We just returned home from an amazing week at one of our favorite beaches in Alabama! If you haven’t visited Orange Beach, I highly recommend it. You won’t be disappointed with the white sand and emerald waters, I promise!

We actually had plans to travel to Utah over the break, but two weeks before the trip I pulled up a long range forecast online and it was predicted to be freezing cold. I looked over at Jereme and basically told him that I didn’t want to hike in those weather conditions. So, I got busy planning something else and my boys said they really wanted to go to the beach and do nothing except play in the ocean. I wasn’t sure how warm the weather would be, but I quickly started making arrangements for Orange Beach. We got extremely lucky with unseasonably warm weather and an overall great trip!

Since I only had two weeks to make arrangements, I quickly started looking for a place to stay on the beach. I really debated between a condo/beach house or a hotel. What sold me on booking a hotel were two things. One was having a pool and hot tub. Not every beach house has one. The other, was having free breakfast in the mornings. I decided that I didn’t really want to cook on this vacation, so I began looking at different hotels. We had actually stayed at the Holiday Inn Express at Orange Beach years ago and had a wonderful time, so I ended up booking a room for us there for the week! Below are the things we loved about this hotel!

The Room

We had a clean and spacious beach view room with a king bed and a sofa sleeper for the boys. It was really roomy during the day when we had the “living room” set up. We didn’t spend a ton of time in the room, but it was very clean and the king bed was comfortable. The boys slept very well, but they both said the sleeper sofa wasn’t as comfortable as their beds at home. I loved having a refrigerator and microwave, too! We got groceries and snacks at the local Walmart our first night in town and had plenty of room to store items for sandwiches and drinks for the beach! At night, we’d make popcorn and watch a movie before bedtime. The bathroom was also pretty large and clean. We had no trouble getting ready for the day and night, there was so much counter space and more than one mirror!

The Free Breakfast

A big selling point for our family is free breakfast! Let me tell you, this free breakfast is the best one we’ve ever had! They provided such a large assortment for everyone. Each morning there were biscuits and gravy, either sausage or bacon, and eggs. The egg choices were either cheesy omelets, egg white omelets with peppers, cheesy scrambled eggs, or boiled eggs. There were also cereals, pancakes, yogurts, fruits, and cinnamon rolls! We left completely stuffed and ready for a day at the beach!

The Hotel Staff & Guests

Another big plus besides having clean accommodations is a nice hotel staff. Check in was so smooth and everyone was so friendly. Our room was cleaned each day and someone from the staff was sure to check in on us each morning to see if we needed any items, like extra towels or soap. The hotel guests were also an added bonus! There were several retired couples at this hotel that spend the winter there. They shared all the good places to eat and we left with necklaces and a starfish from one couple! It was nice to have friends to chat with at the pools and on the beach!

The Beach & Pool

The beach access from the hotel was great! All we had to do was walk down a short boardwalk from the property and we were on the beach. At the beach in front of the hotel are chairs and umbrellas to rent for the day. The price is $40 for one day, $70 for two days, and $90 for three days. We did rent chairs, I needed to stay under an umbrella as much as possible. And it was easy, we had the same set up each day and we didn’t have to do any work setting up chairs and an umbrella or taking them down each evening. We spent most of our time at the beach, the boys played in the ocean for hours and hours! It was so relaxing.

When we needed to warm up after being in the ocean for a bit, we would walk up to the pool and hot tub for a quick dip! The pool is pretty big and there are tons of chairs and tables. We also liked the pool side bar and grill! They made yummy adult drinks and mocktails for kids. They also had hot dogs and snacks. I think the menu is a little bigger in the summer, we were there in the off season. The only part that I didn’t like was the hot tub seating. It was so rough and scratchy. If you go, grab a pool towel from the bin and sit on it while you’re in the hot tub. I was so worried I would snag my swimsuit on the rough seats. Other than that, it was nice and hot!

Rating

Based on our experience, I give this hotel 4.5 stars! It was clean, spacious, in a great location, and the beach views were amazing! If you’re looking for a nice, budget friendly place to stay then I would highly suggest checking this place out. We would definitely return to this property!

If you’re planning a trip to Orange Beach, let me know if you need any tips or recommendations! This was at least our fifth or sixth visit and it’s one of our favorite family beach destinations in the US.