Parking in Clearwater Beach - help needed !

Dear all,

I have a question, primary for Clearwater residents I guess :

What%26#39;s the parking situation in the Clearwater beach?Me and my girlfriend will be staying in a hotel on the beach.We are thinking about renting a car in order to be free to go anywhere but do not want to pay exorbitant parking fee ( 25$/day !!! ) in our hotel.

To make things worst this is a valet-only parking so it will be a pain to call down each time that we need our car.Plus there are always tips to add to the parking fee...

So my questions is - what%26#39;s other ways to park ?Is there a cheaper parking option in Clearwater beach ?

All advises will be greatly appreciated !

Thanks in advance,

Regards,

John.

Parking in Clearwater Beach - help needed !

You must be staying at the new Sandpearl...I think that is so terrible they would charge their guests a $25/day parking fee. Well, you dont have many options here. All public parking is metered.

Your cheaper parking option would be not to stay at the Sandpearl or don%26#39;t rent a car. I want to say that Sanpearl is the only place on the beach that forces you to pay for parking on their property even thou you are a guest at the hotel (I may be wrong thou.)

Or instead of renting a car the entire vacation, rent the car the few first days or the last few days and be sure to do all your sightseeing on the days you have the car. Most car companies here will come to pick you up.

Best of luck!

Parking in Clearwater Beach - help needed !

Thanks for your reply ssims2 !

Yes, it%26#39;s Sandpearl ;-). It seems to be the best place in Clearwater beach so we already booked when I found about this parking extorsion ! So my options really are : 1 - find a cheaper parking ( it%26#39;s not only about the money, it%26#39;s about the fact that I don%26#39;t want to be forced to use the service that I don%26#39;t need and don%26#39;t like by my hotel ).

2 - Don%26#39;t rent a car.

Regarding option 1 - I was thinking that there may be some parking options where you can pay, let%26#39;s say 10$ and use it for 24 hours ?

Also maybe I can self-park in other hotel ( Hilton, for example ) ?It says on Hilton site that the 24h self-parking is 10$ but maybe it%26#39;s for hotel guests only ?

Option 2 - Could you tell me how much not having the car would limit us ?I heard that you could walk to almost everywhere in Clearwater, including Caladesi island...will we really need a car, are there any places worth wisiting that are accessible with the car only?

Thanks a lot for your advise, it%26#39;s really appreciated !

Regards,

John.

Unfortunately, we don%26#39;t really have the best public transportation here. There%26#39;s a trolley that runs the length of Gulf Blvd from Clearwater Beach to St. Pete Beach and back if you%26#39;re looking to visit any of the other beaches. Other than that, not much is really within walking distance. You could taxi it to a few dinners out, but after a few of those, it would probably be cheaper to rent the car. I%26#39;m astounded that hotel charges $25 a day to park a car; that%26#39;s worse than NYC almost!!! It really depends on what you want to do and where you want to go before you decide on how to do it. For instance, if you wanted to head to Tampa or Ybor City for the club scene, a car is a must. If you just plan on hanging out at your hotel most of the time outside of a few dinners and shopping trips, then you can probably skip the car, use the shuttle, trolley or taxi. Also, constructions is horrible which makes the traffic horrible, so be advised of driving conditions out here when you make the car decision. There are times you can walk a mile faster than trying to drive it!!!

I agree. If you plan on staying on the beach, then you can get by without a car. The trolley is convenient for moving up and down the beach if needed. You could walk to just about everywhere on the beach (not all of Clearwater, just the beach area), it would be a preatty long walk from one end to the other, but it is doable.

We visit Clearwater Beach regularly and our car tends to sit in the lot most of the time. We stay at the Sand Key which has free parking but I have to say the situation you describe would put me off staying there. I think the metered spaces are free at night but unless you are going to be going on trips each day and are an early riser this does not offer an adequate solution. There would be parking at some of the restaurants and other businesses along the street but this would be private grounds and I don%26#39;t think you would get off with it if you could find a space.

There did used to be a municipal parking lot at the beach (not sure if it is there now) but it is a fair distance from the hotel you are staying at so would be just as inconvenient as the valet service even if you could leave your car there overnight.