to eat much at embarkation anyways and for dinner there is the Kelsey's next door. Highly recommended by me And if you were looking to save a few dollars we have stayed at La quinta because it's the original 7 astronauts. The downside is the breakfast area is a little small. We stayed there and had our car so we left and drove to Ihop.

Thanks for the feedback. We like the convenience of having breakfast in the hotel and often we will quickly get changed, go down for breakfast (to beat the crowds), then come back up to our room and shower and pack up before heading to the port. But don't need a big breakfast as we're heading off to a cruise...lol......just something so grabbing something at McDonalds isn't a huge deal either.

I have La Quinta marked too in my bigger list but it seems to be one of the pricier ones. (if you mean the Oceanfront one).

One advantage of Quality Inn is there seems to be a Walgreens and CVS in walking distance (plus IHO and McDonalds) so without a car, this is convenient too. Anyone stayed there?

 

[g_ppetto]

We've stayed at the Radisson twice, and plan to stay there again in the future. As others have said, it is not the newest hotel, but it is nice and the price for the two of us was right. I can't help much with meals at or around the hotel as we drive, actually Auto Train and drive. We plan an early dinner at Fishlips the day before our cruise to watch the ships cruise by. Cruise day we grab breakfast at McDonalds drive through, and find a spot to park over near Fishlips to enjoy our meal and the view. We've been fortunate to see some of the SpaceX ships, landing platforms, etc. as we have breakfast. There is also a good view of the cruise ships.

 

[Frozen2014]

Thanks for the feedback on Radisson. Good to hear you were happy there.

 

[MalkaR]

I'm looking for feedback on the Quality Inn, too. I booked it because they have one bedroom suites that sleep six, free breakfast, close to the port. The reviews seem good overall, but mixed. They're doing a renovation now so I'm hoping that some of the issues that people complain about will be fixed by the time we stay there.

 

[klug_bug2010]

For those who have stayed at Country Inn....
I see that they offer free shuttles to PC, but do you know if they offer Shuttles to/from the airport?

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

For those who have stayed at Country Inn....
I see that they offer free shuttles to PC, but do you know if they offer Shuttles to/from the airport?

I don't believe anyone offers free shuttles from the airport since it's almost an hour drive. Goport seems to be a pretty good alternative for the price.

 

[Sconny]

Taking a cruise out of Port Canaveral with our two kids who will be 15 and 11. We won't have a car. Since we are adding a couple days at WDW after our cruise, we need something convenient but not blowing the budget IYKWIM.

I've narrowed it down to the following 3 places. Any comments in terms of cleanliness, pool, stuff in walking distance (esp place for lunch/dinner and breakfast if hotel doesn't include), family friendly, safe area, etc

• Country Inn & Suites Port Canaveral
• Radisson Resort Port Canaveral
• Days Inn by Wyndham Cocoa Beach
• Best Western Cocoa Beach
• Quality Inn & Suites Port Canaveral

Flights aren't booked yet but assume we arrive around lunch time (so just a couple meals and afternoon).

We have stayed at both the Days Inn and Best Western (2 times each place)

Each hotel is right by the Cocoa Beach pier which is cool to check out and of course the beach is right there. The Days Inn you have to walk a block or 2 to get there. The Best Western is spread out over 3 buildings with one being on the beach, the other 2 buildings are less then 2 blocks away. There are lots of places to eat within walking distance to each hotel, just look at google maps in that area and you can see all the different places. Also there is a Publix right across the street that you can stock up on anything (Including beer and wine).

The Days Inn is nothing special (last time we stayed there was 3 years ago). It had 2 different buildings, one being right across from the Cocoa Beach Pier parking lot that kinda looked at the ocean the other building was a motor inn type arrangement where you park right outside your room. The rooms were dated but the beds were fine as well as TV's and refrigerators, the pool area was on the small side. I would stay there again and I believe they still offer a shuttle to the Cruise terminal for a cost (Less the $10 per person each way if I remember correctly).

The Best Western is a little nicer but again 3 different buildings that I believe were 3 different hotels at some point in there past. The 1 Building (8 floors) that is closet to the beach has rooms that are on the beach and others that you can see the beach from your balcony. This building and rooms are the most expensive from what we saw. The 2nd Building (6 Floors maybe?) is all suites and has its own pool and is also where the Breakfast was (Which was your average breakfast, but lots of room and was better then Days Inn). The 3rd Building is a spread out as a 2 story Motor inn with a Court yard and Pool area. We stayed in the Building by the beach which was nice, we do have status with Best Western so for our points they put us in a Beach view room (Same room both times which was cool) and was nice, but again older rooms with nice beds and TV's also refrigerator. They had a Shuttle again to take to the Cruise ship's for a Fee (Again under $10 a person each way last year), just ask at the Front desk for prices and times.

So it depends what you are looking for, I have not stayed in the other Hotels mentioned but I have not heard anything bad about the Hotels in Cocoa Beach area, each has + and -. But if you want to see the Pier and Beach and have some decent eating options (All Walking distances) the Days Inn or Best Western will meet those needs (Plus shuttle to the port). I like the Best Western over the Days Inn, but again the Best Western is more expensive if you want beach rooms or a Suite...the Days Inn I believe has mostly similar rooms at the same prices.

Enjoy your time in Coca Beach, we have had some great pre cruise stays there and always enjoy out time there checking out the sights before cruising.

 

[Frozen2014]

Thanks for the feedback. We ended up booking Country Inn and Suites for now as hot a good deal and it's close to the port. But I do keep looking at Best Western or Days Inn so there is stuff in walking distance as we won't have a car .

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

We stayed at the Country inn and Suites twice and liked it both times. We never did use the pool but wanted to. There are restaurants nearby and the Racetrack convenience store all within easy walking distance.
We decided on the Radisson because we haven't stayed there yet and we've been looking at it for a while. The only thing that might change it for us depends on flights. If we can't land and be there by check in time to enjoy the pool we will probably go back to La Quinta.

 

[Frozen2014]

We stayed at the Country inn and Suites twice and liked it both times. We never did use the pool but wanted to. There are restaurants nearby and the Racetrack convenience store all within easy walking distance.
We decided on the Radisson because we haven't stayed there yet and we've been looking at it for a while. The only thing that might change it for us depends on flights. If we can't land and be there by check in time to enjoy the pool we will probably go back to La Quinta.

Hello! Thank you...great to hear you were happy at Country Inn. Radisson pool looks very nice and both seem to have fast food options and sit down. We went with Country Inn over Radisson as it's a bit cheaper plus includes breakfast but that pool looks awesome. Yes...agree that it depends on when you arrive. Guess I'm thinking the opposite that if we arrive lunch time, will there be enough to keep us busy? Then again, if there is a pool, food and a tv, our kids are happy.