I’ll admit that sometimes I fall behind in writing hotel reviews. I love doing them but they do take time. I’ll review smaller hotels because while every blogger reviews St. Regis hotels, very few write about a La Quinta stay.
However, those are the hotels I still visit when they meet our needs and I love when I find a review that says a place is clean and the AC works or one which says to stay away. So I’m going to keep reviewing Residence Inn, Hampton Inn, Courtyard and Holiday Inn Express hotels when we visit them.
In November last year, Sharon needed a single-night stay before a Virgin Voyages cruise from Miami. We loved our first cruise with them, and she booked a 3-night “girls’ trip” for a weekend I was working. I didn’t mind because I’d be working all day and she’d also qualify for “Sea Rover” status by taking 2 cruises before April 30, 2023.
She didn’t want to stay in Miami, as we did on our 1st cruise, because she’d be leaving home (here in Central FL) late. Instead, she wanted somewhere about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to Miami from Orlando.
I had some Marriott free night certificates and found a hotel near the highway that cost less than 40K Marriott Bonvoy points. She was nice enough to take pictures of the room and the hotel for me to write a review. Then it was the holidays and we’ve been away a lot and I’m just getting around to writing the review.
Except, when I looked up the hotel it was gone from Marriott’s website.
When I Googled the hotel, all the hits were for third-party links to the hotel from booking websites. The Residence Inn Delray Beach is no more. But what happened to it?
It became a luxury hotel.
The hotel is now called The Atlantic Suites on the Ave. Located at 1111 East Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach, FL, it is now a part of the Opal Hotel Collection. I knew I had heard that name before, and sure enough, Opal Hotels is the same company that took over the former Westin, then Margaritaville Hotel in Key West. It’s a collection of chain and independent luxury properties including several beachfront hotels in Florida and other signature East Coast hotels like The Sagamore and Lake Placid Lodge.
So what is the former Residence Inn Delray Beach doing in the same group as these resort hotels? I’m guessing it has something to do with the Opal Grand Resort and Spa being right down the street.
That’s not to say the Residence Inn wasn’t nice. Sharon mentioned it was nicer than most other Residence Inns we’ve visited.
It was within walking distance of the beach and she had a great view from the balcony.
The room was also nicely appointed for a beach adjacent hotel.
Here’s a screenshot from the Opal website. It doesn’t look like they’ve changed much in the rooms.
And while the Opal website makes the pool look luxurious with this overhead drone footage
from ground level, it looks much like every other hotel pool.
Room rates at the hotel aren’t crazy, with rates starting around $200 a night. However, they added a $35 nightly resort fee, which the Residence Inn didn’t charge. It covers the buffet breakfast (previously included with the room) and parking ($20 a night when Sharon stayed last year).
I don’t think this property is at the same level as the Opal hotels on Key West or Longboat Key, and that’s what people who spend $400-$600 a night expect. Sure this is a less expensive hotel but it seems like the Sesame Street song “One of these things is not like the others. One of these things doesn’t belong.”
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1 comment
The Marriott Beachfront next door turned into an Opal. Went from great property to miserable. We checked in and the place was filthy, construction and trash everywhere. We actually checked out and moved to the Westin down the street. Ended up having to dispute the charges with Amex. The Opal wouldn’t refund our room even though we had booked Beachfront with Marriott and the Opal gave us a construction parking zone view with the room being filthy. Will never stay there again.