Im choosing 1 or the other, and thats that!!!
I checked out on expedia for a flight and hotel, as well as just a hotel
I decided on the howard johnson plaza, downtown. which was 109 a nite, just hotel. Or with flight and hotel on expedia it was 703 total.
I called the hotel and they said they have airport shuttle, they have free transportation to places within 2 miles, ( forum or aquarium if we dont walk). They have a pool. will get a taxi for us to BG, for about 60$ round trip, she said its about 15-20 minute ride.
They are in the finishing process of renovating the restaurant, its supposed to be done by end of this month. In mean time they have room service.. When the restaurant opens it will be a full menu with breakfast and all else.., we would pay for our meals,...so mid october it should be done and open.
thats what that offer is
the next hotel, is Hyatt regency tampa downtown
room alone is 189 a nite for 3 nites. Expedia has the flights and hotel for 802 total.......
They dont have airport shuttle, but tell you they are 6-7 miles from airport and it would be 20$ for the trip to their hotel by taxi. so that would be about 40$ or so round trip...
Their promo is a full free breakfast for 2 each morning of your stay... adults only. My son is 14 so he doesnt qualify for kids menu. and so we would have to pay for 1 of us to eat. which is still cheaper then having to pay for us all 3 to eat for 3 mornings. Monday morn. our flight leaves at 11 am. so we may not even have breakfast that morning, depending... we would have to be at airport at least an hr and a half or so, right??
So we would have 2 breakfasts for free for 2 days....
We can walk the 8-9 blocks to the forum and aquarium...
Now heres the question...... I guess you would all say its obvious, go to Howard Johnson plaza, im saving 100$. Im not going to spend that in 2-3 days of 3 people eating breakfast.... and they do have free shuttle from airport and they can take us to forum or aquarium.
How far of a walk is it from this hotel to those places? anyone have an idea?
Well thats it...... hyatt is smack in the middle of business %26amp; financial section and looks REAL fancy and nice.....HJ plaza is in a nice area, not as highly rated as hyatt, but still seems nice.
im going to choose from these 2 , and your feedback will be appreciated
Thanks so much
nancy
2 hotels and the ammenities. Opinions, feedback???.The Hyatt hands down!!! There is no comparison between the two hotels. For quality, location don%26#39;t even think twice. The $100 is money well spent, IMHO.
2 hotels and the ammenities. Opinions, feedback???.Nancy, Just go to yahoo and do a search and read some of the reviews, that should be enough to help with your decision. Book the room at the Hyatt, take the trolleys to Ybor City and Channelside and have a good time.
They are close to each other, although the Hyatt is a little closer to the Forum. The HOJO is a very capable and nice place, but it doesn%26#39;t compare to the Hyatt. I guess it comes down to which is more important, a nicer hotel, or the extra $300.
thanx you guys for your honesty. I figured the hyatt would be a hands down choice.
here is what i got from expedia deal................
Flight price
3 adults ($199.80 avg/per) $599.40
Hotel price
1 room, 3 nights ($189.00 avg/night) $567.00
Taxes %26amp; fees $90.38
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If booked separately: $1,256.78
Expedia discount
for booking together: -$454.58
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total: $802.20
Avg/person: $267.40
because i booked it together they subtracted 454$...
HOJO is 235 per person avg. and hyatt is as you can see, 267, a difference of 32$.
so i pay 32 more and get free breakfasts for 2 adults, BUT will have to pay 40 more or so for a taxi to the hyatt round trip from and to the airport. either hotel id be paying a cab for BG .
Is that business and financial area ok? hyatt looks too upscale for me, goofy isnt it to think that??? hahahaha
2 adults having a free breakfast for 2 mornings maybe 3, cant total up to all that much being saved. So id be paying 32 more then HOJO, and on top of that have to pay another 40 for taxi,
Paying 75$ just to stay at the hyatt as opposed to HOJO plaza. I dont know.............
I believe HOJO is done their renovations but just have to finish up the dining room is all....
I did read reviews from all over.... of course hyatt was rated well. and HOJO got mixed reviews.GREAT and not so great, BUT most negative ,were due to the remodeling stages. now that they are almost done it should be finished come mid october.........
UGH!!!!!!! I hate this..... My husband thinks we should be spending 50 60$ .. HA keep dreaming....
Nancy, I would consider this, how much time are you going to spend in the room? If you are just looking for a good place to sleep and shower, I would say that the HJ could work fine for you. On the other hand if you want a more upscale enviroment, better, professional, service and several nice places to eat and drink that are right outside your hotel room(Jackson%26#39;s comes to mind), I would recommend the Hyatt. I completely understand how hard it is to make a decision, especially when you have never been to the area. Here is how I always decide, if it is an area that I have never been to, I will ALWAYS go for the higher rated hotel. If I know the area and know what to expect I will settle for a lower rated or less expensive place. This has always worked for me.
