Big event · February 21, 2027
Daytona International Speedway · Daytona Beach, FL
The 69th Daytona 500 runs Sunday, February 21, 2027, a week later than usual, with Speedweeks opening Saturday, February 13 as the Clash returns to Daytona. Race-week rooms run about three times a normal February weekend with multi-night minimums, so book Daytona Beach refundable early or stay in Ormond Beach, Port Orange or Orlando. Book refundable first. A cancellable rate lets you drop the room if the bracket, the schedule or your plans change, and rebook if a better rate shows up.
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The 69th Daytona 500 runs Sunday, February 21, 2027 on FOX, a week later than usual, and Speedweeks opens with the Clash back at Daytona on Saturday, February 13. Race-week rooms run about three times a normal February weekend with multi-night minimums, so book a refundable beachside or speedway-corridor room now, or base in Ormond Beach, Port Orange or Orlando.
Live rates and availability plotted around Daytona International Speedway.
Top 3 rooms · our picks, never paid placements
Premium
$$$
Balconies face Victory Circle and the tri-oval, and there are vintage race cars parked in the lobby, which tells you who this hotel was built for. The ONE DAYTONA restaurants and bars are downstairs, so you park Wednesday and never move the car again.
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Fan pick
$$
Free hot breakfast and a 15-minute walk to the track, which is the whole argument when Speedweeks means four straight early mornings. It sits about half a mile from the airport, so a fly-in weekend can skip the rental car entirely if you're not leaving the district.
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Budget
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Cheapest bed near the track that still reviews well, on ISB facing the speedway's west side with the interstate ramp right there for the getaway. The walk to the grandstand gates is longer than the map suggests. Expect multi-night minimums for the 500 and read recent reviews before you book.
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The Daytona 500 is the season opener that is also the sport’s biggest event, and 2027 brings two changes that matter for anyone booking a room. The race itself is Sunday, February 21, a week later than its usual Presidents’ Day weekend slot because Super Bowl LXI lands on February 14. And the Clash, the preseason exhibition that spent five years away at the Los Angeles Coliseum and Bowman Gray Stadium, comes back to Daytona for a Saturday night race on February 13. Speedweeks is now nine days end to end with a three-day gap in the middle, and the gap is where the cheap nights are.
Pick which Daytona you want (the ocean, the corridor, or the drive-in from Orlando) and lock it refundable before the rate fences go up.
Beachside: Atlantic Avenue and the shore. The classic play. The hotel towers along A1A in Daytona Beach and Daytona Beach Shores put the ocean out one window and race-week America out the other, with the boardwalk, the pier and the restaurant strip at your feet. The speedway is 4 to 5 miles inland, an easy drive on any normal day and a planned expedition on race morning. This is where rates run highest and minimum-stay controls stack up, because it is what everyone pictures when they book a Daytona trip. One more reason beachside holds its price in 2027: Bert Kreischer’s Full Throttle Festival, the official 500 pre-party that drew over 15,000 people in its first year, is back at the Ocean Center on Saturday, February 20, and the Ocean Center is on the beachside, not by the track. If the trip is a February beach vacation with a race in the middle of it, pay it.
The speedway corridor: International Speedway Boulevard and I-95. The stretch of chain hotels along ISB near the I-95 interchange and Daytona Beach International Airport is the practical choice: closest to the gates, fastest escapes north or south on the interstate, and a real walk to the track from the nearest properties. The ONE DAYTONA district directly across ISB from the grandstands is the sweet spot, with restaurants and bars you can reach without moving the car. There is no beach charm out here. Fans doing Wednesday-through-Sunday runs like it anyway, because every day starts and ends without crossing town. It prices hard too (proximity always does), but the minimums tend to be friendlier than the beachfront towers.
Ormond Beach and Port Orange: the local value ring. Ormond Beach sits just north of Daytona along the same shoreline; Port Orange just south. Both offer beach access and a saner rate card, with a 15-to-25-minute drive to the speedway that barely differs from staying in central Daytona once race-day traffic equalizes everyone anyway. This is the ring for anyone who still wants sand without the A1A rate card. New Smyrna Beach, farther south, is the sleeper, a genuinely lovely beach town the big race crowds mostly skip.
Orlando: the volume play. Orlando International is about 60 miles from the speedway, roughly an hour and a quarter without traffic, and it sits in one of the largest hotel markets in the United States. Orlando does not reprice for Daytona race week. Theme parks and conventions set its rates. Families splitting a trip between the parks and the race, and anyone who waited too long for the coast, base here. The trade is the race-day drive: I-4 east to I-95 to ISB is the main artery, and it demands a painfully early alarm on Sunday.
