Cape Canaveral, Florida: Holiday Inn Club Vacations Beach Resort

January 2025, Sunday night

Above: sunset from Holiday Inn Beach Resort Cape Canaveral building 2
Below: property map for Holiday Inn Club Vacations Resort Cape Canaveral

Arrival and platinum perks

I reserved a standard king guestroom with points, and received an upgrade to a two bedroom villa. We arrived early, and the front desk agent said she would put in an early check-in request for us. We checked our luggage, then returned our rental car, and walked back to the property. I am not sure the early check-in request really did much good, because we did not receive a call saying our room was ready until over three hours later, shortly after 3:30 PM. After we received the call, we returned to the front desk to get our checked luggage, and then waited a few minutes for the property tram, as our villa was in building 2 at the far end of the property. We arrived at our villa around 3:45 PM. It did not appear that anyone had recently stayed in this villa. Since check-in time is 4:00 PM, I guess the early arrival request got us into our room a few minutes early! 😆 😳

We absolutely loved our villa upgrade, even though we did not have much of a view. It was much more fabulous than a regular hotel room.

Villa 2312 in Holiday Inn Club Vacations Beach Resort Cape Canaveral

Guestroom villa #2312

The villa number matches the building number, floor, and then unit number. We were in building 2 on the 3rd floor, in unit 12.

Villa 2312 in Holiday Inn Club Vacations Beach Resort Cape Canaveral
Below: view of cruise ships leaving port from our balcony in villa 2312

This villa is a complete living unit. The living and kitchen areas were spacious, and the balcony contained a table and chairs. The view overlooked the pedestrian walkway. The channel was beyond the walkway, although you could not see the water due to the shrubbery. 

Villa 2312 in Holiday Inn Club Vacations Beach Resort Cape Canaveral

Cape Canaveral/Titusville, Florida ~ Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex

February 2018

Inside Apollo/Saturn V Center

Kennedy Space Center ticket cost and discounts

Following are the daily admission costs listed on the Kennedy Space Center site before tax.

• Child age 3 - 11: $40
• Military child: $37
• Adult age 12+: $50
• Military adult: $46
• Senior 55+: $46. Senior tickets need to be purchased at the ticket window upon arrival; they are not available online.

Discounts found elsewhere, pre-tax.

Best deal for Kennedy Space Center found in
Florida's Space Coast vacation planner

Transportation Choices: to/from Orlando Airport (MCO), Cape Canaveral, Port Canaveral

February 2018

We flew into the Orlando airport for a cruise from Port Canaveral. We needed transportation three different times: from the airport to Cape Canaveral, from our hotel in Cape Canaveral to the port, and from the port back to the airport. Following are the options we found, and our experiences.

Transportation for three from Orlando Airport (MCO) to Cape Canaveral

• If you are heading directly to the cruise port, the Carnival shared transfer service is $35.99 per person one-way. 
• There is also a link for a private car service on the Carnival page, which looked to be around $66 before tip. This seems like the best choice, if you do not want to use Uber.
• The online cab fare estimator said this trip would cost over $100 in a cab.
• We chose Uber, and the fare was less than $50 before tip. We were happy with the end result of this trip; however, we had some difficulty at the start. The first Uber driver who showed up refused to take us. We are three small to average size adults, and we had three pieces of luggage; one large bag, and two medium to large size bags. He said he did not have room, which was untrue. The second driver who showed up was Murat, and he was great. He had a smaller vehicle than the first driver, and we all easily fit in his car with our luggage in the trunk. I think the first driver did not want to take us that far, and then have to drive all the way back, most likely without a fare (it is about 45 miles one-way). I wanted to report the first driver; however, his name disappeared from the app as soon as he left. I had received a text from him before he arrived, and his number is (407) 439-2406. I will make sure I never do business with that number again, and I will advise others to avoid it. After we waited 10 minutes for him, we had to request the trip again via the app, and then wait for another driver. The Uber app says you have to be ready when requesting the ride; however, at MCO I observed three other passengers also waiting over 10 minutes for Uber drivers.

Map of the area

Transportation from Cape Canaveral hotel to Port Canaveral (Carnival cruise port)

Cape Canaveral, Florida / Residence Inn by Marriott, local restaurants

February 2018, Weekend, 1-night, 2-bedroom 2-bath suite #407

I had some difficulty getting a room at this hotel. I started checking quite far in advance, and there was no availability for several months. I kept checking, and room availability kept going from zero to some rooms being available. I booked a 2-bedroom suite as soon as I saw one available. The AAA rate was $256, which I thought was pretty high. A few weeks before our trip, I decided to change it to the pre-pay, non-refundable rate, which saved us over $35.

Sunset from the walking trail across the road from Residence Inn

Gold perks and check-in

I did not receive any recognition or extra perks for being a Gold member. We could not receive a room upgrade, because we had already booked the most expensive room type. Although the cost was steep, we decided we did not want to take the chance with a possible upgrade. And, the hotel was pretty full. Premium Internet access is complimentary for Gold members.

Another view from the walking trail

Check-in time is 4:00 PM, and we arrived around 3:00 PM. I had contacted the hotel via Facebook to let them know we would be arriving early. I received a reply two days after I had sent the note, with an apology for the delayed response. I have the Marriott app on my phone, and I received a notification that the room was ready at 10:00 AM! Made us wish our flight had been arriving even earlier.

Suite #407

When we arrived in the guestroom, I saw that my profile preferences for extra pillows had been fulfilled! 😊 This guestroom is located on the top floor in the northeast corner. There is a view of the Exploration Tower, and a partial view of the cruise port. The room was comfortable, and it is in a quiet location.