Hotel suggestions for Tampa

[emeraldlover]

Thanks Ken for the reply. It always helps to ease your mind when someone can give you feedback that is genuine and not based on the fact that they are trying to sell you something.

 

Snowing again here in Mass. - another 8-12 inches. February 12th can't come soon enough. Only problem will be the end of the cruise when we have to return.

 

Let's think Spring!!!!:)

[smiles196]

thanks for the info on busch hotels....i was going to book there..will look further...need room 2/26-3/1st.. on my way to a rental march lst in cape coral...maybe i should stay near airport as i arrive at midnite on 2/26 and then go on to sarasota, st. petersburg....etc....what are your suggestions...thank you

[Cracker Ken]

emeraldlover - You are quite welcome. That's right, I don't work for any of these places, and I certainly don't represent the Chamber of Commerce:) . I just tell it like it is. As y'all know (or should know), I haven't stayed in these hotels before, since I live around here. I've been inside many of them, and know people who have stayed in some of them too. I've seen all of them from the outside and know the areas. In addition, I was born in the same county as Tampa, and have lived and worked here all my life (51 yrs). I have worked in, around, and out of Tampa since 1971, and 20 yrs of that was in law enforcement. If I know about something, I'll tell you., If I don't, I'll tell you, or else I'll find out if I can. Also, thanks for reminding me why I continue to live down here. I'll take the hurricane risk, and you can freeze.:D (It was 26 at my house Monday morning - it's not always hot here). The snow hasn't been much of a problem lately either. :D

 

smiles196 - If you are just coming into town, getting a car, and staying over night before heading S. to St. Pete and Sarasota, you could consider staying out near the airport in one of the places we have been discussing in the thread above. There are places of various levels out there. There's a LaQuinta Inn (an older one with outside entry) across from the airport, and nearby off of Westshore (faces Laurel St just W. of Westshore) there is a Hampton Inn. There's an AmeriSuites on Westshore too. There are others in that area too, some higher in price. This would be convenient, because you could get on I-275 just a few blocks down the street on Westshore. That takes you across to St Pete on the bridge, then on S. across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and it eventually merges back into I-75 to take you to Sarasota.

 

There's a lot of cheap places out around Busch Gardens, but you get what you pay for. I saw one Monday that was renting by the week, if you like. Motels that rent by the week draw a rather diverse crowd, including trash, construction crews in town for an extended time, some families who are in town for a whole week, and others you might consider undesirable. As far back as 15-16 yrs ago, I've been in at least one of those motels to make arrests and recover a stolen vehicle. If I wanted to stay in the same corner of town as Busch Gardens, and wanted to be rather close to it, I'd stay up on Fowler Ave around 30th St at the Wingate Inn, Embassy Suites, or LaQuinta Inn. It's better there than down on Busch.

 

Y'all stay warm up north.;)

 

Ken

[katienycgrl]

Hey Ken, can you tell me how the Residence Inn Tampa Downtown is? I know it's a Marriott Hotel, but would like to know how it is. Thanks

[Tammyg]

We're booked at the Chase Suites in Tampa for our cruise in April. I've heard lots of really great things about them. They provide a shuttle from the airport and to the pier the day of the cruise. Breakfast is free and they will send the shuttle for you when the cruise is over and you need to go to the airport. I've seen posted that they will also allow drivers to park their car at the hotel while you're cruising. There's 5 of us traveling so we booked a 2-room suite.

[mikeymars]

If I wanted to stay in the same corner of town as Busch Gardens, and wanted to be rather close to it, I'd stay up on Fowler Ave around 30th St at the Wingate Inn, Embassy Suites, or LaQuinta Inn. It's better there than down on Busch.

 

Y'all stay warm up north.;)

 

Ken

 

Phew -- thanks Ken, for clarifying where it is and isn't "good" to stay if you want to be north of downtown to have access To Busch Gardens. I read the original parts of this thread, and based on your comments about "the Busch area" was somewhat concerned about our plan to stay at the USF Embassy Suites before our cruise in February (we're taking an airport shuttle there, and same thing to the pier). But now I realize staying two and a half miles north of the park puts you in shall we say a different neighborhood.

 

And while we're at Busch (taking the complimentary hotel shuttle there and back), we certainly don't plan to go wandering around outside the park!!!

 

Until then, we're trying to stay warm (not sure which is worse - 26 degrees in Tampa, or -1 up here).

