Help...what hotels at Busch Gardens?

[juliebelle]

Thinking of adding a couple of days to my dec WDW trip, could you tell me what hotels are located by Busch Gardens, and if they are nice. Don't know anything about the Tampa area. Thank you very much

 

[BuhByeNebraska]

I stayed in Tampa in the summertime, three years ago, so some of this info may no longer apply. Tampa is a modern city, but parts of it are not very safe. Not far from Busch Gardens there was a tent city. The crime rate varies by area so be careful. In the immediate park area, there were no "resort" like hotels, just a few low end chain motels. My husband was there on business, and we stayed in a Residence Inn to the north and east of Busch Gardens. Many other business type hotels were being constructed in that area. The hotels in the business area did not have shuttle services, but when we finally snagged the car away it was less than a five minute ride to the park.

We then moved on to Tampa Bay to spend a few days at the beach. It is a looong ride to the beach, over an hour and across a bridge that could use a few more lanes at rush hour. The hotels are VERY commercial and crowded. What looked great in the brochure , well wasn't ! Dining in that area was questionable. We hit a few seafood spots, nothing spectacular. Also , very long waits.

On a more positive tone, Busch Gardens was absolutely wonderful. It is very lush, and the canopy of trees was much appreciated on a typical humid Florida summer day. The park is easy to navigate, and my then preschooler and preteen daughter enjoyed it very much. I took several rides around the park observing the wildlife. I'd love to go back sometime. Perhaps they have made some upgrades to the area to make it more appealing to tourists.

 

[hercamore]

There is hotel info on the bush gardens website that you might find helpful.

 

[CPM]

There is a really nice Amerisuites, a good(older) Doubletree suites & a really nice (fairly new) Embassy suites right near BG, If you look up on the discount hotel sites like Travelscape.com they will be labeled as near BG.

 

[juliebelle]

Thank you everyone, I was able to book Amerisuites. I got a master suite using a "manager special" for $79 there.