Tampa area beachfront resort

Looking to go to the Tampa area in October with 2 kids and hope to stay at a nice beach front resort, no more than 1/2 hour away from Busch Gardens.

Prefer 2 bedroom resort with a frig %26amp; balcony. Must be on the beach and be family friendly.

Which area(s)/hotels are best? Tampa Bay, Madeira Beach, Treasure Island, St Pete, etc....

Tampa area beachfront resort

Tampa Bay itself doesn%26#39;t have any beaches worth writing home about and the other places you mentioned might just be more than 30 minutes from BG.

So read the forums for those other places, including Clearwater Beach to get better ideas.

Tampa area beachfront resort

As Chuts said, the nice beaches are on the Gulf and those are about 45 minutes away from Busch Gardens. The Sandpearl is a very nice hotel and has suites, but is pricey. Look at Clearwater or St. Pete beach forums for more info.

I looked into SandPearl, definately too expensive.

Since i want a nice beach front resort, I may consider 2 hotels, one near Busch Gardens, the other hotel will be near st Pete Beach or Clearwater or ?? for the time after we go to Busch Gardens.

Have an opinion of which area has better beaches, clearer waters, better scenery... also does either area have a %26#39;strip%26#39; to walk on / shop at / dine that would be recommended?

I dont know anything about this part of Florida, only been to Orlando and Ft Myers area.

Clearwater Beach just opened %26#39;Beach Walk%26#39;. A long pedestrian friendly walk along the edge of the beach. Clearwater Beach is very walkable. You could get to a variety of restaurants, shops, water activities etc from just about any hotel on the beach, it is the closest nice beach area to Busch Gardens.

Check into the Hilton, it is directly on the main beach. Hilton and Sandpearl are the only large hotels right on the beach. Most others are just across the street - just a couple minute walk, still nice views. You could also spend a day at www.johnspass.com .This is a nice shopping village, with several restaurants right on the water in Treasure Island/Madeira Beach. This will be about a 20 minute drive from Clearwater Beach.

The drive from Clearwater Beach to Busch Gardens will be around 45 minutes, longer if during a morning or afternoon weekday rush hour. The area around Busch is not the best. Not much is there except for Busch Gardens. If it were me, I would opt to stay on the beaches, and drive the hour to Busch Gardens.

http://www.captmemo.com/

http://www.seascreamer.com/

http://www.realthriller.com/

http://www.dolphinencounter.org/

http://www.cmaquarium.org/

http://www.sunsetsatpier60.com/

http://www.palmpavilion.com/

http://www.johnspass.com/

http://www.frenchysonline.com/

http://www.cooters.com/

http://www.starlitecruises.com/

clearwater-fl.com/gov/鈥ndex.asp

For hotels near Busch Gardens check out Wingate Inn, La Quinta, or Embassy Suites all located on Fowler Ave. All these hotels are nice. Stay away from hotels located on Busch. :o)

Have you tried the residence inn treasure island, we are going to tampa area in september and I%26#39;m torn between this and the hilton clearwater (but this hotel doesn%26#39;t have the two bedrooms but is more of a resort)

The residence looks lovely and the reviews are great, but the pool is small and no beach facilities.

if you come up with anything post it so I can make my mind up!!

We have stayed at the Blue Waters Beach Club condos and loved it. They are in Treasure Island and across the street from Sunset Beach. Unfortunately, it is a bit more than 30 minutes from Busch Gardens...maybe more like 45 - 60 minutes.