Priceline Hotel: Western Beaches hotel

[megnsamsagrace]

Hubby and I are FINALLY getting time away with none of our 4 little kids. We were looking at August 18-22 but then I have a worry about a hurricane, our airfare is non refundable for their special rate. So we decided to go in October, I belive the 7th-11th is the date. I LOVE the easyclicktravel deal for the Bonita Springs Coconut resort at $98 a night, but I dont know how my sales will be (I own my own business/website)(we pay cash for everything) and right now I dont have $500 sitting here for that hotel. So we are back up to the Tampa area. We have been to Disney for the past 2 years and are doing it next year with the kids. We have seen the eastern coast beaches just not the western, so thats our destination. we will be flying into Tampa. We are looking for a hotel on the ocean. I dont mind driving 2 hours (we are renting a car) to get a cheap(er) hotel on the water... any tips where to look? This is going to be a very laid back trip for us, not doing Busch Gardens or other attractions, just want a nice hotel to relax on the ocean and maybe lounge around the hotel if its nice. Thanks if you guys can give me any tips! Steph

[ufjoe21]

mmmm well if you want to be right on the beach I'd suggest Clearwater Beach....Tampa will put you CLOSE to the western beaches but not really on the water

it depends on what you want Tampa....or being on one of the western beaches?

[megnsamsagrace]

I am not set on Tampa, I am just going by airfare rates, flying via Southwest, so we can fly into Fort Launderdale, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach. If its not too far of a drive (less than 2 hours or so) I would consider flying into another airport. I did look at flying into Ft Myers but its $100 more. It could be an option if I have enough sales... but I wouldnt know that til a month before... so I would rather have a set plan and if I have to, when I am ready to make the airfare, if I have the $, change it and fly into Ft Myers and go to like Bonita Springs or something.. but right now, I am planning a low cost beach vacation. If one of the other airports is not a far drive to a western beach, then I am all for that!

[megnsamsagrace]

Okay, made some plans that CAN change... I booked the Bilmar Beach Resort on Treasure Island for $440 for our stay of 5 days/4 nights. Can I do better getting a hotel around there for less than that? I booked through www.quikbook.com so I dont have to pay until we get there and I can cancel within 2 days. so it is a backup plan if I cant find anything cheaper with hotwire or priceline.

[WPBdiver]

DO NOT stay in Tampa or Clearwater if it is beach you are looking for. From Tampa, the beach can be 45 minutes away or more if you hit traffic. Bilmar on Treasure Island is a fine place. Other places you might look at are the Sandpiper (on St Pete Beach - not listed as a Priceline hotel) and the Don Cesar (is listed as Priceline).

Good luck.

[ufjoe21]

mmmmmm well those places are VERY expensive

and Clearwater has a pretty popular beach and a lot of cheap hotels in the city of clearwater, but the hotels on clearwater beach are pretty expensive

like I warned above Tampa isn't on the beach so you will have to travel, but like I said you can save money by staying in tampa and just drive to the beaches

but after reading your post, maybe you should finalize what part of FL you'll be flying into before we all can be much help to you hotel-wise

[megnsamsagrace]

Okay, we ARE flying into Tampa for cost wise ($100 more just to fly into FT. Myers)... Right now, I have 2 reservations on Treasure Island (my neighbor goes there every year... her company PAYS for her to stay at the Don Cesar)... she LOVES it... so thats what I am looking at for now unless someone comes up with something else? I had reservations at both the Bilmar ($110 a night) and the best Western Sea Castles ($71 a night). I have heard Clearwater beach is *busier* but since I have never been there, I am clueless. These reservations are cancellable, would love to do cheaper via priceline if I can. ~Steph

[ufjoe21]

Okay, we ARE flying into Tampa for cost wise ($100 more just to fly into FT. Myers)... Right now, I have 2 reservations on Treasure Island (my neighbor goes there every year... her company PAYS for her to stay at the Don Cesar)... she LOVES it... so thats what I am looking at for now unless someone comes up with something else?  I had reservations at both the Bilmar ($110 a night) and the best Western Sea Castles ($71 a night).  I have heard Clearwater beach is *busier* but since I have never been there, I am clueless.  These reservations are cancellable, would love to do cheaper via priceline if I can.  ~Steph

ok so you're definitely set on Tampa...............