[Cracker Ken]

katienycgrl - I'm not very familiar with the Residence Inn in downtown Tampa. I looked it up, and I know where it is, and the area. It's in the NW corner of the downtown business area. It's not a bad area, but there's nothing else real close to it. There are various places to eat around there, but most service the workday business crowd and are probably closed at night. There's a pizza delivery place nearby. It's too far to walk to the Channelside District from there, and it's quite a distance down to the street car terminal. There are no local or major chain restaurants close to it either. The place isn't too old.

 

There's another Residence Inn in the area directly to the S of the Tampa Intl Airport, on Lois Avenue. I've been by there several times, and have been to the restaurant next door. It's nice, not too old, and appears to be a clean place. There are 3 nice restaurants within easy/safe walking distance too. I may have mentioned those restaurants above, but they are: Leroy Selmon's BBQ (not a shack either, a really nice place), Flemings Steakhouse, and Roys. All 3 of those are part of the Outback group of restaurants.

 

Tammyg - There's some info on The Chase Suites (the one on Rocky Point) towards the top of page 2 of this thread.

 

mikeymars - Don't worry at all. That's a nice Embassy Suites. It's a clean area. I was by there this past Monday. It's on the campus of University of S Florida. I don't think it has been there very long, and it looks new. The grounds are well kept. I think a lot of people dealing with the university stay there, including families of people who are in the Moffitt Cancer Center on the campus, and those visiting students. I live about 30 miles E of Tampa these days. 26 degrees here is mighty cold. With temps in the high 90's, and sometimes up to 101-105 in the summer, 26 is awful. I guess it's all what you are used to. It's always colder here than they report in Tampa, and hotter as well, since we are inland. You should have seen things back in January '77 when it snowed here. We got about 2 inches over-night. I was a patrolman at that time, and I had to work in it (day shift). People were sliding all over the place, having wrecks, you name it. It was nasty. We even had black ice in the morning. I'll never forget that day.

 

Ken

[simkoreb]

I pricelined Tampa westshore/airport and ended up at the Marriott airport for 70 a night...sounds like a good price to me!!! And someone mentioned it was nice...to bad there's no shuttle though....since we'll be there the night before, and suggestions on places nearby (since we'll be taking a cab) to eat at that are not pricey? Or any good breakfast buffets? Thanks!

[01Sweetpea]

We are staying at the Chase Suites the night before our 7/3 Miracle cruise. Does anyone know where there is a supermarket/wal-mart around that I can buy a case of water before getting on the ship?

 

Thanks!

[katienycgrl]

Thanks Ken, do you know how far or close it is to Ybor? Someone told me a few miles, but who knows?

[Cracker Ken]

katienycgrl - From the Residence Inn downtown to Ybor is only 2-3 miles. Don't plan on walking though. You don't want to do that. Take a cab if you don't have a rental car. Walking over to Ybor is not safe. Between Ybor and the area of the Residence Inn downtown is an area of low income housing projects. I wouldn't go through there at night in a car, much less on foot. I wouldn't go through that area on foot at any time. If you could make it down to the street car station at the S. end of Franklin St., you could take the street car to Ybor, however it's quite a walk down to the street car from the downtown Residence Inn. It's about 8-9 miles or so from the Residence Inn out by the airport to Ybor.

 

01Sweetpea - If you are staying at the Chase Suites on Rocky Point, the closest Wal-mart is at the NE corner of I-275 and Dale Mabry Highway. You would need a car or taxi to get to the Wal-Mart. The Wal-Mart would be the closest thing such as a supermarket to Rocky Point, other than a couple of gas station/convenience stores on Westshore Blvd. There is a Walgreen's Drug Store at Westshore Blvd and Kennedy Blvd, and they have some groceries kind of like at a convenient store, and should have bottled water.

 

simkoreb - There are a couple of places within reasonable walking distance from the Marriott Westshore (it is indeed a nice hotel). One place is Charley's Steakhouse (it might be on the pricey side) which is on Cypress a couple of blocks to the E. of Westshore Blvd. It's between the Sheraton Suites and the Double Tree Hotel. Another is the Steak and Ale Steakhouse on Westshore Blvd. just S. of I-275 (a few blocks to the S.). Steak and Ale would be cheaper, and their prices would be comparible to Outback Steak House. There are also some restaurants in the Westshore Plaza Mall right behind the Steak and Ale on Westshore. I'm told that one of those is really good - Magianno's Italian. LeRoy Selmon's BBQ at N. Lois and Boy Scout Blvd is a good place to eat, and it is reasonably priced. It would be a long walk up there though. Another good place, is Houlihan's (owned by the folks who own the Tampa Bay Bucs), on Westshore a few blocks N. of the Marriott. It's a moderately priced place.

