Which Beach?

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<font color=9999FF>On the lookout for a good sushi
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We are visiting with my parents in Riverview before we go to Disney, what beach is around there that would be good for a visit? I read about Siesta Key, would it be worth the drive?
 
What Riverview are you talking about?

In the Panhandle, by Jacksonville or by Tampa?
 
By Tampa, sorry, I didn't know that there was more than one.
 
We were married on the beach at Sand Key-which is really part of Clearwater Beach.

This is one of the greatest beaches we have ever been to.

It is huge, quiet and beautiful.

It doesn't look like it would be too far from Riverview.
I think you could take 60, go over the causeway in Tampa and then continue on 60 to 19 and go south. Clearwater, Clearwater Beach and Sand Key are only about 3 minutes apart from eachother. Sand Key is kind of hard to find on a map because it is not an actual city, more of an area. It should be listed north of Indian Rocks Beach.

We found Clearwater Beach proper to be too busy for us and it had a party type atmosphere with a lot of young 20's, alcohol, bathing suits that were barely bathing suits.

We found Sand Key Park when we lived in Holiday, Florida. You only have to cross a little bridge from Clearwater Beach to Sand Key and you are right there. It has got to be the greatest public park we have ever been to.

This is what led us to the Sheraton Sand Key, which is right next to the park. After a few stays we absolutely had to get married on that beach.

You can see a picture of how beautiful and big the beach is on the hotel website- www.beachsand.com

We have cruised by St. Pete Beach-not as rowdy as Clearwater Beach but we would have to pick Sand Key hands down.

I think it was voted one of the top 15 beaches in the world.

I have never been to Siesta Key but the drive looks a bit long. I don't know if I would do it for some place I have never been.

Also, the Honeymoon Island and Caledisi Island Beaches are good but we thought they weren't great for our kids because the beaches were COVERED in shells and it was really hard to walk without hurting yourself. I don't remember it being nearly as nice as Sand Key.

I guess I'm going to be in trouble if you go there and don't like it.

Can you tell how much we like it? It doesn't sound like you are planning on staying overnight but if you ever do we found the Sheraton to be one of the BEST hotels we have ever stayed at in Florida.

Good luck.
 

We agree - Sand Key is a fabulous beach and there are some great restaurants/shops in the area too. We stayed at the Radisson Suites opposite the Sheraton Sand Key and had the best views - one side was to the gulf and the other right down on to the bay.

Areas like Sarasota and Longboat key have lovely beaches too.

If you're only looking for somewhere for a couple of days, try Sand Key, or even along the keys there between Clearwater and St Pete's, there's some great beaches (Treasure Island) along there.
 
Mrs Dazzle,

All this talk about Sand Key is making me sad. I look at their website on a regular basis. We tried to get in there in May but they are completely full.

We were engaged, married and spent our honeymoon at the Sheraton and wanted to go back and celebrate our anniversary.

They have a convention that week so we are going to LaPlaya Resort in Naples. We have never been here but it looks really nice. I will still miss Sand Key though. In case you stay there in the near future they have been renovating their rooms and have completely re-done the ones on the first floor-where we stay.

I'm hoping the beach in Naples is similar to Sand Key. We'll see.
 
I just wanted to add-we went on a Florida trip a few years back and stayed 4 nights at Disney's VB resort, 4 nights at the Embassy Suites in Dearfield Beach and then the last 4 at Sheraton Sand Key.

We will never stay at the Embassy Suites again and we love Vero Beach-have been back several times.

We just fell in love with Sand Key.

We walked in and the lobby was beautiful, the woman working at the front desk was French and she kept calling me Mrs. Michelle because our last name is Michaels. My kids still talk about this-they loved it. Anyway, we were given a great room-Room 107 which is a "poolside, low floor" room and it has got to be the best room at the resort. There was something wrong with the TV and I called the front desk. I was NOT even off the phone and we heard a knock at the door-it was the maintenance man coming to fix our TV. The staff in the Island Cafe gave our kids stuffed animals to keep and talked to them every day. It is a first class hotel and I can't wait to go back and see what the new rooms look like.

Sorry for going on and on but we have always had great experiences here. Just wanted to let you know that in case you give it a try.
 
I won't be able to spend the night there, but we may at a future date I do appreciate the info.:cool:
 
Originally posted by floridafam
we are going to LaPlaya Resort in Naples. We have never been here but it looks really nice. I will still miss Sand Key though. I'm hoping the beach in Naples is similar to Sand Key. We'll see.
Hi Floridafam - last year we visited Marco Island (next to Naples) for the first time - loved it so much we're going back this year - just booked today:D

Naples is beautiful - you will love it. Miles of gorgeous beaches, the Everglades nearby and loads of brilliant classy shops (for windowshopping;) ).

