sbm12

Overall the hotel is much nicer than everything else on the beach. The arrival process is a bit confusing because of the multiple valet parking sites (and they make you figure out which tower you are in before you actually park the car), but otherwise that wasn’t too big a deal. I was assigned one room but the associate wrote the wrong number on my little packet, so I was very confused when I got to “my” room and it hadn’t been cleaned from the previous guest. A quick visit back to the front desk resolved that and I found myself in a normal room on a pretty high floor in the south tower, away from the elevators, just like my profile says. In my room was a nice snack platter with a little wheel of boursin cheese, crackers and some grapes. There was also a half bottle of merlot waiting for me. Sadly, there was no cork screw. I actually ended up just bringing the bottle home, though I did eat some of the cheese and crackers.

The hotel doesn’t have an executive lounge but I did receive two breakfast coupons for each day of the stay (despite booking as a single adult) which meant that I was able to “buy” my co-worker breakfast as well. The coupons are good for the buffet in the main restaurant, or the cash value of the buffet if one prefers to order off the menu. I didn’t have breakfast the first day so I ended up with a couple extras. It was surprisingly difficult to find someone in the restaurant to give them to this morning, but I eventually succeeded at that as well. The coupons (and the waitress) note that they do not include gratuity, and that gratuity should be based on the actual price of the meal. The buffet was pretty nice, very much like we saw in the Cologne Hilton or other European properties, with a selection of meats and cheeses, smoked salmon, breads, fruits an omelet station and a typical Southern-Style American hot bar (eggs, grits, bacon & gravy, sausage, etc.).

It also rained pretty much non-stop for the three days I was in Daytona, so we never made it far for dining out at night, and the last night we actually ate at the sports bar. The food was not particularly good (Crab & Corn chowder wasn’t revolting), though they do have a deal on four domestic long-necks for $10, which is basically 2-4-1 since the beers are normally $5 – much higher than what you’d pay at any of the bars in the area.

The room was loud, which is to say I awoke on Monday morning to the sound of my neighbor taping up a box with duct tape or a similarly loud tape at 6am. It was an adjoining room thing, so there were the doors between the rooms, and I’m sure that contributed to the noise. I also heard their wake-up calls each morning, though I was usually up already by then. Each room also has a “balcony,” which is to say the door slides open and there is a 4 inch extension before the railing kicks in. It is nice to be able to stick your head out and look down on the beach, but I have to assume that during spring break season those are pretty dangerous “balconies.”

There are also some rooms at the beach level that open up directly onto the deck from which one can walk out to the beach (perhaps the "cabana rooms" referenced above??). The rooms appear to be suites of a sort, with the inside half having the bed and a door to close them off from the sitting area so the bedroom remains air conditioned while the door to the deck is open. The sitting area has a couch and a couple chairs, as well as a TV. And then there is a table and chairs out on the deck. In every case I also noticed a 1.75L jug of cheap bourbon, but I am assuming that the guests provided that and that it didn’t come with the room. Nonetheless, a nice option for a different type of room.

The one other comment I have about the rain was that it exposed quite a few leaks in the building. There were buckets and towels all over the lobby to catch the rain that was flowing in pretty heavily at times. The rain was really heavy, so a leak or two wasn’t completely unreasonable, but these were much worse than I’ve seen in a long time.

Finally, I also noted in the letter that I was welcome to take the two bottles of water every day. I took them on Tuesday and was not charged, but they were also not replaced on Wednesday so no water for me.

Overall, the best property by far on the beach, though I'm hoping to not have to go back to the area for an overnight.