Where to stay in Tampa Bay
The Tampa Bay area is one of the premier vacation destinations in the United States, and because of that, you’ll have a dizzying amount of choices for where to put your head to pillow. The best place for you to stay will depend a lot on what else you plan to do during your visit. But to help you cut through the many options you can choose from, we’ve narrowed in on four of the best:
- Downtown St. Petersburg
- The beaches (St. Pete Beach and Clearwater Beach)
- Tampa (Downtown/Channel District and Ybor City)
- Airport
Downtown St. Petersburg
Your most convenient option to Tropicana Field is downtown St. Petersburg. Downtown is more than just convenient—it’s a thriving and fun metropolitan area brimming with bars, restaurants, shops, culture and more to fill your non-baseball time.
Downtown is made up of several “districts,” each with their own identities, but a crush of recent development has connected all of them, so you likely won’t really know when you’ve left one and entered another. For this reason, pretty much any hotel near Central Avenue, the main entertainment road, is going to put you right smack dab in the action, whether you want to be steps from Tropicana Field or closer to the Bay.
Note: If you’re curious about those districts, DiscoverDowntown.com has a fantastic map that covers them.
St. Petersburg Hotel Suggestions
If you want to be close to the Trop, consider The Mint House or Tru by Hilton, both literally across the street from the stadium and the iconic Ferg’s Sports Bar. These are the only two hotels that are within eye-shot of the ballpark, so if proximity to the stadium is your priority, these hotels are the right choice. The area is safe, but it’s further removed from downtown St. Pete, so if you want to explore the area or hit the nightlife, it’s a quick rideshare or a 15-20 minute safe walk.
The bay is 1.5 miles east of the stadium, so if you’re looking for water views, the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront is a good choice and will also put you steps from Al Lang Stadium if you want to catch a soccer match featuring the Rays-owned Tampa Bay Rowdies (USL).
If you’re more of a “retro-chic” traveler, you’ll want to consider the popular Hollander Hotel or its sister property, Avalon Hotel. Both are appealing to a younger crowd, with great dining and an always-happening pool scene.
For fans of historic hotels, Cordova Inn should be on your list and, if you have the money to spend, The Vinoy Resort & Golf Club is a luxurious trip back in time. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places and visiting teams have been known to stay there.
All downtown hotels are safely walkable to the Trop (1 to 1.5 miles), though in the dead of summer, that walk is going to feel longer than it really is. The good news is the Looper Trolley is free and convenient and operates its baseball shuttle 90 minutes prior to game time and for one hour after the game ends. We’ll cover this in greater detail in the Local Transit chapter.
The Beaches
The warm Gulf of Mexico waters are inviting almost year-round, and the laid-back vibe of our beach communities makes you feel like you are on vacation 24/7.
Pinellas County, the half of the Tampa Bay metro area on the Gulf of Mexico, has several beach towns, all with their own personality. You really can’t go wrong with any of them, as they all have great beach bars, fresh seafood restaurants and plenty of lodging choices at all price points on the beach or a short walk from it. Where to stay depends on your budget and expectations. There are plenty of “old Florida” mom & pop motels to choose from if that’s your thing, including some that have had recent and modern renovations, but also mega resorts and top-line hotels for those seeking fun or luxury and literally everything in between.
We’ll spotlight two specific beach communities that might make the most sense depending on your plans: St. Pete Beach and Clearwater Beach.
St. Pete Beach
Closest to Tropicana Field and the only beach town with reasonable public transportation options to the stadium.
Like most Tampa Bay beach towns, St. Pete Beach exudes “old Florida.” If you’re old enough to remember the John Candy flick “Summer Rental,” it was filmed in St. Pete Beach and the city hasn’t changed terribly much since the movie first hit the screens in 1985. Think laid-back vibe with lots of mom & pop businesses, from motels, to rustic restaurants with off-the-boat-fresh fish, to watering holes with cheap drinks. So, yeah, not South Beach. However, if you have higher-end tastes, some of the resorts we recommend below are bathed in lavish luxury and are large enough that you can enjoy upscale dining and drinks your entire stay without having to leave the resort (except to see the ballgame, of course).
If you don’t want to mess with a rental car or the expense of rideshares or cabs for the duration of your visit, St. Pete Beach is a great option as you’ll be able to take PSTA’s popular SunRunner Rapid Transit bus from the sand to the stadium and back. The SunRunner is new, clean and safe and costs $2.25 each way with a maximum charge of $5 a day. ‘Rapid” simply means that the SunRunner has its own lanes, so the trip to the Trop will take a little more than 30 minutes most days. We’ll have more on this in our Local Transit section as well.
Hotels we like on St. Pete Beach
The TradeWinds Island Resorts is a great choice for baseball fans wanting the full beach vacation experience. The mammoth complex spans 40 beachfront acres and boasts several pools, an aquarium and a floating ocean water park with a three-story slide. It also has a dedicated SunRunner bus stop.
Quieter, smaller and trendier is the Postcard Inn on the Beach for fans looking for a memorable beach visit with less hustle and bustle.
If your budget allows, you’ll definitely want to take a look at the historic Don CeSar. Known as “The Don” or “The Pink Lady” to locals, the hotel was built during the Great Gatsby era and is steeped in history. President Franklin Roosevelt, Lou Gehrig, and even Al Capone were frequent guests back in the day. With plenty of restaurants and amenities, you won’t need to leave The Don except to go to the game.
