Tampa, Florida: Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Tampa East Ybor City

 

January 2023, Sunday night, one night

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Ybor City, Florida

King suite walk-in shower

I do not recall our guestroom number at this hotel, and I neglected to write it down. Our room was on the front side of the building facing the parking lot. I used a free night certificate for the room, and paid only the cruise parking fee. The parking charge of $53.75 shows in my IHG account activity; however, there is no hotel bill available to check the guestroom number.

King suite in Holiday Inn Express & Suites Ybor City, Florida

This hotel was very clean. The guestroom was quiet and comfy. Even though our guestroom had a connecting room door, we did not hear any noise from the room next door. I do not know if that is because that room was empty, or if the connecting door is just wonderfully soundproof, like the rest of the guestroom. We did not hear any noise through the large window or the hallway door.

Bathroom in king suite in Holiday Inn Express & Suites Ybor City, Florida

We liked the walk-in shower, and the Keurig amenities provided at Holiday Inn Express. 

Parking, shuttle, misc.

We chose this hotel because they offer transportation to the cruise port, and there is no parking charge for overnight guests. During check-in, we learned we had to pay to park our vehicle. The agent had told me the charge is $50, and we were charged $53.75. I assume the extra charge was taxes, although I do not know since we were not provided with a bill or receipt. We were not happy with the entire shuttle service, and if we had known the situation beforehand, we would have pre-purchased parking at the port. There are a couple of parking facilities across the street from the cruise port (Pathway Parking and Park4Cruise) for $9.99 or $10.50 a day: however, they were full when I checked after checking in at the hotel. You can walk to the cruise port from the parking lots on Channelside Drive. Following are the details of the lousy shuttle service at Holiday Inn Express.

Our check-in appointment at the cruise port was for 10:00 AM. Even though we were checking into the hotel before check-in time, we were told that the shuttle times we wanted we already full. We would either have to wait until noon, or go at 9:00 AM, and then wait at the port. Since our check-in at Jacksonville cruise port the week before had been so efficient, we chose the earlier shuttle, rather than the late one. Other than not having the time available that we wanted, the trip to port was uneventful. Our return trip, however, was a different story. We got off the boat right away, and then called for the shuttle at 7:43 AM. The person who answered the phone told me the driver was at the cruise port (Royal Caribbean terminal; not Carnival where we were), and she would call him to see if he had room for us. She called me back a few minutes later to say that he was already on his way back to the hotel, and then he would return for us. She told us it would be about 20 minutes. The shuttle driver arrived at the Carnival terminal over 25 minutes later. After he picked us up, he received a call for more guests at the Royal Caribbean terminal. When we got to this terminal, there were no guests waiting. Apparently, the people had called before they were outside the terminal. Our driver waited about 15 minutes for these people! Cruise terminal pick up is just like airports, and is not supposed to be used for parking. When the guests were not at the pick up spot, our driver should have waited no more than a few minutes before departing. By the time these guests boarded, and we arrived in the hotel parking lot, it was 8:48 AM, over an hour after we had called for our ride! 

Another shuttle disappointment for us, is that the hotel shuttle was not running on Sunday when we arrived, so we could not take it to Ybor City. This hotel website has been updated since our stay. I had expressed my dissatisfaction with the cruise parking charge, and my disappointment about the area shuttle not running because that information was different than we had been told, and from what we had read before our stay. Their website now lists the $50 cruise parking charge, and the area shuttle service has been removed from their amenities. At the time of our stay, the agent told me they have a local shuttle; however, she said it does not run on Sundays. Apparently, they have done away with it altogether now.

Let me know if you have any questions!