After checking in to this Vero Beach hotel we noticed that the door had suffered some act of violence, appearing as though it had been kicked in from the outside. Not a comforting feeling.
We’ve been traveling quite a bit recently, mostly weekend getaway trips to various Florida beaches, and we’re beginning to wonder whether hotels are the best option for us.
This past weekend we booked two nights on Cocoa Beach in a small “mom and pop”style motel. It had mostly great reviews on TripAdvisor. For $85 per night we got a room overlooking the deck and beach. Upon arrival we noted only two other cars in the parking lot and were looking forward to a quiet weekend. We entered the room and noted a rusty refrigerator and microwave along with the usual musty smell of an off-season low-budget beach motel. Wife Suzy turned down the bed sheets, shrieked and ran out the front door onto the deck. I caught a glimpse of what set her off–a 3-inch cockroach in the middle of the bed, running for cover. Fortunately the owner was willing to refund our money.
We drove straight to a large hotel that I’d stayed at twice before. It is now under new ownership. The desk clerk set us up in a newly remodeled room. Suzy liked it. Our first night went well. But the next day, housekeeping took our dirty towels but didn’t replace them with new ones. When we returned to our room ready to take showers before going out to eat, I had to call the front desk to ask for new towels–only the phone didn’t work.
So I had to schlepp a hundred yards across the property to the front desk and stand in line, then wait another 35 minutes for housekeeping to show up with clean towels. No big deal, right? Anyone can make a mistake. We blew it off.
When we returned after the evening activities, we found that a party of nearly two dozen 20-somethings was having a loud party on the walkway just a few doors down from our room. Two hours later, at midnight, they were obviously only getting started. I once again trudged down to the front desk and waited in line for 15 minutes to complain. “We’ll call security and have it taken care of” the desk clerk told me. Didn’t happen.
At 3 a.m. they were still at it. Fortunately we had ear plugs and managed a fitful sleep. We complained again on checkout. “Your complaint has been duly noted” said the front desk. Really?
Several months ago we stayed at a small hotel on Fort Lauderdale Beach. We’d stayed there several years ago and had a pretty good experience. This time however, on entering the room, I noticed some strange spots on the pillow cases. Mold. The pillows were covered with green mold, inside and out. How could housekeeping NOT notice that?
The manager apologized and fetched us fresh pillows. After that, somehow everything else in the room was suspect. Then, right about bed time, we found a group of half-a-dozen Eastern European girls outside our room by the pool dressed to the nines and making lots of noise. After an hour or so, an airport limo arrived and they all piled in with their luggage and their young male “chaperone.” They propped the heretofore locked security gate open with a concrete block.
About 1 a.m., another van arrived with several more young foreign girls and another male “chaperone.” Finally, at 2 am I ventured out to close and lock the gate, as I assumed it was usually locked for a reason. Instead of staying two nights as originally planned, we checked out the next morning and were told the girls were “foreign exchange students from Russia.” Sure they were. We headed straight for the Hilton a few miles away and had a marvelous stay for about the same price, though further from the beach.
Yet another experience: Last year we stayed in Indialantic Beach at a small motel. We had a great second floor room with a balcony overlooking the ocean. We looked forward to sitting on the balcony at night, sipping a glass of wine, and enjoying the moonrise and ocean breeze. Fuggedabboudit. The large multi-family group below us took their big-screen TV out onto the lawn and set it up with lawn chairs to watch a football game. Between their shouting, laughing and cigarette smoke, we had to abandon our balcony and retreat indoors.
We are still processing these experiences, but right now I’m thinking the following:
- When I’m out exploring beaches, rather than staying at a beach hotel, I’m seriously considering staying at a hotel near the Interstate Highway that caters to business travelers instead of the beach party crowd. I’ve always had restful experiences at those hotels, plus they usually have better Wi-Fi. And the price is still reasonable.
- When I want to stay right on the beach, renting a beach house or private condo for a week seems like a much better option than a hotel in many areas.
How about you? Got any Florida beach hotel horror stories? Leave a comment below.
So as not to leave on a sour note, I’ll tell you about some of the best places I’ve stayed on the coast in Florida.
