Several of us will be flying into Tampa over the course of three successive days for a wedding in Bradenton, Fl in mid March. We would like to stay somewhere convenient to both Tampa and Bradenton as other than the wedding, most of us want to play golf, see some Spring training games in Tampa, and maybe go to a beach. Any suggestions of towns to stay in? Thanks for any assistance.

Hi,
I would recommend the Alden Beach Resort in St. Pete Beach (www.aldenbeachresort.com). My family has gone there the last 10 years, its a friendly, clean resort in a laid back part of the beach area.

Tampa and Bradenton are not too far apart. What? An hour maybe? If you want a place that's mid-way to cut the drive between the two to 30 minutes, and on the beach, then I'd suggest something on the southern end of the St. Pete Beaches, either SP Beach, Passe-A-Grille, or Treasure Island. These beaches are very quickly accesible to the interestate (75) into Tampa, where as the drive to the upper beaches is a traffic nightmare. The drive from SP beaches to Legends Field, for instance, is 25-30 minutes non-rush hour traffic. I live in S. Tampa and have a beach place in Sunset Beach -- we bought it based on the time it took to get there, 30 minutes.

Not knowing your budget, I'd suggest in St. Pete beach the Don Cesar for luxury, the Alden for resort but no budget-killer, and on Treasure Island, the Best Western Sea Castle (be sure to ask for Gulf side) and the Thunderbird. None of these spots have golf, you will need to head inland from the beach for that. Sorry but I don't have golf recs.

If you decide you don't necessarily want the beach but would prefer the amenities (museums, street shopping) of downtown, then stay in downtown St. Pete at the Holiday Inn (formerly Martha Washington) or a B&B.

The spring training games at Legends Field are wonderful. I hope the wedding is a blast!

thanks for the quick responses. we're into somewhat budget accomodations this trip since it's an unexpected trip (on top of 2 other trips to south Fl this spring) and wasn't quite calculated into our vacation budget. However, we need to celebrate when the celebrations are so off we go. Better to blow the budget on a wedding than a funeral. I will be checking the accomodations tonight!
Legends is a definite for my Yankee loving sons and husband.

My rock-bottom budget rec. is the Delacado on Sunset Beach at the Southern end of TI. It is very nice and has a great pool, is on the intercoastal bay-side, the beach is a short walk across the street. You can get a clean but not fancy apartment there. Mid March is pricey so jump on it.