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Sheraton Sand Key Resort, Tampa (Clearwater Beach) [Master Thread]

Sheraton Sand Key Resort, Tampa (Clearwater Beach) [Master Thread]

Old Feb 22, 2016, 6:03 pm
  #121  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Programs: MR LT Titanium, SPG LT Plat & Plat 100, SWA A+ & CP
Posts: 1,093
Quick Update from someone who has been here many times.

- they redid the pool area. New patio blocks, an expanded patio area, a new fire pit, new chairs, they put the old chairs out in the sand, and added some hammocks out on the sand. It's a nice improvement.

- the club lounge is still good. Still free booze at night and a decent spread.

- service is still very good.

Stayed 4 days. Needed three more. Weather was perfect.
jb3t is offline  
Old Apr 20, 2016, 9:46 pm
  #122  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: CMH
Programs: US. HH Diamond but chasing Hyatt
Posts: 108
My wife and I just stayed here for 5 nights on points.

Booking on points online, they offered a choice of view - tennis, pool, parking lot, or bay. While it meant getting 2 queens instead of a King, we chose bay view. The choice was honored at check in. No upgrades available even for cash. Hotel was completely full over the weekend, however, by Sunday night it was much quieter and stayed quiet through the week. Bellhop offered to park the car while we checked in and we were stupid and said no. Would have cost a couple dollars in tip money to avoid lugging a 36 pack of water a quarter mile.

Our room appeared to have been very recently renovated. We saw employees pushing around TVs and paint so I think this is slowly rolling out to all rooms, however, unless you were really paying attention, you never would have known they were working on the hotel. There's at least 4 mirrors and 2 vanities. They haven't redone the bathrooms except for perhaps wallpaper and tile. HDTV actually had mostly HD channels.

The staff here is great, we encountered only one grumpy employee, which given probably 90 interactions was remarkable. This hotel is staffed like a much higher end property than most Sheratons, employees are everywhere, cleaning leaves, trimming palms, handing out towels and bean bags, serving drinks and food on the beachfront, and their efforts show. Given the staff, I'm honestly very surprised this hotel isn't badged as a Westin or higher. I understand the legacy with Sheraton runs deep pre-Starwood but this hotel is too well run for that brand.

The pool is fairly small for a property with this many rooms, however, there is of course the Gulf of Mexico only about a 500 foot walk away. There is also a infant pool (1 foot deep) as well as a hot tub. The pool was very busy over the weekend, but not as busy on the weeknights. It was very clean and well staffed. The poolside restaurant is good and incredibly reasonably priced. The poolside bar is also good and incredibly reasonably priced. There are a TON of beach chairs. The ones right up on the pool went quickly but there are at least 100 more in the sand and 25 more on the lawn; we never saw more than 1/3 of these in use. There were also tons of free beach toys and pool toys - a great perk for kids - no need to lug your own. There's also hammocks and games, including volleyball, beach tennis, corn hole (bean bag toss) and regular tennis, all included at no extra cost.

The crowd balance at the pool was good - kids in the day left around 3-5, just as the conference attendees started to come out. Never good too mobbed.

Down on the beach, a cabana rental with 2 padded lounge chairs is a steal at just $25/day. The beverage cart service was great when the Head Turtle was staffing it, the old lady who filled in one day was incredibly crabby.

The beach was pretty great. The sand isn't quite as smooth as Clearwater (Sand Key is a 4 minute drive away) but the number of drunk 15-29 year olds while we were there was zero. This hotel was retirees, business travelers and families. The long walk on the beach to the waterfront means that the smallest kids stay at the pool, so its even pretty peaceful out there.

Finally, the restaurants we tried - Mainstay Tavern, Island Grille, and the Pool Cafe - were all very solid and very well priced. The food was good - better than most hotel food I've had, and while not mind-blowingly good, a great value for the money.

This place still does turndown service in 2016, which is remarkable. There's a fire pit out by the pool but they stop serving drinks outside at sundown (outside areas close at 11). I brought out my own drinks and it really extended the amount of time we could be outdoors.

We had club access, there's a espresso machine up there that makes cappuccinos and lattes, there's very limited seating during hors devours, we had to wait the one day we went up. No hot options for breakfast at all.

The public transit trolly that brings you to Clearwater is $5 for an all day pass, or you can pay by the ride or buy a 3 day or a weekly pass. I suggest getting off at the Marina no matter where you're going in Clearwater, because then it goes to Publix and the mainland before going down past the Hilton and places north. Parking in Clearwater can be tough so the trolly is great.

