An In-Town Gem at Boca Raton

   Usually when Sandra and I pick a hotel room, it’s at or near a beach. Perhaps we get a lodging near an event we plan to attend. This time, we were down in Boca Raton on business and we discovered an in-town gem. It’s the Holiday Inn Boca West on Glades Road.

   This wonderful little lodging facility is just off the Florida Turnpike, giving visitors easy travel in any direction. It’s also ringed with a myriad of shopping opportunities in the event you need some retail therapy.

   When we arrived, it was pouring down rain, but the main entrance was tucked back in the corner of the overhang, giving us plenty of shelter from what was a typical Florida frog strangler.

   Stephanie, the front desk manager, could not have been nicer. She could see that we’d had a long trip and were ready for some downtime. We were checked  in quickly and easily.

   One of the few issues is, this two-story facility had no elevator. I must say, the stairs were not steep, there were a couple of landings, and the whole thing was a lot less challenging than some of the places we’ve stayed.

   When we arrived at the room, it was spacious, well appointed, and set up for business. There were a couple of desk areas, and I was sad that I had not brought our laptop. It would have made the perfect vacation office.

   The bathroom also was large. One of the luxuries was a mirror that had it’s own special light. One thing we missed were the soap and shampoos. Instead of the normal individual personal items, there were dispensers of the necessaries mounted on the wall.

   There was also a nook with a Keurig coffee maker, microwave and small refrigerator. Longtime readers know we generally carry our own water for a better coffee experience.

   An amenity we had not expected was a balcony. You might think that a commanding view of the parking lot would not be that much of a plus, but it turned out to be a great place to have coffee and a breakfast treat.

   The king-sized bed was both large and comfortable. It had a well-stuffed duvet. This cover would be great for a northern winter. However, this was summer in Florida. On the other hand, the air conditioner worked really well. So, it kept us warm in a room that was well cool enough for sleeping.

   Being near the intersection of two busy roadways, and with a lot of guests, you’d assume the Holiday Inn Boca West would have been noisy. But that would be incorrect. There was no traffic noise (although we were on the road side). We slept well and other than a couple of guests leaving early in the morning, we never heard any talk in the hallway.

   One habit Sandra has gotten into makes a great travel tip. She always counts the number of doors from us to the stairs. She also makes note of fire extinguisher locations.

   Earlier, I noted that we were ringed with shopping opportunities. One, was a Greenwise Market. It was in the shopping plaza right next door. A subsidiary of Publix, it is a great place to find a wide range of snacks and foodstuffs that are both tasty and good for you.

   The Holiday Inn Boca West still has something a lot of properties no longer offer – breakfast. They had a wonderful offering of eggs, bacon, cereals, fruit and a great selection of bread products. There was toast, bagels and muffins. Additionally, they had a pancake machine that would turn out one or two flapjacks at the push of a button.

   In addition to a fruit juice dispenser, they had an entire coffee and hot tea station.

  So we enjoyed a light breakfast, then adjourned upstairs. When we got to the room, we went out onto the balcony had coffee and a light breakfast snack before taking off.

   Our stay at the Holiday Inn Boca West gave us a new appreciation for in-town lodgings. Although we didn’t need them, there were plenty of amenities for companies should they want to do business there. For instance, there was a small office space featuring a computer and printer.

  They also had a great meeting room with a TV screen, dry-erase board, and a long table. It could accommodate a dozen or so participants for a presentation or roundtable style discussion.

  All in all, it was a great stay and we can thoroughly recommend the Boca Raton Holiday Inn West on Glades Road.