We recently traveled to Cocoa Beach for a little birthday vacation for my fiancée - April 9-12 were the dates. I had already booked a room at, what I thought was, a great place to stay on the beach and we were planning on a romantic/fun weekend. We had a great time but a horrible stay.
First, we checked into International Palms Resort late Thursday night because we both got out of work around 6p.m. So we were ready to relax and for drinks. We get into our room and the door doesn't close all the way unless you really slam it - STRIKE ONE. The door actually looked like someone tried prying the door open and the key card sometimes couldn't be read because the battery pack kept falling out. Nightmare! The room was decent though and so we went down to the beach bar for a few drinks.
Let me tell you, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the drinks themselves - it was also a short walk through the dunes to the beach so it was very ideal. But the restaurant/bar was very dirty. There was obviously sand everywhere, but tables hadn't been cleared, the trash at the bar was overflowing and it was just really unpleasant. It seemed like the workers were understaffed and unable to keep up with the flow of customers and clean up afterwards. It wasn't like that the following day, so maybe they were just short that first day that we were there - who knows really? Anyways, around the resort were fire pits where you could sit and chill at, which were nice because who doesn't like a night fire and a cocktail? The drinks were a little pricey though, or maybe it was the fact that we drank a lot to mask our hatred and annoyance over the hotel.
STRIKE TWO came out of nowhere really. We both woke up and got ready for the day - and to speak to the hotel about changing rooms because how could we leave our stuff in a room that we weren't sure actually locked? Then my fiancée mentioned that he saw cockroaches in the bathroom! NOPE! Not having it! I know it's hot, and I've actually seen a cockroach on a resort in Orlando that we stay at quite often, but I was already fed up with this resort. If there were openings that weekend for other resorts we would have just left and went somewhere else, but I was determined to turn this trip around.
We went to the front desk and asked if we could move rooms. We explained to them what had occurred - 1. the door doesn't fully shut 2. cockroach. The female at the front desk was really accommodating but told us that they needed to get the rooms cleaned and she'd call us when they had another room available. We were okay with that. We didn't want to wait around forever so we ventured out of the hotel and into downtown Cocoa Beach.
We got some beach stuff at one of the shops and ate at Coconuts - someone told us we needed to try it out and it definitely didn't disappoint. The drinks were really good and so was the food. I had the Ahi Tuna salad and he had fish tacos. The waiter was really nice and told us what local spots to try out. This restaurant was right on the beach as well. We ate outside and had the perfect view of the ocean.
After eating we headed back to the hotel to check on our room. It was already 2 p.m. by now and they said they would call us by noon. The same girl was at the front desk and remembered us. She said she was putting us into one of the newer, remodeled rooms but the room wasn't cleaned yet. She had another room available but it wasn't remodeled, was that okay? We didn't really care about remodeled, we just wanted a functioning, clean room. So we packed up our things from our original room and moved down the hall a few rooms. When we got to it, the door wouldn't unlock. Why, you ask? Because the door was latched from the inside - as if someone was still staying there. STRIKE THREE.
Now we were really upset. We had wasted part of our day of fun to switch rooms and we couldn't even get into it. Worst start to a vacation, by far. We trekked back to the lobby and were about ready to leave. "What will you give us to continue to stay here?" we asked the manager. "Well we need to know if you are going to stay with us first." What kind of BS is that? Our new room was better - the door shut, the room was clean and it was closer to the beach. But what did the management give us? Security came to the room and gave us $30 vouchers for food and drink - which equalled to one drink each for the both of us. Way to go International Palms. NEVER GOING BACK!
.... Next post will be all the fun times we had at Cocoa Beach ... STAY TUNED!
First, we checked into International Palms Resort late Thursday night because we both got out of work around 6p.m. So we were ready to relax and for drinks. We get into our room and the door doesn't close all the way unless you really slam it - STRIKE ONE. The door actually looked like someone tried prying the door open and the key card sometimes couldn't be read because the battery pack kept falling out. Nightmare! The room was decent though and so we went down to the beach bar for a few drinks.
Let me tell you, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the drinks themselves - it was also a short walk through the dunes to the beach so it was very ideal. But the restaurant/bar was very dirty. There was obviously sand everywhere, but tables hadn't been cleared, the trash at the bar was overflowing and it was just really unpleasant. It seemed like the workers were understaffed and unable to keep up with the flow of customers and clean up afterwards. It wasn't like that the following day, so maybe they were just short that first day that we were there - who knows really? Anyways, around the resort were fire pits where you could sit and chill at, which were nice because who doesn't like a night fire and a cocktail? The drinks were a little pricey though, or maybe it was the fact that we drank a lot to mask our hatred and annoyance over the hotel.
STRIKE TWO came out of nowhere really. We both woke up and got ready for the day - and to speak to the hotel about changing rooms because how could we leave our stuff in a room that we weren't sure actually locked? Then my fiancée mentioned that he saw cockroaches in the bathroom! NOPE! Not having it! I know it's hot, and I've actually seen a cockroach on a resort in Orlando that we stay at quite often, but I was already fed up with this resort. If there were openings that weekend for other resorts we would have just left and went somewhere else, but I was determined to turn this trip around.
We went to the front desk and asked if we could move rooms. We explained to them what had occurred - 1. the door doesn't fully shut 2. cockroach. The female at the front desk was really accommodating but told us that they needed to get the rooms cleaned and she'd call us when they had another room available. We were okay with that. We didn't want to wait around forever so we ventured out of the hotel and into downtown Cocoa Beach.
We got some beach stuff at one of the shops and ate at Coconuts - someone told us we needed to try it out and it definitely didn't disappoint. The drinks were really good and so was the food. I had the Ahi Tuna salad and he had fish tacos. The waiter was really nice and told us what local spots to try out. This restaurant was right on the beach as well. We ate outside and had the perfect view of the ocean.
After eating we headed back to the hotel to check on our room. It was already 2 p.m. by now and they said they would call us by noon. The same girl was at the front desk and remembered us. She said she was putting us into one of the newer, remodeled rooms but the room wasn't cleaned yet. She had another room available but it wasn't remodeled, was that okay? We didn't really care about remodeled, we just wanted a functioning, clean room. So we packed up our things from our original room and moved down the hall a few rooms. When we got to it, the door wouldn't unlock. Why, you ask? Because the door was latched from the inside - as if someone was still staying there. STRIKE THREE.
Now we were really upset. We had wasted part of our day of fun to switch rooms and we couldn't even get into it. Worst start to a vacation, by far. We trekked back to the lobby and were about ready to leave. "What will you give us to continue to stay here?" we asked the manager. "Well we need to know if you are going to stay with us first." What kind of BS is that? Our new room was better - the door shut, the room was clean and it was closer to the beach. But what did the management give us? Security came to the room and gave us $30 vouchers for food and drink - which equalled to one drink each for the both of us. Way to go International Palms. NEVER GOING BACK!
.... Next post will be all the fun times we had at Cocoa Beach ... STAY TUNED!
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