Orlando & St Petes

Hello all,

Could you please help me out with some advice, am travelling to florida in late august and we are staying at the don cesar in st petes, but are thinking about a one night stay in orlando to do sea world and discovery cove. Can anyone recommend a good hotel near the seaworld parks?

Also has anyone got any tips for what to do in st petes as it will be our fist time there.

Many thanks

James

James,
I dont think I can help you with a speciic hotel (I always stay with friends in Orlando)
Having said that however there are literally 100's of hotels within 10 mins of Seaworld

I think a good way to shortlist is on price as you can pay $35-$300+ for a room.

An ex-gf of mine always wanted a 4* but I personally am happy to spend a night in a clean 3*!
I guess it comes down to what to feel comfortable with.

expedia.co.uk allow you to search for hotels near an attraction and there were 13 pages of results I noticed a Hilton comming in at £39 so and a sheraton @£82

Sorry I only just noticed the second part of your post!

The tampa bay area has a loads to do..I tend to chill out there more though than do stuff!
I caught an ice hockey game there before and Busch Gardens of course.

you might want to look here for other ideas..

[mitchja]

Hi James and Welcome

St Pete's Beach
You wont regret booking at the Don CeSar as that was where I stayed (have you had a look at their web site - http://www.doncesar.com)

I'd booked a standard room using VH and when I arrived I was up-graded to a suite!!!! As this hotel is quite large it does get busy. It's right on the beach. The pool(s) are amazing and there is plenty of choice for eating. There's also a spa and jacuzzi. The room I was in even had a TV in the bathroom along with 1 in the bedroom and 1 in the lounge area too!!! There is a charge for parking here though. This hotel is a VH Platinum Collection hotel which says it all really.

St Pete's is a fantastic place and the beaches are amazing. Sitting watching a Gulf coast sun set is worth the money in any hotel here. There's also plenty to do [8D] I did a dolphin watching catamaran trip which was great fun.

I have a sheet I was given by a VH rep whilst I was there out-lining several trips VH organise. I can scan it and email it to you if you like.


Discovery Cove
Discovery Cove is a great experience too - I presume you have already booked your tickets in advance for this [?] - If you want to do a Dolphin swim you will need to book you tickets before you get there. I actually found it slightly cheaper booking Discovery Cove direct with them using their web site. It was several years ago I was there so this may now not be the case. A Sea World pass was included in the price too.

I was staying in the Kissimmee area so I have no idea about hotels near by though sorry.

Regards

If you're looking for a high end 5 star traditional hotel - The Peabody is pretty good, but I'd recommend the 4 star Marriot Grande Vista. It's a resort with Villa units, 1, 2, 3 beds. All have their own kitchen area, living room etc. Pretty high spec furnishings (though florida colour schemes are not to everybodies taste), very clean, great views - water/golf course. The resort has huge grounds with a big long drive leading from I Drive to the reception building where there's shops/gym/pools etc. Its very reasonably priced for the standard and spaciousness of the accomodation. Highly recommended.

thanks for the hints and tips so far can't wait to get there ... does anyone know if the don ceasr maybe able to get me favourable rates as they are now part of the loews hotel group who own the hard rock @ universal?

Cheers

James

[buns]

Jpopham

quote:Also has anyone got any tips for what to do in st petes as it will be our fist time there.

This is Mrs buns & My fav place and we usually visit at least twice a year - i will not try to go on too much!

Apart from the beach and the shopping, you might like to try out the nearby Ft. De Soto which is now a great nature sanctuary and is totally unspoilt. Just down from you is the beach at Pass-A-Grille which is really nice.

Busch Gardens is about 30 mins away by car and we have always found it less crowded than that Orlando theme parks and the rides far more advenurous - St Petersburg itself has a Dali museum and a pier.

As far as resorts go, St. Petes is more peaceful than Clearwater (be prepared for the place to shut down by 10pm or earlier!)but less sophisticated than Sarasota or Naples which are further south.

Have a great time

buns

Hello James

If you've got a car I would recommend driving south to somewhere like Sarasota purely for the pleasure of driving over the Sunshine Skyway. Can be closed in bad weather and not sure if it sustained any damage last week - SRQ might be able to tell us if they read this.

It's absolutely stunning and recently featured in a Sky programme about the world's top ten bridges - IIRC it came in at No: 2

Regards