Beach hotel near Tampa

[stacy2197]

We're flying into tampa June 5th. We would like to stay on one of the beaches near there for one night. We would like to be near little souvinire shops and be able to swim and maybe look for shells. Any ideas off a good area or even a good budget hotel that would be close to the beach and shops.

 

[sdorg]

The Doubletree in North Redington Beach is on the Gulf and about 2 miles from John's Pass which has tons of souvenir shops, restaurants, cruise ships, etc. I don't know if it's a "budget" hotel really, but you may be able to get a nice price for an "intracoastal view" instead of a "gulf view". We've stayed there before - nice services, tiki bar and restaurant overlooking the Gulf, etc. Very nice!