Hello,
I'm new to this site, and this is my first post. I am vacationing in St Petersburg, FL on June 24th for 6 nights. We will be staying at the Don Cesar resort. I will be travelling with my family (wife, and 2 children ages 11 and 8). We go to Orlando just about every year, and have stayed on site at Universal the past 2 years. I became a Loews platinum member after my last visit, and that entitles me to a suite upgrade upon arrival at any Loews hotel. We were looking to vacation to an island, but the pictures of St. Pete beach and the Don Cesar seemed like the perfect place. It ended up being pretty reasonable too since Southwest flies direct to FL from Providence all the time, and they are always running some sort of special. Since we are from Rhode Island (the Ocean State), I'm no stranger to the beach, but I have never seen the Gulf of Mexico. Is it nice to swim in there? I'm thinking the water must be warm. My main questions however concern the Don Cesar, and the type of property it is. Is it kid friendly? I will be staying in a junior suite. How are the rooms? The Loews website doesn't really show me much on the rooms. Is it close to Busch Gardens? How long of a drive? I see it's about 30 miles, but is that a 30-45 minute drive, or is it more like a slow 2 hour drive?

I have so many questions, but I do not want to go overboard, If anyone has any input, please feel free to write back, or email me at [email protected]. I love to plan my vacations, it's almost as nice as going on them. I just want to make sure that we do the right things while we are there. I'm thinking maximum 2 days at Busch Gardens, and the rest at the hotel and the surrounding area. I also would like to catch a Devilray game while I am down there. What are the best options for tickets there? Hometown Rocco Baldelli plays for the Rays, and I would love to catch a game when I'm there. Thanks in advance for all the replies.

pete
It seems like it took us about an hour to drive to Busch Gardens. If you are a AAA member, buy your tickets thru them and you get the second day free and a 10% discount. Not a bad deal since they are $50+ pp We drove past the DonCesar many times,it looks great but I have never been inside. There have been many good reports on this board about it. Type in St Pete in the little square up top where it says do a search and you will bring up a lot of information that will be very helpful.

"The Don" as it is known by locals is a great hotel. I was skeptical to call it kid friendly until I saw they just announced (last week) a new summer program for kids called Camp Cesar. This website will give you more information: http://www.media.don-cesar.com/view_release.cfm?id=73. It is a pretty swanky hotel but my guess is that they are responding to guest needs by creating this program.

Have you gone to www.doncesar.com? That site has virtual tours of the resort which might be more helpful than the Loews site in checking rooms and other ammenities.


The trip to Busch Gardens is about 45 minutes. There is a lot of roadway construction going on in Tampa and St Pete so that can affect your traffic time. You are going during prime time for tourists for Busch Gardens so the earlier you get there or the later in the day (especially with two days) the better. I would typically say one day could do it at Busch Gradens but at that time of year, if you want to do everything, two days should work. There is also a water park just across the street called Adventure Island. You might find some combo ticket deals with those two parks.

I know I'm biased because I live near the Gulf but I think it is a spectacular place for swimming. I prefer it to the Atlantic Ocean. I think you will find the beach itself is nicer as well.

For the Devil Rays, you will have no problem getting tickets which is sad I suppose. They typically do not fill Tropicana Field. You can try the Devil Rays website and/or Ticketmaster for tickets. Some of the local malls have Devil Rays stores that sell tickets. The Tampa Tribune and St. Pete Times (local newspapers) also run deals on certain days. You could wait til you get here or check their websites.

I hope you have a fabulous time!

Thanks for the quick responses. I have checked out the Doncesar website, and it doesnt' really giveme too much as far as the junior suites. I think I can't go wrong at this place just by looking at the pictures that I have found on it. I just always look for input from anyone that will help out, so I'm going to read some more posts and see what I come up with. The countdown is under 10 weeks, so I still have time to do some more research on this place. Thanks again .

Don't sweat. The Don is the nicest facility in the area. The beach is beautiful. You can see Tropicana field from the Don. Many choices of restaurants and entertainment. Walk thru Pass-a- Grille a residential area next to the Don. Just Great!!!

Pete, I stayed in a suite there, (busman's holiday for our anniversary as my husband runs a hotel in Tampa) don't know if it was a junior suite, but looking at their website I don't see a distinction.

The Don being an old historical hotel, you will not find the room sizes that you find in new or modern construction, but you will find much more atomosphere. Our suite consisted of a decent sized bedroom, king bed, armoire with TV, all recently renovated and very nicely appointed, beachy without being tacky beachy--light colors, light blues and greens with white painted furniture--light and airy, lovely. A large archway divided the bedroom from the sitting room (sofa, chairs, another armoire) then sliding glass doors opened onto the balcony overlooking the pools and beach.

My guess is that the sofa opened out into a queen bed, and this may be your accommodations for the kids, but they may have connectors as well--with just the two of us, we obviously didn't need another bedroom, but that configuration is very common in all hotels I'm familiar with.

The beach there is nice--fine white sand, relatively clear water usually, and the water will be exceedingly warm by your standards. They have the normal compliment of water toys on the beach right there, and lounges available for both the beach and the pool areas.

We've taken the Tampa<->Providence Southwest flight. It's so easy and convenient we've vowed (but not yet done) more visits to our New England family.