I can't believe this place is just 10000 points a night but maybe I should just keep my mouth shut.
CastAStone is offline  
Old Apr 27, 2016, 8:04 am
  #123  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 771
Originally Posted by captain_starwood
When: Two nights on points, President's weekend. 2016

Who: me and my wife.

Why: mini-honeymoon. Cancelled our trip to Punta Cana because of Zika.

The hotel itself: old, well maintained. Enormous beach. 2-3 restaurant options in hotel, a few places in immediate walking distance. Small pool for a resort, with a nice hot-tub and firepit. Volleyball and tennis courts.

The Service: Fantastic. The best Sheraton service in the U.S. that I have encountered, and on par with a number of international properties. Every request and issue was addressed immediately. The GM here is doing something right.

The location: when the sun is out, Clearwater is nice. Sunset dolphin tour on little toot was excellent. Backwaters is a great place for lunch or dinner. We were less impressed with Columbia, but we may have ordered wrong.

Check-in: fast and efficient.

Status recognition: not bad. As a platinum, they gave us a decent preferred room with a limited balcony view of the gulf, access to the club lounge, turndown service, free wifi, etc, etc.

Other thoughts: a car is very useful, but not actually necessary. We ubered to hotel from TPA and the took uber, taxis, and the trolley to get around.

This seems like an ideal hotel for young families with 1-3 kids.
thank you for your review.
i am looking to book this hotel for the 2nd week in July for 7 nights. It'll be our anniversary with a 6 month baby. it seems the hotel is family friendly from what i am reading. we are not renting a car etiher, so it seems your review will match our plan to take uber, taxi and the trolley.

i am working on getting my wife teh spg card so i am hoping to get 3 nights out of that and i have one night on my account and pay the rest in cash. we have gold status so i am hoping to get the club lounge ( is that automatic if you have spg business card?)

i am little disappointing the pool is small and its a trek to the beach, but it seems this hotel is good for families and has good service.
jordandawg05 is offline  
Old Apr 27, 2016, 9:02 pm
  #124  
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Washington DC
Programs: Marriott Platinum, United Gold, Virgin Silver
Posts: 418
Nice review

Very thorough and descriptive review. Quite similar to our stay over President's day weekend. Service here is terrific and stands out.

Originally Posted by CastAStone
My wife and I just stayed here for 5 nights on points.

Booking on points online, they offered a choice of view - tennis, pool, parking lot, or bay. While it meant getting 2 queens instead of a King, we chose bay view. The choice was honored at check in. No upgrades available even for cash. Hotel was completely full over the weekend, however, by Sunday night it was much quieter and stayed quiet through the week. Bellhop offered to park the car while we checked in and we were stupid and said no. Would have cost a couple dollars in tip money to avoid lugging a 36 pack of water a quarter mile.

Our room appeared to have been very recently renovated. We saw employees pushing around TVs and paint so I think this is slowly rolling out to all rooms, however, unless you were really paying attention, you never would have known they were working on the hotel. There's at least 4 mirrors and 2 vanities. They haven't redone the bathrooms except for perhaps wallpaper and tile. HDTV actually had mostly HD channels.

The staff here is great, we encountered only one grumpy employee, which given probably 90 interactions was remarkable. This hotel is staffed like a much higher end property than most Sheratons, employees are everywhere, cleaning leaves, trimming palms, handing out towels and bean bags, serving drinks and food on the beachfront, and their efforts show. Given the staff, I'm honestly very surprised this hotel isn't badged as a Westin or higher. I understand the legacy with Sheraton runs deep pre-Starwood but this hotel is too well run for that brand.

The pool is fairly small for a property with this many rooms, however, there is of course the Gulf of Mexico only about a 500 foot walk away. There is also a infant pool (1 foot deep) as well as a hot tub. The pool was very busy over the weekend, but not as busy on the weeknights. It was very clean and well staffed. The poolside restaurant is good and incredibly reasonably priced. The poolside bar is also good and incredibly reasonably priced. There are a TON of beach chairs. The ones right up on the pool went quickly but there are at least 100 more in the sand and 25 more on the lawn; we never saw more than 1/3 of these in use. There were also tons of free beach toys and pool toys - a great perk for kids - no need to lug your own. There's also hammocks and games, including volleyball, beach tennis, corn hole (bean bag toss) and regular tennis, all included at no extra cost.

