Best Western Aku Tiki Inn

Great Value with NO compromise My family had a great experience. Staff friendly, professional. Cleaning around the clock. The restaurant & tiki bar had many selections for all meals at a good value. Von in the restaurant was great and friendly. Best value on beach Great!

New Florida home In years past we always stayed at the Best Western Castillo Del Sol in Ormond Beach but earlier this year they were sold to the Hilton chain and renamed the "Spark". Since I am very partial to staying at Best Western hotels when I am on trips my wife and I chose the Best Western Aku Tiki Inn down in Daytona Beach Shores. Though we have been to Daytona Beach over two dozen times this was the first time staying at this particular hotel. We did not regret our choice as this hotel was really nice in the layout of the grounds, the amenities and the rooms. The staff was also super nice and polite and always willing to do what it took to help you with questions or issues. And the rooms were CLEAN in all aspects!! There were some minor quirks that if corrected could have made the rooms a little better but they were nothing that couldn't be worked around. #1 was there is no electrical outlets in the kitchenette area that you could plug the coffee maker into. The main one was behind the refrigerator and you would have to muscle that out of the way to use it, plus the coffee maker cord was too short to reach anywhere except by being on top of the Fridge. Pretty inconvenient for shorter people. There was a second outlet but it was up inside a cabinet over the stove that the microwave was plugged into. If a guest brings along a extension cord that should rectify that issue though. As it was my wife had to take the coffee maker into the bathroom and use the outlet there for her morning go-go juice. A second quirk was the beds are set up on some kind of platforms that the edge sticks out 6-7 inches beyond the mattress sides and if you are not careful when walking around the corners you can easily bark your shin on them. It took me two times of that happening to learn to give the corners a wide berth. Final quirk was only one of the two elevators was working which made it slow going at times going to and from your room. Breakfast no longer being included in the room rate was also disappointing but not that big a deal to us anyway. Overall we enjoyed our stay there immensely and will be using that hotel again on future trips to Daytona Beach.

Not bad, but could be so much better This was our third time staying at this property in the last 5 years. There were some new pros and new cons this go around. This hotel isn't bad, and I would consider staying there again, but it has so much more potential that could be leveraged to make it truly an outstanding experience. New Pros: The rooms and hallways have been nicely renovated with new flooring, new furniture, new interior doors, and new kitchenette appliances. New Cons: Reconstruction to the grounds near the beach continues in the wake of 2022 hurricane damage. There's a brand new seawall in front of the entire property, and the ground is level again, but the grounds in general that used to be so beautiful have been let go. Part of the parking lot that had fallen in from the hurricane damage was being repaired during our visit. This made it difficult to find a convenient parking space at times. Fire systems were malfunctioning and notices had been placed by the city at each lobby entrance (see attached photo for details). Typically only one person at a time was seen at the front desk, which often caused a backup. Although this property advertises itself as 100% smoke-free and makes customers sign a form stating they won't smoke, we smelled and saw people smoking routinely. On the first night, it smelled a bit like marijuana in the hallway and even in our room. Other Pros: Room sizes are nice. Great view from the "ocean view" rooms (every room has some sort of ocean view). The location is easily accessible from Daytona Beach and Port Orange as it is in Daytona Beach Shores. There's a Winn Dixie, 7 Eleven, and Surf Style store right across the street. Other Cons: We were given the wrong room number upon check-in: we went to that room only to discover that the room was already occupied! I had to go back down to the lobby to be told that I was given the wrong room. The day we arrived, there were no luggage carts available, so we had to make about 6 trips to/from the car to unload. We never saw any carts available until at least the next afternoon. Only 1 elevator works, so sometimes you have to wait a while or take the stairs. The hotel does NOT include free breakfast as they did during our 2019 visit. The food prices for the attached Trader's Restaurant are pretty steep for what you get. The room lacked enough electrical outlets. We had to take turns plugging things in. In the bathroom sink, the hot water and cold water were reversed. Room service was hit or miss. A few times, we had to catch a member of housekeeping staff to ask for a refresh of towels and other items because our room had not been serviced that day. One of those days we were only out of the room for about 3 hours during the day, so I can understand it that day, but the other days we were out of the room longer and only once was our room fully serviced.

Getting better Only one of the two elevators are working right now (big pain if you’re on the 5th floor). 1/4 of the parking lot is unusable at the moment. The rooms have all been renovated and are very nice. Check in was very slow due to only one desk clerk.

Family vacation Hotel was clean staff was helpful. Only problem second elevator was not in use. Close to beach still doing repairs. Parking lot still needed work had work equipment blocking some stops.