Daytona Beach vs Cocoa Beach

[amanven]

Have been considering staying in Daytona Beach for a day or two before we use our week at Vistana. I have heard a lot of negative reviews about the accomodations avaliable in the Daytona Beach area (rundown old units, units showing a lot of "spring break" use, etc. The only reason I am considering Daytona is because my kids and husband want some beach time and my son and I want to go to the speedway.
We will only have a couple of days to spend there so should I ignore the negative reviews and book into one of Daytona's better rated beach front hotels or book into Cocoa Beach and commute up to Daytona for the track and a brief visit to the beaches there. Any suggestions for good Daytona accomodations.

 

[silvib]

We've stayed in both places although not in T/S. Went on a T/S presentation to Daytona and didn't like the look of the hotel they intially wanted to put us into, so asked for something better and stayed at the Holiday Inn at the south side of Daytona, which was o.k. In Cocoa we stayed at a condo building which was fine. I personally preferred Cocoa and the beach was fine, you wouldn't need to go to Daytona for the beach, in my estimation, just the Speedway.

 

[lprstn]

I stayed at the Wyndham Ocean Walk and the Sunterra, both were beatiful accomodations and were a quick walk to everything we needed.

 

[Jan&Ern]

We've stayed at Ocean Walk in Daytona several times and the accomodations are lovely. It's in a busy area with restaurants, theaters and lots of activity. The pool area is lovely though I'm thinking only one pool is heated. The beach is rock hard and you can drive on it so if you like to walk, you can do a lot of it on that beach. We've also stayed many times in Cocoa Beach at the Resort on Cocoa Beach. We love it there and the pool is heated and sheltered from the beach breezes which can be cool. My husband enjoys the beach there though it isn't as good for long walks since the sand is softer. The pool area is my choice since it's always sunny and warm with lots of chairs for lounging. If you can pick up a one or two night stay through RCI at either location I would do it. Check out their web site for the one night stay program or just call them and ask them about it. We've gotten 2 bedroom condos in south Florida and Orlando for as little as $59 a night. Some resorts charge a fee of maybe $59 for cleaning but not always. Even if quoted a fee, we've had resorts that did not charge us. Regardless, we found that this was such a wonderful way to get one or two nights here and there and at an absolutely rock bottom price.

 

[Nancy]

Both

If your goal is Daytona, then stay at the Wyndham Ocean Walk. Resort on Cocoa Beach, Ron Jon and a few others are also nice in Cocoa Beach area, but why drive that distance if you can get Ocean Walk.

Nancy

ps. Have stayed at Ocean Walk once and Cocoa Beach several times.

 

[lucillec]

I would suggest Ormond Beach...which is one town up from Daytona..it is alot quieter ...yet close to daytona ...check out the resorts with RCI..there are several gold crowns..of course it does depend on when you plan to go if you can a nightly stay..but in this economy...i have a feeling you will find availability. i prefer this area to Cocoa..imho, the beach is much nicer.