Hi there,
Does anyone know of any decent, clean, and affordable hotels or motels in Tampa, FL. Is it me or has the quality of hotels and motels fallen below the waistside? The reviews I've read are so scary that it makes you wonder what is going on with the hotel/motel industry. Your advice is sorely needed. Thanks.

If you repost this question on the US Board, giving an actual dollar amount for your price range, you will get lots of help. Better yet, go over to Orbitz or Travelocity first and plug in your dates and downtown Tampa, and come back to Fodor's and ask for comparisons of hotels that fall into your price range.

There are many nice hotels in Tampa, within a short distance of either the airport or the cruise dock (called Channelside).

Where did you read the scary reviews? If it was on Trip Advisor, you have to take them with a huge grain of salt, and read between the lines (see if what is important to you is also important to the writere for instance).

Hope this helps!

Do NOT use the Westshore. Used to be Best Western Westshore...truly the worst hotel I have stayed in - nice area - great price - really awful!

Thank you both for your suggestions, they are really good. We are very budget minded, so we are looking to spend no more than $60 a night. Sorry, I can't remember all the review sites I've read, but the theme is the same. We just need somewhere that changes the sheets, the bed is comfortable, the toilet works, the room is actually clean, provides towels, and has hot water if needed. We just basically need some where to sleep for two nights. You mentioned reposting on the US board, what's that? Thanks again for your suggestions.

Cruzpal, scroll up to the top of the page, on the left there is a lttle window called "change forum". If you click on the downward arrow, you will see choices for different message boards within Fodor's website. The best board for your question is the "US" one.

Also, what are your dates? That will make a difference in what you can afford. Have you ever used Priceline? I once got the downtown Hyatt for about $70 / night. This website shows some winning bids a little above your price range:
http://tinyurl.com/34uezj

You probably won't want to be near "USF/Busch Gardens" because it is quite a distance from the downtown cruise area. Also, Westshore is the name of a large boulevard that runs north/south from the airport down to the southern end of Tampa, and is home to a large number of hotels. Unfortunately, I could not find a "Best Western" on Westshore, so I don't know what hotel indycruise8 is referring to.

Ugh, I think I may have found the hotel indycruise8 is talking about. The reviews sound awful:

http://tinyurl.com/2m3t2u

Thanks, I posted my question on the US board. I'll look at Priceline too. Thanks again.

For 50 per night, I won the Hilton Airport which is a nice property and the Doubletree which is an ok property.

For 90/nt I have had better hotels assigned but this is more than you want to spend. I use Priceline a lot for hotels.