Thanks so much for that rusty
I agree there, we arent going to spend all or most of the time in the room. We arent extravagant people and need all the upscale things. HOJO plaza seems to be an ok place. Its not a run down motel. Its downtown area just like all the others and 8-10 blocks away from forum and aquarium... The negative reviews were strickly having to do with how things were during remodeling... Most of those reviews were in july this past yr or back in jan or feb.... I called them and they are just finishing up the new dining room which will be a full service restaurant with menus etc.... right now guests are having room service for the meals, which is great too...
They are a reasonable priced place and have airport shuttle serv, as well as free transportation within 2 miles, which is if we didnt want to walk the 9-10 blocks they could drive us, to the forum or aquarium.... Going to BG , we will have to get a cab, no matter what, unless we stayed out that way and got a free shuttle to BG. But no,,,
Husband says HOJO sound nice and good for us. hanging at the pool or whatever we decide to do is ok.
Probably going to go with HOJO plaza in the long run.
why pay 32 $ more for a room that doesnt have shuttle service to airport? thats 40$ or so right there... Im sure its a different scale hotel and all that, but , like u said, we arent going to sit in the room whole time and want all the ammenities.
Are you saying that HOJO plaza area doesnt have restaurants within walking distance??? or within 2 miles that we could get a shuttle to? i thought these hotels were all sort of in the same vicinity?
friday nite4 we will go eat dinner or, if hotel has a decent dinner menu we can order in..... saturday we will eat out or breakfast in our room at least. luch out... sat nite we will eat at the game... sunday we can eat breakfast in and then go to BG for the day. so who knows when we will eat. they close at 5-6 i think on sundays in mid october.. then monday we go home... so im sure this plaza will be just fine for us.
If anyone knows the area around tha HOJO plaza, whats it like , as far as places to eat? or can we walk over to the water thats appears to be nearby?
and if the forum is about 9-10 blocks away, is that city blocks? like a 15 min average walk??
thanks again all of you for your help
I%26#39;m pretty sure this is the hotel that is near the Performing Arts Center and the interstate. You would probably want to take the shuttle if you stay here to get to most restaurants. Channelside has several restaurants you can choose from, but it would be at least a mile if not 2 miles to walk there. Fine if you%26#39;re a walker and wear comfortable shoes. Definitely too far to walk if you are in heels. If the shuttle takes you to Channelside, you can also grab the trolley from Channelside to Ybor City for more choices in restaurants. There are a few restaurants scattered in downtown also. Your hotel should be able to guide you in where the nearest restaurants are. Have fun!
To answer some of your other questions - you are very close to the water, but farther away from restaurants on the water.
The Forum is close to Channelside - so probably about a mile away from the hotel. Again it is walkable, but wear very comfortable shoes if you decide to walk. Your hotel is on one end of downtown and Forum and Channelside is on the other end. Hope this helps!
fsufan is correct, the HJ is right off Interstate 14 %26amp; 275 and there are fewer restaurants on that end of town. The atmosphere in the area of the Marriot is more upscale, upbeat and fun for vacationers but I think you have already made your decision to stay at the HJ so I would just plan from there. You have the option of the shuttle, cabs or even the trolley to get you from one place to the next.
I know you only wanted to choose from these two hotels but just for the heck of it, check out the Marriot Waterside, if you guys could get a good deal there, you would LOVE this hotel, hands down in my option it is the nicest hotel in Tampa and in a great location, right where you want to be.
yes this hotel is near the P.A. building.
I did ck with waterside, its way to pricey for us... They all are nice hotels, just a bit pricey. I dont know enough about priceline to try to bid on a cheaper hotel.... Im afraid that if i win the bid, ill get stuck with a room thats not what i want. and you dont know what you are getting. even if its a 3 or 4 star hotel downtown you cant go wrong. But if its a king bed and smoking room , NO thats not what i need. Then you have to go about upgrading and changing, and hope they have an available room, left. Hotwire is like priceline, and you take your chances. I dont want to risk not getting the type of room i need, its not about being fancy and offering you all these ammenities, its about i need 2 dbl or queen beds non smoking, and i may or may not get that....I have 1 month til we go to tampa, and so i need to really start deciding what we need to do....
The other replys to this post, thanks first off. But its funny cause it sounds as though no matter what reviews i read or what i decide i need a room for, you all say to go with the hyatt, a better area, and restaurants etc etc...
My husband seems to think that we will just hang out at the pool. eat at the hotel......
he doesnt want to spend a whole lot. and the hyatt has no airport shuttle and its more expensive. who needs all the frills etc .
Originally i was going with the hilton garden inn north tampa.... but they didnt have a shuttle to airport either and we would spend more money going to and from airport as well as the forum in cab fares...
BG they have a shuttle to there but thats it, and its not really near things either from what i was told....
since we arent renting a car, thats the big thing, getting places eith by walking or a shuttle or whatever
So you all are saying that the HOJO plaza on west fortune st, doesnt have many places to walk to, to go eat, if we decided to not eat in the room..? im sure the front desk can tell us where places are to go to.
and again, im sure the remodeling of the hotel is done now, and they are finishing up the dining room. so its not going to be this old shabby moldy place that some reviews had mentioned. it may only be 2 star or whatever but if its clean and comfy and has a place to eat and friendly staff on top of a shuttle etc, then thats good its ok for us...plus its only 109 and not almost 200...
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