Radisson Sand Key - 2 thumbs up!!

[ttfn3]

We just returned from spending 4 days/3 nights at the Radisson Sand Key. It's just across the bridge from Clearwater Beach (they have a shuttle - golf cart thing - to the beach for free - or you can walk). This hotel was a beautiful hotel right on the bay - just across the street from the beach. It's curved like a boomerang - you have a view of the beach out the front door and we had a view of the bay/pool of the balcony. It's a suite - so we had plenty of room. The towels/bedding were very nice/soft. We also had a small refrigerator/microwave/bar sink. The staff at the hotel was very nice - including the resident macaw Lisa.

The hotel is a quick ride over the bridge to Clearwater Beach and of course, all the other small islands south. The Shoppes at Sand Key are next door to the hotel. It was nice to take a stroll on the boardwalk. The shops were nice and they had several restaurants, a small market/grocery store, an ice cream shop, etc. Sand Key was much more residential than Clearwater Beach.

They have a kids program which my son enjoyed. Is wasn't very busy while we were there - so he wasn't able to participate in the evening program (parents night out). The staff felt badly about this so one of the employees made a gift for my son. It was a big beach bucket full of goodies. My son absolutely loved it. The manager also offered to comp a nanny service but we declined.

We had fun on a dolphin watch cruise out of John's Pass, enjoyed the sunset at Pier 60 (including the large children's playground), played minature golf, ate at Crabby Bill's, Guppy's and a breakfast place in St. Petersburg (La Croissant?), and we swam, and swam, and did I say we swam??

We also took a peak the Clearwater Beach Hilton while we were there and it looked very nice. Great location. Also, the Sheraton Sand Key looked nice, tho. we didn't get an opportunity to check it out.

We're all looking forward to returning to this area!

 

[lampy]

Thanks for the report!

We are going next spring break and will be staying at the Radisson Sand Key (goldpoints).

How was Pier 60? I have read about it but don't know how big? which restaurants? How much was the Dolphin watch and did you see many? Are there other beach activities like a cabana rental? parasail, jet ski rental?

Was there a washer/dryer near your unit?

 

[ttfn3]

Pier 60 was a large fishing pier. At night they have various local artists selling their wares. How do I describe it? It's not fine art. It's basically lots of inexpensive jewelry and crafty arts. People are playing music - with their guitar case open for money. That kind of thing. It's not up to par with Key West but it was something interesting to do for an evening. The Pier is right across the street from where we ate dinner that night - Crabby Bills - so we just walked across the street. There's a large children's playground that has a cover for shade at the Pier- so our son enjoyed this!

The Hilton Hotel is right next to the Pier and they were renting equipment to use on the beach . They also had parasailing and looked like a large banana boat kind of thing (tho. we didn't see it in action).

There's a Boat dock area right next to Crabby Bill's that had various fishing charters, dolphin watch cruises, Pirates boat - that type of thing. We actually went on the dolphin cruise out of John's Pass. We would like to try the Pirates boat out of Clearwater Beach the next time. Looked fun for kids (check out their literature - they have a really neat story about how their business came to be).

Oh - I think someone nearby was also renting jet skis. I'm not sure where tho. I wonder if the Sheraton Sand Key may have some of these rentals. This hotel was located across the street from the Radisson - and was right on the beach. The Radisson beach "shuttle" was a large golf cart type thing and they had buckets of sand toys that you could use while at Sand Key State Park (and a cooler of water, etc for drinks). We had our own car so we didn't make it over there - we ended up spending most of our relaxation time by the pool.

We did not have a washer/dryer unit in our room. They do have coin machines which are located near the pool/kids club area. We didn't use them the 4 days we were there (did all our laundry at the Vistana Villages before we checked out - and saved any other laundry until we got home). You could easily do laundry while hanging out at the pool.

Have a great time. I think you will be pleased with this hotel. Say hi to Lisa the Macaw for us!

 

[Boots]

Thanks for sharing. DH and I have often thought about staying on the bay instead of directly on the beach. Sounds like you really did enjoy your stay.

 

[lampy]

Thanks for all the tips! It is hard to find good advice for the Tampa Bay area. We are a little tired of the Orlando scence so next trip will be four days at the Sand Key and six days at Vero Beach. - Getting a coast-to-coast experience!