 

Ken

[simkoreb]

Hey Ken, thanks for your ideas, but isn't the Marriott Westshore different than the Marriott airport? We're at the airport...are these places you mentioned far from the airport?? I was thinking the airport food is probably overpriced, but looking for a place closeby we could take a taxi to....sorry to keep bugging you!!!! THANK YOU!

[rudgie99]

Hi I used priceline.com to book pre and post cruise hotels. Can you tell me what you know about these 2 hotels? Wyndham Westshore and Marriott Tampa Westshore.

 

Also all the threads about Busch Garden area has me worried. We plan to go there and assumed we would take a taxi... My concern is when we want to go back to the hotel. Is there taxi waiting to pick people up or will they call one for us. If not how do we get back???Also do we need to be concerned with any particular taxi company?? How would we know if they were reputable or not??

 

Thanks

Karen

[Cracker Ken]

simkoreb - Sorry about that. I wasn't thinking straight:rolleyes: . Yes, they are different hotels. The one at the airport connected to the terminal. You can go from the plane to the hotel without going outside. Up on top of the hotel is a rotating restaurant called CK's. Very nice restaurant, and a bit pricey. We stayed at that hotel on our honeymoon 20 yrs ago, and we have dined at CK's a couple of times. The places I was mentioning around the Marriott Westshore aren't very far away at all. That area is just to the S. of the airport. There's a big upscale mall on the SE edge of the aiport, International Plaza. They have a Cheese Cake Factory restaurant in the restaurant court in the back. All of these places are just outside of the airport, to the S., and should be a cheap taxi ride (sometimes the cabies get a little aggravated with short trips from the airport, but that's tough- it comes with the territory). If you are taking a taxi, you could go out to Rocky Point on Courtney Campbell Causway and eat at Landry's Seafood. This is to the W. of the airport on SR 60, about 2-3 miles. It's a little more pricey than a Red Lobster, but a great place to eat, right on the bay.

 

rudgie99 - Karen, As for the Marriott Westshore. There is quite a bit of info on that one, and the area, further up on the thread, around January 25th.

It's a nice place. As for the Wyndham Westshore - It's at Kennedy Blvd. and Westshore, across the street from the Westshore Plaza Mall. It was formerly a Sheraton Hotel. It's a beautiful building in a convenient location. Places to eat in the hotel and within walking distance, and a Walgreen's Drug Store across the street on the corner. I don't know about the quality of the rooms. Lots of business people stay there. I haven't heard or seen anything bad about this hotel. There's a Don Shula's Steakhouse in the hotel and it's great. It's a little pricey, but the food is great and they feed you way too much:) . There are other places to eat (not so pricey) across the street at the mall, on the side closest to the Wyndham. Here's a link:

 

http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/TPAAP/main.wnt

 

I was in contact with someone who recently stayed at the Wyndham Harbour Island Hotel in downtown Tampa, and she was disappointed and said it needed an overhaul. I haven't heard anything like that about the Westshore location though.

 

As for Busch Gardens - That's a great place. It's just that the surrounding area and the strip along Busch Blvd has been going downhill over the years. It hasn't always been that way. A taxi ride from the Westshore area up to Busch Gardens is going to cost you some $$$. It's quite a ways up there. I've heard prices like $20 from the airport to the port, and Busch Gardens woud be a least twice as far. Most likely, you could rent a small car (compact car, just big enough to get around in) for a day just as economically, and you wouldn't be tied down.

 

Ken

[Indiana Jones]

A new Hampton Inn close to the pier area just opened within the last month or so...includes shuttle from airport and to the pier. Anyone have any word on this new property yet? We have a night on 3/3/05 prior to the Horizon sailing for $110.

