Originally Posted by
FD1971
No lounge at the Hyatt (Regency) Sarasota, it used to be the Hyatt Sarasota.
All the properties on the coasts in Florida will be very very full during the X-Mas season, the Grand Tampa might be one exception. I would not count on automatic upgrades etc.
Your strategy for Clearwater was brilliant, booking some months in advance and calling the property to see what they can offer you. I recommend the same for all the other hotels.
Sarasota is an old-school property, recently renovated, but still stuck in the original set-up, so the pool area is relatively small and overcrowded, when the hotel is at capacity.
The suites are very nice, spacious, two floors, beautiful views.
Alas, I ended up cancelling Sarasota. I actually got a reservation at the Cypress in their exec accomodations, December 22 to January 5.. Orlando during this time period through Christmas and New Years was too good to pass up. Plus I got extremely lucky last night as there was no availability and as the evening rolled along January 2 to 5 opened up.. and then December 26 to 31 opened up.
The hotels I kept for our vacations all have lounges.. With a 7 year old and 3 year old, its important to have a lounge. Thanks for the comments, it really helped me to decide as it was a very hard decision to make.
I was also told by the Diamond Line that Sarasota is more of a business type hotel. If they had a lounge, it would have helped. But definitely, I want to try this hotel out in the future.