Hotel Indigo Orange Beach

Staying on a PointsBreak award at 15K per night (hotel is normally 30K).  Besides standard rooms, awards can also be booked for the (non-balcony) suites.  I had booked a King Suite / Beach View, and was given a top floor room (my standing request).

The room was a true suite, with separate bedroom and living room.  Both rooms were on the large side, as was the bathroom.  The living room had a sleeper sofa, and also a drybar area with a K-cup coffee maker and mini-fridge.  No sink there, though, which would have been convenient. 

The view of the gulf (below) is a bit distant, across the street and past several houses. The other side of the hotel faces the state park, which is a large expanse of natural greenery;  some may find that view more relaxing tham the beach view rooms.

The location is the hotel's weakness, as it's located on the wrong side of the highway.  As a result, there's no direct beach access.  There's no crosswalk by the hotel, and apparently the beaches across the street are private.  

The state park beach pavilion is about a half mile away.  There's a small fee for parking there, or the hotel offers a free on-demand shuttle for the 2 minute ride.  That beach is nice, good sand and water, and the pavilion offers bathrooms, showers, and (summer months only) a snack bar.

Though the shuttle was convenient enough, I greatly prefer being able to walk out the hotel door and onto the beach.  I suppose that's why the nearby Holiday Inn gets 40K/night.

The hotel has a bar just off the lobby, and a second bar (open summer weekends) located outside in the pool area.  The pool area was surprisingly nice.  The pool looked larger in person than in the photos on the hotel website.  The pool fence blocks the view of the road, along with most of the noise.  And perhaps because the pool is on the side of the hotel, with no rooms facing it, the pool hours (closing at 10 pm) didn't seem to be enforced.  We brought down an adult beverage and quietly enjoyed the late evening breezes;  some other guests were using the hot tob, also unbothered.