Clearwater Beach
If proximity to the Trop and/or public transit availability isn’t important to you, then it opens you up to every other beach community in the area. By far the biggest and best known is Clearwater Beach. There, you’ll have not only the great restaurants and beach bars you’ll find in any of our beach towns, but a much wider choice of lodging and entertainment options as well. You’ll also want to make time to catch a sunset at Pier 60, always with a host of street performers. Across the street from Pier 60 at the harbor, you’ll have your choice of boating options, from speed boats to pirate boats to fishing charters.
But do keep in mind that staying on Clearwater Beach means a lengthy drive to the Trop when you’re ready for baseball. It’ll be a congested 40-minute drive at least, and almost assuredly longer closer to game time. So either plan on getting a rental car, or budget at least $40 plus tip each way if you’d rather take a rideshare. If time is no issue, we’d recommend driving south from Clearwater Beach through all of the beach communities. It’s a much slower drive, but way more interesting than the fastest route.
The Opal Sands Resort & Spa and the Sandpearl Resort are great options if money is no object. If you want to be close to Clearwater Beach’s energy but also enjoy a quieter beach experience, the Sheraton Sand Key Resort is a great choice.
Tampa
If you’re never been to the Tampa Bay metro area, the city of Tampa might be your knee-jerk choice for a place to stay. “Tampa” is in the team’s name, after all! But before you settle on Tampa, just know that your trip to Tropicana Field will take some time and, if you’re not driving yourself, higher rideshare costs than the other areas we recommend. But if none of that matters to you, you’ll find plenty to do and lots of lodging options in Tampa.
There are two distinct areas of Tampa we’ll highlight — the Downtown/Channel District and Ybor City — and whether you prefer one or the other, feel free to jump on the free TECO Streetcar that runs every 15 minutes until late in the night to experience the other one.
Downtown/Channel District
The energy here has been on an upswing in recent years with the expansion of the Tampa RiverWalk and new entertainment options, like Sparkman Wharf and the Armature Works food court. If you happen to be in town during hockey season, Tampa’s downtown has much more sports energy for a Lightning home game than St. Petersburg’s downtown ever has for a Rays home game. There are lots of hotel options to choose from, but the Tampa Marriott Water Street is in the heart of the Channel District with beautiful water views and all the amenities you need.
Ybor City
If you’re looking for Tampa’s version of New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, Ybor City is where you want to be as it has similar architecture and a party-hard vibe. During the day, it’s much quieter with a perfect opportunity to grab a meal at the historic original Columbia Restaurant, but at night, be ready for a party or don’t bother coming.
Regardless of where you stay, allow for some time to get to Tropicana Field, with a little more from Ybor City. With no traffic, it’s about a 30-minute drive from the Channel District, but count on traffic on game days. Only two bridges cross Tampa Bay, and they both get clogged at rush hour and especially on game days — even worse if there is a Lightning home game the same day — so that trip can easily double in time and, if using a rideshare, cost as well.
One intriguing option is the Cross Bay Ferry, which you can pick up behind the Tampa Convention Center, a short walk from the Channel District, and it drops you off at Straub Park in St. Petersburg. The ferry is $24 roundtrip and takes about 50 minutes each way. If you combine it with the free Looper Trolley in downtown St. Petersburg, which goes to Tropicana Field, it may be a more affordable or comparable, though much longer, option than ridesharing (depending on how many people in your group). But when you throw in the enjoyment of the ferry ride, it’s more of a tourist excursion rather than just straight-up transportation, so you can factor that into the price and time commitment as well. But be sure to check the schedules for your preferred travel dates, as this might not be an option on some days (particularly weeknights), and options for the return ferry from St. Petersburg may be limited as well. You can check the ferry schedule here.
Cross Bay Ferry Route
Tampa Airport (TPA)
The airport is certainly not where we’d suggest anyone stay for a baseball weekend in Tampa. But in the right circumstances, it might make sense. If you were going to try to catch an afternoon game and then fly out the same evening, you could stay at the Tampa Airport Marriott, which is located inside the TPA main terminal. You could rideshare/taxi from the ballpark to the hotel, grab your bags from the bellhop, and go right to your gate, which would certainly save you some time by not having to return a car. Or, perhaps, if you’re flying out very early in the morning, staying at any airport hotel would also make sense.
But beyond those two scenarios, it’s hard to imagine why you’d want to do this. If you needed an easy hotel to store luggage at, you could stay across the street from The Trop and just go grab your bags there after the game. And, of course, if you rent a car, you have baggage storage built into that strategy. So you should only pick the airport if you’re tight on time and your plans require it.
If proximity to the airport is important to you, but you also want to feel at least a little bit like you are on a Florida vacation, check out the hotels in Clearwater’s Rocky Point area. It’s a very quick drive from TPA and has several hotels right on Tampa Bay. In addition to restaurants and bars walkable from any of the hotels and a great view, you can also enjoy some water sports or even play a round of golf in Rocky Point but still be super close to your flight.
Bottom Line
Your lodging choice will have a lot to do with your overall trip plans. If you are just coming to town for baseball at the Trop and nothing else, then we’d say you should stay across the street from the ballpark or in downtown St. Pete. If you want to spend time at the beach while you’re here, St. Pete Beach is the most convenient to the ballpark, but Clearwater is accessible as well by rental car or rideshare. If you want to stay in Tampa, that’s fine: just be sure to understand that you’ll be commuting back and forth to the stadium from your hotel.
For more information about things to do and see in the Tampa Bay area, check out one of our favorite local sites.
