Holiday Inn Vacation Club Cape Canaveral?

[cruise_co]

Our cruise is not until next summer but I am just starting to research hotels in the area.  We have only cruised once out of Port Canaveral and we stayed at the Hilton Cocoa Beach but was looking for something beachside that is also a bit closer to the port this time. 

 

We don't really have a budget as this is a one time splurge cruise/vacation after not vacationing for 2 years.  Depending on vacation availability for the adult children we will fly in at a minimum of 2 -3 days in advance. We plan on a travel day and a day or two at KSC.  We don't care if there is a port shuttle as I will most likely arrange private transportation.  

 

We weren't really thrilled with the distance to KSC and the port when we were at the Hilton and would prefer something a bit closer to the port. We have 7 people going and the 2 bedroom ocean front condos look fairly decent but pictures can be deceiving.  We would need 2 of them though.

 

Has anyone stayed at the Holiday Inn Vacation Club or can recommend a nice beach side hotel? 

 

 

 

 

[Bees29]

We stayed there a few years ago. Didn’t get to check the whole hotel out because we got there around 8pm and left for cruise the next morning. We thought the hotel was good though and close to restaurants and the port

[gnegron22]

On 3/14/2021 at 8:03 PM, cruise_co said:

 

 

Has anyone stayed at the Holiday Inn Vacation Club or can recommend a nice beach side hotel? 

 

 

 

 

Did you end up booking this hotel?  I'll be sailing in Feb 2022 on the Mardi Gras and also looking into this hotel. We will be going with a 2.5 year old so we rather be on the beach side as well and closer to the port. Hopefully someone who has stayed here can post. 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

There is nothing else in Cocoa Beach like the Holiday Inn Vacation Club and the HIVC isn't on the beach. Most of the complexes on the beach are condo complexes, so maybe Airbnb would be an alternative. Just check local laws for vacation rentals.

 

Other than that, to find good hotels, on the beach you have to go down to the area where the Hilton Cocoa Beach is or even down to Melbourne.

[cunnorl]

    The" Resort at Cocoa Beach" is a very nice complex located directly on the beach . It is essentially a timeshare but is available for rentals. They have 2 bedroom/2 bath units with a living room and kitchen. Restaurant onsite.  Lots of activities on site. Many of my family members have stayed there when we have " overflow".  

    Dont know when you plan on coming but the Doubletree in Cocoa Beach is also directly on the beach. It is scheduled to reopen on 6/1/21 after a total renovation.

   Cocoa Beach is very close to the port.

[cruise_co]

On 3/22/2021 at 4:30 PM, gnegron22 said:

Did you end up booking this hotel?  I'll be sailing in Feb 2022 on the Mardi Gras and also looking into this hotel. We will be going with a 2.5 year old so we rather be on the beach side as well and closer to the port. Hopefully someone who has stayed here can post. 

It is not open for booking yet for summer of 2022. But we have pretty much decided to book this.  We will be trying to grab 2 of the 2 bedroom ocean front condos.

 

If you book it, post here next year how it was 🙂

 

Edited March 24, 2021 by cruise_co

[cruise_co]

5 hours ago, scottca075 said:

There is nothing else in Cocoa Beach like the Holiday Inn Vacation Club and the HIVC isn't on the beach. Most of the complexes on the beach are condo complexes, so maybe Airbnb would be an alternative. Just check local laws for vacation rentals.

 

Other than that, to find good hotels, on the beach you have to go down to the area where the Hilton Cocoa Beach is or even down to Melbourne.

It looks like they have a building that is right on the beach with ocean front condos. From the pictures on Trip Advisor it looks like it used to be a condo complex.  It appears to be the very first condo complex on the beach from Jetty Park.

[cruise_co]

3 hours ago, cunnorl said:

    The" Resort at Cocoa Beach" is a very nice complex located directly on the beach . It is essentially a timeshare but is available for rentals. They have 2 bedroom/2 bath units with a living room and kitchen. Restaurant onsite.  Lots of activities on site. Many of my family members have stayed there when we have " overflow".  

    Dont know when you plan on coming but the Doubletree in Cocoa Beach is also directly on the beach. It is scheduled to reopen on 6/1/21 after a total renovation.

   Cocoa Beach is very close to the port.

We are not coming in till late summer next year, so we have quite a bit of time to plan and for this pandemic to sort of resolve.

