The OP is booked at the Pier House. I switched from there to the Doubletree and was happy with the decision. Cost savings paid for snorkel trip, couples massage and dinner at Latitudes so as nice as the PH is I can see where they are coming from.

It comes down to $500.00 vs. having a small beach area. A beach is nice but so's the loot.

Do you which room you have at the PH?

Pjk

I have reservations at PH with a Lanai room. We stayed there last year and loved it, but lets face it, $500 is a lot of money. That being said, its worth it if the Simonton is sub par.

Skm

While I can not speak from personal experience, I know people who have stayed there and are very happy. The vast majority of the reviews are good. In the hospitality business, you will almost always get some bad reviews. I would keep them in context and save the money.

Simonton Court is definitely not sub-par. It is a lovely group of cottages, with lush tropical grounds and several pools. Sounds like a great deal and you can always go over to the Pier House for lunch at the Beach Bar or drinks at the Chart Room, it's just down the street!

We love Simonton (stayed there for our 20th Anniversary and we are going to stay there next July for our 25th). The grounds and pools are beautiful, it's a close walk to many great bars, restaurants, etc. It's super clean and comfy. And it's surprisingly quiet for being so close to Duval. Absolutely a great great place to stay.

I would miss the beach since I spend a lot of time there reading and swimming, and I like it alot in the morning. But if you're not that much into the beach, Simonton would be a nice way to sample something different. And there's always next year for a return to either.

Pjk

While the room you are considering is not one I tried, I have stayed at the Simonton Court numerous times. Adding up all of our stays, I spent nearly 2 months at the Simonton Court and they were all great stays. It is a very nice and well located property. All that said, I will not be returning. The reason is that they now have just about every inch of the large property covered with web cams that can be panned and zoomed by anyone. Having anyone in the world spy on me with out my knowledge while I am trying to relax pool side, no thanks! If unlike me, that does not bother you, then it is a great choice.

Thank you everyone for your feedback. We are going to make the switch. PJK- I love the beach as well at PH, however, February is a time of year that can be iffy, so that is not a deal breaker for me. Last year it was so cool that we never even got to use the beach, but we did use the pool. So if we have the same luck this year, we paid an extra $500 to look at sand. I can go to Ft. Zachary or Smathers Beach to do that for free.

As for the web cams, I have been looking at their website for the past 2 days and the cams have not shown a single person at thier hotel. The have been pointing to a deck and I did try to zoom in and that capability was disabled. That truly is not an issue since the same can occur to you on Duval Street, at Mallory Square, and Hogs Breath (and those are just the ones that I know of).