Residence Inn Tampa Sabal Park/Brandon

The staff are truly fantastic, but the hotel needs work. Dead geckos were in the pool, and it turned my daughter’s pink swimsuit brown. The people working here really are the best part.

We left the Marriott Tampa Sabal Park around 1 a.m. on 3/17, after arriving for a stay scheduled from 3/16-3/19. At about 1 a.m., we had to find somewhere else with no help from Marriott. Nobody answered the Bonvoy phone line after we waited on hold for 10 minutes. This awful stay has seriously soured me on Marriott. In room 232, I heard rodents gnawing near the window. I told the young man at the front desk and asked to move to the other side of the hotel. He didn’t seem surprised or concerned. While gathering our things, I saw the rat myself. In the new room, #105, there was rodent feces on the windowsill. Our money was refunded and the reservation canceled, so there’s no record of the stay in my Bonvoy account. After I emailed and called Bonvoy customer care, the general manager emailed me a few days after we left with an EcoLab pest control report showing no evidence of rodents. I don’t believe it, since I heard and saw the rat in 232 and found feces in 105. Either the report was fabricated, or the technician didn’t inspect thoroughly. Room 232 also had crumbs on the floor, which could have attracted the rat or been left by it. The report called the droppings lizard or frog poop, but reptile feces have a white uric acid cap because reptiles don’t urinate. What we saw had no white cap. The general manager insists there was no rat. I’ve been Platinum Bonvoy for eight years and had never complained to customer care before, but Marriott Corporate didn’t respond at all. The hotel is old and dirty, rat-ridden, and there isn’t much to do nearby. Stay anywhere else.

A nice family-friendly place, tucked into a pleasant part of town off the main road. My room was really clean, and I was impressed as soon as I walked in. The front desk workers were always friendly and shared little tips on things to do during my three-day stay. The lot was well lit at night and always had a good number of cars.

I left without a resolution, and the front desk agent made me feel like she didn’t care. She said I’d need to speak with housekeeping directly, though I understand the housekeepers work different shifts and aren’t always the same people. This points to poor management, with no supervision, follow-up, or adequate customer service. The bathroom was filthy when I arrived, as if it hadn’t been cleaned. There was a used bar of soap, and the shampoo bottles in the shower had already been used and were leaking. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to anyone.