If you are looking for a great vacation at the beach this hotel is the place. We booked directly through the hotel website. It was the same price as the discount websites and you get to make special requests, like extra towels and room views. Our room was on the top floor (9th) Parkside (preferred side) of the hotel. You have a great view of the gulf, the swimming pools, Pier 60, the habor and a small Park that is maintained by the city.
The hotel is extremely clean. They put forth a great effort to make sure the pool and beach areas are perfect. The elevators take you to the ground floor where you access the pool and the beach. The lobby is on the first floor so you don't have to go through the lobby whenever you want to go swimming. We had our ten year old daughter with us and she had a great time.
We parked our vehicle in self-parking when we arrived and never drove it again until we left four days later. Everything you could want was in walking distance. Several miles of beach, two pools, hot tub, tiki bars at the pool and on the beach, many restaurants, park area for children, activities on Pier 60, bungie trampoline, shopping, parasailing, boat excursions (dolphin viewing, deep sea fishing, site seeing, jet skis, dinner cruises, and the famous pirate ship). We ran out of time before running out of things to do.
There were quite a few different languages that were spoken at the pool. It seems to be a top distination spot for international vacationers too.
It is an expensive vacation but you do receive great value for the money.
