Hotels in Tampa Help please...
 

We are going to Tampa for a wedding at Rusty Pelican in late March. We are looking for a 2 bedroom suite setup. We will be there only 2 nights.

Doubletree Suites has given a special rate but I read terrible reviews on TripAdvisor.

I found Mainsail Suites Hotel and it looks like it might fit our needs and got good reviews on Tripadvisor.

Also, Holiday Inn Express - Rocky Point is a possibility.

Has any had first hand experiecne with either or these places?

Would love to do Hyatt but 2 rooms will break budget since we have 4 airfares to pay for.

Any info is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Debi

I don't know if this is close to where you will be, but we enjoyed our stay here - great breakfast buffet. I think the manager's complimentary social hour runs Mon thru Thurs - impressive - beer and wine and fresh grilled burgers and dogs, chips, potato salad, etc. Didn't even need to go out for dinner, although there is a Bahamas Breeze restaurant right next door (kinda like Chilis or TGIF).

I got the pull out sofa and I was super impressed with the mattress. Better than some beds!

http://www.woodfinsuitehotels.com/tampa/index.cfm

DebitNM...are you talking about the hotel on Eisenhower near Hillsborough? It is not on Rocky Point and although not far mile-wise, it can be a very hard drive as you have to take the Veterans Xway to get there, which is one of the most congested roads around at rush hour. Other than that, I know nothing about it.

DH is home early today and he agrees Doubletree is old and tired. Have you looked into Sailport on Rocky Point? I think I'd take HI Express even before driving up the Veterans.

OO- I just looked at the website for Sailport on Rocky Point. It looks good and the rate on Priceline is good [not the name your own price part, the set price].

But of course, once I start reading reviews on Trip Advisor and on Priceline, it doesn't sound quite as good as there are a lot of complaints.

It's never easy is it??
Thanks...
Debi

DebitNM, I think any of the Rocky Point hotels are preferable to driving up the Veterans and really being "no where". I looked at their website and it does look nice, but it is stuck away from everything and that highway can be the worst drive if you are there on a weekday.

How many days will you be there and do you plan on spending much time in your room? None of the places will offer the sort of ambiance you'd like when you get off someplace, but at least in the Rocky Point hotels, they'll all have the water to offer. Check the reviews on cruisin_tigger's place too. Looking at his link I didn't realize until clicking on it just now, that that's for Chase, which is another I'd consider too.

OO - we will be arriving on a Friday [driving in from Orlando]; the wedding is Friday night. We will be going to a brunch on Saturday [don't know where exactly] and most likely be spending most of the time visiting with family and then flying out of Tampa Int'l. on Sunday morning.

I did look at Chase's site, it looks a lot like Sailport. Do you know anything about it?
Debi

Chase and HI Express sit on the upper most part of Tampa Bay, facing the water. My husband's hotel was diagonally across Courtney Campbell, so we drove by it all the time, but never had a reason to go in. They were both on the newer side, but I know absolutely nothing about their reputations, nor does DH--sorry! They weren't part of his "competitive set", unfortunately, otherwise he could give you every statistic there is to be had. :)

There's a decent restaurant within walking distance (cruisin_tigger mentioned it to) Bahama Breeze. They get dolphin up there...I think Bahama Breeze...or diners...may have been feeding them. :) shhh! You could even walk to the Rusty Pelican from either of them, although it entails crossing Courtney Campbell...aka, busy Hwy 60!

Driving in Friday, be sure to time your arrival wherever you are staying, so that you get in before 4 PM, otherwise you'll get tangled up in very ugly rush hour as you pass downtown Tampa and continue west toward the Rocky Point area. It really backs up badly.

Hi Deb,

I just got married (2 weeks ago) and my guest hotels were on Rocky Point. Most of my out of town guests stayed at the Radisson Bay Harbor Hotel which is on the south side (same side) as Rusty Pelican and loved it but it is not a suite arrangement. One couple did stay at the Chase Suites and loved it too. Hubby and I stayed at the Grand Hyatt (which OO knows well...) and LOVED IT! The Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inn are right next to the Chase Suites and are all next to the Bahamas Breeze restaurant. I'm curious if the couple getting married blocked hotel rooms for the guests. We were able to get some great rates. March is a pricey time in Tampa. Good luck!

