Sheraton Sand Key at Clearwater

[kevin harrison]

I am very interested in staying at the Sheraton Sand Key when I visit in September. I am just concerned that it isn't actually on Clearwater Beach, and is not near Pier 60 - which is meant to be where it all happens at Clearwater. It's about a mile's away. Has anyone stayed here and have any opinion? Tripadvisor.com lists it as no 1 in Clearwater, and a friend recommends it also...

Thanks

 

[kirst]

I stayed there two years ago, we got married in the Wyndham Palace and spent two weeks there, then headed to Clearwater for the third week. We were actually supposed to be staying in the Hilton Clearwater, but we were really dissapointed when we got there the room was so shabby and worn with cracks in the bath and the sink and cigarette burns in the curtains. As this was supposed to be our honeymoon we asked to move and the rep suggested the Sheraton. We thought it was lovely especially after being in the Hilton. The rooms were newly renovated and the whole hotel was much nicer. We had a beach view which was stunning, the only draw back is it is a hugh walk to the Sea. This didn't bother us because I prefer to stay by the pool and look at the Sea as I'm not a big sand fan. We didn't venture out much as you said it is at the other end of clearwater, as we were only there a week we were quite content to stay round the hotel and chill out. On the whole I was slightly dissapointed with Clearwater as I had imagined something else and found it a bit tacky with the shops selling the same stuff, not quite as I imagined, but the hotel couldn't be faulted lovely staff, lovely rooms and lovely restaurants.

 

[Susie]

I agree with kirst. We stayed there in October 2004. The hotel is gorgeous and very clean. My only complaint would be that the pool is quite small for the size of the hotel. During the week that wasn't a problem as a lot of the guests at the hotel were there for conferences but at the weekend it got really busy as I heard a lot of people saying they'd come down to the beach for the weekend. The beach is huge and quite a trek to the water front. We were disappointed with the beach as it got deep quite quickly so the kids couldn't venture far out. Also the sea front was covered in sharp shells which made walking quite painful, we had to buy those rubber shoes from Walmart. I don't know if the shells are normal or if they'd been whipped up by all the hurricanes in the previous month. The hotel is a good couple of miles from the Pier.

To be honest I wasn't impressed with Clearwater as the shops were tacky and we didn't find any really good restaurants, even Leverocks wasn't that great. We did venture to Ana Maria Island for a day and it was beautiful. The beach was very gently shelving so the kids could play out a great distance before it started to get deep. So when we return to Florida this October it is Ana Maria Island we will be unwinding on not Clearwater.

 

[segue2life]

Sheraton Sand Key Resort is nice, and I liked the fact that the beach was huge...its also a "private beach" so you can bring an alcoholic beverage out there, as opposed to the public beachs where you would be arrested for an open container.

The beaches there are usually really soft white sand, so I think the broken shells were from all the hurricanes we got hit with last year. Ugh.

Another really nice resort in Clearwater is Tradewinds Resort... Really nice, good restaurants on site, and great pool and beach area.