TradeWinds Island Grand was Grand
by A TripAdvisor Member
From the moment you step onto the property of the Tradewinds Island Grand you are happily greeted by such polite people from the bell hop, to the check in, to Tim over at the Shark Tooth Tavern. There is not one sour puss on the premises. Even the visitors were friendly. You are going to be so pleased at what the Tradewinds island Grand Hotel has in store for you and your family. This is definitely a Family Fun Place.
This is a place that lives by its motto, "Just let go". The cleaniness is impecable and everything is easy to reach. This is a place for relaxtion at its best. If you want a relaxing vacation where everything is at your fingertips then this is the place to be. The kids will love you for it, and you will love being there. Have A Grand Time : ) We Did! Thanks Tradewinds Island Grand, we will miss you. But sure to return.
A nice place for a few days at the beach
by A TripAdvisor Member
Just got back from a trip to TradeWinds Island Grand. Travelled with my wife and 2 teenage daughters. Overall, it was a good experience. It was a bit pricey but I was there at a peak time so I can accept it. I had read the previous reviews and was concerned about some of the negative comments; specifically those about the cleanliness, service and long lines. Maybe we got lucky but we experienced no long lines at check-in or check-out. We arrived around 1 p.m. on Thursday and were able to quickly check in and get into our room despite a 4 p.m. stated check-in time. We had a one bedroom suite. It was small but functional. It was clean, though not spotless. The suite was in the Jacaranda building on the 4th floor. The elevators were slow so we often just took the stairs. We found the beach setup to be great. The staff sets you up in a cabana that you can use for the day. We swam in the gulf and in the adult pool. Even though the place was packed with kids (no offense to parents of the little ones, but my days of dealing with the noise,etc.
are behind me), we were not affected by it at all. From what I could tell from afar, there is a lot to do for the little ones. I loved the tiki-hut bar at the adult pool We watched the sunset from there a few nights. We ate in 2 of the on-site restaurants (Bermuda's and the Flying Bridge). Very basic stuff and very average. Overall, we just enjoyed the property, the beach and the adult pool. We found it all very relaxing and would go back again.
Tried and tested
by TripAdvisor Member Sawasdee12
Our family have been visiting this hotel in it's few re-do's etc for over 20 years, my wife still loves to return,once a year, my kids are in their 20's and doing their own thing, irritants are usually lengthy check in lines, tough with mid morning flight arrivals from Newark etc, be patient, you can use the appropriate changing room and it helps to be polite, the suites are mainly in the older (original) blocks and a reasnoble size but the rooms(modern blocks) are on the small side for 4 people, obese folks will suffer two up on the small double beds, bathrooms are OK and again won't tolerate more than an adult and one kid, beauty items are standard issue-type, lots for kids to do and parents will soon find the local restaurants(non-chain) although thes places get real popular at 6-7pm, nearby Publix supermarket, Eckerds and a great swim wear shop !, beach is nice and a little shelly close to the water, nice to walk-aways down sand prior to breakfast too, shopping centres only a few miles away and Busch Gardens less than an hour with Disney and the other parks a 2 hour ride away, in many ways this is a very nice hotel and close to the airports, lots of conveniences, watch the weather as its not always that warm and we have battened down in a very intense storm some years ago, go visit all the other beach resorts and restaurants and a week will soon go, spectacular sunsets too, dont spend a lot by staying at the Don Ceasar , we stayed for a wedding for good friends and without exception, everyone was offended by the Don's awful service and lack of interest in taking care of the couple or anyone else, it was 4th rate and the rooms were malfunctioning in many ways ! Visit the Tradewinds,go there and relax, dont be "american fearful" about everything and you might have a good time, even meet people in a non-competitive environment for once !
Honestly Not all it out made out to even if you have KIDS!
by A TripAdvisor Member
My family and I just got back from St. Pete. I love to travel and love to stay at nice resorts with my two young children. I have only traveled to Florida a few times. Usually Disney. We decided that this vacation we want to stay on the beach. I will give you my run down on this resort. The pictures you see on the internet of this resort is what you get. We payed over 300 smackers per night to stay here. We checked in service okay. There was supposably a multi million dollar renovation. I never have been here before and have no idea what they put the money into. Our room was gross. Stains on the floor and the bathroom was never cleaned, well at least the floor. As others said there is a Mildew smell in the rooms. We did have a excellent view of the air conditioners on the building right in front of us. How romantic! Then there is this extra 10-12 resort fee you can pay each day to use some of the amenities. JUNK! The waves i guess were normally high for the 6 days we were there. So the extra water staff hanging around so not today. OK so it paid for the parking. Big deal. I am a huge fan of finding a nice hotel with Pools. If your resort stinks you can always fall back to the pools. NOT HERE! I read some advertisements that there are 8 pools. Not true. At this resort there were 3. One Adult only. They say you can use the other 2 sister resorts pools. Only one of the hotels I think called the sand piper which was a dump! I could never find the third hotel. Nicest amenities of this resort was the beach. My son and I strolled down the whole St. Pete beach to find another hotel to stay it. If you are looking go to Clearwater. All DUMPS! If you are into Myrtle Beach then come here. 5th grade Apartment like Hotels! The only nice one was the Don Caesar but you will need more the 300 smackers to afford it. Oh ya the restaurants were so bad on the resort. It was like eating that crap pizza from Chuck E Cheese. I ordered a Steak. Halfway through I had a receipt at the bottom of my plate. --- Even the staffed peeved about this hotel. I give this hotel no thumbs up or down. I give it the FINGER!
Nice place but had a very big problem that ruined our time
by TripAdvisor Member Moe9
This was a pleasant resort, but not quite worth the price we paid. We got the One Bedroom overlooking the Gulf. Well, we don't smoke but the room we had was above a smoker, so when you opened the sliding glass doors no matter what time of day or night, the smoke drifted up and our room smelled horrible! We like to have them open but couldn't. Also, the place is so huge and there are not enough directional signs. People were all the time asking where so and so was.
Had a great time March 30,31 2004
by A TripAdvisor Member
We were at the Island Grand for 2 nights March 30, 31st 2004. I am surprised by the varying opinions on this resort. We had a very nice time there. I'm sure it helped that we were upgraded somehow from a parlor room reservation to a 2 bedroom suite! Not even taking that into account, we enjoyed the cabanas on the beach that are included in the charge, the paddleboats and the pirate show on a Wed. night. We ate at the Flying Bridge restaurant twice - my 11 year old loved their hamburger and had it twice! (All 63 pounds of her so you can tell she's not a big eater). The 2 pools (not including the adult pool) are a little on the small side and were therefore a little crowded during the day. But my 9 year old entered the hula hoop contest and the limbo contest that were held poolside and will remember that. We walked over to the Sandpiper one morning for breakfast and that was fine - nothing to rave about but certainly acceptable for 2 kids and 2 adults not looking for a big fancy breakfast. The menus at the various restaurants seemed a little limited and too much the same - would have liked to seen a little more variety in the menus. We did not eat at the more expensive places - not enough time. I did not have any complaints about the cleanliness or the decor. The renovation seemed very nice. The lobby area and the valet service were very nice. We would definitely return to this resort with or without the upgrade.
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