Where To Stay In The Tampa Area
 

The 2nd week of February, we will be flying into TPA, then heading down to Sarasota and Sanibel. Since we will be flying through Chicago, with only a 40 minute layover, I thought that it might be best if we spent the first night not too fat from the airport, just in case opur luggage doesn't arrive with us (which seems to happen alot anymore). Tarpon Spinngs sounded like something that would interest us, but I also thought that it would be great to spend the first night on the ocean. But it doesn't seem that there is anything on the ocean, that is north of Tampa. Any opinions on whether it would be best to just find a place in Tarpon Springs or maybe just look at the Clearwater Beach area and drive up to Tarpon Springs, if we even decide to, the next morning. Or maybe to just stay in Clearwater Beach on the gulf shore and just find someplace to have a really nice dinner. Even though I would like to visit Tarpon Springs, this also sounds rather appealing since we will be traveling half of the day. Any suggestions on hotels in thee area?Is ther anything in Tampa that we definitely want to do before drivin down coast? Thanks!!

There's a Hyatt resort hotel near the airport in a nice bayfront location with a nature trail boardwalk and at least two very good restaurants -- at least all this was true when we were there a few years ago and I assume it still is. It is (or was) a Priceline hotel if that interests you.

Go to Tarpon Springs, if you love Greek food. Eat at Hella's ... absolutely wonderful restaurant and neat Greek community.

Any suggestions on where to stay in the Tarpon Springs area? How about Clearwater Beach?

Don
On Clearwater Beach, I could recommend the Sheraton Sand Key. Nice hotel and staff, oceanfront, but even though it's oceanfront, it's set back so far it's a long walk to the water. :-)

Also, an hour away from Tampa is St Pete Beach which we love! The Don CeSar is a great hotel directly on the water. There are also more economical places but none come to mind. We've stayed at many places in that area, Indian Rocks, Maderia Beach, Treasure Island but we always rented a house so I don't know of hotels.

I wouldn't stay in Tarpon Springs-it is a great place for a day trip-looking around and eating lunch, but you will like staying on the beach in Clearwater.

I don't know how close you would like to be to the airport, but Tarpon Springs is not. It is one heck of an ugly drive up there over a congested (trafic and red lights) highway. I'd try for Clearwater Beach/St Pete Beach area.

My DH ran the Hyatt that hop_along mentioned. It is 5 minutes from the airport and faces Tampa Bay. Nice views, and fabulous restaurants. It's not part of Hyatt's resort division...you need x # of extras to be a resort, and it is one short. It has 2 (standard, one by the hotel and one by the casitas) pools, tennis, the boardwalk, a "pretend" beach (there is a beach with white sand, but you wouldn't want to swim in Tampa Bay). It's a great property if you really want to be close to the airport, lay back and relax by a pool.

For St Pete, I love the Don CeSar that cd mentioned. That's about 35 minutes from the airport. Living there (we lived in the Hyatt), we didn't have much experience with other hotels, but have stayed in the Don and the Vinoy (downtown St Pete) and all are terrific properties.

Clearwater Beach Hilton is right on the beach, has a tiki bar on the beach and is right in the middle of a lot of activity near the public pier. Crabby Bills right across the street.

Just read your post, don512, and I have a couple of questions: where are you staying in Sarasota, and how long do you have?

If you're staying less than a week, and will be at a beach location in Sarasota, I would recommend making the drive. It's only about 1-2 hours from TPA to Sarasota, and it's a fairly easy drive (275 South). Besides, I'm pretty sure the airlines will deliver your luggage to Sarasota in the event of delay.

Like OO said (hi OO!) Tarpon Springs is a heckuva drive, but Sarasota is almost all interstate.

On the other hand, if this is your only chance for "beach", I'd also recommend St. Pete Beach, an easy on and off the highway, much easier than Clearwater Beach. The Don is the best, but there are also quite a few other good ones depending on budget and taste.

If you choose to stay somewhere and not proceed directly to Sarasota, the St. Pete Beach area, including the Don CeSar Hotel and lots of others along the beach north of the Don, will most likely offer some pretty good deals. Tourism here (I live in St. Pete Beach) has been slow this year and you can find a hotel meeting your own personal needs within a short drive or a long walk from the Don CeSar. The Tradewinds is another nice resort about a mile north of the Don, and there are lots of typical beachfront tourist motels in between. Jumping off I-275 to St. Pete Beach is a short haul of 5 minutes or so over the local Pinellas Bayway, signposted on the interstate. Good luck.