Floridan Palace Hotel

Fine

This is an old hotel. It is clean but the beds and pillows are terrible. Hard and old. The bathroom has been redone which is nice but for 300 I would have expected nice

Beds pillows no lighting in room. Only 2 lamps for large room

below average experience

I liked the historic feel of the hotel.

Poor check in experience. We were checked into a room already occupied and walked in on young lady. Parking was difficult as we did not get straight forward answer of where the overflow lot was located. There were not any basic amenities in the room such as coffee or additional glassware.

Some good and some bad

The hotel was very nice in appearance and the front office staff was extremely pleasant and inviting. Check-in / Check-out was very quick and professionally handled. The lobby bar service was exceptional and the Bartender, Rod, was fantastic. He handled a large group of people efficiently and friendly. The rooms were large and decorated nicely. Upon first entry everything looked like it was going to be great. Those were the highlights of the stay.

Unfortunately, you could see the massive renovations that were recently completed were either finished in haste or by a group of inexperienced contractors. The floors were extremely uneven and lumpy, the bathrooms tiles were uneven and the shower faucet was not even attached to the wall. The grout in the shower tile was mostly falling apart. Paint and finish work would also be seen as shoddy by someone even without appreciation to detail. Remember, this is supposed to be a stay in a luxury boutique hotel so guests should expect more for the rates charged. The bed was the hardest bed I ever "slept" in, not much sleeping because we were so uncomfortable. I can't begin to explain how hard it was but I actually contemplated laying on the lumpy floor at one point. Amazingly, no breakfast is served at this hotel and it's not in a great location to just walk next door. The lowlight was The Sapphire Room, we attended a private party there. We found the bartenders there to be rude and overwhelmed. Food was good but not great and at the end of the night, "friends of the hotel owners" (AKA, the bartenders friends) raided our food table. When confronted about the food raid, the group at least stopped eating but then the bartender told us that he would call the cops if we started any trouble and that they were friends. Certainly, one of the most ridiculous scenes I've ever experienced and the Manager was of no help. Needless to say, we will not be returning to this place for any reason. I must say, I found it difficult to rate this hotel because there really were some great things about it but the bad outweighed the good that swayed me to the two star rating. This place has so much potential but falls short of standing up to the many surrounding Downtown Tampa hotels there are to choose from. Look elsewhere if you want comfort and service.