The crowd balance at the pool was good - kids in the day left around 3-5, just as the conference attendees started to come out. Never good too mobbed.

Down on the beach, a cabana rental with 2 padded lounge chairs is a steal at just $25/day. The beverage cart service was great when the Head Turtle was staffing it, the old lady who filled in one day was incredibly crabby.

The beach was pretty great. The sand isn't quite as smooth as Clearwater (Sand Key is a 4 minute drive away) but the number of drunk 15-29 year olds while we were there was zero. This hotel was retirees, business travelers and families. The long walk on the beach to the waterfront means that the smallest kids stay at the pool, so its even pretty peaceful out there.

Finally, the restaurants we tried - Mainstay Tavern, Island Grille, and the Pool Cafe - were all very solid and very well priced. The food was good - better than most hotel food I've had, and while not mind-blowingly good, a great value for the money.

This place still does turndown service in 2016, which is remarkable. There's a fire pit out by the pool but they stop serving drinks outside at sundown (outside areas close at 11). I brought out my own drinks and it really extended the amount of time we could be outdoors.

We had club access, there's a espresso machine up there that makes cappuccinos and lattes, there's very limited seating during hors devours, we had to wait the one day we went up. No hot options for breakfast at all.

The public transit trolly that brings you to Clearwater is $5 for an all day pass, or you can pay by the ride or buy a 3 day or a weekly pass. I suggest getting off at the Marina no matter where you're going in Clearwater, because then it goes to Publix and the mainland before going down past the Hilton and places north. Parking in Clearwater can be tough so the trolly is great.

I can't believe this place is just 10000 points a night but maybe I should just keep my mouth shut.
captain_starwood is offline  
Old Apr 28, 2016, 7:46 am
  #125  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 771
thanks for all the review, its very helpful.

this is little off topic, but we will have a 6 month old baby and this is our first time traveling with him. does anyone know if taking the trolley will be OK as a mean of safe travel with a 6 month old? are we able to strap in his car seat?
jordandawg05 is offline  
Old Apr 28, 2016, 10:29 am
  #126  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Diamond; IHG Diamond; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,806
Originally Posted by jordandawg05
thanks for all the review, its very helpful.

this is little off topic, but we will have a 6 month old baby and this is our first time traveling with him. does anyone know if taking the trolley will be OK as a mean of safe travel with a 6 month old? are we able to strap in his car seat?
Keep in mind that there are actually two different trolley lines; there's the Clearwater "Jolley Trolley", which primarily serves the Clearwater side of the Intracostal Waterway, and the Suncoast Beach Trolley, which runs on the other side down the islands.

The former has wooden bench seats (see
), and the latter appears to have more traditional bus seats. So you might be able to jerry rig a car seat attachment on the former, but the latter seems unlikely.
SpammersAreScum is offline  
Old Apr 28, 2016, 11:34 am
  #127  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: CMH
Programs: US. HH Diamond but chasing Hyatt
Posts: 108
Originally Posted by SpammersAreScum
Keep in mind that there are actually two different trolley lines; there's the Clearwater "Jolley Trolley", which primarily serves the Clearwater side of the Intracostal Waterway, and the Suncoast Beach Trolley, which runs on the other side down the islands.

.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but both stop at the Sheraton Sand Key at the convention entrance, correct?
CastAStone is offline  
Old Apr 28, 2016, 12:45 pm
  #128  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 771
Originally Posted by SpammersAreScum
Keep in mind that there are actually two different trolley lines; there's the Clearwater "Jolley Trolley", which primarily serves the Clearwater side of the Intracostal Waterway, and the Suncoast Beach Trolley, which runs on the other side down the islands.

The former has wooden bench seats (see video), and the latter appears to have more traditional bus seats. So you might be able to jerry rig a car seat attachment on the former, but the latter seems unlikely.
thank you for the feedback, i didn't realize there were two lines. i did call the jolley trolley after i posted and they said its bench seating but can take the stroller on there and it does go slow with traffic. i am not sure if we will be going south to the other beaches or just clearwater mainly.

anyways - we will be staying there for 7 nights, i am waiting to finish the spend on my wife's spg card so we can get 3 nights free ( 30k points) but my question is, how can i make this work with two spg accounts and paying cash with the rest of the nights. i was able to book one free award night on my account but then she should have 3. isn't there a book 4 and get 5th free night? should i call SPG to get all the booking done in order to get the extra free night?
jordandawg05 is offline  
Old Apr 28, 2016, 9:03 pm
  #129  
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Washington DC
Programs: Marriott Platinum, United Gold, Virgin Silver
Posts: 418
your July stay

Yes, family friendly. I think you will be okay with uber, lyft, taxi, and trolley. Particularly if you slow down and relax. I don't think they will let you access the lounge with gold status or a card. You usually need platinum status.