[mdc99]

Indiana Jones-I just spent the weekend at the Hampton Inn Ybor City(I've also seen it called Hampton downtown) which I'm sure is the hotel your referring to. It is new and about what you expect from a hampton Inn. It is located on the west end of 7th Ave strip. It is a 5 story building and I was on the 5th floor. I was a little concerned about noise because Ybor can be noisy, at least on the weekend, but did not have any problems other than people slamming doors. The biggest draw for this hotel will probably be from people who are wanting to party in Ybor and not have to drive. Self parking in their garage is $6. It does have a pool although I didn't check it out. I didn't check out their breakfast as I was going out for breakfast both mornings. They do have a litte concession shop next to the front desk. I was in a standard king room which was clean and nice, there was a small fridge and a 1 cup coffee maker. I live not to far away so my main concern was to have a clean comfortable room to sleep in and the Hampton certainly provided this. Opps gotta run, please post any specific questions and I'll be glad to answer.

[Cracker Ken]

Indiana Jones - That Hampton isn't too far from the streetcar tracks. The streetcars run from the area of 20th St and 8th Ave, down 8th to the west, then goes S. at 13th St. The line runs down to the Port of Tampa, past the cruise terminals, Florida Aquarium, and Channelside District. It ends up down at the end of FL Ave by the Marriott Waterside. There's a streetcar stop at 13th St between 7th and 8th Ave. This might be something fun to do if you have the time. There are things to do down at Channelside, including restaurants, shops, Imax Theater, bars, etc. In addition to the Hampton Inn, there is a Hilton Garden Inn in the area. This Hampton could get popular with cruisers, since it's so close to the port. As far as I know, it's the closest reasonably priced hotel to the port. It's not but about a mile from 7th Ave and 13th St down to the port.

 

Here's a link to the TECO Streetcar System -

 

http://www.tecolinestreetcar.org/home.html

[Indiana Jones]

Thanks for the info on the Hampton Inn...would you know if there is anywhere fairly close by(no car) to pick up a supply of sodas and/or beer for the cruise the next day?

[simkoreb]

Ken you're awsome!!! Thanks!!!!

[mdc99]

Thanks for the info on the Hampton Inn...would you know if there is anywhere fairly close by(no car) to pick up a supply of sodas and/or beer for the cruise the next day?

 

There is no large grocery stores near the Hampton that I'm aware of. I would probably try and offer the shuuttle driver a "tip" to stop on the way from the airport. If you did get desperate in Ybor I think there is a small convienence store on Palm which would be a couple of blocks north and approx. 6 blocks east of the Hampton. Or 3 blocks S. and 5 blocks east on Hwy.60/Adamo Dr. there is a couple of gas stations that I'm sure have beer and soda.

[Cracker Ken]

I think that little conv store is on the NW corner of Palm Ave and 20th in the corner of the apartment complex. At one time there was a small super market on the S side of 7th Ave around 15th St that serviced the locals. I can't recall if they have closed it or torn it down. That store was there from the old days of Ybor City.

 

Ken

[1cruiselvr]

FYI - If anyone is thinking of booking this hotel, I suggest you use Priceline. If you pick 3*, Tampa airport/westshore and bid around $50, you will probably get the Wyndham Westshore. Beats paying the $149 per night price listed on their website. I have read mixed reviews on tripadvisor.com so based upon that information, I wouldn't be willing to pay the $149 per night, but could handle the issues for less than half that price. Happy Sailing!

[imatarb]

Hey Ken,

 

You seem to be the go-to guy for hotels! We are going out on the RCCL Legend of the Seas out of Tampa in December. Can you recommend a nice, clean, inexpensive hotel (under $100/night) near the port? I have copied down the list you had on page one, but just wondered if there were any specific to the port.

 

Thanks,

Lisa :)

[Cracker Ken]

Lisa - Most of the hotels near the port that I'd recommend are going to be pushing $100, or maybe just a bit higher. Those in downtown Tampa, and near the port, are well over $100 a night, and winter is high time in FL. You might check on the Hampton Inn/Suites in Ybor City, and perhaps the Hilton Garden Inn in Ybor City. Ybor is the historic latin district in E Tampa, and is just N. of the cruise terminals (quite close). Both of these hotels are hardly a mile or so from the docks and close to the street car lines (which gives you some inexpensive mobility). Hope this helps.

 

Ken

[imatarb]

Ken, are there hotels near the airport that are more reasonably priced, that would get us to the port in a minimum amount of time? We're not fussy, but prefer inexpensive and in a good part of town.

 

Thanks,

Lisa :)