Daytona

From the front page of today's newspaper: Daytona Beach News Journal article

rather than copying and pasting a whole copyrighted article it is better to post just a link to it.

Very interesting, thanks for posting the link.

The rundown hotels and the rough area just 2 blocks west of the A1A mentioned in the article are all too true facts. With the exception of possibly half a dozen hotels on the A1A, much of the accommodations on Daytona beach look by all appearances to be circa 1950 - 1970. With the quality and quantity of accommodations avaliable in St. Augustine or Orlando only an hours drive away there is little reason to book into a rundown motel/hotel unit even if it is on the beach.
Race week is one of the bigger tourist weeks of the year in Daytona yet most of the companies offering Daytona 500 travel packages use accommodations in Orlando and transport their guests to the track each day. It's more cost effective way to provide superior accommodations to their guests.
For tourists driving up from Orlando even if only for the day, the view of the sidestreets to the west of the A1A in the area of Speedway Boulevard would give any first time visitor thoughts of turning around before they got to the beach what with the sight of numerous empty derelict homes and vacant lots, and a general unkept appearance. There is no nice way to say it. That area looks bad enough in the day. I can't imagine driving around it at night. Side streets around the Ocean Walk area abound with bars and clubs that cater to the college party crowd which does nothing to make Daytona Beach attractive to the families who might otherwise come and who have more money to spend than college kids.
Daytona has a beautiful beach and great potential but it allowed itself to be eclipsed by the many other beach locations in Florida. Disney may have had an impact on Daytona's glory but I think Daytona Beach allowed itself to get run down and found it easy to blame it on Orlando and Disney rather than doing something a long time ago to change it's image.
Daytona Beach needs some very forward thinking tourism people to overhaul it's current perception as being a biker/college party crowd haven and become more family friendly both in terms of accommodations wise and entertainment otherwise "the families" will stay in Orlando (and spend their money in Orlando)then hop in their rental cars and go to Cocoa or St. Petersburg if they want beach time!
Daytona's got the airport now it needs to give people a reason to use it and not just during race week or bike week!

I was there last week.

In fact, we saw helicopters going overhead the day the FBI busted the porn guys at Desert Inn.

Daytona has a grungy unloved feel to it. Driving up Atlantic does not feel beachy and relaxing. Ormand Beach, just north of Daytona, looks and feels much nicer and fresher.

We stayed in our resort and just looked at the ocean and all was good, but I'd never come back from a stay in Daytona and rave about what a nice place it is.

Daytona made a decision to cater to the bikers and nudie bars.

What about Daytona Beach Shores? Is this the same thing? We were just getting ready to do an exchange there for next year at the end of May. Any information about this area is appreciated.

Shar

Daytona Beach Shores

We have never stayed in Daytona Beach but we have stayed at the Sunglow Condos at Daytona Beach Shores. The location for us is perfect and we've planned too late to get a good resort so we rented the condos. We've actually purchased in that area this year so we don't have to worry about late planning anymore (fixed week). Atlantic Terrace is the nearest resort to the condo we've used but we still haven't found one to buy with our preferred weeks. We like the restaurant (Crabby Joe's) on the pier.

We have never experienced any problems with bikers or crime that we were aware of. We always stayed early to mid March. Maybe we just got lucky.

I avoid ground floor (too easy to break in).

The resorts are getting more run down but all the ones we looked at seemed to be maintained (not to 5 star standards but acceptable). It's on the coast so the salt and humidity do a lot of damage. Most places are fumigated weekly.

I am definitely returning next year. Can't do much this year because DH just had spinal surgery.

We have been vacationing at Ormond Beach for the past 12 years, we have never had any problems. We have been there during bike week and black college renunion .... there were never any problems at all. I started going down there years ago all by mysele while my husband went golfing with the guys, I never felt endangered.

We will be in Ormond for three weeks in just a couple of weeks.

Daytona Beach Shores

Stayed in Daytona Beach Shores area (Tropic Shores) for Thanksgiving last year. Was GREAT! We've alreayd booked to go back again this year.

Wasn't very crowded, had great weather too. Some of the other resorts looked 'older', not necesarily run down or anything. None of the places looked dirty or anything either. It was a classic car show that week which was cool. Only 2 or 3 bikes all week. Never felt unsafe at all.

It is what it is

a little rough but a great place to vacation. We've vacationed in Daytona during Spring Break several times and had a lot of fun. The students are busy going out at night and recovering during the day. We're in our 50's and get up early, enjoy the pools and beach until noon when the kids emerge. It's fun to see all the college kids and when ours are with us they fit right in. We'll be checking in at Ocean Walk in a few weeks and can't wait to get there. Like any city you don't live in, you need to be aware of your surroundings and be smart when going out at night.