7 nights seems like a long stay without a car, or even with a car. I might keep it to 4-5.

Originally Posted by jordandawg05
thank you for your review.
i am looking to book this hotel for the 2nd week in July for 7 nights. It'll be our anniversary with a 6 month baby. it seems the hotel is family friendly from what i am reading. we are not renting a car etiher, so it seems your review will match our plan to take uber, taxi and the trolley.

i am working on getting my wife teh spg card so i am hoping to get 3 nights out of that and i have one night on my account and pay the rest in cash. we have gold status so i am hoping to get the club lounge ( is that automatic if you have spg business card?)

i am little disappointing the pool is small and its a trek to the beach, but it seems this hotel is good for families and has good service.
captain_starwood is offline  
Old Apr 29, 2016, 7:28 am
  #130  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: CMH
Programs: US. HH Diamond but chasing Hyatt
Posts: 108
Originally Posted by jordandawg05
thank you for the feedback, i didn't realize there were two lines. i did call the jolley trolley after i posted and they said its bench seating but can take the stroller on there and it does go slow with traffic. i am not sure if we will be going south to the other beaches or just clearwater mainly.

anyways - we will be staying there for 7 nights, i am waiting to finish the spend on my wife's spg card so we can get 3 nights free ( 30k points) but my question is, how can i make this work with two spg accounts and paying cash with the rest of the nights. i was able to book one free award night on my account but then she should have 3. isn't there a book 4 and get 5th free night? should i call SPG to get all the booking done in order to get the extra free night?
Starwood lets you combine your points with your wife's, you'll have to pick one account to combine them into. Call them at (888) 625-4988 and they'll do it. They should be able to handle combining a cash reservation and a points one over the phone too, but you may have to just make the reservations back to back and then call the resort directly.
CastAStone is offline  
Old Apr 29, 2016, 9:04 am
  #131  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 771
Originally Posted by captain_starwood
Yes, family friendly. I think you will be okay with uber, lyft, taxi, and trolley. Particularly if you slow down and relax. I don't think they will let you access the lounge with gold status or a card. You usually need platinum status.

7 nights seems like a long stay without a car, or even with a car. I might keep it to 4-5.
its 7 nights, but 6 full days at clearwater, is it that much? will we be bored? we have a 6 month boy. i was trying to cut expenses with the car rental as it'll be like 400 dollars for the week, using uber, trolley, taxi will be cheaper...we won't be in a hurry to get anywhere, experience we want is a relaxed one.
jordandawg05 is offline  
Old Apr 29, 2016, 9:06 am
  #132  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 771
Originally Posted by CastAStone
Starwood lets you combine your points with your wife's, you'll have to pick one account to combine them into. Call them at (888) 625-4988 and they'll do it. They should be able to handle combining a cash reservation and a points one over the phone too, but you may have to just make the reservations back to back and then call the resort directly.
thanks ! i already made the one night reservation, once my wife gets her points i'll cancel and call spg to combine and make one reservation....does this hotel get booked alot during july? i suspect we should get the points by mid june.
jordandawg05 is offline  
Old Apr 29, 2016, 9:13 am
  #133  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: CMH
Programs: US. HH Diamond but chasing Hyatt
Posts: 108
Originally Posted by captain_starwood
I don't think they will let you access the lounge with gold status or a card. You usually need platinum status.
I was able to access the lounge via my SPG Business card without platinum status but I had to ask.
CastAStone is offline  
Old Apr 29, 2016, 9:53 am
  #134  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Diamond; IHG Diamond; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,806
Originally Posted by CastAStone
Correct me if I'm wrong, but both stop at the Sheraton Sand Key at the convention entrance, correct?
Both cross the bridges connecting Clearwater to Clearwater Beach to Sand Key and pass the Resort. I am not sure of the precise location of the stops.
SpammersAreScum is offline  
Old Apr 29, 2016, 9:57 am
  #135  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 771
Originally Posted by CastAStone
I was able to access the lounge via my SPG Business card without platinum status but I had to ask.
this is my plan this is why i kept my SPG biz card this past month, so i am banking on that so i can get access. i will definitely ask to see if we are able too.
jordandawg05 is offline  

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