Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Floridas Gulf Coast

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Floridas Gulf Coast

We are a family of 5 with 3 older kids looking for a resort/hotel on the ocean for 4 nights this April. We don't want to go to far south. We were thinking of Clearwater, St. Pete or Sarasota areas. Any ideas?

My choice would be the Don CeSar on St Pete Beach. It's a beautiful old 20's era structure, started as a hotel, converted to a hospital during WWII, became a gov't building, fell into disrepair and near extinction, then was revived and now is once again a gorgeous resort. My husband and I took a busman's holiday there this weekend. They've recently undergone a $24 mil renovation. It was needing it badly a year ago when we stopped by, and is completed now. I have not seen one of the "normal rooms" as we had a suite, but evidently they are on the small side, though still pretty. Our bathroom was small, but honestly, the size would not matter to me, nor would the room size. You won't spend that much time in it. It is all done in light colors...white furniture, with doors of armoires, nightstands etc resembling plantation shutters, white duvets with decorative pillows in blues, corals and greens. Oatmeal colored carpet with palm frond design cut into the nap, gauzy white curtains with white on white palm pattern, sky blue painted soffit ceilings. It was gorgeous! There are a couple of pools and spas, beach activities, chaise lounges on the beach. Note that guests arrive early at the pool and reserve the prime location lounges. Unfortunate practice, but one I've seen any number of times at other resorts. The hotel has a spa and workout facilities. I watched a yoga class on the beach early one morning. Saw steps and risers in their workout room, so they evidently have step aerobics as well. Landscaping around the pools and grounds is beautiful...we enjoyed that, plus sunsets from our balcony, and watching a couple of brides marry on the beach at sunset on the day we were celebrating our 34th anniv. All I could have wished for was warmer weather. By the time you arrive in April, our "winter from hell" hopefully will be over, however! The Don CeSar also runs Beach House suites about 1/2 mile down the beach, which might be better for a family. Have not seen the interior, but they too benefited from the renovation. If you stay there, you have access to all the amenities of the resort as well. They've got a website, http://www.doncesar.com.

The Don CeSar as it was decribed above sounds real nice. We spent 3 nights post-Disney at the Hilton Clearwater Beach. I believe it's less $$ than the Cesar, but it's also not as elaborate. The best part about it is that it's ideally situated on the beach, right next to the pier, and within walking distance to whatever you need. Parking is additional, probably due to the prime location. I would stay there again, but only if I were able to get a similar rate to when we last visited. (Off-season, $110-$130/night). Check out travelocity.com or some similar site. There are plenty of options.

If you are on a budget I would recommend the Best Western Sea Wake on Clearwater Beach. Nice property with oceanfront rooms & restaurant, good size pool & clean rooms and friendly staff. We loved the location because it was further down the coast away from most of the crowds.

Another budget recommendation: Bon-Aire Resort Motel, 4350 Gulf Boulevard, St. Pete Beach, just a few blocks from the Don Cesar. (727) 360-5596, or on the web at bonaireresort.com, I blieve. The Bon-Aire is a two-story, family-run motel, with two heated pools and a fun, thatched-roof bar on a beautiful stretch of beach. Our family of 4 has stayed there many times and loved it. It's less ritzy than the Don Cesar, but that's what we're looking for. They have hotel rooms or rooms with full or partial kitchens. The rates are quite reasonable -- in the $100 or so range; you'd be hard-pressed to spend $150, even in the high season -- and, of course, go down dramatically after Easter.

Check out Long Boat Key and Santa Maria Island for some great beach places. I wish I could suggest a hotel/resort, but we've only gone on daytrips from parents/inlaws who lived on Siesta Key (which is also neat but I think too crowded) and in Sun City Center (Tampa area).

Longboat or Siesta Key in Sarasota are great for this, we used to go every year when I was a kid. The beaches are better on siesta key. I don't have any resort names for you though.

The Longboat Key Club was really nice.

Colony Beach and Tennis Club on Longboat Key is a wonderful place to stay - free tennis, nice beach, wonderful condo-type units - but I doubt you can get anything for less than $225 per night. You might want to look into www.vrbo.com (vacation rentals by owner) to see if you can do better in that area.

Sarasota, or Siesta Key. Best bets for accommodations are private rentals: http://vrbo.com http://cyberrentals.com Or, one of the self-contained resorts on Longboat Key, such as the Colony, or the Hilton.

While the Colony is really nice and very relaxing, I wouldn't plan on improving my tennis there. Despite a high ranking from Tennis Magazine, I found the pro's not interested in doing anything except the minimum. The matches they arranged for me weren't so hot, but ultimately they found someone not staying at the resort for me to play with. But the beach is wide and nice and the gulf water is very calm and the restaurant is quite good.