Changes on tap at Daytona's Boardwalk Inn & Suites under new owners
DAYTONA BEACH — After taking back-to-back beatings from Tropical Storms Ian and Nicole nearly a year ago, there’s a new look being unveiled at the Boardwalk Inn & Suites, a fixture for decades at one of the most highly traveled gateway entrances to the World’s Most Famous Beach.
The 101-room beachfront hotel at the intersection of State Road A1A and International Speedway Boulevard is now operating under new owners after South Florida-based Surf Style Retail Management Inc., bought the property in December for $8.9 million, according to Volusia County property records.
Since then, the company has made an additional investment of more than $1 million to renovate rooms as part of a bigger improvement project that aims to transform the property into a unique boutique hotel that offers Old Florida hospitality, said Greg Teagarden, the newly hired general manager.
“We’re not the newest hotel, we’re not the flashiest, but we want to offer a level of customer service that reflects the vision of someone like Henry Flagler,” he said. “We’re not the Hard Rock; we’re not the Hilton. We’re an independent boutique hotel and we want to bring back Old Florida Southern charm.”
Teagarden, 50, is a veteran of three decades in the hospitality industry that includes 20 years of management experience with brands such as Courtyard By Marriott, Hilton and Spring Hill Suites.
Within the past decade, that experience also includes four years as general manager at the Residence Inn By Marriott in Daytona Beach Shores.
The Boardwalk Inn’s renovation, reflected in newly designed rooms accented by beachy Earth tones and plantation shutters, reflects “what the vision of Daytona is,” Teagarden said.
Pool bar, breakfast restaurant, landscaping among changes
Plans include a reopening of the hotel’s poolside bar within the next month. It’s only a short walk from the beach and the ISB toll booth, a proximity that Teagarden hopes will inspire patronage from beachgoers as well as guests.
Work on new landscaping also began only a day after the rains and winds from Hurricane Idalia, which left behind no damage at the hotel, Teagarden said.
That’s a welcome contrast to the aftermath of Ian and Nicole, which ripped away the roof from the hotel’s oceanfront tower and left extensive flood damage in all the building’s rooms.
More: Daytona Beach tourism works to weather impact of tropical storms Ian and Nicole
Looking ahead, the hotel also is proceeding with renovations to the pool deck that include the addition of gazebos and the reopening of the restaurant on the second level of the hotel’s two-tiered lobby.
That initially will be for breakfast service only, but eventually Teagarden also hopes to feature more upscale dining with a Mediterranean theme. Both the pool deck and restaurant improvements are expected to be done by year’s end, he said.
Changes at the Boardwalk Inn received an enthusiastic thumbs-up from Bob Davis, president and CEO of the Lodging & Hospitality Association of Volusia County.
“It’s a prime location, a prime property and they hired a great GM to lead it forward,” Davis said. “It’s important because, in a lot of ways, it’s the entrance to the city. It makes me very happy.”
In Daytona Beach, Surf Style adding hotels to its mix of retail stores
The Boardwalk Inn is the second Daytona Beach hotel purchase by Surf Style, a company that has been best-known for operating a roster of leading beachwear and souvenir shops in destinations that include Tampa Bay, the Florida Panhandle, Alabama and Mississippi.
The business is based at 4100 N 28th Terrace in Hollywood, Florida.
In May 2022, the company bought the 33-room Ocean Court Motel, a longtime family-owned beachfront fixture in Daytona Beach Shores, for $5.5 million, according to county property records.
In case you missed it: 'One big family': Ocean Court Motel in Daytona Beach Shores sold for $5.5M
Elsewhere in Florida, Surf Style also owns a third hotel in Treasure Island, the Thunderbird Beach Resort.
In Volusia County, the company also owns and operates two Surf Style retail stores: One in the Ellinor Village Shopping Center at 600 S. Atlantic Ave. in Ormond Beach; another at 411 N. Atlantic Ave. in Daytona Beach.
A third Surf Style store is now under construction just north of the Ocean Court on State Road A1A.
The company is bullish on the prospects for the destination, said Donna Jollimore, general manager of Surf Style’s hotel division.
“It’s world famous,” she said. “Everybody’s familiar with Daytona Beach, whether they have been here or not.”
The company also is optimistic about the prospects for the Boardwalk Inn, based on its prime location at one of the beach’s main entry points, less than a mile from the Ocean Center convention complex.
“It’s awesome to have the convention center right there,” Jollimore said. “It’s a very event-driven area and we want to be very involved in the community. We want to see not only the hotels succeed, but everything in the market succeed.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona's Boardwalk Inn & Suites is being renovated by its new owner
