Tampa area - hotel with great pool and ambiane
 

My husband just found out that he is going to Tampa for a business trip April 5-6. I am going to go with him (without our teenagers -- they didn't want to go). We will drive from Atlanta on Sunday, April 3, and spend 4 nights. He will be in business meetings all day on the 5th and 6th.

I'm recovering from surgery, so what I'm looking for is a really nice pool area where I can veg out all day while he's at meetings.

This hotel doesn't have to actually be in Tampa; it just needs to be close enough so he can drive to Tampa for his meetings. I would prefer the beach, but that's not an absolute.

Any ideas? His company will pay up to around $150-160 per night.

Thanks very much.
Sherry

Of course I meant for the title to say "great pool and AMBIANCE" -- sorry!

Not on the beach but facing the bay is the Tampa Westshore Hyatt. On the beach in St. Pete Beach is a wonderful place called the Tradewinds hotel. For a classic visit in a baroque hotel on the beach that looks like a castle, try the Don CeSar Hotel in St. Pete Beach. I'm sure others will have many recommendations, but these would be my choices. Good luck.

Hi, Wayne. Thanks for the info. I can't find a hotel called "Tampa Westshore Hyatt." Would it be called something else?

Samsaf, try google. "Tampa Westshore Hyatt" immediately brings up the Hyatt Regency Tampa - Westshore.

Option 2: go directly to Hyatt.com and search.

www.safetyharborresort.com $149

Its name changed over a year ago when it transitioned from a Hyatt Regency to a Grand Hyatt. It is the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. http://grandtampabay.hyatt.com/property/index.jhtml

Samsaf, the Hyatt.com rate is $300 a night during your dates, and at that rate, I'm fairly certain there would be no Priceline availability either (harder and harder to get under any circumstances these days). Because your dates fall during prime time for this area, you may have a problem finding a great pool and ambiance for $150-160, unfortunately.

Yeah, I found it, and can't really do $300 a night on this trip. The Safety Harbor Resort looks pretty good. I'll check into that and the Tradewinds and Don CeSar. Keep more suggestions coming, please! Thanks very much

Well, number one is definitely the Don CeSar. Their pool is THE best. But if your husband is driving into Tampa from SP, he will likely be in rush hour traffic coming and going. It is a good 30 minutes when there is NO traffic. So bad scenario.

In Tampa, the Tahitian might fit your budget. It has a great pool. Very nicely landscaped. Cozy location. And there's a good cafe for lunch or breakfast.

Another thought -- the Embassy Suites on Westshore. Westshore mall is across the street so you can shop.

Another place would be the Rocky Point area. There is a sandy beach of sorts along the bay and along the Causeway. I don't recall the names of any of them but you can google or search Tampa hotels in Rocky Point.

Also see what rate you can get on the Marriot Waterside in downtown. Their spa is supposed to be nice.

The Don won't be anywhere near her rate either TG, but money and rush hour traffic aside, that would be my choice too. I do that rush hour Samsaf, and if your DH would be going meetings between 8 and 9, it is a pretty ugly drive.

I dunno about the Tahitian. A friend moved in there when she lost power during one of the hurricanes. She called me within a day to see if she could get in here instead, saying the Tahitian was really bad, run down and smelled of mildew. At least they had power. We had no electricity either, however and hers came back that day.

Rocky Point: Sailport, Doubletree, and Holiday Inn Express. Have no idea what they are like or if they have pools even. They will have water views (Tampa Bay), however, and probably small pools, but the Grand Hyatt's pools are small as well.

Because you are here at such an expensive time of year Samsaf, perhaps you could arrange to add onto what your company will pay so you can get something you are comfortable with?

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, we might have to add on to the budget, but we were hoping not to do that. We're saving for a cruise in May and our big family trip to Kauai in June. This is just an 'extra' trip; my husband just wants me to be able to relax after the surgery.

What about the Seminole Hard Rock? There are lots of bad reviews on Tripadvisor about this hotel, but the bad reviews seem to concentrate on the casino, which I'm not really interested in. Most comments indicate that the rooms and pool are very nice.

Any thoughts?

I'll also look up the tahitian and Rocky Point area hotels.

Samsaf, I knew the Don was over your budget but it is THE place to recover and it has a great pool and tiki bar. But as for the Hard Rock Hotel, that is a fairly new hotel and I've not had any outoftown guests stay there. Maybe you can find a photo of the pool on their web site.

I've known many people who've stayed happily at the Tahitian (including Burt Reynolds in the 1980s). It recently expanded and the cafe is terrific, very popular in S. Tampa for breakfast and lunch. For your budget, it would be fine. And if you can get the Hard Rock for your price, that would probably be fine too.

Keep in mind that the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is away from everything on the outskirts of the city. You will be isolated if you do not have a car.

Thanks, everybody, for your replies. My husband will be talking with the meeting organizer this next Tuesday, and then we'll make our reservations.

Right now, I'm leaning toward the Hard Rock. As long as my husband doesn't have to drive a really long way, I don't care that this hotel is a little apart from everything. My plan is to sit by the pool, read and relax.

Thanks again.
Sherry

I stayed at the Doubletree at Rocky Point last May while house hunting in the Tampa area. It is a very nice hotel and the pool area is gorgeous. We saw manatees and dolphins from the pool area, actually. It's an easy drive into Tampa, even during rush hour.