(Treasure Island is separate, but close to, St. Pete beach is (where the Don Cesar is))

I suggested above the Tampa Airport zone, might be a good suggestion, if you're unfamilar with the area and have to go far in a rental car, to stay in a hotel right near the airport!........but that's if your comfortable with staying in Tampa!

about the hurricanes issue.......completely unpredictable.........there's no reason why October will be a better bet than August, later in the hurricane season is supposed to be a more active tropical time, but there's no guarantee, if something happens with a hurricane there's nothing you can do!!! you can't predict these things, I think hotels can refund when stuff like that happens, however with priceline I don't think that would happen

but don't think negatively, just plan your trip

priceline has a Treasure Island zone to bid on, they also have a clearwater, clearwater beach, st. pete, st. pete beach, belleair,etc. zones as well to bid on

I haven't seen any posts on winning bids in the beaches area recently or looking back a while ago....

here's your 2 choices in my OWN OPINION...

A) you could stay in Tampa near the airport and drive to the beach of your choice, you'll be close to all the beaches and you're renting a car regardless, why bother renting a car if you're going to be right on the beach?

I'd suggest the airport zone to be close to the airport, you can get a great deal most of the time on a 3* if you're looking to save money for what looks like 4 nights of your stay (like I said make it when you want don't worry about the hurricanes)

B ) go directly for a beach..........here priceline might not be your best bet, hotwire and other sites might be better but frankly I don't think you'd save much money over using quickbook

you could try for Clearwater beach, st. pete beach, or treasure island directly so you'd be really close to the beach (no guarantee you'll be on the beach), however this area priceline doesn't have much access to so you'd likely have to pay well over $150 to get access to anything unless you accepted a 1* or 2*, but I don't think that's the way you want to go

priceline is EXTREMELY valuable for staying in LARGE CITIES like Tampa you can stay in different parts of the city and it doesn't matter if you're not exactly where you want to be because everything is close by

now smaller cities it's not as useful because maybe you want to isolate yourself to a particular area like actually on the beach and priceline has no way of guaranteeing that

you'd probably want to pick your hotel by hand and understand where the heck you're going to be, but you'll end up spending more money then you want to

I'd suggest going route A........the problem is very few people bid on these beach areas, let alone get anything, however people have tons of luck saving money in the big city of tampa, and hey if you have to drive there it's worth it because you save more money on the hotel then on gas

but like I said if it's more important to know exactly where you are, B might be the better bet

but if you want to go with A

you'll be right near the airport for your hotel you can get your rental car, ask around figure out what beach you want to go to drive there and spend the day, and usualyl there's plenty of entertainment near the beaches

[dahammer]

Have you considered a condo on the beach? If you fly into Tampa, both Sanibel Island and Marco Island are within a two hour drive and both have many condos available. Rates in the summer are really low, and October rates might start to creep up. Two years ago, we rented a two bed two bath condo in Sanibel on the Gulf, the rate was around $900, but this was in the summer. If you shop around, you should get a 1BR for less. Most rentals have pools and maybe a tennis court. Also, Southwest has just announced service to Fort Meyers (RSA), not sure when this starts. In October the kiddies will be back in school

[ufjoe21]

900 per night or for a week? :)

[dahammer]

Gadzooks man, $900 for the week!!! :) This was for a 2br 2ba condo, 3rd floor, Gulf Front, during the off season. The development was Loggerhead Cay. We really liked canoing through the JN Ding Darling wildlife refuge, riding bikes, hitting the beach, relaxing....There are some properties that are maybe a block or so away from the beach that are reasonable, some have 2 week minimum rental periods as well. During the high season, weekly rentals can go for $3000 or more.

[ufjoe21]

too rich for my blood friend

[megnsamsagrace]

Thanks UFJoe, If I do stay in the Tampa Airport Zone, and get a nice hotel for a cheaper price, what am I looking at for a drive to one of the nice beaches? For $71 a night for the Best Western on Treasure Island, am I going to save that cost by going with Priceline and staying in Tampa? I dont know the area, have friends in Largo though. We are going to be spending most of the time around the beach, with 4 little kids, we cant do the ocean here, so we do plan on just relaxing while we are away. So, what I need to know, about how much of a drive is it from the Tampa Airport zone (approx, I know, depends on the hotel got) to Like Treasure Island, St. Pete beach etc??

[ufjoe21]

Thanks UFJoe, If I do stay in the Tampa Airport Zone, and get a nice hotel for a cheaper price, what am I looking at for a drive to one of the nice beaches? For $71 a night for the Best Western on Treasure Island, am I going to save that cost by going with Priceline and staying in Tampa? I dont know the area, have friends in Largo though. We are going to be spending most of the time around the beach, with 4 little kids, we cant do the ocean here, so we do plan on just relaxing while we are away. So, what I need to know, about how much of a drive is it from the Tampa Airport zone (approx, I know, depends on the hotel got) to Like Treasure Island, St. Pete beach etc??

according to www.randmcnally.com (usually a lot better than mapquest or yahoo maps or google maps!)