Vacation rentals: the smaller markup. Rentals are the quiet answer for groups of four or more and for anyone staying the full nine days. One pricing snapshot of 2026 race weekend by VegasInsider, two adults, race weekend against the weekend after, put Booking.com’s average nightly rate at $553 versus $164 off-peak, more than three times, while Airbnb’s went from $334 to $623, under double. Rentals start higher and climb less. The catch is the cancellation terms. Most rental hosts lock you in weeks out, and a refundable hotel rate does not. If the group is locked in, take the rental. If you are still deciding, hold a refundable hotel room and shop rentals again closer in.
The infield: already gone. Daytona’s infield is a temporary city, and for 2027 it is a full one. The speedway listed every Speedweeks camping area as reserved with a waitlist by September 2026, citing overwhelming demand. If you hold a renewal, you know. If you don’t, get on the waitlist and plan on a hotel. Walk the infield fence line at least once anyway, even on a hotel trip.
Flying. Daytona Beach International (DAB) is literally next door to the speedway (you can see the tri-oval on approach), but it is small, and race-week fares reflect the monopoly. Orlando (MCO) is the volume answer: about 60 miles, served by everyone, cheap by comparison. Orlando Sanford (SFB) is the closer and smaller Orlando option on the I-4 side. Jacksonville (JAX) works from the north at about 105 miles and just under two hours.
Driving. Daytona sits at the junction of I-95 and I-4, which is why NASCAR put its crown jewel here: everyone in Florida and half the Southeast can drive it. The last-mile problem is International Speedway Boulevard. It is the front door for the bulk of the crowd, and on 500 Sunday it moves at a crawl for hours on both sides of the race. The track does not post a clear-out time or forced turns after the checkered flag. Locals arrive when the lots open, and leave either immediately at the flag or a leisurely two hours later. Anyone leaving in between sits in brake lights on ISB.
Parking. The paid lots are 1, 3, 4 and 4A along ISB, plus the front of Lot 8 at Volusia Mall. Lot 1 sits outside Turn 1 at ISB and Turn One Drive; Lot 4 is at ISB and Midway Avenue outside Turn 4. The free option is Lot 7 at Clyde Morris Boulevard and Jimmy Ann Drive, which runs a shuttle to ONE DAYTONA. The track does not publish lot opening times, so treat “early” as the only instruction. Outside the official lots there is a small economy of private yards and businesses selling spots along ISB.
Rideshare. The official Uber, Lyft, taxi and hotel-shuttle zone is near Lot 1, off the frontage road by the Cracker Barrel on eastbound ISB, with signs posted along the boulevard. Inbound works well. Outbound after the 500, surge pricing and the pickup scrum are real. The veterans tailgate through it and leave when the apps calm down.
One calendar note. Daytona’s hotel market takes three hits in six weeks: the Rolex 24 endurance race January 28 to 31, Speedweeks February 13 to 21, then Bike Week (one of the world’s biggest motorcycle rallies) March 5 to 14. Booking early matters more here than in a one-event town, and some properties treat the whole stretch as peak season.
The 500 is the last day of a nine-day week. The 2027 Speedweeks schedule is set, with start times still to be announced:
Saturday, February 13: the Clash, back at Daytona under the lights for a one-year return, the first time it has run here since 2021. Format and eligibility details are still coming from NASCAR. For hotels this is a standalone Saturday night: one compression night, then the town empties.
Sunday, February 14 through Tuesday, February 16: nothing on track. Super Bowl Sunday, then Presidents’ Day Monday. These are the soft nights.
Wednesday, February 17: Cup Series practice and single-car qualifying, which sets the front row for the 500 and the lineups for the Duels. Cheap tickets, small crowds, and your best chance all week to move freely around the grandstands.
Thursday, February 18: the Duels, twin qualifying races that set the rest of the 500 field. Real racing with real stakes, at night, for a fraction of Sunday’s ticket. If you only add one extra day, add this one.
Friday, February 19: the Craftsman Truck Series opener, traditionally one of the most chaotic, entertaining races of the season.
Saturday, February 20: a doubleheader, the ARCA Menards Series 200 and the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series opener, then the Full Throttle Festival at the Ocean Center that night. This is the peak hotel night of the week.
Sunday, February 21: the Daytona 500 on FOX. Start time not yet posted; the 2026 race was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET. Gates open hours before, and the pre-race ritual (driver intros, the flyover, track walks and midway attractions for pass holders) is a full day’s entertainment on its own.
Grandstand life. The track’s fan guide allows one soft-sided cooler per person up to 14 by 14 by 14 inches with your own food and drinks, no hard or foam coolers and no glass, plus up to two bags each up to 18 by 18 by 14 inches. Every bag is searched at the gate and again on re-entry. Scanners and headsets to follow the radio are welcome. Bring sunscreen (February Florida sun off aluminum grandstands is sneaky) and earplugs for anyone who hasn’t done 40 cars at speed before. The midway and fan zone outside the gates open early and swallow as much pre-race time as you’ll give them.
