I stayed here with my family over the Memorial Day Weekend, arriving on Friday and departing Monday. We had two rooms and paid $209 per night for each of them. We chose this hotel due to its proximity to the airport and to relatives.
It also seemed the best choice among the other properties we studied in this geography.
The view of the ocean from the room was very nice and I was impressed with how much the closed door muffled the sound of the waves. When you open the balcony door the AC cuts off so we did not leave the door open much. Unfortunately, as others have noted it is impossible to step outside to hear and see the ocean and close the door. The balconies really are little more than a narrow stoop making it impossible to comfortably stand outside the room with the door closed. The door did not muffle the sound of the concert that took place in the bandshell next door on Saturday night. And many times during our visit I heard noises from the rooms next door and from people walking in the hallway.
The hotel was very busy with a wedding and graduation parties on top of a holiday weekend, but we experienced a similar experience with the waitstaff as that described by a previous reviewer. There were long waits and overworked staff. One waiter did come back and apologize to us multiple times for his inability to properly wait on us. He said he already had more customers than he could handle. While he seemed distressed and I appreciated his honesty, I also was annoyed with the hotel that they were not prepared to handle the crowds and by the time we left the excuses rang hollow. The lady who waited on me at the gift shop was very friendly and efficient. Likewise, the valet staff delivered our car promptly, so my staff problems mainly centered on the staff in the eating establishments. It was not uncommon to be told that we would have a 30 minute wait to be seated, but it was more frustrating when we were told a wait time and then it not to be accurate--as happened to us at restaurant and with room service. We did not eat at the Hyde Park restaurant. It has a clubby look to it and we were looking primarily for casual beachwear welcoming places for our meals so we frequented the other places. I don;t know if that experience would have been the same or different. The hotel is huge with multiple restaurants. The food court on the beach side isn't exactly a court at this time of year and I can only assume that it is more active at other times of the year with more selections--we did not eat there, but we tried the others.
On top of the waits and the lack of customer service, we were greatly disappointed in the quality of the food we had at the hotel. The lunch we had at the Pelican Bar mostly went uneaten. I was the last to be served and the waitress said it was because she had sent my sandwich back as it was "too small". It wasn't the size of the sandwich I found disappointing--it was the taste. My daughter and her husband had what they described as an awful breakfast at Doc's Grill at an overpriced fee. I ordered two meals from room service--one that was passable and a breakfast that was swimming in grease and not very warm.
All in all, this hotel did not live up to our expectations.
The rooms were okay--tastefully decorated and clean. The television was an old-style television with HBO. The bathroom was fine but nothing special--it could have passed for any chain hotel I have frequented in the past year--not very large room. When I compare this to other resort hotels it lacks the feel of what I usually think of as a resort with extra perks and amenities. And when I compare what I paid per night with other hotels not claiming to be resorts I find this property lacking. Part of it comes from the setting. Daytona is just a crowded, busy beach town with more than its share of tattoo parlors, bikers, and party-goers. It isn't exactly a serene setting.
I did not visit the spa.
We walked several blocks to the North of the hotel. We made purchases at a Starbucks and an ice cream store but did not find much of interest in the immediate area. My daughter and son-in-law had a dismal meal at a nearby Mexican Restaurant. We saw a lot of younger people who were quite inebriated and my overall impression was that this was a prime party area, but not the best place for a family vacation. I doubt that we will choose this destination again and as we drove away we all agreed that we were quite happy to be leaving.
I can understand that this hotel might be among the best of the choices as some of the hotels in the area did not look very good--some with individual AC units in the windows, etc. Just be prepared for mediocre food and service with a high price tag.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
probably not
I recommend this hotel for:
Young singles
I do not recommend this hotel for:
An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, Families with young children
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Beach / Sun, Other