You shouldn't regret a single moment of it. Don't know your resort. We had booked to stay at the Registry in Naples, but got a letter from our tour operator saying they were refurbishing "and whilst this won't affect our guests in any way, blah blah" we didn't want to take the chance, so opted for our number 2 choice - Marco Hilton - and are so glad we did:)
 
MrsDazzle,

I'll do a little trip report on Naples when we get back.

We picked LaPlaya because it looks really nice, we guaranteed a ground floor room where we can walk right out to the beach and they have some pretty nice packages that gave us a lot of extras. You should check out their website laplayaresort.com

We looked at the Marco Island Marriott but I don't remember why we decided not to stay there.

I'd love to hear more about the Marco Island Hilton.

Have fun.
 
We used to live in Belleair Beach which is about 5 minutes from Sand Key Beach. Everyone here is right on the money -- it is the most beautiful and quiet beach! If the Sheraton is too pricy for you, you can stay at the Radisson Resort Sand Key. It is all-suites and it sits on the bay side right across the street from the beach. Rates are usually around $139 per night in the summer if you don't have any special memberships to anything. The pool is awesome with a waterfall and on weekend nights the restaurant next door has entertainment outside. You can also check into some of the smaller vacation rentals that are usually family owned and operated. We stay at the Patio Motel (yes, MOTEL! hehe) usually when we come down because it is cheap (around $65/night) but you get separate bathrooms and bedrooms and it is right on the beach. Directly on the beach. The owners are really nice people too. Definitely no frills, but very convenient.

We lived there in 1989 and it seems as if Clearwater beach has gone downhill since then. We go back and visit almost every year. We were there last in Aug 2002, and there were alot more Teenagers than I remember there being ever before. During the day it wasn't too bad, but after dark they were coming out of the woodwork!! And they were doing construction on the street that runs parallell to the beach so driving was horrendous.

Whatever your decision, I hope you have a great trip!!
 
Dear Mrs Dazzle, I noticed that you have stayed at the radisson sand key. We are considering this resort for our thanksgiving vacation for 6 nights and wondered if you could give us your opinion of this resort and answer a few questions. Is the beach within walking distance and are there any grocery stores or restaurants nearby? Also do they have activities for children.
Thanks so much!
Paula
 
After thinking so much about Sand Kay, I changed our reservations the other day. Cancelled Laplaya Resort in Naples and booked Sand Key for a week.

We are really excited.

We get to spend our anniversary (5/29) at the hotel where we were married. :D :D

Can't wait. We're going to take our kids to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, get Rita's Italian Ice and walk across the street to the cutest little Dunkin Donuts for breakfast one day.

They were booking at $189/nt and I think that is a steal considering our room is a walk out to the pool and beach. This rate is the going price in November also if you are thinking about traveling at Thanksgiving.

I have seen the Radisson Resort. How do you get to the beach from it? Does it have its own beach or do you walk across the street and pass the condo buildings to Sand Key Beach?
 
:D Floridafam - well done on making the decision; Naples you would have loved too, but what a lovely trip to celebrate your anniversary. Ooh, how romantic:) :)

Paula - Radisson Suites on Sand Key were great - we really would have no hesitation in staying there again if we were in the area. I'll assume you've not been before, so apologies if you do know the area;) The Radisson is directly opposite the Sheraton Sand Key and, like Floridafam asks, to get to the beach from Radisson you have two options: you get the courtesy shuttle from the hotel which takes you through a little park opposite (we never used it, enjoyed the 4 min walk;) ). Or you walk over the road, down past the side of the Sand Key, walking through their grounds (it is allowed:D ).

The beach there is huge - never very busy when we were there (June) and we even used the Sheraton's bar one day for drinkies.

In terms of the Radisson itself, the rooms are suites and a fair size. One separate twin-queen bedded room with furnished balcony overlooking the bay; one lounge with sofas and chairs, table and kitchenette featuring fridge, microwave and sink. Reasonable size bathroom (for over here in the UK, anyway!). Ironing board and iron, don't remember there being a safe, we had to use the front desk boxes, but that was really not a problem.

