stellablue

We (2 couples, 1 3-year-old) are traveling to St. Pete from Sanibel for two nights at the end of April to catch the Red Sox at Tropicana Field (Sat night/Sun day games). Then we are flying home out of Tampa on Monday morning. We need recommendations on clean, inexpensive (under $100) hotels/motels in a safe area of St. Petersburg with an easy drive to both Tropicana Field and Tampa International Airport.

All of the cheaper hotels near the pier/bay in St. Pete are booked on Sat night. Rooms are available at the Ramada Mirage, La Quinta, and Days Inn North, but the area looks suspect.

The beach areas may be inconvenient to both the games and the airport on a Monday morning. How's the area near the St. Pete/Clearwater aiport? Or are we better off staying closer to the Tampa airport and driving a bit further to the games?

Malesherbes

When is your flight in the morning? That might determine where you should stay as there is a morning rush hour between St Pete and Tampa and you don't want to get caught in it. There are a few places near the Tampa airport in your price range, especially those located on Rocky Point, where you'll get a view of Tampa Bay but not with the prices of the Vinoy or the like. You'll be about 20-25 minutes from the Trop and 5-10 from the airport. You might look at Sailport on Rocky Point (Tampa), or Residence Inn, Chase Suites all Rocky Point. If your flight wasn't until later in the day, I'd shoot for the beaches if possible--such beauty you might even be tempted to skip the Red Sox....! Blasphemy, I know.

stellablue

Thank-you Malesherbes for your suggestions. Our flight Monday morning is at 11, so we will only hit the tail end of rush hour, no?

So how far are the beach areas from the park and the airport? (We - the couple with the toddler - may skip the Sat night game and just go to the Sunday game.) Any recs on budget lodging at/near the beach with easy driving to the airport and the games?

Thanks so much.

mclaught

There are several hotel chains about midway between both places that are not fancy or anything spectacular, but they may fit the bill. Look at the La Quinta, Comfort Inn, Courtyard by Marriot, Holiday Inn Express, Residence Inn all around Ulmerton Road. If you go to Orbitz and use the airport code PIE (St. Pete/Clearwater airport), look for anything on Ulmerton Rd within 2 miles of PIE. As I said, it's not a place you would want to stay for a week, but it is about 20 minutes away from the Trop and 20 minutes away from TPA. There are plenty of restaurants nearby (nice and fast food). This area is mostly for business travelers, not vacationers, it's on one of the busiest roads in Pinellas county, but it might fit your needs. The address is technically Clearwater, but it's closer to St. Pete. If your plane leaves at 11, it will probably take you no more than 30 minutes to get across the bay if you leave around 9.

mclaught

Forgot to add, the hotels on Executive Drive are also in that same area as Ulmerton. If you went to the beach on Saturday, it would probably take you about 30-45 minutes to drive to either Ft. Desoto Beach or to Indian Rocks Beach. Ft. Desoto is actually further away, but it's mostly interstate so probably quicker. Indian Rocks is a straight shot down Ulmerton, but traffic on the weekends has been terrible lately and you'd have about 20 lights and 8 major intersections to get through.

tracys2cents

Holiday Inn Express Rocky Point is 3 miles from airport (free shuttle) and 13 miles from Trop. Holiday Inn Express I-275 St Pete North 54th is also available and convenient....price is around $115 at these but you also get breakfast.

Tandoori_Girl

Have you checked any downtown St. Petersburg hotels? That's where the Trop is located. From there you are 20-30 from the airport, 20-30 to the beaches. Anything downtown would be your best bet in my opinion.

Tandoori_Girl

On hotels.com I see the Wyndham Westshore for $118. This hotel is very nice and is located at the foot of the Howard Franklin bridge. We live near there and DH works in downtown SP and makes the drive daily in 20 minutes. And the Wyndham is actually about five minutes closer than we are to the bridge. The hotel is about 5 minutes to the airport. I'll bet if you tried Priceline you could get the Wyndham or any of the hotels around Westshore/airport for about $100. The hotels in this area are cheaper now, maybe because they're not so close to the beaches, I don't know exactly why, but they are all very nice and convenient to both the bridge to St. Pete and to the airport. And the Westshore mall is a good place to shop and let the kid run around. You're also close to International Plaza which has a very cool children's play area. So if it's looking like SP is expensive or booked, staying near the Tampa airport (NOT the SP airport) is an excellent alternative.

stellablue

Thanks for all the replies! We are looking at the Westshore and Rocky Point areas. Seems like being closer to the Tampa airport on Monday morning is worth being 10 minutes further from the game on Sat/Sun. We are really just looking for a bed between the ballgames since we will be coming off a week in Sanibel. Plus we can still check out the St. Pete pier area while we are in close proximity.