27 miles from Tampa Airport to St. Petersburg Beach

15 miles from St. Petersburg Beach to Largo

27 miles from Tampa Airport to Treasure Island

(makes sense because like I said St. Pete beach and Treasure Island are pretty close)

if you're in any hotel in the Tampa Airport zone you won't be but a few miles from another hotel in that same zone so it won't make a difference distance wise

personally I've driven to St. Petersburg (the city area) and about 10 miles after your on the major interstates going into tampa you start seeing signs for St. Petersburg, it's about a half-an-hour if I had to guess off the top of my head and that just about makes sense given what the miles distance is

here's a recent review from www.tripadvisor.com about the Best Western Sea Castles.....

There are only a few good things I can say about staying at the Best Western Sea Castle Suites. One is that you are right on the beach - great view for watching the sun set. Another is that there are restaurants, a grocery store, and some shopping all within walking distance. Free local calls. And finally, the front staff was very friendly.

As far as the bad, they outweighed the good. There are more rooms than parking spaces. So you either didn't have a spot or someone would park behind your car and block you in.

House-keeping never made our bed or changed our sheets. As far as we could tell, they only provided us with clean bath towels.

You are expected to wash your own dishes, but they don't provide any dishwashing soap.

Two of the burners on the stove were out, 3 out of 4 lamps were not working, and the toilet dripped water all night.

The walls are very thin. You can hear everything. We could here conversations people were having in the room next us - word for word.

Loud yelling, laughing, and screaming outside our door until 1 or 2 AM. We assumed the pool never closed because people were screaming and jumping in and out of it all night.

And finally, the roaches. These were not your Florida Palmetto bugs - these were cockroaches. One of which I awoke at 4AM to find running right up my arm!!! Although the front desk was friendly, they didn't seem too worried about it when we informed them.

We would never stay here again.

doesn't seem like a nice hotel from a cursory inspection.........

ok here's a question.....you're with kids....are you just looking for a place to stay (1* or 2*) OR are you looking for something on the nicer side (3* or 4*)

the hotels on the beaches seem to be a dilemma they're either VERY expensive for having a somewhat quality hotel right near the beach or are absoultely trash but they have clientle because people just want to be on the beach and don't care about where they stay

in my previous post when I mentioned A or B..........it's back to this fundamental thing

you might just want to be right on the beach with no problems, but then might be disappointed with paying a hefty price for something that's not even a good quality

but then again you're not wild about the idea of staying in Tampa, but like the idea of getting a nicer hotel for the quality level being better

I'm trying not to influence you too much towards Tampa because maybe you'll be disappointed having to drive or not being on the beach

......

:)

did you say 4 little kids?..............mmmmm okay hope you realize pricline is for double occupancy, (which can mean 2 beds or 1 king......designed for 2 people, so you might end up needing a rollaway or something which can cost more.....or maybe that's why you were looking at a suite lol!)

well that's one issue that's been discussed here at BetterBidding before

don't let me influence you so much about Tampa

there's nothing to stop you from bidding on the Beach zones like St. Pete beach or treasure island and set a limit for how much you're willing to spend.........make sure you know how to bid before you do....check back here if you have questions

lol u might guess I know alot about the Tampa airport zone, but don't know how helpful I am about the beaches

also one thing is to consider the cost of parking at the beach, ok now I'm just nitpicking

I'll tell you what I would do personally if I was in your situation, I would take the Airport zone for 3* or 4* and hope for the lowest price I can get, I'd rent a car and drive to the beach of my choice because they're all relatively close, and maybe enjoy some of the things to do in Tampa with the kids or the immediate area of the hotel for a day or 2

but that's me, maybe that wouldn't be your style

like I said you can totally go ahead with your Best Western reservation directly with them, but I have a feeling from those reviews it won't be a pleasant experiene for 1 person let alone parents with 4 children

it all comes down to this....if your goal is saving money....YOU SET YOUR OWN PRICE WITH PRICELINE.....you can get your hotel and car rental from them....if you're willing to lay out $90 a night for a 3* in Tampa Airport and it gets accepted you have to live with it, but if you get accepted for $50 at a 3* in the Tampa Airport you can do a dance because you saved money

like I said try the beach areas with priceline, I'm just telling you nobody's had any relevant luck with them recently

wow I'm really going off on a tangent here.....ok now i'll be really succint!!! I promise

Make a decision, Big city and priceline reservation, or direct hotel reservation on the beach, or cross your fingers and try priceline for the beaches area

once you're comfortable with your choice you won't be so apprhensive about driving or being close or far from the beach

you have quite a bit of time if you really want October so you can bid your heart away on priceline until then

and the journey continues!!!

