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Old 19 Nov 20, 11:19 AM  
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Sharonrankin
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Tampa Hotels

Hi, We are flying home from Tampa airport so planning on spending the last 3 nights of our holiday in Tampa to go to Busch gardens and also visit some of the local bars. Can anyone recommend any hotels? TIA
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Old 19 Nov 20, 05:54 PM  
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eastendpar
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Where are you looking at staying in the Tampa area. It covers such a wide area. Clearly Clearwater has the best hotels, bars and eateries but Anna Marie island is also highly rated.
Clearwater is probably close to 20 miles from the airport and is a straight road in.
Pier house 60 has a decent reputation. We enjoyed our stay there.

Should add that where Busch Gardens is isn’t the best area to stay but I am sure there are decent hotel and bars around there that fellow dibbers might have used.

Edited at 05:58 PM.
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Old 19 Nov 20, 06:19 PM  
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munmun
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I know Tampa area quite well having travelled in that area for 35 years and honestly there are some extremely dodgy areas in Tampa.

For the last thirty plus years my husband has visited Pawn Shops (not the sex type) all over Tampa looking for the stuff he collects and I have seen fights, drug deals, police taking people down etc etc.

If you want to stay in that area I would suggest you head to the beach 30 mins away. There are certainly interesting things to visit but staying in Tampa would not be for me.
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Old 19 Nov 20, 09:54 PM  
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eastendpar
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Kind of agree with munmun. We visit Tampa a lot to watch Ice Hockey and whilst the Riverside area ( by the ice Hockey stadium) is ok the hotels are expensive. The owner of the Ice Hockey team is revamping that area and there is a nice vibe down there but apart from that I would be more inclined to go to the coast through choice.
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Old 19 Nov 20, 10:56 PM  
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DonkeyCentreArf
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My friend moved over to Jacksonville and decided to take the family to Busch Gardens for the weekend (he'd never been to Florida on holiday before moving there). I said to him it wasn't the nicest place and to stay at the beach.

I got a message from him on the first day of his break asking me why I hadn't told him that BG was "in the 'hood" and that they were scared to go out after dark!

Would definitely agree with recommendations to stay at somewhere like Clearwater and drive back into Tampa
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Old 19 Nov 20, 11:09 PM  
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cornishfrogboy
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I am with Mumnun.

I have stayed in Tampa on a few occasions and once, just a couple of blocks away from BG. The hotel receptionist made it very clear to us that whilst a walk on that street only (and without deviation) would be ok in daylight, we would be returning after dark and that we would be foolhardy not to use a taxi.

We visited TGI Friday and when leaving to get in the taxi, fully appreciated her advice... it weren’t like the tourist area of Orlando.

I would not walk the streets of Tampa at night, any more than I would Tenderloin or Mission in San Francisco or Compton in LA. I don’t know the areas.

Around 9 years ago, a couple of British tourist lads turned the wrong way in Sarasota and ended up being held up at gunpoint by a 16 year old.. and shot dead with their trousers around their thighs. It was big news when we were out there.

Classification: Homicide
Characteristics: Juvenile (16) - Robbery
Number of victims: 2
Date of murder: April 16, 2011
Date of birth: March 19, 1995
Victim profile: James Cooper, 25, and James Kouzaris, 24 (British tourists)
Method of murder: Shooting (handgun)
Location: Sarasota, Sarasota County, Florida, USA
Status: Sentenced to life in prison without parole on March 29, 2012.

This is a set of crime stats for Sarasota...

With a crime rate of 39 per one thousand residents, Sarasota has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 26.


Anna Maria, Clearwater or Venice are maybe a different matter.. but then, look on a map how close Sarasota is to Longboat Key and A M Island.

I travel very independently and to some areas well off the beaten track. I always do plenty of research and am carefully cautious.
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Edited at 11:34 PM.
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Old 20 Nov 20, 11:27 AM  
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munmun
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Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy View Post
I am with Mumnun.

I have stayed in Tampa on a few occasions and once, just a couple of blocks away from BG. The hotel receptionist made it very clear to us that whilst a walk on that street only (and without deviation) would be ok in daylight, we would be returning after dark and that we would be foolhardy not to use a taxi.

We visited TGI Friday and when leaving to get in the taxi, fully appreciated her advice... it weren’t like the tourist area of Orlando.

I would not walk the streets of Tampa at night, any more than I would Tenderloin or Mission in San Francisco or Compton in LA. I don’t know the areas.

Around 9 years ago, a couple of British tourist lads turned the wrong way in Sarasota and ended up being held up at gunpoint by a 16 year old.. and shot dead with their trousers around their thighs. It was big news when we were out there.

Classification: Homicide
Characteristics: Juvenile (16) - Robbery
Number of victims: 2
Date of murder: April 16, 2011
Date of birth: March 19, 1995
Victim profile: James Cooper, 25, and James Kouzaris, 24 (British tourists)
Method of murder: Shooting (handgun)
Location: Sarasota, Sarasota County, Florida, USA
Status: Sentenced to life in prison without parole on March 29, 2012.

This is a set of crime stats for Sarasota...

With a crime rate of 39 per one thousand residents, Sarasota has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 26.


Anna Maria, Clearwater or Venice are maybe a different matter.. but then, look on a map how close Sarasota is to Longboat Key and A M Island.

I travel very independently and to some areas well off the beaten track. I always do plenty of research and am carefully cautious.
Great advice, my husband takes us to some dodgy places on his quest for the proverbial unicorn. We sat in the car and watched a gun battle in Philadelphia while he was in a shop, or rather we lay on the floor!
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Old 21 Nov 20, 11:41 AM  
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anji
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We stayed for 2 nights at the Barrymore in Tampa before a cruise. Lovely hotel on the Riverwalk, good value and felt perfectly safe.

I'd highly recommend a trip to the original Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City area if you do stay in Tampa - absolutely stunning building, which is like the TARDIS, and meal.
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Old 21 Nov 20, 12:05 PM  
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greekgranny
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Originally Posted by anji View Post
We stayed for 2 nights at the Barrymore in Tampa before a cruise. Lovely hotel on the Riverwalk, good value and felt perfectly safe.

I'd highly recommend a trip to the original Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City area if you do stay in Tampa - absolutely stunning building, which is like the TARDIS, and meal.
Love a visit to Ybor City, not mentioned much on here. We took the local tram circular route, really interesting. We saw the Columbia Restaurant but actually ate in Hamburger Mary's, really like this chain, the atmosphere is really friendly and good fun.
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Old 21 Nov 20, 12:17 PM  
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We went on the Tampa Riverwalk last Christmas- walked the whole thing one side to the other and back- really nice, we will definitely do it again. Starts at a nice park with some nice eateries and coffee bars in it etc (trendy area- first couple of pictures below, converted warehouses) and ends up at the cruise terminal about 2.5 miles away which is actually full of bars and restaurants and people enjoying the sunshine rather than what you would think of as a cruise terminal.


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