Advice from Fla BBs

[mrkelley23]

Or anyone who knows the Tampa St Pete area.

Wendy's 40th birthday is April 9. Y'all have already helped me with the tiara -- yes, I bought one from tiaratown.com, and yes, she loved it:
http://tiaratown.com/th5.html

We are flying into Tampa on April 8, in preparation for going to the cruise port on Apr. 9. We are looking for hotels, and are not terribly picky about accommodations. We would like something kind of in between the airport and the cruise port, since we don't plan on renting a car, and we would particularly like something with some character, since it's a special occasion and everything. We have searched the internet, and found a couple of cheap hotels, which we will make use of if we don't find anything better, but Wendy agreed to let me poll the Bored first, to see if there's something we might have missed.

So, Timsterino and any other Florida BBs there might be out there, let us know your recommendations, please. And if anyone is going to be in the Tampa area on April 8, we would love to get together for dinner and/or drinks.

Thanks in advance,

[sunflower]

I don't know a lot about that particular area...but my advice is to go to the Wyndham site and look into their best rate guarantee deal. If you find a lower price on any Wyndham (includes Ramada, Howard Johnson, Travelodge and others) on any competing site, you book it on Wyndham's site, fill out a claim form and if they can verify it you get your first night free (so you pay zero if you are staying one night).

This is not at all a scam, I did it in Orlando last summer, and got 2 free nights. They've added some more restrictions now, with only being able to book one per month and stuff like that but it shouldn't affect you. Just read the fine print. The only thing I will mention is that I believe the action Wyndham hotels you have to book the nonrefundable - so you probably don't want to do that. I personally had the best luck with Ramada. I think it depends on the area.

Use kayak.com or similar to look for prices - it shows the hotel's price plus competing (hotels.com, travelocity, etc) prices, so you can look for opportunities there. If you google Wyndham best rate guarantee there are a few sites dedicated to exploiting this for all it's worth!!

Hope this helps!!

[plasticene]

Here is a great page that lists hotels convenient to the cruise port along with what services they provide to cruise passengers:

http://www.visittampabay.com/static/ind ... tentID=851

[Timsterino]

Hey Mike,

I am not that familiar with the Tampa area. I am in Miami and usually do not get up that way too often. However, you may want to try http://www.biddingfortravel.com in conjuction with http://www.priceline.com . You may be able to get a hotel with free shuttle service to and from the airport and to and from the pier.

We have never cruised out of Tampa but have been on many cruises. I hope you guys have a great time!

I am sorry I could not have been a better help.
Tim