Tickets. On sale since June 10, 2026 and still available in late October. The 2026 race sold out all roughly 101,500 grandstand seats on February 11, four days before the green flag, the 11th straight sellout, with total attendance around 150,000 counting the infield. Buy the seat before you buy the room, because the room is refundable and the seat is the thing that runs out.
Daytona’s market rewards two things: booking early and buying flexibility. Do both.
Here is how the revenue managers (the people who set hotel rates) see the week. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, February 18 to 20, are the compression nights, where occupancy approaches full and the discounts get closed out. Saturday the 20th is the peak: the doubleheader, the Full Throttle Festival and the eve of the 500 on the same night. Sunday night the 21st softens fast as the crowd drives home. The Clash on the 13th is its own one-night spike. Minimum-stay controls (three or four nights is common) are how properties stop you from buying only the night they could sell three times over.
So the core move is simple: book a refundable beachside or corridor room now. This market does not discount late. There is no Vegas-style soften-and-swoop here, because supply is finite and the demand is a seven-decade tradition. A refundable rate booked in October costs nothing to hold. Re-shop it in January if you like; you can only go down.
The optimization layer is matching your base to your ticket plan. One-day Sunday fans should think hard about Orlando or the Ormond and Port Orange ring: you are only fighting the traffic funnel once, so paying the beachfront premium for four nights makes no sense. Multi-day Speedweeks fans flip the math: four straight days of track time makes the corridor’s convenience worth its premium, and turns the beachfront into a defensible splurge since you are amortizing it across the Duels, the Trucks and Saturday’s doubleheader.
The 2027 wrinkle is the gap. If you want the Clash and the 500 both, you are in town nine nights, and nights two through four are the cheap ones. Some fans will book the Clash as a separate Saturday trip and come back Wednesday. Others will take the full stay and treat February 14 to 16 as a beach vacation at off-peak rates with a Super Bowl party in the middle. Either way, price the two blocks separately before you accept a nine-night rate card.
Guide updated 2026-10-24
The money play
Booking for Daytona 500? Hold a free-cancellation rate in Daytona Beach first, because it keeps your options open while tickets and plans settle. Note the cutoff date on the rate. Up to that date you can drop the room without a fee.
Cancellation windows on other fans' bookings close in waves, so rooms reopen days before the event. Holding a refundable rate means every re-check can only save you money.
Plans change, matchups shift, tickets fall through. A refundable room is an option, not a commitment. Keep the best price you find and drop the rest.
The Clash runs Saturday night, February 13. Nothing is on track February 14 to 16. Then Cup qualifying Wednesday February 17, the Duels Thursday February 18, the Truck race Friday February 19, the ARCA and O'Reilly Auto Parts Series doubleheader Saturday February 20, and the Daytona 500 Sunday February 21. Thursday through Saturday nights are the ones that compress, with Saturday the worst. Monday and Tuesday, February 15 and 16, are the soft nights if you want the whole stretch.
Not posted yet. NASCAR has confirmed the date and FOX as the broadcaster but not the green flag. The 2026 race was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET and moved up an hour on the day for weather, so plan the morning around a mid-afternoon start and check the track's site the week of.
Yes. The track's fan guide allows one soft-sided cooler per person up to 14 by 14 by 14 inches with your own food and drinks. No hard or foam coolers and no glass. You can also carry up to two bags each, up to 18 by 18 by 14 inches, and scanners or headsets are fine.
Beachside is the vacation: ocean out the window, the pier and the restaurant strip downstairs, and a 4-to-5-mile drive to the track that turns into a planned expedition on race morning. The corridor along International Speedway Boulevard near I-95 is the convenience play, with a few hotels inside a 10-to-25-minute walk of the gates. Multi-day Speedweeks crowds lean corridor. A beach trip with a race in it goes beachside.
Yes. Orlando International is about 60 miles from the speedway on I-4 and I-95, roughly an hour and a quarter with clear roads, and Orlando's hotel base does not reprice for NASCAR. Leave very early on race day. I-4 to I-95 to International Speedway Boulevard is the main funnel and it backs up for hours before the green flag.
Grandstand tickets went on sale June 10, 2026 and were still selling in late October. Do not count on a walk-up: the 2026 race sold out all roughly 101,500 grandstand seats on February 11, four days before the green flag, the 11th straight sellout. Infield and Speedweeks camping is a different story. The track listed all camping inventory as reserved with a waitlist by September 2026.
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