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

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

The Tampa Marriott Westshore is a very nice hotel located at the corner of Westshore Blvd. and W. Cypress St. The area is predominantly a business district (Westshore Business District) with lots of office buildings and hotels. There is a large high school nearby too. This is a good area of town and it's clean. The property of this hotel is well kept. Lots of business people stay at this location, and they hold trade conferences there. Our offices used to be right down the street from this hotel. emeraldlover - You will be a much better off staying here than the Days Inn and Motel 6 (those are often very crummy).

TDKK4SEV - As for drug stores and super markets in this area - There is a Walgreen's Drug Store not far to the S. of the hotel (about 1/2 mile, maybe less), at Westshore Blvd. and Kennedy Blvd. There are some gas station-convenient stores in the area close by. There is a large Wal-Mart a few miles away, located at the NE corner of Dale Mabry Highway and I-275. Also, just S. of the hotel, on the S. side of I-275, is Westshore Plaza Mall. They have some restaurants there, a food court, and it's a nice mall. To the N. of the hotel, next to the airport at the N. end of Westshore Blvd. is a really nice upscale mall called International Plaza. There are very good restaurants in the back side of the mall. Across the street from the International Plaza there are 3 very good restaurants - LeRoy Selmon's BBQ, Roys, and Flemings Steakhouse (all 3 are concepts of the Outback Steakhouse corp).

Hope this helps.

Ken

katienycgrl - That's not very easy to do. The only places in town (besides the malls) where you can stay close and have places to walk around are in Ybor City and the Channelside District at the port. There's nothing in the Busch Gardens area that fits your needs, as far as I know. If you were to stay in Ybor City (Like at the Hampton Inn or Hilton Garden Inn), you could easily hop on the street car and take it to the Channelside District and the downtown areas. The free shuttle to Busch Gardens is the hard part. I don't have any idea which hotel/motel would do that. While I was in NE Tampa this afternoon, I drove down Busch Blvd. and by Busch Gardens. There's not anything on Busch Blvd that I would want to recommend to anyone. A lot of those places are really cheap, and some have weekly rates too. As we know, we always get what we pay for. A lot of those motels on Busch are really old, like from the 60's or 70's. As we all know, we can become victims of crime most anywhere, however there are some places where the percentage is a lot higher. I just don't feel comfortable recommending that people stay in this area. Many people who cruise want something a lot nicer than what that area has to offer, and I'd hate to steer someone to something they wouldn't like at all (or, worse yet, run into some problems). It's unfortunate that the Busch Gardens area isn't up to par with the theme park itself.

Ken

Sandy - Since you want to visit Land O' Lakes, the Wingate Inn on Bruce B. Downs might be a better choice (it's the choice I would make). This is out in the area called New Tampa. The area is more upscale than down on Fowler. Since you will be right at I-75, it will be easy to get on the Interstate and go down to Fowler, then take it W. to 30th St and then S. on 30th St to Busch Gardens. Or, you could take Bruce B. Downs S. towards Tampa and it turns into 30th St (more traffic this way though). There are nice places to eat out there in New Tampa, within a mile or so E or W of I-75. It's not far from there up to Land O' Lakes. Busch Gardens is at Busch Blvd and 30th St.

Ken

Boards - It's about a mile or so away, and it's easy to get there. From Springhill Suites, go East on Cypress all the way to Dale Mabry Highway. Turn North (left), go under I-275 and you will see Wal-Mart on the right (E side of the road).

Ken

Hi folks!

Ehpride - I've not stayed at the Days Inn before (I live around here), but I'm quite familiar with that area. The area of that Days Inn is around the Raymond James Stadium (Tampa Bay Bucs). It's not a really bad area. Plenty of places to eat around there too (especially to the S. towards Kennedy Blvd.)

cprincess - It's roughly 6 miles from the Springhill Suites to the terminals. I really like the looks of that Springhill Suites, and it's in the middle of a business/office complex area.

MILEMRKR63 - You might look into the Marriott Waterside Hotel. It's very close to the port/terminals. I may have written about it in this thread (can't remember). If you click on the Yahoo photo web page in my signature below, I have a bunch of photo albums. One is titled Tampa, FL. There are a lot of pics of the Marriott Waterside and the surrounding area.

mchoelting - The Holiday Inn at Rocky Point is a Holiday Inn Express. People who work at our offices stay there often. I've been in the lobby, and I know several people who have stayed there and they like it. Please see my post further up the page where I was answering someone regaring the Chase Suites. This Holiday Inn Express is almost next door, with the Bahama Breeze Restaurant between them. Nice area. It's quiet out there. Also, the $10 shuttle will be cheaper than a taxi. I've seen reports that it cost $20 from the airport to the cruise terminals. Rocky Point is about 2-3 miles further away from the cruise terminal. For $10, I'd grab that shuttle van.

scsagh - If you want to stay near Busch Gardens, I'd say that you are better off at the Wingate Inn on E. Fowler Ave. than you would be if you stayed down on Busch. Blvd. That's way out on the NE side of Tampa and a long ways to the port. If you are sailing out on a Saturday, the traffic from that area to the port shouldn't be much of a problem. On weekdays it can be a mess heading S. into downtown Tampa from the N. Urban sprawl is creeping up on the Busch Gardens area, and there's a lot of crime reported on Busch Blvd around hotels. The area of this Wingate is mostly the sprawling USF Campus.