I live right near the Safety Harbor Resort. It's such a cute little town, with fun eateries in the downtown area, and the resort is right on the bay. Walking into the downtown area from the resort takes about 1 minute. :-) I have not seen their pool, however. Driving into Tampa can be rough, but if he leaves by 7 a.m. (no later), it's about 30 minutes.

I'd pick the Doubletree if it were me. You have some nice restaurants around (such as Bahama Breeze and the Grand Hyatt's Oystercatchers), the Westshore Mall is VERY close, and the causeway area is very pretty. The actual hotel is nicely decorated. It's not luxury but I still felt it was very very nice.

The Doubletree had several bad reviews regarding the hotel condition. Do you agree?

Also, the Safety Harbor Resort pool looked gorgeous, but some of the buildings seem a fair distance from the main pool, and I don't think I will feel like walking very far then (I had emergency appendectomy 2 weeks ago).

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Well, I thought about the Radisson on Sand Key, bay side, (now the Marriott suites), but I checked their web site for prices, and they're at $300.00 a night as well.
How about the Holiday Inn Harbourside, on the bay in Indian Rocks Beach. It's one block from the beach. There's a marina, a nice little outdoor restaurant that overlooks the pool and the bay, and a nice pool.
Are you familiar with Indian Rocks?
There web site keep timing out for me, so I found it by going into holidayinn.com
Here's the holiday inn site:
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/...?ptLink=search

The web site for the hotel directly is:
www.hiharbourside.com Maybe it will load for you.

I meant to add that the web site showed a price for a nonsmoking, two queen bed room for $165.00.

About the bad reviews for the Doubletree on Tripadvisor, I only saw one bad review. I can't say anything about the person having a dirty blanket, obviously, if that happened, yuk! But the hotel is not "tired" - when I read this review after we stayed, I wondered if they had stayed at a different property because this place is *nice*. However, the reviewer does mention the small TVs in the bathrooms and the noisy elevator, so I guess we did stay in the same property! BTW, we stayed in the room next to the elevator and it didn't bother us at all. And we didn't have air conditioners in our windows. (On tripadvisor, this hotel is listed as Doubletree Guest Suites Tampa Bay.)

Obviously, you should go where your gut tells you. Don't go to the Doubletree because of me! :-) But honestly, we thought it was a very nice property, we were very happy with our room and the facilities. The location was great also.

hibiscushouse, do you work for the chamber at Indian Rocks? Every post you make seems to be oblivious to the posters needs and totally focused on pushing rentals at IRB. Someone asks for a small mom & pop and you steer them to apartment rentals. Someone asks for something with a nice pool while her husband is in Tampa and you suggest Sand Key. Have you made that drive from Sand Key to Tampa? Wouldn't you agree it's just about the worst drive possible? And do you really think its' good advice for her husband to be in that traffic either from SAnd Key or from IRB? And of course the cost is way over what she is willing or able to pay. Do you even read the posters question, or any of the comments from others? I'm curious because you don't seem to do anything but suggest Indian Rocks Beach. Which is about the most horrendous drive in the world, the drive from Tampa to IRB, so awful that I would personally never consider staying at IRB for that reason alone.

Boy am I floored. That was incredibly rude of you T.G. I'm totally surprised by your comments.
No! I don't work for the chamber. I live in Indian Rocks. I grew up in Clearwater. I have 42 years of experience about this area. And I merely put my input in when someone asks about this particular small bit of an area, b/c it's what I know. It's no more sinister than that. I know Clearwater well, I know Indian Rocks and Indian Shores well. I don't pertain to know the rest of the surrounding area as well, so that is why I don't comment on the areas outside of these much. DUH!
If YOU reread her original post, you will see she has written:
"This hotel doesn't have to actually be in Tampa; it just needs to be close enough so he can drive to Tampa for his meetings. I would prefer the beach, but that's not an absolute."
Hmmmmm, "prefer the beach", "doesn't have to be in Tampa"..... Did I not read that post correctly? There ya go.
A lot of people don't even know the Gulf Beaches exist as the towns are so small. A lot of people don't know there are places to stay other than the bigger cities of Tampa, St. Pete or Clearwater. I know this for a fact.
About the Raddison/Marriott on Sand Key (I thought I only pushed Indian Rocks Beach properties down people's throats T.G?) I was merely talking about an alternative that was "not in Tampa" and "on the beach" and stated that it was just a thought, but added that when I checked their web site, I was surprised that the price was still $300 per night (which I knew was too pricy for her.) I was just surprised that it was so expensive for bay side.
What else did you, scathingly, accuse me of?
"Someone asks for a small mom & pop and you steer them to apartment rentals."
When did I do this T.G.?
And your opinion about the drive from Tampa to IRB is fine for you. I know many people don't feel the same way. Bottom line.
My input on this forum is to, simply, help when I can. I don't appreciate your attempt to try to taint that reason with whatever chip you have on your shoulder about my posts. It makes you look petty and small.
Samsaf, I apologize if the information was not relevant to your travel question. I thought I was merely helping by offering some additional information about the area. If I was out of line, then I'm sorry, as it wasn't my intention.

Ulmerton Road? You like Ulmerton Road? What do you like about it? The scenic beauty of the strip malls? The horrendous traffic? I like IRB but the drive there is awful.

Sorry. I just wanted to know if you worked for the Chamber. I guess you don't.

Thank you, hisbiscushouse and Tandoori Girl, OO, birder, and everyone else for your help. Will let you know what we decide.

hibiscushouse, thanks for sharing the information about the Holiday Inn at IRB. I will check it out for my next stay in the area.