Tampa Hotels close to the pier ?

[beth_s]

Our group is booked on the Inspiration outta Tampa on Nov 12th 05. We are not familar w/ the Tampa area at all. Anyone from Tampa or anyone who has taken this itinerary .... can you suggest a nice, clean, and affordable hotel that is close to the pier? I know alot to ask huh ..... clean and affordable.... lol .... is that high maintanence? ...lol I found a Days Inn located pretty close to the pier, but have not had good expierence w/ trying to book w/ them .... sooo We would like to find a hotel that would include parking for the week and maybe a cab to and from the port .... I know I know ... now I am pushin' it .... lol Thanks in advance for the info .... Happy Cruisin'

 

Beth

[tampahotelguy]

We travel through Tampa quite a few times a year and we have always had good luck with the Tampa Airport Hilton, its located 2 miles from the airport and across the street from the large int'l mall and several other restaurants in the area.

 

They have a very good shuttle program that takes you to the mall, drugstore, etc. The Hilton will take you to the port aswell you sign up when you check in with the shuttle driviers and then travel to the port about 10 minutes away.

 

We find the port shuttle program to be the most realiable shuttle, we were signed up for the 11:30 shuttle and the drivers had the van loaded and ready to go at 11:15, we were actually leaving early, alot of the hotels in tampa offer shuttles to the port but they are not organized like the Hilton, some of the hotels have you sit in the lobby for an hour or longer til the van is ready for you.

 

The Hilton is very clean, nice heated pool and you can find go rates by searching as they run alot of specials.

 

Enjoy the cruise