Hope this helps.:)

The Chase Suites are located on the Tampa side of Old Tampa Bay in the Rocky Point area. The hotel (which resembles an apartment complex, to an extent) is along the water N. of Courtney Campbell Causeway, and it to the W of the Tampa International Airport. This is the road/bridge that does to Clearwater from Tampa. The Rocky Point area consist of office towers, hotels, restaurants, and a couple of apartment complexes. It's a nice area, and about 10 miles from the cruise terminals on the E. side of the downtown Tampa business core. On the N. side of Rocky Point (where the Chase is), there is a nice restaurant called Bahama Breeze. Nice location, nice view, and good food. There is a restaurant/bar/grill called the Green Iguana just down the street by the Days Inn. They have great burgers there. Also, out on the main road (Courtney Campbell Causeway) just before Rocky Point Drive, is Landry's Seafood, a very good place to eat. Another seafood restaurant out there is the Castaways (I haven't been there before, but it's is supposed to be nice, and maybe a little expensive). There are no stores or fast food places on Rocky Point. I'm quite familiar with the area since the regional office of my employer is in one of those building on Rocky Point.

Ken

Hi folks!

I was over in Tampa today dropping off DW and her mother for their 14 day S Caribbean cruise on the Veendam. I don't get to go this time. Afterwards, I went out to Westshore Blvd and the surrounding area and looked around for an update.

Did someone on this thread ask me about a grocery or liquor store in the area of Westshore Blvd in Tampa? Some asked me that, somewhere. Anyway, there are no close grocery stores. There are some convenient store/gas stations, and there is a new Walgreen's at Kennedy and Westshore Blvd. They have some groceries and I think they still have a liquor store in Walgreen's. Over on Dale Mabry Hwy, about a mile to the E, there are other locations.

Boards - As for the Best Western on Westshore, I checked it out, from the outside only. I'll withhold judgment on that hotel. Put it this way, if I was in the area looking for a place to stay (like, arriving in town without reservations), I would stop at one of several other places first. The Hampton Inn on Laurel St just a block W. of Westshore is fine. The Springhill Suites on Cypress just W. of Westshore looks really nice, and relatively new as well. The Best Western is an older hotel, outside entry for the rooms. At one time, the building ceased operation as a hotel and tried renting the rooms as small office suites to small businesses. I guess that idea was a flop. They renovated the place again and now it's back into the hotel business. It doesn't appear to be dumpy or anything like that, and the area isn't bad. If you have a good deal there (and it sure looks that way), you will probably be OK.

The Wellsley Inn that was in the area is now converted to an Extended Stay America hotel. Not sure if it was even open yet.

There is a Residence Inn located on Lois Ave just S. of Boy Scout Blvd, just across the street from the Hilton Tampa Airport Hotel. It's only a couple of years old.

On Boy Scout, just E. of Westshore Blvd, there are 3 nice restaurants in a row: Leroy Selmon's BBQ (the retired NFL star), Flemings Steakhouse, and Roy's. All of those are concepts of the Outback Steakhouse group.

Ken

Tigger296- Dale Mabry Hwy is on the opposite side of town from 50th ST and the HoJo's we were talking about. The area of Dale Mabry where the Holiday Inn Express is located isn't bad. Big Difference. As I recall, Sam Seltzers Steak House right next door, like maybe in the area that the conference center and restaurant area of the former Holiday Inn. If you have a deal there, I wouldn't think it would be much of a problem. Be sure to secure your car and don't leave anything in it to intice anyone. Hopefully they guard the lot. The area of the Holiday Inn Express is N. of the Raymond James Stadium (Tampa Bay Bucs), and there are a lot of car lots around there. Across the street is a huge city park.

Boards - When I'm in Tampa later this week, I'll try to remember to take a look at the Best Western on Westshore. That area is fine, but I'm not sure about the hotel itself. If I get some info, I'll let you know. I'll be going through that area when I'm in Tampa.

Jackel101 - The Sailport is next to our ofc. I've been in several of the rooms since some of my co-workers have stayed there when in town. They are like a little vacation condo. Not fancy, but very adequate and clean. It's nice out there, right on the water. Good places to eat and drink nearby too.

I hope y'all enjoy your cruises out of Tampa.

Ken

Sheila - I've never been in that hotel before, but I know where it is and have been by there many times. The area is fine. The area is heavy with corporate offices, office buildings, a huge upscale mall nearby, etc. Just up the street from the hotel on Lois (to the N at the major intersection) is LeRoy Selmon's Bar B Q and it's good. There are two other restaurants next to Selmon's (all 3 are concepts of the Outback Steakhouse parent corp). This is in the same general area of the Westshore Business District, and near the airport. Here's the web page:

http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=TPAAHHF

Enjoy.

