We ended up at the Daytona Grande after the Hilton Oceanfront overbooked and we were on our way with no place to stay! Admittedly not the safest, but I had to book this place while driving from the Orlando airport and just looking for something that wasn’t a total dive but still decently priced without a ton of extra fees. No free breakfast here which is something I especially appreciate as a family of 6, but in this case it was just me and my teenage son in town for an archery championship. After the highly stressful day of travel we had, the Grande was like a little slice of Heaven! It was clean, quiet, and beautiful. We decided after having to skip lunch with flight delays and all that, we just wanted a good meal and a good bed and we got exactly that. My son and I split truffle fries to start, the crusted crab filet, and beignets for dessert. All were wonderful (and we’re from Dallas where there is no shortage of excellent food) and enjoyed Oceanside on the dimly lit quiet patio. My only criticism is that the tables should be turned perpendicularly to the ocean and hotel so that everyone at the table gets a view of both rather than one facing a wall while the other faces the ocean.
Rooms were nicely decorated, had comfortable, intuitive lighting, handy USB plugs, and most importantly REALLY COMFORTABLE BEDS! We have a Tempurpedic at home so my sleep is usually pretty abysmal at hotels. Now, this wasn’t as comfy as home, but I slept hard and woke without being sore since the bed was genuinely comfortable.
My only complaints about the room were that the window sheers, while stylish, really gave no privacy at all, so if you wanted privacy you had to sacrifice light. Water pressure wasn’t great and the bathroom needed more towel bars and hooks. This would’ve been way more of a nuisance with the whole family, but they also came midday and restocked towels and made up the beds, which we see less and less of these days, even at nice hotels in the name of being “green”. But it was spacious and clean and otherwise nicely equipped.
Elevators were fast and never held us up. Beach access from the elevator was nice as we didn’t have to walk through the lobby in swimsuits. Parking was slightly inconvenient being caddy corner across the street, but not bad at all. We considered but didn’t try room service mainly due to price and unknown wait (when we had tournament times to consider) but the little shop/cafe in the lobby was great and convenient and priced about as you’d expect (pricey, but not too ridiculous). We got coffee and breakfast sandwiches both days.
I think the biggest issue with this place is the visibility. It’s tall to be sure so you’re not going to miss it, but the entrance and signage is on the far side and behind a little aqua building (I think called Sand Dunes) which had to be apartments or a teeny hotel that I can only assume refused to sell to the Grande in development so the Grande built around it. It keeps it from having the opulent entrance that the Hilton does
Absolutely wonderful in all aspects, however as many reviews have suggested a hot breakfast ie,, scrambled eggs ,fresh made waffles , and better coffee would be the icing on the cake !
We stayed one night and have stayed here before. Pros: Checkin, Checkout and breakfast-all good. Room quiet, everything worked, comfortable. Cons: We found a live roach in the morning on the chest of drawers. We got a call from the front desk manager at 1 am waking us up. He asked: ”Do you have any animals in the room? I said No. He almost acted like he didnt quite believe us but said ”sorry for calling so late”. REALLY? Honestly, I have been traveling for 30+ years and have never had this happen. Here's what you do: You get off your a$$ and walk the floors until you hear the noisy animals and you knock on the door or call the room. You dont start calling people's rooms. We heard nothing so I cant imagine where the noisy animals were. Pretty much ruined our stay and our sleep.
This Hotel was amazing from the time you pulled up. My son was in Awww of all the Cars and Motorcycle Displays. He absolutely love NASCAR, so this was the perfect stay for him. The entire hotel was so clean, and the room was bigger than most hotel I’ve stayed in. The Hotel was in the middle of a shopping area, which made it even better. Doug was the absolute best. Speaking to him everyday and getting the ins and outs of the area. He recommended some amazing spots for our family that we loved. He spoke to my son about the History of NACAR and suggested that we do the 500 tour, which we did and loved it. His Hospitality was like no other. His smiling face everyday was a site to see. The food in the restaurants was great especially breakfast. We love that we were provided with beach chairs and umbrellas which made our beach trips better. The young made from the Philippines who was new to the areas, and worked at Sir Malcom restaurant was the absolute best server ( sorry I forgot his name). He went above and beyond doing our breakfast to make sure we had everything we needed. Over all this was one of the best hotels we’ve stayed at in Daytona. We will definitely be back to visit and hope to see Doug again.