How much was the Dolphin Cruise and did you enjoy it?

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Hi from the UK - we stayed at this hotel three years ago and it was great. We were on the 8th floor and loved to sit on the balcony and watch dolphins in the bay and stingray floating past. The beach really was only about 5 mins walk, down the side of the Sheraton Sand Key hotel, or the Radisson provided a little trolley to take you there, but walking was no problem.

The Shoppes on Sandkey have some great restaurants . . . the last couple of years we've stayed in St Pete's and we still make the trip back here to visit a couple of restaurants! There's also a deli and a couple of gifty-type shops well worth browsing if you need retail therapy.

Also nearby in Clearwater is The Screamer - the large (very!) yellow speedboat. From the Radisson we took a dolphin half day cruise on The Destiny - a beautiful yacht - which goes from St Pete's (20 mins down the road) - you take a picnic, sail out to the bay looking for dolphins (and you ALWAYS see them), then we went to Shell Island where we spent a happy couple of hours shelling, dipping and swimming, ate our picnic and slowly sailed back again. Four hours of bliss. The same company also do a motor launch similar trip, except you stop on Egmont Key and snorkel - both well worth doing.

We'd definitely go back to the Radisson if we wanted to stay near Clearwater again

 

[ttfn3]

Lampy -
I don't remember the cost of the Dolphin Cruise out of St. John's - my DH paid for the trip. I don't think it was very expensive tho. Of course, after Disney anything under $20 looked reasonable ;-)

My DH took us down to St. Petersburg and showed us the Dolphin Cruise he did in February that was on a sailboat. It looked wonderful!! However, we decided that we should wait until our DS was older to do this (he's 5 now). It was about $25 per adult. The people getting off the boat that morning said the dolphin interaction was great.

Mrs. Dazzle -
Glad to hear that you had a good experience with the Radisson. We were on the 8th floor also! Small world!

I'm ready to go back

 

[Bonn]

I just returned from Orlando and Clearwater Beach, and we were so disgusted by the Radisson Sand Key that we changed hotels. We ended up staying at the Sheraton across the street.

The carpet was GROSS... we didn't want to take our shoes off.

The couch and chair was very stained and worn. Kind of gave me the creeps sitting on it.

The bathroom was clean enough, but had coloured toilet paper, which my wife says can be bad. (I don't think you can buy coloured TP in Canada anymore... could be wrong though).

The wooden furniture was old and stained... some (like the desk) was simply broken.

The documents in the room (like Room service menu) had lipstick and nailpolish stains on them.

I asked the front desk if we just got a bad room, and they said "All the rooms are the same". When we checked in at the Sheraton they told us that they get a LOT of people come over from the Radisson. In fact, I saw 3 groups of people myself.

However.... the Sheraton is FABULOUS! The people were soooo nice. The beach is fantastic, and the restaurants are great!

I absolutly loved Clearwater Beach... if you can, get a Gulf facing room and watch the sun set... it was breath taking!

Maybe my experience at Radisson Sand Key was just a bad one, but I was expecting a MUCH better resort.

-Bon
Just back, and STILL sunburned.

 

[TiggerT]

We also just returned. We went on a dolphin cruise on a "regular" boat for about $13 per adult for about 1 1/2 hour cruise. The pirate ship was $28 per adult and included beer and wine and other refreshments I think it was a 2 hour cruise. The Sea Screamer I don't remember the price of - but it is a giant speed boat/dolphin cruise.
Parasailing was running about $50,60 or 70 depending on the height - length of line - you wanted to go up. I think jet ski rentals were about $50 also. We stayed at Best Western on the beach. Parasailing, and jet skis were readily available from the beach in front of many of the hotels in the area where we stayed.
They also are available at the marina.
On Sunday the beaches in front of the hotels were wall to wall boats that drop anchor and just stop to have a good time. The police boat was very busy in front of our hotel that day, especially going after jet skiers - I think in no wake zones or otherwise restricted areas.

We watched dolphins from our hotel and had a pod of 7-8 manatees swim to within a few feet of us while we were playing in the water.

Pier 60 was nice in the evening. No food or drink vendors, just artisans, and performers. There is a concession stand at the beach. Very nice childrens playground there.