Ken

As for the Howard Johnsons on 50th - I wouldn't stay there. That's not a good corner of town. There are several older motels in this area, and this is one of them. Most of the hotels in this general area attract a lot of locals, so you can use your imagination in that regard. I don't know that this HoJo is really bad, it's just the general area that would concern me. It's only maybe 2-3 miles (tops) to the cruise terminals), but about 10 miles from the airport.

I'm like you guys. When we travel (be it a land based vacation or a pre-cruise stay) we just like something clean, safe, and reasonably priced. We don't look for the most luxurious place in town, by no means. We often go for Holiday Inn Express or Hampton Inn, and sometimes a Best Western.

I haven't noticed the SpringHill Suites on West Cypress, but that's a good area to stay in. Also, I've stayed at SpringHill Suites before (in S FL) and I liked it a lot. It's comparible to a Hampton Inn, with suite style rooms. Most of these are new. This area would be 7-8 miles from the cruise terminals, and within a mile of the airport. In the same general area around W. Cypress and Westshore Blvd there are others, and some may have rates less than $100 per night:

Marriott Westshore (Westshore at Cypress)

Sheraton Suites (Cypress just E of Westshore)

Double Tree (next to the Sheraton)

AmeriSuites Hotel (Westshore Blvd N. of Cypress)

Wellsley Inn & Suites (Westshore Blvd)

Residence Inn (Corner of Lois and Boy Scout Blvd)

Hampton Inn (Westshore N. of Cypress)

LaQuinta Inn (Boy Scout, or W. Spruce, just W. of Westshore)

I wrote these down when I was in the area scoping things out for a friend a few months ago. There may be some others, but they cost a lot more, or I didn't note them for some reason or another.

There's no shortage of places to eat in this area, or close by on Dale Mabry Highway.

There is a Hilton Garden Inn and a Hampton Inn & Suites down in the Ybor City area, but they may exceed $100 a night (I was told that the Hampton is higher than $100). These would be within a mile of the terminals.

If questions, just ask.

Ken

Sandy - The time that the rush hour clears up is kind of relative to how many accidents there are for folks to look at on the way to work. :rolleyes: Most of the time, by about 9AM, the traffic moving into town from the area of the Tampa Intl Airport (or the Westshore Business District), is OK. I-275 from the downtown area and N. is usually clear by then. In the afternoon, things start stacking up from downtown to the West by about 3:30. S. bound from N. Tampa (Busch and on up to Land O'Lakes) into downtown isn't near as bad as N. bound in the afternoon. They are currently working on the I-4 - I-275 interchange in the middle of Tampa (what we all call "Malfunction Junction", for good reason), and it can get messy there from time to time. That mess will continue for a while to come, probably at least another year.

Ken

Sandy - I don't recommend staying in the Busch Gardens area, no matter which hotel it is (unless you have a license to tote a pistol;) ). I'd drive a long ways before I stayed up there, including the area of I-275 and Busch Blvd. That is a high crime area. Urban sprawl has overcome that area. It would be much better, and safer, to stay elsewhere. Believe me, I read the Tampa newspaper, see the evening news on TV, and I used to be in law enforcement over there in that county.

It all depends on how far you are wanting to drive. Interstate 275 (which runs right through the middle of Tampa) is horrendous in the mornings and afternoon during weekday drive time. It backs up bad, even without an accident for folks to gawk at. Out in the area of the Tampa airport, there are a number of hotels of various price ranges, including Hampton Inn, LaQuinta Inn, AmeriSuites, Wellesly Inn, Embassy Suites, Sheraton Suites, and much more (Including the Marriott in the Tampa Airport). Those would be safer. After drive time traffic subsides in the morning, you could get on I-275 which runs out through W. Tampa, and take it all the way up to Busch Blvd and out to Busch Gardens. After you get through with Busch Gardens, you could get back on I-275 and head up to Land O'Lakes. As long as it's not during drive time (like when folks are going to and from work), I-275 isn't bad and your trip won't take too long. I suppose you are going to rent a car, and I agree with the other poster in that regard. In addition to the Marriott Waterside (a pricey place), there is a Courtyard by Marriott downtown.

There can be crime anywhere, but staying around Busch Gardens is asking for it. I don't think the Chamber of Commerce would like me!:D

Hope this helps.

Ken

For 3 stars or better, I'd recommend the Marriott Waterside Hotel in downtown Tampa. I live nearby, and haven't stayed there, but I have attended trade conferences there. It's a beautiful place, in a really nice location. They have restaurants on-site, and there are others just down the street to the E. in the Channelside entertainment district. It sits on the channel that separates downtown Tampa from Harbour Island, directly across the street from the Tampa Convention Center and the street car station. You can catch the street car from the hotel down to the Channelside District, on past all the cruise terminals, and into the Ybor City Latin District. I've seen a shuttle van there before, but I'd recommend checking via phone or on their web page ref the airport shuttle. I don't know if they will take you to the terminal, but it isn't very far at all, and a taxi ride would be really cheap. You could even take the street car down to the terminal too, but hauling a lot of luggage on and off the street car might be a litte cumbersome.

If you will click on the Yahoo link in my signature below, it will take you to my photo albums. Go to the one titled "Tampa, Port of" and you will see a lot of photos of the hotel and area I mentioned above.

Ken