However, I would strongly recommend you ask for as high a floor as you can take (it's 10 floors high). We were on 8th and had stunning views both over the gulf but more so on to the waters of the bay below - beautiful. We'd sit early in the morning, later in the evening watching those silly pelicans flying right past - our DD (then 6) thought it was great. Also, VERY STRONGLY recommend asking for a room over on the right hand side as you look at the hotel from the front. The hotel is kind of in a slighly V shape so you need the r/h V. This is because there are some rather large, very noisy fans coming straight out of the kitchens on the l/hand side - we had to be moved because of them (they were most helpful).

There is a great kids club there - if I remember correctly it's called Lisas and they did some great activities. There is a great pool, with waterfall you can swim under and inflatables for the children (and those bigger children amongst us:rolleyes: ;) ). The lobby is lovely and spacious and gives a really nice feel when you arrive. Everyone was very helpful. I had one of the best steaks in their restaurant one night - food generally very good.

Around the area there's tons to do. Right next to the hotel is a boardwalk which takes you to the Shoppes on the Key - there are a number of little gifty type shops, real fun, a store with a deli counter and groceries (sorry, hope that's what you call them over there!) which supplied all of the things we needed. There are different restaurants - would recommend highly the two we used, the chinese and Italian. There were also some great places to eat in Clearwater itself. The drive from Sand Key to Clearwater isn't far - you can even get a trolly bus right outside the hotel that makes a few stops there and back. We did this a few times just for the fun. It doesn't run late at night, so we had to get a taxi (cab) one night returning from a restaurant, but it wasn't expensive (nothing in the US is expensive to us, mind you!!).

I was speaking to a family from Georgia one evening in the laundry room - they return there three times a year and have done for the last 5 years they rate it so highly. It's a very popular place with families.

Oh, I could go on and on.

One of the highlights of our trip to Radisson was a dolphin cruise we took on a yacht from the Tierre Verde marina in St Petes (40 mins drive away down through some little keys). Fantastic day, we've done it again. Dolphins, lunch on a little shell island and snorkelling. Wish I was there now :D

Let me know if you need any more info, love to help. Your stay at the Radisson should be great.
 
Go to Siesta Key !!! Our family went in April of 2002 as a side trip while doing Disney, Sea World, Kennedy Space Center & Busch Gardens (we get free passes to Busch G. & Sea World). We all loved Siesta Key ! One tip- you don't have to stay right on the main beach area- people are allowed on the whole beach- including the areas of beach front homes. A great web site for information is www.4sarasota.com/ . They have many pictures & info.
 
Mrs Dazzle
Thanks so much! We are not familure with that area at all. We have always gone to Cocoa Beach and decided to try something different. Is the road that you have to cross to get to the beach busy? Thanks for the r/h view tip. I'm such a chicken when it comes to heights so I don't know if I could handle anything higher than the 5th though :eek:. Hopefully, we will still have a pretty view. Sounds like you had a great time. I found a rate of $135 on Hotel Kingdom (does that sound like a reasonable rate?). I will be booking today if I don't find a better one. I am also very interested in the dolphin cruise that you mentioned. My daughters 8th birthday will fall during this trip and I would love to suprise her with that. Although it may be a bit to cold in November. Do you know if they have a site that I could check out or possibly a phone #.

Thanks again!

Paula
 
The roads to get to Sand Key are not usually busy.

I heard they were constructing a new bridge but I don't know if it is the bridge from Clearwater to Clearwater Beach or from Clearwater Beach to Sand Key.

Both stretches of road are actually quite beautiful and very well constructed.

paulakim,

Just curious, does Sheraton Sand Key have rooms available on hotelkingdom?

The Radisson looks very nice. We always walk over to the shops next to the Radisson and look around or grab some breakfast at the Dunkin Donuts and we sit outside on the boardwalk and watch the water.

Have fun.
 
Floridafam,

I just checked and I don't see Sheraton listed on Hotel Kingdom. Is this a nicer place to stay?

paula:)
 
paulakim,

This is just my opinion. I like it better because it is on the beach and they have completed a remodel of most of the rooms.

The walk from the Radisson is not much further so I suppose it really doesn't matter.

We just REALLY like the Sheraton Sand Key. We have always had good stays there.

I think the pool at the Radisson looks a little more creative than the one at the Sheraton.

I really can't compare them because I have never been in the rooms at the Radisson. We have walked through it and out by the pool.

I think it's a matter of personal choice. We are paying $189 for a poolside low floor room-which costs a little more-there is a certain room we stay in whenever we stay there that happens to fall into this category. The rooms that do not directly face the beach are much cheaper. I think they start at $149.

Good luck with wherever you stay. I'm sure you will have a great time.

Have you looked at Sheraton's website? www.beachsand.com

There are pictures of the Radisson on Radisson's website but I don't think they have a website of their own.
 





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