Having growon tired of the omnipresent cold and snow of a Buffalo winter, my wife and I have decided to take a little budget freindly getaway to Florida the first weekend in March. As cost is our driving concern, we've settled on the Clearwater/St. Pete area and are trying to decide among a few hotels and are seeking additional guidnace as well. I've scanned through a lot of the site and gotten good info on areas/hotels to avoid (Shepard's, for one), but am hoping for a bit more help.

To that end: (a)We are deciding between the Holiday Inn Clearwater Beach (Sunspree) or the HI - St. Pete Beach (note these are our choices for $$$ reasons so suggestions for elsewhere won't really be helpful - though I know there are far nicer places to stay).

(b) Our big concern is spring breakers. We don't want to be overrun with them - Is there much of a SB crowd in CW or SP in early March; and to the extent there is are they everywhere or typically congregated in certain areas; and

(c)As we are trying to do it on the cheap - we are probably NOT renting a car. It seems bopth hotels are located within walking distance of a good selection of bars and restaurants. We're not against making use of cab or the Jolly Trolley, but want to have some confidence that we will not feel wholly marooned for 4 days if we don't have a car. So we will be able to get away with that for a short jaunt down to the west coast.

All we really want to do is sit on the beach and/or at the pool, read, realx, sip a cold adult beverage. Any guidance and suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance

I'd recommend St. Pete Beach over Clearwater if you want to stay clear of teen and college-age Spring breakers. St. Pete is a more family-oriented beach that does not have the Spring break following that Clearwater does, but it does have lots of families. If you want to be among adults and not children, teens, or college students, I'd recommend you look into Redington Beach, Indian Rocks, Indian Shores, Passe-a-grille, or Sunset Beach, but it sounds like you're locked into the two beaches you've mentioned.

Taxi from Tampa airport to Clwr. or SP will run about $35 one way. The trolley is $1.50 each way per person. I don't think the beach cities double up on the trolleys during high tourist season, so you will have to contend with that. I don't know what a rental car would run you as it varies enormously depending on availability and the season. Parking is always available free for rental cars at hotels in SPB.

There are ample restaurants in both these beach communities within walking distance. I don' t think you'll have a problem there, and could easily get by with just walking where you want to go, so no, you certainly won't feel stranded without a car.

I hope that's helpful. Have a drink for me on the beach.

Although I haven't stayed at the Holiday Inn in St. Pete Beach, I did eat lunch there and checked out the grounds and gameroom. This was in summer of 2002. My advice would be to stay away from this hotel. It was dirty and at night kind of creepy. The pool is tiny.

I live in St. Pete Beach about a mile and a half from the Holiday Inn of St. Pete Beach. I fully agree with Tandoori Girl regarding the choice of St. Pete Beach over Clearwater Beach. CLW Beach will be much more overrun with spring breakers. As for restaurants in the area, along Gulf Boulevard where the HI is located, my favorites where I have eaten many times are: Skidder's, very popular and consistently good for lunch and dinner; Athanasios, a Greek-Italian restaurant a bit more upscale than Skidder's and only open for dinner; Snapper's, a mainly seafood restaurant operated by a local fisherman; Village Inn for good breakfast and good desserts at late night; the restaurants in the Don CeSar hotel for a pricey splurge with good food; the Hurricane Restaurant in Pass-a-Grille for seafood and steaks; and just off Gulf Boulevard in the main street of SPB (Corey Avenue) are two of my all-time favorites: Mangia (continental and inventive cuisine, lunch and dinner at excellent prices for the quality) and Der Eisenhut (mainly German cuisine and very good). There's also an old-fashioned theater on Corey Avenue with very good movies.

I think you'll enjoy SPB because of its family-oriented, ultra-safe environment. There's a visitor's center operated by the SPB Chamber of Commerce on Gulf Boulevard where you can collect all sorts of brochures. Good luck.

My husband and I spent our 40th birthdays at St. Pete Beach. We stayed at the Holiday Inn. It was clean, the food was great, we didn't have any complaints. We rented a little car. We saw three baseball games, went on a dinner cruise and spent a lot of quality time in the room.

