Sleep Inn Clearwater - St Petersburg

I was relieved to find a clean, quiet hotel after some rough stays in Clearwater. It’s near the airport rather than the beach, but I’d gladly drive 15 minutes for a place this nice. Housekeeping was doing a thorough job, the bed and pillows were really comfortable, and breakfast had a good variety. The front desk was helpful about keeping things quiet, too. Nice outdoor pool and hot tub.

Breakfast was a real plus, with good choices, well-managed refills, and a few small menu changes that improved it. The rooms were clean and getting to the highway was easy. Parking could be tricky, though, and there were a couple of problems during our stay. The shower door let water onto the bathroom floor, and wet guests from the pool left water in the elevators and hallways. The hotel should manage that better for safety and cleanliness. Still, a good stay for the price.

The biggest issue was how short-staffed the hotel seemed. The employees were doing their best, but management left them with too much to handle. My room was clean on arrival, then went untouched through all four nights, even when I left after breakfast. The front desk said checkout rooms came first and they might not get to mine. If I needed towels or toilet paper, I had to go down and ask. I also had to bring used towels down to exchange them, and when I requested extras they wrote down my room number, which felt like they suspected I’d steal them. The towels were too small, even for my thin sister. They wouldn’t bring things to the room, probably because of the staffing shortage. There was fruit-flavored water in the lobby, but no bottled water or drinking fountain. Bottled water is inexpensive, and guests might want a few bottles a day. The outlets were awkward, too. By the bed, the only reachable ones were in a lamp that blocked chargers. The outlet near the coffee maker was behind a big lamp at the far end of the table. The easiest one to reach was beside the door, where using it meant unplugging it whenever we needed the door. Breakfast was included, which was nice, but the bananas were hard and unripe, the hard-boiled eggs seemed several days old, and the bacon was thin with a strange taste. The sausage was half burnt, and the waffle batter was oddly thin. The hot tub and pool were a plus, but the tub needs repairs: its lights only occasionally showed green, some tiles were broken, and both accessible chairs, one for the pool and one for the hot tub, were broken. Getting around from the hotel was daunting in a rental car if you’re not used to a big city. It’s off a crazy highway, and you’ll probably need to make U-turns to reach places. I paid $190 a night, but it felt like an $80-a-night place.

The free breakfast was amazing, with more variety than I’ve seen at other hotels. The room was nice and quiet, and the jacuzzi felt so good that I stayed in it for four hours my first night. Prices were lower than I expected, so I booked an extra night because I was comfortable and didn’t want to leave. The women at the front desk were amazing and helped with silverware, ice, and general questions. I’ll definitely be back.