The Drift Hotel

The room was nice, well air-conditioned, and had a good TV and comfortable bed. The bathroom was clean with fresh towels, and the cleaning staff were pleasant and always smiling. My main problem came when I returned after 1 a.m. one night and got locked out. There was nobody at the office and no way to reach anyone. Luckily, my friend was staying at the high-end hotel next door and let me stay with him. Otherwise, I would have been sleeping in my car.

The courtyard is beautiful and a relaxing place to sit, and the location is hard to beat: half a block from the beach, with restaurants and bars within walking distance. It’s also tucked away from the main drag, so it’s quiet. This is a typical 70s-style Florida beach motel, so don’t expect a Four Seasons, but the beds are huge and comfortable and the shower gets really hot. I had no complaints. It’s a good place to come solo or with a partner, and for the price and location, you can’t go wrong.

I wish I’d read reviews from just two weeks earlier. If I could give zero stars, I would. After a long flight, I arrived at 1:45 a.m. to find no parking. The property description says parking is available, but there aren’t enough spaces for everyone, so arriving late leaves you out of luck with expensive, troublesome street parking. The place was a mess. There was a broken vending machine in the courtyard, and the building needed patching and paint. My unit #9 door looked kicked in, and the room smelled moldy. It took forever to get hot water, and there was absolutely no internet, so don’t expect to work or do anything online. The walls were dented with paint missing, the floor was greasy, and there was grime where the walls met the floor. The fridge was rusty, the room noisy, and the TV didn’t work. There was no closet or place to hang clothes, so I had to leave my suitcase open on the bed. The water pressure was poor, and the nightstand lights looked like they cost $5 and wouldn’t stay on. On my last night I had to get up at 3:30 a.m. for my flight, but at least eight people partied loudly in the courtyard all night, screaming and laughing without regard for anyone else. They were still yelling when I left at 3:30. Please don’t waste your time or stay here. One of the worst experiences.

We figured one cheap night would be okay, but it really wasn’t worth it. We left three hours after checking in, booked somewhere else, and accepted the loss. The room was disgusting, as you can see in the pictures. The bleach smell hit so hard that my friend gagged and coughed for five minutes. There wasn’t even soap for washing our hands, and the sheets were disgusting, with a thick layer of dust on the molding. Believe the reviews. Unless you’re around 22 and just looking for a cheap place, this is a bad choice. Stay away and spend the extra $150 elsewhere.