Hi coldwar -- thanks for the input! A block of rooms have been gotten at the Doubletree. The rate is only $10 less than what I have found online, so no big savings. My main concern with DT is that almost all of the reviews on tripadvisor say similar bad things about it. That is why I was looking for other choices in area.

IF it were just DH and myself, we would go to Hyatt. But we have 2 college aged children that will be attending as well, as we just can do 2 rooms at Hyatt along with 4 airfares.

Debi

coldwar, @};- @};- Best wishes!! I'm happy to hear the knot is tied and you are off on this next phase of your life. Having followed your saga from Tampa to VT and back, I sort of feel as if I know you. I WISH I'd known you were going to be at the Hyatt! We still can make some nice things happen for special occasions. ;) Don't say if you'd rather not, but I'm curious if you teach at Plant?

It's nice to get input from people who have actually used some of those hotels! Our daughter got married at our hotel there. Her husband's family is all from Beaufort, SC and although my DH could give a certain # of free rooms for immediate family, and employee rates for the others, there were some who wanted lower cost options as well, and at that time, the Doubletree was the best of the other options. As it turned out, I don't think anyone used them, but they sent us some of their chocolate chip cookies and they were yummy! :) It is an older hotel, but I don't think a bad one. Honestly, if you listened to TripAdvisor you could never stay anywhere. I just read some reviews of our Tampa hotel there and there are some scathing ones...I hardly would recognize the hotel from the description the first one gave...in fact, I wondered if he'd been at the downtown Hyatt, but as I read further, I knew he meant ours. A frequent common denominator in bad reviews I've found, is a hotel card holder who doesn't get an upgrade or a room with a view. From there I can almost guarantee, things go straight downhill. I also looked at Doubletree reviews and they aren't that bad. I didn't much care for their decor from the pictures someone posted, but...

You will get a nice pool area with them (if the weather co-operates) and you'll have a restaurant on premises so you don't need to go out for a quick bite.

In your shoes, I honestly don't know which I'd take...the older but higher tier Doubletree, or newer but lower tier Chase or HI Express. At any rate I'd take any of those over Mainsail, which is absolutely nowhere. At least you have the water and the proximity to the wedding functions by staying on Rocky Point, and don't have to put up with the Veterans which is a somewhat confusing tangle of roads as you come down it to head west on 60 to Rocky Point. They are working to improve the traffic flow with major construction around and just off the Veterans. I don't know what phase they are in now, but when we were there this summer they were well into it.

Rocky Point is on Courtney Campbell, Hwy 60. If you have time, you can take that straight out to Clearwater Beach...the road deadends at the beach, and a beautiful one it is. Normally it's a 40 minute drive, but as you are going in March, and traffic can be horrific then, it could well take longer, but if you've never seen it, it's worth the drive.

I just read a pretty decent review on Doubletree on BFT for a stay that must have been last weekend. http://tinyurl.com/wyf3t

LOL I'm really not pushing that hotel, Debi, just trying to help you sift through the options! :)

OO - Again, thanks so much for hanging in there and giving me so much <i> valuable and insightful </i> info.

You apparently have a connection at the Hyatt. Any suggestions to get the best rate possible? That is really where we'd like to stay.

Debi

Debi, my husband was GM there and we lived in a casita on the grounds until last March when we were transferred here. I've been wishing for your sake that we were still there, because I could possibly have helped then--I can still get you treats though. :)

March is a busy time, making the likelihood of getting the hotel on Priceline practically nil. It used to be you could bid a 4* in that zone and be assured of getting the Hyatt as it was the only 4* in the Westshore/airport district. Then the Renaissance went in, so now you could get either one bidding 4*, and as I said, March is a hard time to get any good FL hotel on PCLN, and practically impossible bidding this far in advance.

Honestly, their best rate will be online through their website, but it's a non-refundable rate, so you have to be certain of your plans. They've got a best rate guarantee, and stick by it. You have a choice of staying in the hotel tower, or in one of the casitas on the grounds (the hotel is on a 35 acre nature preserve at the edge of the bay). I prefer the casitas as they are less hotel-like. You could get two casita rooms, or one of the casita suites, which have a downstairs living area, with a bedroom upstairs. The downstairs sofa is a sleeper sofa, so the suite would accommodate your entire family.

