While visiting an aunt in vero beach she recommended a hotel on the beach for our family. She said we would love this place. I called the hotel directely and booked a 1 bedroom suite for $130 a night on the beach! When we arrived at out hotel we were amazed. The hotel is a historical landmark built in 1937. Beautiful atmosphere. Very rustic and quaint.. When we entered out room it was a fully furnished 1 bedroom apartment. It was newly redecorated. We dont like the fancy hotels so if you want something high scale look elsewhere. We were on the bottom floor and a few yards from the beach. Absolutely beautiful. The beach was not crowded at all. Our kids ages 4 and 16 had a blast. Thier was a resturant and a bar opening up out to the pool. The staff was very friendly. We didnt need much from the staff because we were fully efficient in our room. I would highly recommend this hotel for anyone who just wants to get away from it all and who want to stay away from all the touristy places.

My family and I (2 adults, 2 teens) had a 3 day stay at the Driftwood. The place was a little more laid back and casual than I was expecting, at least from their website. I can't complain about the room we had, room 120, ground floor of building A, except that it had no view. Couldn't see the ocean and only looked right across to another building. The building was obviously newer so our one bedroom, 2 bath, with a full kitchen was actually very nice and clean. Our teens were very uncomfortable on the pull-out sofa, but then what pull-out sofa is comfortable? We only used the microwave and coffee machine and didn't do any cooking in the room since it was such a short stay. Since we were only there for 3 days, we turned away the room service for each day, but the room seemed very clean when we got there. The pull-out sofa was left with only one flimsy blanket so we had to call for a second one, plus a couple extra pillows, and a remote for the t.v., which were all brought over promptly. The beach seemed very nice but when we were there it was extremely windy making the surf rough so we didn't get to swim. We also didn't use the pool (didn't even realize they had a second pool) because the wind was so hard coming off the ocean. We ate all three dinners in the Waldo restaurant and found the food to be quite good. The waitresses were friendly, the bartenders not for some reason. The whole place definitely has a "Key West" feel about it and you can tell the old locals like to hang out at the bar. Glad we only stayed 3 days, there just isn't much in the area to do. I would say, by far, my biggest turn-off about the place was the staff at the desk. Out of 5 different people that I dealt with (phoning ahead with a couple questions, checking in, checking out, questions during our stay, etc.), only one, a younger woman, was friendly. The 3 older people and the young guy that work there all seemed to have attitude problems. Never a smile, never a thank you. Was never asked if we enjoyed our stay, thanked for staying there when we left or anything. I would maybe stay there again but would be careful about what part of the hotel I stayed in. Didn't get a chance to see a room from the old original part so I can't say from experience what condition they are in. Thought the rates were a little high but not horrible for being right on the ocean. They did not serve breakfast during our stay so we ate all 3 mornings at Mulligans up the street. Good food at a fairly reasonable price. Also, there is a good custard shop directly across the street. Don't think I would stay in Vero again for a whole week or with teens, but for a short trip for just the two of us, it would be fine. Would maybe try a different hotel the next time. I would say, overall, my opinion of the place would be much higher if the front desk people learned a little people skills. Kind of surprising because I'm sure they were the owners of the place.

Can't believe the horrible review I just read from the people who stayed here in Mar. of 2006. We had our usual room on the first floor and dearly love the place--so much so that we already reserved the same room for next year. Restaurant food was good (we only ate there once) and reasonable with generous helpings. In fact, I asked about the taco spread that was set out because that is what I wanted for my meal and they told me that it was happy hr. and since I had ordered a drink, the tacos were free. My husband who is a bigger eater than me did order an entree. I will admit the front desk people were not real friendly. Some were better than others. We have stayed at the Driftwood more than once and fell in love with it from the beginning. We also like the almost daily free things like coffee and donuts on Mon. am, wine and cheese on Tues. eve., ice cream sundaes on Wed. afternoon, and $1.00 hot dogs, chips, and drink on Thurs. I'd better stop now cause I don't want it to sound too good or we may have trouble getting a room someday.

I have never written a review, although I have stayed in many places. And, I am a naturally upbeat, go with the flow-type traveler. Yet, I feel it is my duty to warn others to have a look at a room at this hotel before staying here because I was very displeased with my musty unattractive room accommodations.
The only really good thing was the view of the water, although it was hard to ignore the sublevel accommodation.
The first thing I did was wash the filthy windows so that I could see the ocean outside. The peeling paint on the outside sashes, poor carpentry job done on the new railing, and poor condition of the cement on the third floor walkway, gave me the first clue that this place takes its pride from its history, not pride in aesthetics and cleanliness. The inside window sill was filled with bugs, that I cleaned, and the curtains had stains on them. The door (no screen or window) was again ugly, with a rusting doorknob. The security chain was broken and what remained of it was rusted. The chairs outside the room had rusty nails so that one couldn't sit in them without getting rust on one's clothes.

The unattractive little living room, with ugly furniture, including a hard couch and a dirty recliner, dark rug, and a 1940's ugly bookcase with rust and doors that didn't move did not endear this place to me either. No thought was given to making this old bookcase look better, since it had a few books that were old and musty and an old cheap basket.
The bed was placed behind this bookcase, with a pilly bedspread, a dirty and stained blanket, and sheets that are of the quality found at the poorest hotels...very thin and worn. The sheets were never changed either, as I found the TV changer exactly where I left it...between the dirty blanket and the sheets.
The bed was jammed in this area that made it impossible to walk around the bed. There were drawers on the bookcase side of the bed cubby, but impossible to access...like putting a bed in a large closet. There were rusted floor tracts that louver doors couldn't slide on if one wished to further close this cubby, but then it would have even been impossible to get up from the bed without bumping into these louver doors.
There was a closet, but rust and mold were not inviting, so I never unpacked my suitcase. A large refrigerator, a miicrowave, coffeemaker, blender, and toaster...with old pans...but no hot plate or stove were in the kitchen area. The cabinet where the garbage pail was kept was dirty. The coffee packet was never replaced.
Ceilings were very low, sprayed with a grey-white popcorn finish, and graced with dim, dirty globes.

The bathroom was adquate, not attractive, and not especially clean, with some mold in the grout of the tub, and a toilet not spotlessly clean, either. Towels were found in the closet, with no one bothering to put them on towel racks. On my second day, the cleaning person put fresh towels on the couch, and no replacement of soap was made during my stay. No hair dryer or moisturizing cream, just cheap little shampoo. No soap was placed in the shower dispencer. Fixtures in the tub were old and spotted. Moldings of the bathroom, and throughtout the place were dirty, as was the molding around the mirror.

The walls looked to have been newly painted, with yellow spackle, the only nice thing that could be said about this room. A few nice pictures graced the walls. And yes, the upholstry on the kitchen table chairs were all stained.

The elevator to the room was dirty....

Need I say more? Of three people I met at the front desk, only one was friendly. No one thanked me for staying there, even though I was pleasant all the time.

Waldo's was not especially clean either, and the food poorly presented, with perhaps a C- rating. It was recommended by the only pleasant front desk person.

And no surprise...I would never stay here again.