Although the location of this hotel is fabulous - being beach front to a not-busy area of Treasure Island beach, and yet still close to downtown St. Pete (about 20min drive) and a manageable drive to Tampa (about 40min), I would not consider staying here again.
For positives:
-As mentioned, the location is ideal.
-There was free parking, which was great for those of us who like to rent cars.
-The pool was also nice and warm, but it was also pretty small and there were only two umbrellas, which were often already occupied when wanting to go to the pool.
-I also liked being located along the walkway along the beach to allow for easy access to other places on Treasure Island without having to walk along the streets.
-Our unit had two beach chairs and an umbrella in the closet, which were nice to have for use on the beach, but the umbrella would not stay upright due to the wind (it was very flimsy and cheap). I'll list it as a positive because I was informed not all the rooms have chairs included.
For negatives:
-Our room smelled awful of old cigarette smoke. My clothes and belongings reek of it upon my return home and yet we do not smoke, and the room is listed as non-smoking with hefty fees for those who do. It was more than just a minor amount, as it was soaked into the dresser, the closet, and every time we came back to the room and opened the door, the smell was nauseating.
-In addition, I felt the room was pretty dirty/grimy upon arrival, with gritty feelings on the countertops as if they had not been cleaned, large amounts of sand inside the dresser drawers (that my boyfriend and I had to clean out ourselves in order to use), and visible mold spots along the windows. The dishes and silverware were also questionably clean, and when I went to wash them again prior to use, I noticed the kitchen sink water would not get hot, only tepid/room temperature.
-The bed was also hard and uncomfortable, and they only provided two large but flat pillows, two lumpy small pillows that reeked of cigarette smoke were stowed in the closet (I would not use them since they did not have additional pillow cases for them, and they smelled awful), and two large decorative pillows that I did not want to use for sleeping since I was doubtful the covers had been cleaned recently.
-The shower only had two temperature options: hot and scalding. It was impossible to cool the water because even turning the knob all the way to the cool side left the water still hot. While using the shower, both my boyfriend and I noticed that occasionally (approximately once per shower use) the water would get unbearably hot despite not touching the knob, and we would have to step out of the water for a few minutes and just wait for it to slightly cool down to resume showering.
-There was nowhere to hang our used towels. There was a hand rail in the shower, but in the line of water so that wouldn't work. An additional bar at the end of the shower that we used to hang our towels during the shower for ease of access. A hand towel bar on the wall in the bathroom where we hung our hand towels, and then one hook on the bathroom door for towels to hang. However, since the only A/C unit was in the kitchen, if the bathroom door was not left completely open, any towels left in the bathroom to hang (such as on the shower curtain bar) would remain damp due to the heat of being out of the way from the A/C. We ended up having to hang our towels to dry on the backs of the barstools in the kitchen, otherwise they would be damp upon our return.
Overall, we felt the value for our money was poor, and much could be improved upon. We had a good time when we were out and about exploring, or on the beach, but I would not recommend Tropic Terrace or stay here again unless some significant improvements occurred.