Going to Tampa for a week next month on business. Wife and daughters are going to fly down mid week. My work is going to be downtown (convention center). They want sand and ocean and not brick and mortar. Any suggestions on Hotels? Everything I am looking at seems to be "beachless".
Compromise? Easy commute for me, sand for them

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There's a couple of members here from up there...
Since you want to stay close to the convention center, I am not going to suggest St. Pete/ Clearwater beaches (they are nice though!).
I think there are a few hotels (with beaches) on State Rd 60. I think its also known as the courtney campbell causeway.

Here.... I found the Radisson at: 7700 W Courtney Campbell Cswy.

The reason I mention that one, is because you can take the 60 to the 275 North, and get off at the next exit or two, and that will take you to the convention center in a reasonable amount of time.
HOWEVER! If you try this during rush hour, bring plenty of fuel, food and water.

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Thanks Larry, yes traffic is something I don't want to subject myself to. I have seen that road (Courtney Campbell Cswy.) while searching. $$'s are no big deal - I would be the commuter and sometimes these conventions have social hours

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I haven't been to Tampa since 1990, when I graduated High School there, but we had lots of fun over in the Clearwater area. We used to go to Madeira (sp?) beach and stay up all night watching shooting stars. There are some very nice hotels along the beach there. Someone from the area will chime in with the name of the big pink hotel in St. Pete... it's an old, BEAUTIFUL place (yes, pink AND beautiful). There are also some neat old Motels along 4th Street in St. Pete... a little closer to the Tampa side of things.

I don't know of ANY decent beaches in the bay area, really. Surely they're there, we just never found them. Was Davis Island ever developed to be more than a convention stop? Maybe there's something there.

Anyway, be sure to hit 4th Street Shrimp Shop in St. Pete and The Colonnade seafood restaurant on Bayshore Drive in Tampa. Ybor City used to be really neat too...

Have fun!

Chris

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There is NO decent beach within a half hour of the convention center. Yes, there are two beaches on the causeway, Ben T. Davis on the Tampa side, and toilet beach on the St. Pete side, but I wouldn't swim at either of them. Toilet beach is so named because it is next to a sewage treatment plant.

Your best bet would be to stay at the hotel next to the convention center (It keeps changing hands, don't know what it is now) so you can walk over, and let the wife use the car to go to the beach during the day. She'll have no trouble driving in the borning, but I would caution her to come back by 3:00. The traffic getting into Tampa can add an extra half hour in the afternoon. I do that every day.

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I was wondering if you were going to chime in Rick That's a respectable idea.......why didn't I think of that. The two decent hotels in the area seem to be the Marriot Waterside and Whyndam Harbour Island. Do you know anything about the Riverwalk Hotel?

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The Riverwalk is the one I didn't know the name of. It's as old as the hills, but has been rennovated several times and seems nice enough. I've eaten in the restaurant and it was quite nice, but I've never seen the rooms.

I haven't been to Harbor Island in several years, so don't know much about that one. Except they'll probably charge you a bloody fortune to park the car overnight. You might want to check on parking rates if that is a concern.

The Marriott is brand spaking new and I've never been there. But it's in a great spot for getting to the convention center, and it probably has the most amenities of the three hotels you mentioned.

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Thanks Rick!

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