hotels recommended in Tampa

[lindie15]

First time cruising out of Tampa. Looking for recommendations for hotel to book as we are flying in day before. Would like one that will have airport shuttle and cruise ship shuttle (no problem paying for available shuttle)

[steve20832]

I live in the Tampa area. Airport area hotels will be your best bet. Many have free shuttles from airport to hotel then Uber/Lyft to the pier. If you stay in downtown Tampa, the rates are much higher but it's closer to the pier. There are a million hotel websites for reviews and prices. You didn't mention what your minimum is for star hotel or price so what make work for me may not work for you

[JohninDC]

Rocky Point area is an up scale area near the airport and the bay. Chase Suites, Hampton Inn and others offer both airport and port shuttles.

[BlueHerons]

I love the Rocky Point area!

[justacrusin]

We are cruising out of Tampa and are staying at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Rocky Point.  We have stayed here before and had a great time!

[TampaBayCruiser]

There's a brand new Home2 Suites and Hampton Inn (dual-branded hotel) three blocks from the cruise terminals (Channel District).  Not sure about a shuttle from TPA, but on the flip side you can walk or hop in a "Downtowner" for a free ride to the cruise terminal .  Doesn't sound like you have a car, but I know they have a stay and park deal, too, that is very reasonable.  I toured it just a few weeks ago and it's very nice for a quick stay like that (plus there's Starbucks off of the lobby!).  

 

Search for:

Home2 Suites by Hilton Tampa Downtown Channel District

or

Hampton Inn Tampa Downtown Channel District

 

Also, check out Sparkman Wharf and Armature Works, and take walk along the Riverwalk while you're here! 

 

Enjoy!

[2wheelin]

9 hours ago, justacrusin said:

We are cruising out of Tampa and are staying at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Rocky Point.  We have stayed here before and had a great time!

Great to hear. We will be staying there in Jan. Looks like dining and a wine pickup within walking distance? Did you use their shuttle to the port?  We will be with a group, most of whom have shuttle included in their pkg. We opted out because of cost assuming they would have a chartered bus/van and we could use the hotel trans. but that is not the case. Just wondering about the shuttle size and whether we might have a problem getting on early if they have that large a group.

Thinking of UBER but need a large one due to having 4 of us.

[JohninDC]

Taxi van or UberXL will be about $25-30 to the port.

Edited September 19, 2019 by JohninDC

[smalltimecruiser100]

On 9/19/2019 at 12:09 PM, TampaBayCruiser said:

There's a brand new Home2 Suites and Hampton Inn (dual-branded hotel) three blocks from the cruise terminals (Channel District).  Not sure about a shuttle from TPA, but on the flip side you can walk or hop in a "Downtowner" for a free ride to the cruise terminal .  Doesn't sound like you have a car, but I know they have a stay and park deal, too, that is very reasonable.  I toured it just a few weeks ago and it's very nice for a quick stay like that (plus there's Starbucks off of the lobby!).  

 

Search for:

Home2 Suites by Hilton Tampa Downtown Channel District

or

Hampton Inn Tampa Downtown Channel District

 

Also, check out Sparkman Wharf and Armature Works, and take walk along the Riverwalk while you're here! 

 

Enjoy!

Does the Downtowner handle luggage?

[justacrusin]

On 9/19/2019 at 6:30 PM, 2wheelin said:

Great to hear. We will be staying there in Jan. Looks like dining and a wine pickup within walking distance? Did you use their shuttle to the port?  We will be with a group, most of whom have shuttle included in their pkg. We opted out because of cost assuming they would have a chartered bus/van and we could use the hotel trans. but that is not the case. Just wondering about the shuttle size and whether we might have a problem getting on early if they have that large a group.

Thinking of UBER but need a large one due to having 4 of us.

We used their shuttle the first time we stayed there and it was around 10.00 pp, it was not included in the hotel price, but if I remember correctly, it was a standard shuttle bus.  The hotel staff  suggested we take an Uber, since we are a large group and would be cheaper to take 2 Uber's instead of each paying for the shuttle.  But after doing some research, we decided to use myparkconnect.com and park near the port. The price is the same as parking at the hotel, but it will save money since we wont' have to request an Uber to get to port.  Hope this helps!

[2wheelin]

6 hours ago, justacrusin said:

We used their shuttle the first time we stayed there and it was around 10.00 pp, it was not included in the hotel price, but if I remember correctly, it was a standard shuttle bus.  The hotel staff  suggested we take an Uber, since we are a large group and would be cheaper to take 2 Uber's instead of each paying for the shuttle.  But after doing some research, we decided to use myparkconnect.com and park near the port. The price is the same as parking at the hotel, but it will save money since we wont' have to request an Uber to get to port.  Hope this helps!

Yes, thank you.

[DaveOKC]

We used the Hyatt Place Airport and really liked it.  They have a free airport shuttle PLUS a great pier shuttle service.  For $25 pp they took us to the pier and then the day we returned picked us up at the pier and took us to the airport (was very quick and easy).

[LuckyLori]

On 9/19/2019 at 6:39 PM, JohninDC said:

Taxi van or UberXL will be about $25-30 to the port.

 

On 9/19/2019 at 6:39 PM, JohninDC said:

Taxi van or UberXL will be about $25-30 to the port.

Is that per person?  We will be there in Jan and there will be 4 in our group.

[JohninDC]

No, that fare is for the car or taxi - not per person like a shared shuttle. With 4 plus bags you will need UberXL or a van taxi, especially if anyone in your group packs like my wife.

 

Have a great cruise! 😎