We live locally (parents and two kids) and wanted to do a four night "staycation" down on Hollywood Beach during the kids' spring break. We decided just a couple of weeks ago and we couldn't find any of the places we had researched before that had a one bedroom room that were available. This was the last place on our list.
Two friends of mine stayed here about 5 years ago and I remember the hotel being a bit run down and shabby, but their one bedroom suite was big. And we like having the extra room and some privacy when staying with the kids, so we figured "let's go for it." We booked a one bedroom oceanview room.
The night before I logged onto the computer to get the phone # to confirm the reservation, and pulled up the trip advisor site and read all of the horrible reviews.Oh my, I thought, what are we getting into? When I called to confirm the resy, I asked the woman if we were going to have any trouble getting our room. She pleasantly reassured me that we had a nice room awaiting us.
We arrived to unload the car, and found the employees helpful and cheerful. Checking in was no problem, though I was not thrilled to have to pay $15 to park the car per day. We got a room on the 8th floor (turns out to be the penthouse). When we stepped off the elevator, the hallway reeked of cigarettes and had not been renovated. It looked old and rundown. But when we walked into our room, all was forgotten as it was decently renovated (though with lots of imperfections), with a nice size bedroom and living room, plus one full bathroom and one powder room. The kitchen area had a microwave, full size fridge, and sink (but no stove or oven). There were two huge windows looking out onto the ocean and beneath us the pool. What a magnificent view. You could still smell the smoke of the hallway, but it was not nearly as bad. We purchased some incense from the kiosk downstairs and it made the smell bearable.
Like I said, the room was not perfect. The pullout couch was so uncomfortable that our 10 year old chose to sleep in a chair instead. We finally padded it with blankets and towels to make it bearable. Their was a small hole in the window, so there was always a small breeze coming in. The heat did not work, and the first night was a bit chilly,. We called down to housekeeping for more blankets, and they brought us up one. There were lots of imperfections, but overall the room was suitable,
We didn't have much interaction with staff, but besides housekeeping I found everyone friendly and professional, from the shift supervisor, to the front desk staff, to the parking guy, to the pool attendant, to the waitresses at our free breakfast.
One day housekeeping didn't come at all to make up our room, and another day she came at 4:30, right when we came back from a long day at the beach and pool.
The free breakfast was more than adequate, and a bit nicer than a hampton Inn. The pool was quite nice, clean, heated, with a hot tub, And the beach is wide and clean and beautiful. The convenience store inside the hotel was quite useful. We ate three meals at the wonderful Jimmy Max's underneath. And the location is very good - at the south end of the all the action of the Hollywood Broadwalk. Close by are my favorite two restaurants on Hollywood Beach, Sugar Reef and Sushi-Thai.
This is a magnificent old building, almost a hundred years old. I enjoyed looking at the pictures situated through out the hotel showing it "back in the day." As in "back in the day" before it was run down. I guess if they really did a massive rehab this again could be a grand old property, but with the size, age, and the fact that many of the units are condos probably precludes this from ever coming back to being a nice property.
I wouldn't stay here again, but we still had a great time. I found the location to be great, the staff (besides housekeeping) accommodating, but the smell of our hallway a deal killer.