A nightly rate is not the price of the stay, and a scouting trip has questions a vacation does not.
Choose a county to compare distinct hotels, locations and trip styles.
A hotel at 3400 Gulf Boulevard on St Pete Beach, open since 1928 and known as the Pink Palace, in Art Deco style on the Gulf. Rooms and suites are in the main building and in the Beach House Suites, from single rooms to penthouses with several bedrooms. There is Spa Oceana, the Society Table restaurant and the Beacon Bar, and space for meetings and weddings.
A resort of two hundred and thirty rooms and suites at 430 South Gulfview Boulevard on Clearwater Beach, every one facing the Gulf. There is direct access to the beach, and a sky bridge joins it to Opal Sol next door: between them the two have four pools, two spas and ten places to eat and drink, among them SeaGuini and the Sandbar. There is more than seventeen thousand square feet of indoor and outdoor event space.
A hotel of three hundred and forty-three rooms at 100 Coronado Drive on Clearwater Beach, between the Gulf and the Intracoastal Waterway, with marina access. Most rooms have a balcony or terrace looking over the Gulf or the Intracoastal, and the range runs from deluxe rooms to a two level presidential suite of three bedrooms that can open to five. There is a spa and five places to eat and drink, among them Ocean Hai and a pool bar.
A resort at 501 Fifth Avenue Northeast in St Petersburg, in a Mediterranean style building open since 1925 and since restored. There are two pools, the Vinoy Spa, a fitness center, tennis courts, and marinas with boat slips. The eighteen hole golf course, laid out by Ron Garl on a course dating to 1920, plays to six thousand six hundred and twenty-six yards at par seventy-one. Seven places to eat and drink and four ballrooms are on the property.
A resort of two hundred and fifty-three rooms and suites at 500 Mandalay Avenue on Clearwater Beach, with seven hundred feet of private shoreline. Suites have full kitchens, dining rooms and furnished balconies. There is a zero entry pool, the Spa at Sandpearl, a marina, the Caretta on the Gulf restaurant, and more than twenty-five thousand square feet of indoor and outdoor event space.
A small hotel at 433 Coronado Drive on Clearwater Beach, a two minute walk from the main beach. There are six kinds of suite, sleeping two to four: standard, premium, executive, double, honeymoon and executive water view, all with a king bed. Rooms have a wine refrigerator and a wet bar, and there is a pool with a lounge area.
A hotel at 7201 Sunset Way on St Pete Beach, an older beach hotel made over as a modern one. Rooms have smart televisions, a safe, coffee and tea, a robe and slippers, blackout curtains and backlit bathroom mirrors. There is a pool with towels, and 82 Degrees, a bar and restaurant on the second floor serving from breakfast until late. Beach wagons, chairs and cruiser bicycles are free to guests, and there is a mural by the Vitale Brothers.
A historic hotel at 7401 Central Avenue in St Petersburg, once the Sunset Hotel in the 1940s and 1950s, when Babe Ruth and Marilyn Monroe stayed here; two rooms are named for them. Rooms come as queens, kings, verandas and two queen rooms, each with a private bathroom, a small refrigerator and a microwave. A hot breakfast cooked to order is included. There is a pool, free parking, free wireless internet and a veranda looking over Boca Ciega Bay.
An inn of fourteen rooms and one private cottage at 1401 Gulf Way in Pass-a-Grille, at the south end of St Pete Beach, where the beach is a few minutes' walk from the door. There are standard rooms and fully equipped suites, with sea or garden views, and some have a balcony or a barbecue patio, a full kitchen or a king bed. Parking is included. The inn is run for adults and, being old, is not wheelchair accessible.
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Choose the shortest format that still lets you test ordinary life without racing from one end of Florida to another.
Choose one county and two communities. Use day one for essential routes, day two for neighborhoods and housing, and day three for repeat drives and unresolved questions.
Split the stay between two county areas. Give each finalist two ordinary days, then reserve the final day to revisit the strongest community.
Use two lodging bases rather than crossing the region every day. Compare no more than three counties and protect time for unplanned discoveries.
Leave at the time you would normally travel and use the likely work route.
Drive to the hospital, primary-care area or specialist you expect to use.
Test groceries, pharmacy, fuel and ordinary services—not only dining and attractions.
Measure the full route, parking and realistic departure-time burden.
Check beach, event or tourism traffic when that pattern affects the community.
See lighting, noise, access and neighborhood conditions after dark.
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