As we pulled up in our rental car I wasn’t sure that we had the right place. I knew there was another Edgewater Hotel in Naples and I was considering the likelihood of having navigated to the wrong one on the Sat Nav.
The building was situated in a nice street full of members clubs and other hotels but there was a distinct lack of branding. I left Mrs Travel Freak and the Junior Freaks in the car and went to investigate.
Once I entered the hotel I found the familiar “Hilton HHonors Worldwide” sign at reception and realised this was indeed the correct hotel. The lobby was small, however I could see into the bar / restaurant and the pool and beach beyond, noting that the lobby and pool were just as the pictures online showed!
Check-in was very efficient; no credit card swipe taken (that I know of!) and an upgrade (Diamond HHonors) to a 2 bedroom suite. The Bellman appeared and was soon lugging some 13 (no really…) bags up to our room. It amuses me how much more special I felt staying not on the 7th floor but the “Penthouse” level referenced by signage and staff throughout the hotel.
The suite was extraordinary! Very spacious with a very modern look and feel (think more Habitat than Ikea). The entrance led into the kitchen / dining / lounge area which had everything we needed and some more. We did like the chilled bottle of Californian White in the fridge along with the matching Red on the board. Four small bottles of comp water was a nice welcome gift and had been helpfully placed in the fridge, however, the bottles were not replaced during our three night stay. The hotel had wifi both in the rooms and the lobby which was of course comped.
After a quick change we ventured to the pool / beach. The pool was as expected (and as shown in pics from website) although I wasn’t expecting as many people to be playing in it – I have no idea why. We got a beer or two in (and some huge sodas for the kids) and ordered some lunch which was promptly delivered to our table. The prices here were very reasonable for this type of hotel and while the cuisine would not win any awards, it was certainly functional.
The real issue with this hotel was the buffet breakfast which is offered complimentary to all guests. As the wonderful Junior Travel Freaks were still working on UK time we (5 of us) were the first at breakfast bang on 7:30 the following morning. There was no cereal on offer (which was a catalyst for the first tantrum of the day) and no apple juice (which induced my own mini tantrum; I can’t help not liking orange juice with bits!) We had some toast and some tiny mini bagels with some cream cheese that was mediocre at best. The coffee was unpleasant and the tea simply not drinkable. Staff during the breakfast service were grumpy (throughout our stay) and had neither any sense of humour nor any desire to deliver any sort of service). We left the first morning disappointed (particularly after our amazing breakfast at the Hilton Miami Airport the previous morning).
The following morning the Junior Freaks slept till 8 (yee ha!) and we didn’t make the restaurant until almost 9; the hotel advertised that breakfast was available until 10 so I was expecting at least as much as the day before…I was however mistaken. When we arrived there were no bagels and no bread left. I asked the (same) staff member if there was more bread available – the reply was a flat “no”. I could see no effort being made to obtain anymore which left some sweet muffins and pastries, some mini granola cups, some oatmeal and some smoothies for the us and the guests that arrived later. This was a huge disappointment and well below our expectations for a Waldorf property. This could so easily be fixed with some cereal and some more bread / bagels – or some better staff.
The rest of our stay went well and checkout was fast and efficient – the beach was fun and pretty clean and Naples was understated and kinda cool. The Edgewater Beach Hotel got the thumbs up from all the Junior Travel Freaks as well as Mrs Travel Freak. I really enjoyed our stay too – with the exception being breakfast.
We look forward to returning in the future (hoping for the same upgrade – the suite really was fab!).
Rate paid – $149 per night.
Edgewater Beach, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel, 1901 Gulf Shore Boulevard North, Naples, Florida 34102. Website
