Where: Between Clearwater and St. Pete Beach (about 20 miles from the Tampa Airport), FLORIDA Gulf Coast
When: Memorial Day Weekend, May 2014
Who: 2 adults & 2 kids
Cost: We used 40,000 Hilton Hhonors points per night. At the time of our stay, rooms were going for $300+ per night (because of the holiday weekend). I have seen them for much, much cheaper though, and I wouldn’t use points if I got a great paid rate.
When we were planning our Memorial Day weekend getaway, we wanted to find a beachfront hotel in a location where we could swim in the ocean in May (and use our Hilton points). We were also looking for an easy, short, direct flight from Philadelphia (using our Southwest points). The DoubleTree Beach Resort by Hilton Hotel Tampa Bay – North Redington Beach fit the bill.
We are Hilton Gold members, and because of this we were upgraded to an oceanfront room on the 4th floor. I was really hoping that this would happen, but wasn’t sure that it would because of the holiday weekend. Having the balcony facing the beach was key, and I am really glad that we were fortunate enough to get the upgrade. We were also given 2 breakfast vouchers per day (full buffet), which was a value of $15.95 per person, per day. We got Hilton Gold status because it is one of the benefits of having the Citi Hilton Reserve Credit Card.
All of the staff members that we encountered were very friendly and helpful, from the front desk staff to the waitstaff in the restaurant.
Some of the special touches & good things to know:
The room was fine. Nothing fancy. A bit rundown, but not in a dirty way. Just in an older beach hotel kind of way. I knew this going into it (after reading reviews online), so I was not surprised. We had 2 Queen beds, which is still adequate for our family of 4. The room also had a mini-refrigerator, free WiFi, a 40-inch TV, and a coffeemaker. The balcony with oceanview was my favorite part. There were 2 chairs and a small table on the balcony.
I meant to take some photos before the kids started throwing their stuff all over the room, but I missed that opportunity.
The very best thing about this hotel is the location. First of all, it is directly on the beach. And not only any beach, but a gorgeous stretch of beautiful white sand on the Gulf Coast of Florida. You can walk out of the hotel and be on the beach in about 10 seconds, which is exactly what we wanted. It is very easy to get to from the Tampa airport, which is a very easy 2 hour flight for us.
North Redington Beach is quiet compared to Clearwater and St. Pete beaches (which are also a short drive away). The area is mostly condos. There is a beach/surf shop kind of a place across the street, and also a little sandwich shop (get lunch there & bring it back instead of eating at the hotel restaurant). Everything else is a drive. There are some really great places to eat a very short drive away.
We really enjoyed our stay at the DoubleTree Beach Resort Tampa Bay – North Redington Beach. We would recommend it, especially with kids. There were tons of kids there the weekend that we were there, so I would not consider it to be a romantic destination (at least not during Memorial Day weekend!), but a family-friendly destination. I think it’s a good value for using Hilton points when the rates are really high (I would not pay those high rates).
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