 

Thanks so much for your input. If you could indulge me while I pick your brain a bit. I watched a video of a couple (WDWcouple) who booked it before their cruise. They walked to Jetty Park to watch the ships sail and then over to restaurant next to the port (Grills? Fishlips?) but they didn't say how long of a walk it is.  Is the little restaurant complex by the terminal walkable in a reasonable time?  

THANKS!

[KeepCalmBearOn]

6 hours ago, cruise_co said:

It looks like they have a building that is right on the beach with ocean front condos. From the pictures on Trip Advisor it looks like it used to be a condo complex.  It appears to be the very first condo complex on the beach from Jetty Park.

 

They do have a building, separate from the rest of the resort, which I think you are right, was at one time a separate condo complex. Even with that building, it isn't what I'd call a "beach front resort". Click this map link, HI Vacation Club Port Canaveral.

 

I love the HI Vacation Club Orange Lakes near WDW, but Port Canaveral is a weird set-up.

[cruise_co]

19 hours ago, cunnorl said:

    The" Resort at Cocoa Beach" is a very nice complex located directly on the beach . It is essentially a timeshare but is available for rentals. They have 2 bedroom/2 bath units with a living room and kitchen. Restaurant onsite.  Lots of activities on site. Many of my family members have stayed there when we have " overflow".  

    Dont know when you plan on coming but the Doubletree in Cocoa Beach is also directly on the beach. It is scheduled to reopen on 6/1/21 after a total renovation.

   Cocoa Beach is very close to the port.

Thank you for the info on the Resort at Cocoa Beach too. It looks beautiful. I will keep it on our list and relook at everything when things start to open up for booking for next summer.

 

While we do want a beach to visit, I have to admit I was intrigued by the video I watched of the couple walking to Jetty Park and the restaurants around Terminal 1 (sailing Royal Caribbean.) With 7 people in our party, it would be nice to walk instead of taking a couple of Ubers if we want to explore the port area.

 

 

[cunnorl]

2 hours ago, cruise_co said:

Thank you for the info on the Resort at Cocoa Beach too. It looks beautiful. I will keep it on our list and relook at everything when things start to open up for booking for next summer.

 

While we do want a beach to visit, I have to admit I was intrigued by the video I watched of the couple walking to Jetty Park and the restaurants around Terminal 1 (sailing Royal Caribbean.) With 7 people in our party, it would be nice to walk instead of taking a couple of Ubers if we want to explore the port area.

 

 

    Holiday Inn Vacation Club is close and walkable to the beach at Jetty Park. Yes you could easily walk from there to the all the restaurants at the Cove ( Grills, Fish Lips, Gators etc) 

    I have an annual pass to Jetty Park. It is really a cool place. You can walk out on the very long jetty and see all sorts of manatee, dolphins  and huge turtles. Also a fun place to watch the ships leave.

  However this being said, I have heard mixed reviews from people who have actually stayed there. Maybe wait and see how things are after the pandemic restrictions settle down.

[cruise_co]

3 hours ago, cunnorl said:

    Holiday Inn Vacation Club is close and walkable to the beach at Jetty Park. Yes you could easily walk from there to the all the restaurants at the Cove ( Grills, Fish Lips, Gators etc) 

    I have an annual pass to Jetty Park. It is really a cool place. You can walk out on the very long jetty and see all sorts of manatee, dolphins  and huge turtles. Also a fun place to watch the ships leave.

  However this being said, I have heard mixed reviews from people who have actually stayed there. Maybe wait and see how things are after the pandemic restrictions settle down.

I agree. I was just reading some recent reviews from January of this year. Not good at all. Luckily I have over a year to see how things shake out. Otherwise it is back to the Hilton Cocoa Beach.

[gnegron22]

Thank you everyone for the information, will be booking tonight for our Feb Cruise. 

Edited March 25, 2021 by gnegron22

[Knights on the Beach]

The Holiday Inn Club was originally a Ron Jon's Resort.  I may be mistaken but I want to say the building closest to the ocean was part of the original resort.  We drove over from Orlando to check it out in 2004 and took a bunch of pictures at the time.  We now live on the beach just under a mile south of the Jetty so we very familiar with the area. The Holiday Inn is probably about a 10 minute walk to the Jetty and Grills at the port is about 25 - 30 minutes.  There's also a nice bait shop and a little restaurant on the water right by the Jetty called Water's Edge.