I wanted to add that the beach in SP is wide (or should I say deep?) here and so even if it's crowded, you will have no problems getting away from the crowds. There is plenty of beach, plenty of room, whereas the beach in Clearwater is not so deep (or should I say wide?).

BfloGSG
At the risk of offending many here,( because I've shared this many times) let me share some tips on how to travel cheap. Bring your own "adult beverage" in a carry on backpack. You can then purchase mix or soda at a convienance store close to your hotel and set up your own bar area in your room next to the ice bucket. No one even notices you carrying your own drinks to the beach. You can also pack peanut butter and bagels and fruit for breakfast each day. This way you will only spend $$ for dinner every day and enjoy the economy of it all. Have fun!

That sounds just dreadful. I think I'd rather stay home. Have you actually done this?

Tandoori Girl
Have done this many times and it is not awful. We love to travel so we do what it takes to do it. We don't usually bring breakfast but we usually always bring our own booze.

peanut butter hits the spot, so try a pbj sandwich at ricky ts, fun place. nicks on sunset bch used to serve a good one too

We always take a cooler with us when we travel.

Some of the places we stay do not have restaurants.

Sometimes it is because I want to drink a particular wine before dinner and not all bars carry this wine.

Many times it is because I can't justify paying $12 for a bourbon drink at a hotel bar when my husband can have one in the room at a fraction of the price.

Some times it is because I like to drink St. Paulie Girl on the beach out of a solo cup (glass is a no-no) and it is much more convenient to have it in my cooler.

ahh! Hit post too soon.

Meant to add, we carry a mini bar with us just for convenience if we want a drink and sometimes to be cheap.

Nick's on Sunset Beach has been torn down (sniff, sniff).

There's a place in SPB, great outdoor driftwood-looking bar, called the Swigwam. It's on the beach so you can't see it from the road. Find Shells Restaurant and go to the back of the hotel that it's attached to. You'll see the Swigwam. You can order from Shells via their telly and then eat outside at the bar. Ask for one of their signature drinks with the chocolate swirled around the inside of the glass.

Also, there's a tiki bar at the Bonaire which is close to the Don Ce Sar -- and of course the Don has great drinks too, better than the Bonaires but twice as much. And there's a funky bar between these two but can't remember the name.

Thanks to all for the input. We are now leaning more towards SP rather than Clearwater. Found a good deal at Alden beach Resort - any comments

I've not stayed there but my friend loves it. More of a resort with lots of tennis, pools, etc. I hear they have rooms with balconies, which is a nice amenity.

Grab it.

Another vote for St. Pete over Clearwater. Just make sure you don't stay at the Holiday Inn in Madeira Beach, while the pool area is nice, the rooms are awful.

The Hurricane festaurant is fantastic, as is The Salt Rock Grill, and The Lobster Pot.

If you really want a treat drive into Tampa and go to Bern's Steak and definitely get dessert in the dessert room.

Have fun! We are headed to the St. Pete / Madeira area in April (my uncle lives there).

~Amelie

I'm another Buffaloian headed to Florida in April. We are staying a week on Siesta Key and 2 nights at the Holiday Inn Sunspree/Clearwater Beach. I haven't seen any responses to the inquiry about this property. Anybody?

If you get a good deal on your room, then splurge for the car. Although you can walk in the area, with no problem, you're already paying for taxi from the airport and back, that's $70 with tip. Then those trolleys. I don't know what a car would run you but it might be worth the convenience.

Besides, I've heard that you can fill your gas tank with peanut butter sandwiches to save money. And have you thought about sleeping in the car? Always thinking...

No, no, no TandooriGirl, you fill the gas tank with Jelly not peanut butter. The PB gunks up the gas tank!

I would personally feel safer sleeping under the car than in the car.

The beach trolley has a variety of multiple ride specials that they offer if you look on the official web site, under "fares".
For instance, a 7 day unlimited is only $12.00.
Or a daily unlimited is only $3.00.
I find this to be a really great bargain.
IMHO, if you want to save money, I'd stay in a vacation rental/condo over a hotel any day of the week. What better way to save money than to cook your own meals. Not my style of vacation, but certainly is less expensive than eating out 24/7.