Busch Gardens/Tampa Hotel?

Karalea

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Messages
501
We are heading down to the Lakeland area the end of February/early March to visit relatives and I happened to get a few free tickets to Busch Gardens from a hotel rewards program.

Since I got free tickets, we would like to spend 1 night near the park before heading back to Lakeland. Does anyone know of a good, CLEAN hotel near the park?

I have enough Hilton Honors points to stay at either the Doubletree or Hampton Inn for free. Any thoughts/experiences with either of them?

Thank you!
 
No experience with either, but it's not much of a drive from Lakeland if you just wanted to stay there. We drove over from Orlando in the Fall. We were staying on 192 close to 27 and it took just over an hour. Lakeland would be about halfway, so probably 30 - 45 minutes.

Sheila
 
I am almost positive we stayed at an Embassy Suites last year which was nice and about 1 mile from the park. You could use your Hilton Points there. We did. We would stay there again.
 
We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express off of Bruce B Downs. I think the name of the actual road was Gailbraith or something like that. It was in the New Tampa section which is close to the interstate and close to BG. It was a fairly new hotel and was clean and comfortable. Be careful staying right near Busch Gardens. It's not really a great area. (I lived in Tampa for over about 12 years.) We noticed an Embassy Suites on Fowler, right near the university. I don't know if was under construction or just being refurbed but you might check there as well.

Feel free to PM me if you have any further questions or concerns!
 

polkadotminnie said:
I am almost positive we stayed at an Embassy Suites last year which was nice and about 1 mile from the park. You could use your Hilton Points there. We did. We would stay there again.


I have been several times. Embassy suites is the only hotel I would reccomend in that area. It's the Embassy Suites USF. They even have a free shuttle to the park, free cooked to order breakfast & a free hapy hour. Well worth teh extra $$ it will be to stay there.
 
Thank you very much!

Even though we are only coming over from Lakeland, we really wanted to spend the night. We are trying not to impose too much on family and felt by the mid-point of the trip, a night away might be needed by all.

I will look into the Embassy Suites.
 
This may sound stupid....but I would almost suggest Pricelining a 4* Hotel in the Airport or Westshore zone. It would likely be the Grand Hyatt or Rennaissance. I stayed at the Hyatt last weekend and it was IMPRESSIVE. Nice rooms, friendly staff, Location right on the bay, and good restaraunts. These hotels are about 15 minutes from BG, but there are two big malls, Westshore and International Mall, and many nearby shops and restaraunts.

I live in the Tampa area and would DEFINATLY do this as oppossed to staying closer to BG. BG is in a questionalble area, and while you can get a decent room, it will likely be at best a crap-shoot, and honestly there isn't much to do in that area after the park closes or the next morning.

Anyways, the Grand Hyatt has been coming up on PL for $70. Feel free to email me at jtopicz1 @ tampabay . rr . com if you need any help or tips.


Jim
 
jtopicz1 said:
I live in the Tampa area and would DEFINATLY do this as oppossed to staying closer to BG. BG is in a questionalble area, and while you can get a decent room, it will likely be at best a crap-shoot, and honestly there isn't much to do in that area after the park closes or the next morning.
Jim

There is nothing wrong with the ES. Plenty of restaurants in that direct area. They are only there for one night & the Grand Hyatt is quite a way from BG, especially with traffic in the morning.
 
CVM, don't take offense to my comments. I simply said I would personally prefer a little bit of a drive as oppossed to staying near BG. As I said, I think it's a crap-shoot in the area...with, as you said, the hotels by USF (including ES) being nicer than those on Busch Blvd. I've read several reviews of the ES, and the good seems to outweigh the bad.

That being said, that time of year the parks should be fairly empty, and be closing earlier in the evening. I'm not sure if I would want to spend the evening in that area, as oppossed to taking the 10-15 minute drive and being near one of the nicest malls in Florida. Is it a dangerous area...probably not by the Embassy Suites, but I really don't think I'd want to spend anymore time than needed there. And remember, you are looking in the $150/nt "Net-Direct" advance rate for most nights in Feb/Mrch.

Again CVM, I don't believe your advice was bad...and didn't intend to imply that it was. Honestly, I forgot those hotels along Fowler by the school were there. Probably any of them would be fine. My personal choice would still be the Hyatt if I could get it for sub $90 off PL, second, I think I'd take ya up on the ES :)
 
I agree with the ES on Fowler. It's a great location for BG. You can take the back road in, making it very convenient. I wouldn't want to stay on Busch Blvd though. FYI, there's a good mini-golf course near Busch Gardens. Also, there's lots of chain restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, etc.) in the area. University Square Mall is on Fowler, but it's not in a very good area. I won't go there without DH, but it's okay with him. You could go there to see a movie, after the park closes. Mosi is great, if you have time before heading back to Lakeland. It's very close to ES. If I can think of anything else, I'll post it. Enjoy our great city. :wave2:
 
2-3 years ago we stayed at a Doubletree on 30th Street or Road, not sure which but it was only a few blocks to BG. It was a very nice hotel, bedroom area separated by a screen from living/microfridge area, great pool area - don't remember if heated - and had a nice free breakfast with great omelets. And of course that big chocolate chip cookie when you check in is worth the price of the room which was not very high as we used a room saver coupon or some other coupon. The surrounding area was nice and we walked to a nearby restaurant. I would certainly recommend it.
 












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