[ufjoe21]

dahammer suggested this.........

why not try a 2.5* hotel in Tampa or St. Pete or CLearwater

2.5* TEND To be Residence Inns and Courtyard Inns by Marriott

these hotels tend to be roomier (better for more people in a room)

business travelers use these hotels a lot

the Residence Inss are usually some kind of suites which are definitely better for more people in a room

somebody just snagged a Courtyard Inn for $47 in Miami

now being a 2.5* you'd almost surely save money compared to booking your hotel directly on the beach

just a suggestion.....................

[megnsamsagrace]

Sorry if I totally confused you.. this is without kids!!! Just me and my husband... my dad might come but he will probably go down and stay with his friends in Venice Beach. Okay... I just booked airfare on Soutwest for $226 for 2 tickets R/T from CT to FL. I dont have my heart really set on anything... thats the whooolllleee trouble! We are saving $150 on airfare over the original cost, so I do have a bit more money to play with. I have heard great things about Treasure Island (heard Clearwater Beach was a bit busier)... hubby and I are just going to relax... no real sightseeing at all... he isnt an amusement park guy so we arent doing Busch Gardens... we do plan on just relaxing around the beach/pool really. So I guess my best bet would be to just book a hotel on Treasure Island then? Do you know much if I go farther south??? Think I can pull a cheaper hotel with priceline on one of the beaches or are beach zones going to be more anyway??? I guess I also better look back at the bilmar beach resort if the best western isnt so highly recommended :) Oh well... back to square one I guess.. The only thing that I have set in stone is airfare, August 18-23 arriving in Tampa.

[pinkflamingo]

Wow! How did you get such low airfare?

Edited: I found it. Dh's family lives across the state border in MA- $49/each way is AWESOME!

anyway, i think you should try priceline or HW by the beach. Treasure island is nice but the beaches/ sand is st pete beach is way better.

[megnsamsagrace]

Southwest sale is good until 8/4!! AMAZING deal at $49 each way! I will play around with priceline since I still have a month left... I have come to realize that I *can* get an okay hotel cheaper and just drive to the beach! I saw the $28 deal someone got! I guess if parking isnt hard at any of the beaches, I dont mind driving from the hotel... if it saves me $... we will have a car regardless. So I will play with priceline and hotwire for hotels around there. Anyone familar with it, any areas to AVOID??

[ufjoe21]

you can play with lots of different areas

Treasure Island, St. Pete, St. pete beach, clearwater, Tampa Airport,etc. like I said in my above posts

[megnsamsagrace]

Is the Tradewinds Island Grand a nice hotel? Can use the Entertainment Book for a rate of $113.50 a night

[megnsamsagrace]

Cant figure out this hotel??

Treasure Island - St. Pete Beach - See map

Selected amenities include: Beachfront, Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Fitness Center, Tennis Nearby, Business Center, Restaurant

What could it be?

[ufjoe21]

after all this time....are you still asking about your original trip or is this a new trip?

no offense, but you haven't reported whether you have tried priceline or not yet?

I and thereuare gave you quite a bit of advice........... :)

[megnsamsagrace]

Same trip... I did try priceline for St Pete Beach, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach and went up to $70 per night and rejected. (I can do the bilmar for $393 including taxes so thats why a max of $70) We decided we want to be on the beach because we found stuff there we want to do. I can try bidding again tomorrow (72 hours). But I found the above on hotwire and trying to figure out what hotel it is? And if I cant get priceline, is the Tradewinds Island grand a nice hotel for $113 a night?

[ufjoe21]

TradeWinds Grand is rated a 4* by priceline, if that's what you mean by nice...........however the Don Cesar is supposed to be nicer from what I've heard

according to our lists it's missing the Spa icon, but it could be that hotel

if you're willing to pay $113.50 per night thru hotwire or $110 per nightfor the Bilmar, why not try bidding higher than $70 with priceline?

now that you've decided on the beach, if you'll remember what I said you're definitely going to have to bid a lot of money (higher than $70), especialy if we're talking 4* !

[megnsamsagrace]

I guess my best bet then would be to stick with the $393 including taxes for 5 nights at the bilmar. I found it at www.alpharooms.com That is the TOTAL cost, $393... so I assume then that Hotwire or priceline cant beat it? The bilmar is a 3* whereas the Tradewinds is a 4* .. I can do the $113 (plus $15 a day resort fee) through the Entertainment Book discount (50% off)... The $393 for the Bilmar is like $79 a night.