It's pricey, no matter how you look at it, especially having flown the 4 of you there. Do you have any air miles you could use? I was just checking availability and they are sold out the first weekend in March. The next couple of weekends there is availability with the lowest rate at $259/night, (that would be in the hotel with a view toward the airport, not the bay) going up to $289 for one of the casitas. They don't show a rate for a casita suite so I assume none are available the weekends I looked. They do sell out fast. :(

Correction...it's March 9-11 they are sold out, but there is availability all other weekends in March. No casita suites show up for any of the weekends. My guess is, were they available, it'd be around the $500/night range, but as you'd only need the one, it would amount to about the same as two rooms. That's just a rough estimate though (after talking about this with DH yesterday, thinking about one of the suites for you.)

Deb,
I'm surprised at bad reviews about DT. I do agree that their cookies are really good...
I think Chase Suites might work for you given you want a 2 bedroom suite.
OO - thanks for your good wishes. I stayed at the Hyatt the night before the wedding too and it was the smartest decision - away from everyone and three cats, I slept like a baby. I'm interested in buying a Hyatt bed now! We did brunch on Sun at Oystercatchers and it was fantastic. I can't believe I have never been. I know Deb you said you are having brunch somewhere on Sat but I can only hope for you that you get to Oystercatchers. I don't teach at Plant and I'm actually a principal now so it's even more top secret. :)

I stayed at the Doubletree in May 2004 for several nights and thought it was just fine. It wasn't luxurious but it was not run down at all. Plus the view into the water was wonderful, and we saw both dolphins and manatees from the pool area. I haven't looked at Trip advisor - maybe it has really gone downhill since we stayed there. But I was in the lobby a few months ago and it all looked just as nice as I did when I stayed there 2004.

DebitNM, I have stayed in a two-bedroom suite at Sailport twice and have been more than satisfied both times. I have also stayed at the Grand Hyatt, which is waaaayyy nicer and would stay there again - but when I've stayed at Sailport it's been because we went with another couple who didn't want to spend that much money.

My most recent stay at Sailport was less than a month ago. Yes, the rooms are a bit tired, nothing special (except for the two bathrooms, which are actually very nice - marble, newly updated), but they are completely functional (full kitchen, tv, stereo), and roomy (expcept the second bedroom - the one that isn't the master - is quite small). The pool and sundeck are very nice and there is even a little (very little) white sand beach area and a pier that people fish off of. To top it off you are walking distance to the Rusty Pelican for the wedding - that is a real bonus! I would not hesitate to recommend it to you though I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having a room that overlooks the bay. When you book, they will tell you that all of their rooms have a view of the water BUT some overlook a little side inlet and others have a FANTASTIC view of the bay. Without the view I wouldn't even recommend Sailport, but with it it's a whole other story. I would ask for room 353 or 253 (both two bedroom suites with a great view). If they are not available ask for a room overlooking the tennis courts and little beach area and you should have a good view.

DebitNM, where did you end up choosing to stay? I just found out I'll be staying at the Sailport for five days on business and after reading the Trop Advisor reviews I have very mixed feelings. I have never seen so many bad reviews balanced out by just as many good reviews - who do you believe?

We are headed to Tampa on Thursday. We are staying at Marriott Courtyard downtown. Will post back my impressions. Debi

A wedding at the Rusty Pelican?

They've got a gazebo out back by the water and it'd make a pretty setting. That's my guess anyway, as to where they'll have it.

Deb--you aren't at Doubletree? If you are already dowtown, Columbia makes more sense for dinner, but you might also think about a place like Berns or Side Berns (less costly)...I believe your count is down to 4 adults for dinner now, so that's do-able, especially Side Berns. Another option, Mise en Place. These are all in the Hyde Park area, very convenient to downtown.

NO OO we aren't at Doubletree; got a much better rate at Marriott Courtyard; the &quot;special rate&quot; for the wedding party was twice the daily rate that we are paying and we have 2 rooms and airfare for 4.

I have been to Berns a LONG time ago. Columbia sounds so good; and we don't get Spanish/Cuban food in SW CO!!

Thanks for the replies guys.
Debi

You get what you pay for -- Courtyard Downtown has construction right across the street that has already started. But that is ok because at 7 AM a frecking freight train rolled through blowing its whistle for what seemed like forever! There had better been a LOT of cows on the track to justify all that blowing! You also have to pay to park $12 valet.

Oh well...
Debi
Stay elsewhere.