If you’re accustomed to Starwood properties elsewhere in the country, you might find the layout of the Four Points by Sheraton Cocoa Beach a bit unusual. Most guests do, since the hotel is actually attached to the enormous Cocoa Beach Surf Company, which feels like a cousin of the famous Ron Jon Surf Shop located right next door. Are you in a hotel or a surf shop? With a surf-theme in the public areas and lots of boards as décor, sometimes it can be a bit hard to tell.

And indeed some of this hotel’s rooms actually have windows that overlook the interior of the surf shop and restaurant (as opposed to having exterior views). But if you can get past the layout being a bit different from standard hotels, there are many things to love about checking in to this comfortable property located on the beach side of A1A.

The location is a block removed from the beach, but the beachy spirit abounds. The onsite surf shop has everything you could need in the way of beach gear (swimsuits, sunscreen, coverups, hats and more) but also rentals — from chairs and umbrellas to boogie boards, surf boards and skim boards — which makes it easy to arrive here with nothing and find yourself nonetheless fully ready to hit the beach.

Attached to the surf shop and hotel is one of Cocoa’s coolest restaurant’s, the Shark Pit, which not only has great food and inexpensive kids’ meals, but also has an enormous tank swirling with blacktip sharks that really spring into action during the twice-weekly feedings. Kids, obviously, find it all massively thrilling.

The hotel’s 75 rooms and suites are outfitted with the hotel chain’s supremely comfortable Four Points by Sheraton Four Comfort Beds, and there are several options for bed configurations in the three room varieties to accommodate families of different sizes.

Being located right next to Ron Jon Surf Shop puts you in the heart of the Cocoa Beach action. And while there’s a small swimming pool onsite at the Sheraton, most guests pass on it in favor of time spent on the beautiful beach that’s just a two-minute walk out the door.

For more information, read about Sheraton Hotels & Resorts.

The Four Points by Sheraton Cocoa Beach has 75 guestrooms and suites. All come with flat-screen TVs, free Wi-Fi, mini-fridges, microwaves and coffeemakers. Rollaway beds and cribs can be added to all rooms for no additional charge. Connecting rooms are available, but they cannot be confirmed at booking, so be sure to ask when you check in to the hotel.

Traditional Guestrooms
The hotel's standard guestrooms have two queen beds, flat-screen TVs with pay-per-view movies (including kids' selections) and microwaves and mini-fridges for convenient storage and preparation of snacks and drinks. There's room for a rollaway bed in these rooms to accommodate five people. There are a few room options in the traditional category that also just have one queen bed or one king bed, but you should request them specifically as they aren't standard.

Junior Suites
Junior Suites are the most popular choice for families since they are a bit larger and have two queen beds and a sitting area with a double sofa bed, plus room for a rollaway bed. The downside with these rooms (which your kids may count as an upside) is that the windows in them don't look outside, but rather down into the Cocoa Beach Surf Company and the Shark Pit restaurant. This also means that the air conditioning units are inside the rooms instead of on the outside, and there can be some noise from them so be aware of that if you have light sleepers in your crew. A select number of these suites with two queen beds can also connect to other suites with two queen beds, but they cannot be guaranteed when booking.

Whirlpool Suites
Moving up from here, and for maximum privacy, there are the Whirlpool Suites. These have one king bed in a separate room and a double sofa bed in the living room, which is also where you'll find the big whirlpool tub that can be great for bathing a bunch of kids at once. There's also a separate shower in the bathroom area (all bathrooms in the other room types have standard shower-in-tub combinations). King whirlpool suites can also be connected, but there's limited availability and nothing is guaranteed before check-in.

Whether you're just spending a night or two here, like many guests, pre- or post-cruise out of nearby Port Canaveral, or you've come expressly with a beach vacation in mind, there's plenty to keep you busy during a brief stay or longer.

Pool
The hotel's small pool (open daily from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily), which has a very nice waterfall feature, sits in a bit of an odd location, under an overhang next to the parking garage. It's not the most aesthetic setting, but it is fine for a quick dip. Parents appreciate the shade here, too, especially during peak sunny hours in the summer when the Florida sun can be a real force with which to reckon.