The drive to Busch is very (to the extreme) unpredictable at the moment. As someone mentioned, construction projects are throwing things into a tizzie. I drive 275 from the airport downtown each day (a portion of the same route you'll be taking) and find it is often better at rush hour now than it is a couple of hours later when evidently the construction resumes. Traffic can back up all the way from downtown back to Tampa Bay and onto the Howard Frankland Bridge. Count on an hour for sure, and longer possibly, only because of those possible delays. You might find under the circumstances, that one day at Busch is all you need.

Enjoy your stay...hope you find our area as pretty as we find yours, and as nice a change. We love the Newport area, but had a nice surprise last time there when we went to find Poppasquash Point where our boat was built, and drove through the picturesque town of Bristol for the first time! What scenery, right down to the red, white, and blue center line down Main St! The grass really does seem always to be "a bit greener" on the other side of the fence, doesn't it!

Pete,

The kids would also enjoy Adventure Island. It's a huge water park across the street from Busch Gardens.

Pete,

The kids would also enjoy Adventure Island. It's a huge water park across the street from Busch Gardens. It gets crowded so the best time to go is forst thing in the morning when it opens or after 4p.m.

The Don is amazing, you can't go wrong. I've only been priviledged to have a chocolate martini in their lobby bar (they make the best) and toured the pool area. We always joke that when we win the lottery we will stay there. I also heard their Sunday brunch is out of this world (you won't eat for the rest of the day I'm sure).

I also think Adventure Islands would be good for your family!

if I did Busch Gardens for 2 days or Adventure Island..I'd stay in that area...also MOSI is fantastic(science center)..think the kids would love A Island..

Pete,

Welcome to the Fodor's site! Your post was great and in no way seemed like a 'first timer's post.' (LOL) Hope you get the info. you need--if you think about it, we'd love reading a trip report after your return. Happy traveling!

Thankyou again for all the responses to my original post. I was actually having second thoughts on the Don because I didn't see it ranked in Travel and Leisures top 500 hotels. But, I'm confident in what the writers in this forum have to say, and it seems like you all seem to like this place. I was a little apprehensive about staying there because I called the hotel reservations desk to get the absolute cheapest rate, and they were telling me that they couldn't do any better than $166 a night plus the $20 resort fee per adult per night. That is the AAA rate. They also told me that the hotel was completely booked during that time period, and that scared me a little too. After all, this is supposed to be a "relaxing" vacation for us, and how can you relax when the place is booked to capacity? I checked around and called some other hotels in the area, but none seemed to have exactly what we are looking for, and the prices were not that much better. I factored in the fact that we will be in a junior suite too, and that is always a plus. So, we're staying at this place, and sticking to the original plan.

Both of my children love the water parks, so Adventure Island seems like a must for us. As far as the other places mentioned in these posts, I will have to check them out too. I have already printed out the responses that I have gotten, and put them in our vacation folder. You are all so extremely helpful with your posts, and I am glad that I decided to set up a membership on this site. I have actually reviewed 2 hotels before on epinions.com because I felt I owed it to everybody that took their time to provide information for me. I recieved some nice emails too thanking me for the reviews and asking me some questions. I haven't been on that site in a while, but I stumbled across this one and am glad that I did. I will definetely post my reviews in here after our trip. As far as the grass being greener in other places Olive, I'll keep that in mind next winter when I'm shoveling myself out of a couple of feet of snow. The grass is green for about 4 months up here in Rhode Island (LOL). Actually RI is a beautiful place with lots of tradition and probably (of course I'm biased) the best restaraunts on the planet. Federal Hill in Providence is a hotbed for great Italian food, and you can get great seafood around here too. I love the Lobsterpot restaraunt in Bristol, and they have great parades (although I'm not a parade person) in that area as well. But enough about Rhody. I don't want to brag too much. If anyone ever has any questions about RI, feel free to ask. Thanks again.

The Don is wonderful. Old world charm. Florida the way Florida does Florida. And the location is great. You'll love the Gulf of Mexico. Prepare yourself for a fabulous vacation.

Definitely do Busch Gardens, and Adventure Island. Be sure to take a trip to Sunken Gardens in downtown St. Petersburg, which now has the Great Explorations Childrens Museum. I think your children might be old enough to enjoy the Salvador Dali museum -- definitely nothing stuffy about Dali, this is a very funky museum.

I'm a little concerned about that junior suite. I've also stayed in a junior suite which overlooked the courtyard and pool. I would describe it as a very large hotel room, and not a separate bedroom. You might want to call the hotel and get the rooms dimensions to be sure you're OK with it. The Don also has an adjoining property that has suites with seperate bedrooms, a newer buildind a short walk down the beach.

And with those two kids, let me give you my suggestion for the best pizza in your area ( they also have pasta, delivery only no dine-in): Alberico's. And don't miss the ice cream from the Shake Shack on Treasure Island.

Have fun! Be sure to pack your sun screen.

pete51068 - I just realized "Rhode Island"! My mother-in-laws family has a place in Middletown (across the street from the Norman Bird Sanctuary, so we do an every-other-year family reunion up there. Poor south Florida me! The first year I dove off the rocks - like everyone else - swam to the closest rock and sat there until it was time to go home - talk about cold! Ever since, I will sit on the beach (usually in shorts and a sweatshirt) but I haven't been swimming again. I'm sort of nervous: I'm taking our 3 boys up there on an "off" year (meaning my in-laws and sisters-in-law - all used to the water temperature) won't be there - guess we will have to go to a beach with lifeguards!

166 a night???!?? Everytime I checked the rates are 350+ (usually in the 400s). What a good deal triple A has.