Tampa Marriott Water Street in Tampa, FL

This hotel is beautiful, really nicely decorated and all that - but beware: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights it is loud outside! I asked for a water view room, because I thought it would be quieter than the street view rooms, but I was wrong. Apparently the music lasts until at least 12am or even 12:30am! It is coming from the boat and restaurants across the water and it is loud bass thumping music. Also, note that this is a party hotel. Because of the distance to all the bars and clubs and Arena, especially on a game or concert night, everyone is staying there. It is busy, loud, kids are running down the hall, babies are screaming in rooms, and people are getting intimate which you can hear through the hallways, if you know what I mean. The walls are thick where you can’t hear into the next room, however, you can hear noise through your room door. Perhaps the best thing about this hotel is the restaurant, the Riverwalk Terrace, which was recently renovated. It is beautiful, and the food is delicious. The buffet is a little pricey, but you can order off the menu and the food is just as wonderful.

Overall I enjoyed my stay here but found room for improvement in several areas. I was in town to visit family and run the Gasparilla 15K race. Pros: The hotel is in a great location across from the convention center and close to Bayshore Blvd where you can walk or run for miles. My room had a balcony with a great view of the water. I used the fitness center. It was large and very nice. The staff outside the hotel in the drive-up area were very helpful. It was always very busy but one of them helped me locate my Uber driver. The concierge lounge was spacious and modern with great views. The staff there were friendly and very helpful. Cons: Would suggest they stock bottles of water in the concierge lounge. Instead they have a water spout. With as warm and humid as Tampa gets it would be great to just grab a bottle of water and go versus having to pour into a plastic cup. Plus not everyone carries their own reusable water bottle especially when traveling. My room was also never stocked with any complimentary bottled water. Would also suggest providing regular yogurt at breakfast versus only greek yogurt as not everyone is a fan of greek yogurt. I was also disappointed that the entire lounge closed from noon on Friday until 5:30pm on Sunday. It's understandable that the lounge could get very busy with people on the weekends. However maybe just opening for breakfast for limited hours on Sat and Sun morning could be considered. Also I realize that Marriott now does not provide complimentary beer and wine in their lounges; however this is something they should reconsider. Other hotel brands such as Kimpton provide complimentary happy hours which is a nice perk. The hotel definitely had a loud party atmosphere and especially at the pool where there are two bars. However maybe this was just as it was the weekend when I stayed. I found the check-in process to be slow and at one point there was only one person working the front desk. Finally I found all of the "perks" that were provided as a result of having to pay a daily $35 resort fee to be very confusing and I did not utilize any of them. Each evening there was a type of cocktail tasting but it was confusing as to the locations as they were all different. One evening I came upon a complimentary wine offering but it consisted of a 1 or 2 oz "sample". A ride on the water taxi was included in the resort fee; however I did not have time to figure out where to catch that or where it went. The $35 resort fee should be reconsidered as not everyone stays at the hotel for a "resort" experience. I was a solo traveler and in town to run the Gasparilla race so I did not have time for things like water sports or bike riding. I was interesting in taking the complimentary trolley to Ybor City, however there was no one at the concierge desk to ask for information about it. I also found the fitness center to be in need of a deep cleaning. The area where the yoga mats were was very dusty and looked like it had not even been swept in a long time.

We spent 4 nights at this hotel as a family. The first night, we were in room 2725. We checked in around 11pm. Our room had a tissue dispenser with no tissues in it. There were no little bottles of water, so we had to go back to the front desk and ask for some. After we went to bed around midnight there was a thumping noise that lasted at least an hour and a half that kept us awake. We were on the top floor and the noise sounded like it was coming above us from the roof. In the morning, I requested a new room due to the noise, and we were moved to 2517. This was much better for noise, however there were ants in the bathroom crawling on the floor and bathroom rug every day - not a lot - maybe about 10 ants. Other than these issues, the hotel was nice. The pool was beautiful and warm enough. The location was great and vary walkable. We had a water view room, and loved the view. We were given a card for each day for free beverages for 2 people. When I used it at the pool bar, after they made the 2 beverages, they told me it is only good for one, and that there always is a misunderstanding on this. I ordered both drinks just because they were free but then had to pay for one. The club lounge was nice, as were the attendants there. It is open until Friday at noon, and then re-opens Sunday evening. Saturday and Sunday morning, they gave us the breakfast buffet complimentary at the restaurant, for our titanium status. When we checked out, it took over half an hour to get our car from valet. Lots of small issues, but still an enjoyable stay. We will probably try another hotel next time.

I have an upcoming reservation at this hotel that was for seven nights for a total of $2000. I’m only coming in for four nights, so I called to change the reservation and keep the same rate per night. The woman on the phone said I needed to stay five nights to keep the rate so I said OK let’s make it a five night reservation. She said I just have to go check with my management team. I was put on hold for about 10 minutes and when she came back, she said great I was able to do it. You are now booked for five nights for a cost of $2800. When I told her I didn’t wanna spend $800 more to stay for two last nights she said that she didn’t have access to the earlier reservation so I was stuck with it. It sucks spending $800 more for last nights because The help desk was no help at all.

Hotel feels slightly dated. Staff were very polite at check in. Love the $30 credit, Mexican beer tasting hour! Bed was comfortable and room and bathroom were clean.