Beach and Water Sports
If, like most vacationers, you're here to maximize time on Cocoa's great beaches, your first stop is likely to be the onsite Cocoa Beach Surf Company, right off the hotel's lobby, to rent things like beach chairs and umbrellas ($8 each for four hours), boogie boards ($10 for four hours), surf boards (from $15 for four hours), fat-tired beach cruiser bikes for riding on the beach ($10 for four hours) and the like. The shop can also arrange for surf lessons on Cocoa Beach's mostly calm waves from around $50 per hour (cheaper if you're with a group).

Shark Feedings
The Shark Pit restaurant is a fun place to spend some family time, too, ogling the saltwater aquarium that swirls with tropical fish and black tip reef sharks. Divers in scuba gear get into the tank on Mondays at 2 p.m. and Fridays at noon to hand feed the sharks, and it's a toothy spectacle that people of all ages love to watch.

The Shark Pit
Families love that one of Cocoa Beach's most popular restaurants with visitors and locals -- The Shark Pit -- is located right off the hotel's lobby. And you can charge any meals here directly to your room. The ambience is great with lively music, a happening bar area, surfboards as décor and that incredible saltwater tank teeming with sharks and reef fish as a centerpiece.

The food doesn't disappoint either, with delicious brick oven pizzas, seafood dishes, ribs, burgers, sandwiches and salads on the menu. The items on the kids' menu, all priced at $4.99 (and $2.99 for desserts), include hot dogs, burgers, chicken fingers and grilled cheese sandwiches, all served with waffle fries, as well as pizzas and healthy options like grilled chicken with vegetables. For dessert, there are chocolate cake and sundaes. The Shark Pit is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight.

Starbucks
For breakfast, your onsite option at the hotel is Starbucks, where you can get the usual coffee, tea, espresso drinks, bagels, muffins and breakfast sandwiches. It is open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

All About the Extras
Free Wi-Fi
Wireless Internet is offered free of charge throughout the hotel

Parking
Onsite self-parking in a covered garage is $6 per night.

Laundry Facilities
Self-service laundry machines cost $1 for wash and $1.25 to dry, per load, and detergent packets are available.

Business Center
There's a computer available to guests for free for getting online and print jobs.

Fitness Center
The hotel's gym is open 24 hours and has treadmills, stationary bikes, stair machines and weight machines.

Check-In/Check-Out
Check-in is at 4 p.m. and check-out is at noon.

The Art of Smart Timing
Cocoa Beach is a popular destination year-round, and crowds particularly swell during spring break in February and March, around Easter, and over Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. The area around the hotel and Ron Jon Surf Shop is particularly slammed during these times of the year. You'll get some of the best deals here and have the beaches largely to yourself during the shoulder season months of late-September and October into early November and again in January and April and May. The area sees many snowbirds migrating down from the northeast and Canada from after the Christmas holidays into early May. And weekends are often busy on the beach, too, with locals coming out to play and Floridians from inland areas like Orlando making the day trip for fun in the sun.

Getting There
Most guests at this Four Points by Sheraton fly into Orlando International Airport, located roughly an hour west of the hotel and accessed by a relatively straight shot of mostly highway (toll road) driving. Orlando's airport has flights by all major national carriers, as well as many international airlines. Alternatively, you can consider flying into the much smaller, but closer Melbourne International Airport (about 25 minutes away), with flights offered by Delta and US Airways from major cities in the south, such as Atlanta and Charlotte.

Airport shuttle service is available for $50 for two adults one-way, and kids under 6 years ride free (older kids pay adult prices).

Getting Around
Unless you plan to spend all your time at the hotel, you'll want to consider renting a car during your stay for easy access to nearby restaurants and attractions, such as the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center.

Kids love to ride the Cocoa Beach trolley, which runs up and down the beach (including to Port Canaveral) and has a stop near the hotel. The trolley operates Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Kids under 5 years ride for free and it's $1.25 for adults, with discounts for seniors.

For Mom and Dad
If the kids are old enough to watch themselves in the evenings (the Four Points by Sheraton Cocoa Beach does not offer babysitting), steal away for a sunset cocktail at Coconuts on the Beach (the trolley can be your designated driver). The restaurant offers burgers, crab cake sandwiches and fish reubens. For finer dining and excellent fresh Florida seafood, Pineda Crossing is a top area restaurant. The Sheraton doesn't have a spa, but if you're up for a couples' massage or something more exotic like aromatherapy or a lomi lomi massage, you'll find good rates and service at Cocoa Beach Spa & Salon Studio.