[Knights on the Beach]

On 3/23/2021 at 3:09 PM, scottca075 said:

There is nothing else in Cocoa Beach like the Holiday Inn Vacation Club 

 

Actually there is, but Holiday Inn Club is in Cape Canaveral and this other place IS in Cocoa Beach but it's only a mile closer to the port than the Hilton.

 

https://www.westgateresorts.com/hotels/florida/cocoa-beach/westgate-cocoa-beach-resort/cocoa-beach-water-park-hotel/

 

[gnegron22]

On 3/26/2021 at 7:20 PM, cruisemom2 said:

 

Actually there is, but Holiday Inn Club is in Cape Canaveral and this other place IS in Cocoa Beach but it's only a mile closer to the port than the Hilton.

 

https://www.westgateresorts.com/hotels/florida/cocoa-beach/westgate-cocoa-beach-resort/cocoa-beach-water-park-hotel/

 

Thanks for this, Unfortunately the day we need it says rooms are not available.  We are staying one day before and one day after.  It seems only a Two night minimum . I'll call them and see what they can do. 

Edited March 28, 2021 by gnegron22

[cruise_co]

On 3/25/2021 at 4:45 PM, gnegron22 said:

Thank you everyone for the information, will be booking tonight for our Feb Cruise. 

Definitely come back after your cruise and post your review! We are still leaning towards a couple of the ocean front condos just for the convenience to everything. 

 

As soon as it opens I will book, hopefully with a refundable deposit, and then just keep watch over reviews.  While not a 5* resort, I can't see it being much more of a gamble than an AirBnB.

[gnegron22]

7 hours ago, cruise_co said:

Definitely come back after your cruise and post your review! We are still leaning towards a couple of the ocean front condos just for the convenience to everything. 

Sure will, I always record all my hotel, cruise, etc. vacations and forget to do reviews but after covid I think it will be important not to forget. 

[gnegron22]

Sorry had to return to make a post, as I started to book I decided to look at the reviews on their page. It seems the have very poor costumer service in regards to check-in so far this year. So I will be calling first and asking to talk to someone first before booking. 

Edited March 28, 2021 by gnegron22

[rkacruiser]

21 hours ago, gnegron22 said:

So I will be calling first and asking to talk to someone first before booking. 

 

Just a suggestion:  don't ask to talk to just "someone".  Be specific.  Ask to speak to the General Manager or the Front Desk Manager.  

[cruise_co]

23 hours ago, gnegron22 said:

Sorry had to return to make a post, as I started to book I decided to look at the reviews on their page. It seems the have very poor costumer service in regards to check-in so far this year. So I will be calling first and asking to talk to someone first before booking. 

I think we saw the same reviews.  I will be interested to hear how your conversation went.  Hopefully this was just an anomaly during Covid.  

[gnegron22]

I reached out to HGI last night and voiced my concerns about what I had read on their Cape Canaveral location. They stated this was the first time they  had come aware of this, and sent a letter to the GM to do a follow up to them and to me. I don't know if they where playing the whole. WE DIDN'T KNOW, or they really didn't. I was informed that management did change in Sept of 2020 and the property is run by Orange Lake Resorts. Hopefully I have an answer soon, I'll keep everyone updated as I find out. 

Edited March 30, 2021 by gnegron22

[cruise_co]

15 hours ago, gnegron22 said:

I reached out to HGI last night and voiced my concerns about what I had read on their Cape Canaveral location. They stated this was the first time they  had come aware of this, and sent a letter to the GM to do a follow up to them and to me. I don't know if they where playing the whole. WE DIDN'T KNOW, or they really didn't. I was informed that management did change in Sept of 2020 and the property is run by Orange Lake Resorts. Hopefully I have an answer soon, I'll keep everyone updated as I find out. 

Thanks for following up!

[rkacruiser]

18 hours ago, gnegron22 said:

I was informed that management did change in Sept of 2020

 

A change in management/ownership can make a major difference in a property.  I witnessed that at the Pier 66 resort in Fort Lauderdale.  First stay, it was Philips Pier  66; then the property came under the Hyatt flag.  Just as good as before and remained an excellent hotel/resort.  Then, there was a management and/or ownership change.  Even though it was still under the Hyatt flag, the service and my experiences as a guest were very un-Hyatt like.  During that trip, I also stayed at the Hyatt in Coral Gables and happened to mention to a manager how disappointed my stay was at Pier 66.  She stated that they had been hearing this from other guests; there had been a management change.  It wasn't too long after that Pier 66 was dropped from the Hyatt family.