My hubby surprised me again this weekend with his hotel picking skills. For our anniversary, we spent a luxurious weekend at a trendy hotel in downtown Tallahasseee. This weekend, we were in Daytona Beach for a wedding, and Drew decided to make the most of it, and found a hotel right on the beach. We learned our lesson the last time we booked a hotel on the beach. We were on vacation, and spent a few days with my parents before going to spend a few days lounging on the beach. In our excellent planning, we booked a hotel the day before we got there. Of course, everything was booked, but we found something ON the beach. In our heads, we envisioned sitting on our balcony, overlooking the ocean, coffee and beer in hand.

We arrived at said hotel, and found a dumpy little room whose door faced the ocean. That trip, we learned the difference between oceanfront and oceanside. We made the most of it though, and the dumpy little room grew on me, and we enjoyed the hammock that was out on the beach.

This trip, Drew booked us a hotel room, and he was determined to have a balcony where he could kick back with his beer in hand. He made sure he had oceanfront, and a balcony. I was excited when I heard what he had booked, and was even more excited as we drove down A1A and saw not just our hotel, but our resort appear on the horizon. It was like one of those hotels that I normally look at longingly as I drive by on my way to Sand Dollar Ocean Side Cottages. Rather than drive on by, we pulled in and were greeted by a bellhop, who treated us like we have more money than we really do.

Shores Resort and Spa(!) proved to be the hotel room we had hoped for on that first trip. Beautiful room with a king size bed, comfy chairs and ottomans facing the sliding glass door, which pictured an amazing view of the Atlantic. The patio had two simple deck chairs and table, which was just enough for us to lounge on, with our respective coffee and beers in hand. Ahhh…

We spent a fair amount of time out on that deck, especially at night. With a cool breeze blowing through and the almost deafening waves crashing onto shore, we contemplated dragging the mattress out there. We splurged and got room service, not once, not twice, but THREE times. We enjoyed breakfasts and dinners “al fresco” and enjoyed the ocean breeze. Or, in the morning, the blazing sun that made us sweat and run back inside. The whole experience was so lovely, it almost made up for the mediocre hotel coffee and powder, non dairy creamer.

Luckily, check out time isn’t until noon, so we have one more lazy morning listening to the ocean waves. With my tummy full of omelets and belgian waffles, I am feeling pretty happy.