We are going to Disney for 6 nights in July and want to spend 3 nights at the beach after. We are willing to drive up to 2 1/2 hours from Disney. Either east or west coast.
We need a nice, newer resort right on beach with a great pool.
We stayed at the new Ron Jon in Cocoa last year, but hated the fact that the beach and the pool are not even near each other. If you had a ocean view room, you had a 10 minute walk to the pool at the front of the hotel.

We are looking at the Club at Hammock Beach, north of Daytona, or Sheraton Sand Key near clearwater. The Club is very pricey and I am not too sure if it is too stuffy for us. We like nice, but have a 13 year old and 6 year old. We like the Deluxe Disney resort, but I am picky about older hotels because they always look run down.
Please help.

Try Daytona Beach at Ocean Walk.
It is 1 hour drive from Orlando and 3 years ago it was newly built at the beach and beautiful. Look for Resorts instead of hotels anyway.

This is my own opinion, but personally I would not spend a beach vacation on the east coast of Florida unless you are a surfer. The Atlantic is rough, with more riptides, and isn't always nice for kids. You would probably do the kids a favor by going to the west coast and spending your time on a Gulf beach, where the water is much calmer and the beaches are usually nicer. There are plenty of beachfront resorts along the Gulf, and many have already been mentioned. The Tradewinds in St Pete Beach is very nice, but there are many others along the beach, including a Holiday Inn with a revolving rooftop restaurant. I believe most on this forum would agree that for a family, the ambience in Treasure Island or St Pete Beach might be more favorable than in Clearwater Beach. But it just depends on your own desires and your own standards. Good luck.

We stayed at Tradewinds several years ago and hated it. The canal thing they have smelled aweful and our room while in a great poolside location, had mold in the tub and around the sink and the curtains looked liked someone got sick on them.
I really like newer hotels.
Are there any hotels built in the last few years on the beach. I really want to relax at the beach but maybe we will be better off staying in Disney and just hanging around the pool??

I've lived on the East Coast (Cocoa Beach) my whole life and I think the beaches are great for kids. HOWEVER, there are no real "resorts" nearby other than Ron Jon Caribe, and like you said it's very far from pool to beach and there is nothing around there. I've never stayed here but I've heard that the Disney's Vero Beach resort is very nice. You may want to check that out.

We stayed at the Lido Key Radisson Resort just after the hurricanes hit Florida. I would highly recommend it. About 2.5 hrs. from Disney. BUT...I got something in the mail the other day that said they were no longer Radisson. So if you can find them, it was a great spot, nice resort, beautiful beach, and St. Armands Circle with its shopping and restuarants is within walking distance.

Also , check out the Don CeSar. They have a newer wing, if that's what you want. Those are apartments. There is a separate pool at the apartments and another at the main building.

I would second the vote for Disney's Vero Beach - I'm a FL native and my family loved it! East Coast beaches do have riptides but there is no comparison - the Gulf (West Coast) beaches are the coarse sand and dirty water - might as well be on the Jersey shore!

lomillerin, are you looking for a place newer then 3 years old? You should said so

She said they need a nice newer resort. Why do you need to know if she wants one newer than 3 years old?

If you must know...dear, I do not have a lot of advises to give and when I have - exactly what was asked and it gets overlooked and I don't get no comment and...it feels...so...SAAAAAAAAD

Just an expanded opinion on other posts:

The rip tides on FL's east coast are minimal and rarely dangerous, in my experience. And when I go to the ocean, I want waves. I expect that's what a 13-year-old would want too. And defining what's a "nice" beach is subjective, but there are plenty of "nice" beaches on the east coast.

As for Disney Vero, it probably would fit the bill, but I offer one warning: While the Disney resort is in good condition, much of the surrounding area suffered a lot of hurricane damage, and many places are in a state of repair. If, however, you plan to stay mainly at Disney Vero and not tour much, the damage repair may not be an issue.

Here's a detail you may not know: the Vero Beach area has tons of mama turtles laying eggs, from May til August. I mean ALOT! My relatives used to live just north in Floridana Beach (about 5 miles north) and the whole distance is part of the Archie Carr turtle nesting area. If you walk the beach after 11 PM on a hot summer night (loaded down with DEET 'cause the bugs are pretty awful at night) you will definitely see some turtles laying eggs. My grown daughters still talk about the experience. There are so many nests in that area that they do not even mark them. The water is beautiful on BOTH coasts - not dirty as stated above, and fun for different reasons depending on which coast. Have a great time!

I've lived in Florida my whole life and am also planning a beach vacation for my family right now. The only hotels on the east coast i would consider are Disney Vero Beach and the Plantation at Amelia Island because of their great service and kids programs. Amelia Island is probably too far though. We shy away from the east coast because the surf is rougher and the water is colder. I definitely would not recommend taking kids anywhere near Daytona beach. I've been there many times and it is always dirty and a little seedy - think cars driving on the beach and spring breakers in thongs no matter what the time of year. I stayed at the Sheraton Sand Key 5 years ago. It is a little older and one big caution, they host A LOT of highschool class reunions which can make it very crowded and noisy at night. But, it is a quieter and cleaner part of the beach than Clearwater. For a quieter and a classier area, try the islands off of Sarasota. They are about a 2 hour drive. We are looking at The Resort at Longboat Key club. Their website has some very good prices.