I am going to begin reviewing each hotel I stay at as I make my way around the world, and hopefully in doing so can offer you ideas, insight and recommendations about accommodation in each area!  I was not paid to write the below review, and I was not comped or discounted anything during my stay.

Daytona Beach is lined with high-rise resorts and hotels which boast hundreds of rooms each to cater to the mass tourism each year for both Spring Break and the Daytona 500.

We chose to stay at the Oceanside Inn which is “a comfortable beachfront hotel on the quieter side of Daytona.”  “Quieter” translates into the more rundown side of Daytona, however we had no problem whatsoever with security in the area, nor did we have any problems with the “human element” of the area.

While rooms were starting at $69 being off season, and the same rooms being offered to Florida residents at $58 – their online booking system allowed us to make an “advanced purchase booking” which was $50 if you booked more than 30 days in advance – we booked the night before! Incredibly good value considering parking, wifi and a light continental breakfast was also included in the price.  As an added bonus, the hotel additionally gave us a voucher on check-in for their DVD kiosk in the front lobby which had a range of new releases to choose from!  Excellent value for money.

Driving into Dayonta Beach we weren’t sure what to expect of the hotel standard knowing that each building was required to weather not only Florida hurricane season each year, but also 200,000 teenagers annually for Spring Break.  The hotel building was fairly worn, and the lobby smelt “fairly worn”, however it was doing quite well considering, and they had done a fairly decent job in keeping it maintained. The elevators and corridors as we made our way to our room were fairly dark and dim, and smelt very much like a Casino as we made our way to our non-smoking room, however the room was fabulous, overly large, and the ocean view from our non ocean view room was pretty spectacular!

The hotel staff were friendly and incredibly helpful – once we arrived in the room we received a call from Sue at the concierge welcoming us to the area and letting us know to stop by if we hadn’t visited Daytona before and she would give us maps and suggest local restaurants.

The bed was one of the biggest I have ever slept in, and could have easily fitted 4 of us!  While we were told that the free wifi only worked in the lobby, we were able to access it on the 8th floor.

I can’t complain about breakfast as it was free and advertised as a “light continental”, but was just a small spread of mini muffins, bread and juice.  We grabbed breakfast on the road on the way out of Daytona.

I would highly recommend the hotel.  The rooms are large and incredibly spacious, are clean and well maintained despite the worn appearance of the building itself, is incredible value for money, and is literally right on the beach.  You couldn’t be more well located, find better facilities, friendlier staff or a more spectacular view.

Have you stayed in Daytona Beach?  What was your experience?