Gulf Coast hotel recommendation SW of WDW?

[riu girl]

IMHO there are just too many fabulous areas in Florida. We are planning on extending our next WDW holiday to include about 5 nights at a west coast beach somewhere south of WDW. I was sure that I had made up my mind on St. Petes Beach but have now been reading about Fort Myers Beach/Sarasota area/Siesta Key:

Looking for a recommendation of a motel/hotel in this area (or any other area southwest of WDW):
Efficiency unit that will sleep 2 adults 2 kids
On the beach (or a short walk)
pool
CLEAN
Inexpensive

We don't care about area attractions since we will be coming off an 11 night holiday in WDW. We just want a nice beach, maybe a nice state park somewhere in the vicinity where we can see some wildlife would be nice.
But not really a "busy" area.

Any tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It is so hard to make a decision when Florida seems to have so many beautiful beaches.
Suzy V.
I am going to post this on the Budget,Canadian board, DisABILITIES as well hoping to get as much response as possible.

 

[Melynny]

I was able to get reasonable rates (99.00 for a 1 bedroom) at the Don Ceasar Beach house suites. It's clean, in good repair and you get to use the facilities at the Don. It's a short walk from there and they have a shuttle. The beach house suites have a great pool and nice tiki bar, it's also right on the beach with beach rentals.

http://www.beachhousesuites.com

 

[riu girl]

Thank you for the info. You received a wonderful rate of $99. The web site looks great. I called to get a rate and was offered $179 US/nt plus tax and resort fee. But my dates are probably more expensive (Dec 26-31). Do you have any idea how I could get a less expensive rate?

Any other suggestions on hotels.....anybody?

 

[RichieGraciemom]

The sands hotel in treasure island florida clean and right on the beach. Dont let the outdated furniture misguide you it is a great hotel and clean clean clean

 

[riu girl]

Thanks so much for the info. I am having NO luck finding a web site for the sands hotel. Do you know it or the phone #.
Thank you
Suzy V.

 

[RichieGraciemom]

I will look it up, I have stayed there with my parents since the early eighties. My sister was just there two years ago and stayed there for two weeks with her family of five in a one bedroom with kithcen and I dont think she paid more then fifteen hundred for the two weeks.

 

[RichieGraciemom]

I have the number it is7273671969 The sands hotel in treasure island. it is also on yahoo.com that is how I found the number. It is a clean clean clean hotel with friendly family owning it and very relaxing and right on the beach with reasonable prices. Dont let the brochure on their site fool you it is from the sixties still I think. the website is listed as surfandsands.com. hope this helps.

 

[riu girl]

Richie Gracie mom:

Thanks for the info. I checked out the web site and e-mailed them for rates. Have the furnishings been updated? It looks very "retro". Which would be fine also. We just want something on/near the beach that is clean and not expensive. After spending 11 nights on site at WDW, this will be the real "budget" part of our holiday. The more I look at the web site the more I like it. My kind of place. I love owner-operated small places. It would be a nice change of pace after being at WDW.
Also: do you have any idea about driving distance from WDW (we won't commute to get to WDW, but will just be driving one time to get there)
Also: how far is this motel from the Tampa airport? We are flying BUF-MCO, but plan on flying TPA-BUF to get home.
Also: any idea how warm the pool would be heated to in Dec??
Can you recommend any area attractions/state parks/wildlife? We are two parents plus two kids (who will then be 6 and 9).

Anybody else: any other suggestions????

Thank you
Suzy V.

 

[Immelman]

check out this site:

http://www.floridasbeach.com/

what kind of activities are you looking to do? there's way too much to do here to be generalized.

 

[RichieGraciemom]

It is about an hour and forty minute drive, we have driven to WDW from there for the day, not a bad drive, It is about a half an hour to the airport. I dont know about the furniture, as of two years ago it was the same. Again very very clean and cant beat the location and price. Mini golf is accross the street, Tarpon springs sponge diving is not very far, The beach is right out the back of the hotel as the picture showed so that should entertain the kids, Not sure if the pool is heated, they will let you know. Busch gardens tampa not that far. You will surely relax and you can rent a cabana at the beach for your stay. Shuffle board is the main attraction there at night. It is so mom and pop that you have to bring your ice bucket to the front desk to have them fill it. you also book your exact room when you make the reservation. I f you dont get a pool side dont worry it is not that big. The rooms are a nice size. You can also barbecue out the back, I saw many people doing this especiallly on the weekend, it was like one big picnic. enjoy whatever you do. Johns pass is a small fishing pier with shops about two minutes away and I think they might have boats you can take out. YOu can get snacks and icecream and dinner there. St petes is only a few minutes south of TI. I really think you will like it. good restaurants and relaxing. Good luck

 

[madisonsmom]

Growing up in Fl and having family that lived on the gulf coast we had many beach trips to the Tampa/St. Pete area. The whole Fl. Gulf coast is beautiful, you really can't go wrong with any of the beaches. Sarasota's "Lido Beach" is very nice and has some great restaurants and shops there to stroll around. We have stayed at the Holiday Inn there which was very nice, but did not have a full kitchen. Also the Holiday Inn in Indian Rocks Beach on the Marina is very nice and the rooms had a kitchenette in them(fridge, microwave, etc.). The walk to the beach was about 4 short blocks(5 minute walk). Redington/North Redington Beach is a nice area as well with plenty to do. St. Pete is a nice beach but to me it can tend to be a little pricier than other areas. There are LOTS of condos in that area, you might be able to goto www.vrbo.com and rent one straight from the owner and pay the same as a hotel?

As for swimming in Dec. it is usually too chilly to do so, so a place with an indoor pool(hard to find sometimes in Florida) would be ideal. But we were in Orlando at WDW last week and saw people swimming in the pool when it was only 60 degrees! Little too cold for me,

 

[riu girl]

THanks so much for all of the suggestions so far. The big problem is, deciding where to stay. I am leaning towards the area south of St. Petes (siesta Key area) but find the prices quite high there. Weare thinking the further south we can get, the warmer the temps might be (December) .We really don't want to spend much $ on a room since this will be the real "budget"part of our holiday.

Please keep the suggestions coming.

Thank you
Suzy

 

[riu girl]

Thank you so much for the tips so far. There seems to be so many great beach areas on the coast, I think I should just pick one and thats it. But it doesn't seem so easy. The sands hotel looks like my best bet (price wise) but i don't think the pool is heated (which is very important for us).

I have fallen in love with an area south of St. Petes/Tamps called Siesta Key. It looks nice and quiet (which is what I like). But the prices seem to get more $ as you go south.

ANY other suggestions/tips???

Suzy V.

 

[RichieGraciemom]

I was at the sands in january one year and the I remember swimming in the pool. Ask them if it is heated. The ocean was also warm. According to the brouchure, the pool is heated.