The Residence Inn by Marriott in Clearwater Beach, Florida is the perfect hotel for a family on a budget. The hotel is right off the Clearwater Bay and only minutes away (on foot) from the Gulf of Mexico. You really couldn’t ask for a better hotel at this price range.
With big, clean rooms, friendly staff, and amazing amenities, what more could you be looking for? Oh and don’t worry there is a bar just off the lobby if you want to grab a drink and sit by the pool.
With so many shops, restaurants, and activities nearby. The Residence Inn is in the perfect location to get you anywhere by foot or car with little problems. Check out our review below to see if this is the perfect hotel in Clearwater for your family.
Room
The Residence Inn Clearwater Beach offers studio, one bedroom, and two bedroom suites. On my last stay we stayed in a studio that had plenty of room for two adults and two 12 year old’s. If you are curious about what a one bedroom suite looks like, check out our post on the one bedroom suite at the Residence Inn Florence, SC.
The studio rooms are a lot bigger than they look. The whole room felt warm and inviting. It almost felt like we rented a studio apartment for the weekend and were not staying at a hotel.
Around the room you will find two queen size beds that are nice and comfortable. The beds were definitely in that goldilocks zone (not too hard, not too soft) for most people. Although, I would prefer mine to be a little more on the firmer side, they still give me a great night’s sleep.. The pillows provided were also very comfortable.
The studio rooms also come with a couch that converts into a bed if needed. The couch is very comfortable as well and is pretty big. All four of us were able to sit on the couch at one time and we still had a little room left.
The bathroom here was huge. Now the sink is in the bathroom unlike some of the other places we recently visited where the sink is located outside of the toilet and shower area. However, it didn’t hurt too much in the morning getting ready. It just means you need to plan on having a little more time in the morning to get ready.
Water pressure for both the shower and sink were perfect. The temp of the water coming out the sink was great too. However, it was a little more difficult to get the perfect water temp out of the shower. It was still doable, you just had to work at it a little more.
The shower was a decent size too! More than enough room to move around and they also have shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in big pump bottles on the wall.
The flushing power on the toilet was great. You won’t have to worry about finding a plunger or anything if the unfortunate happens.
Overall, the bathroom is a great size. You won’t feel cramped in there while trying to change. You won’t even feel cramped in there if two of you are in there trying to get ready in the morning using the sink and mirror.
One of the best things about the studio room, as well as all the rooms at the Residence Inn, you have a small kitchen in the room. It has a full size fridge (don’t forget to turn on the ice maker), small one burner stove, plates, cups, bowls, and silverware. It has everything you could want to make a small home cooked meal away from home.
This is great for a family trying to save some money while on vacation. No need to go out to restaurants three times a day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can make some meals in the comfort of your own room. Plus if you do go out to eat. You have a full size fridge to bring back the leftovers.
Overall, I was very pleased with the room I had while staying at the Residence Inn Clearwater Beach. I even had an ocean view room that didn’t cost me extra. One one downside with that and I didn’t experience it but I read other reviews where guests mentioned it. Right in front of the hotel is Coco’s Crush Bar. Some people complained about the noise. We didn’t have an issues but maybe that is because we stayed on a Sunday and Monday in the beginning of August.
Around the Hotel
The Residence Inn by Marriot at Clearwater Beach has just about everything you could want to find at your hotel in this price range. They have a nice pool, fitness center, plenty of seating in the lobby, bar, and small restaurant.
The pool is located on the 4th floor right next to the lobby. While the pool is a little small for the size of the hotel. There were plenty of chairs all around the pool deck. We didn’t have a problem trying to find a place to sit and put our stuff at.
The pool deck also offered a pretty nice view of Clearwater Bay.
The entire lobby area was very nice and inviting. There were plenty of seats to lounge around in while grabbing a small bite to eat or a drink from the lobby bar. The prices for food and drinks were not outrageous either. They were on par with the local area.
In the morning you will find a free breakfast bar open. The food area is huge and they do have a nice selection. However, I didn’t find much that impressed me here. On the day I was there they had scrambled eggs, pork sausage, and I think french toast.
You could also find bagels, muffins, cereals, and fresh fruit. Now I never saw cream cheese or syrup. Not sure if they forgot to put it out or didn’t offer it. I would think that the worker just forgot to put it out.
You can also find hot coffee and water. I wasn’t a fan of the coffee but I believe it was Starbucks and I despise their coffee. A Starbucks can be found attached to the hotel on the ground floor. You have to go outside to enter it.
Also on the main level you will locate the fitness center. I must say I was very surprised by the size of this one. They had a decent amount of equipment available to use.
You will find a small bench and dumbbells. They also have a couple treadmills and ellipticals too!. Oh, and they even have a bike. That’s something you don’t often see in hotel fitness areas.
Local area
There are a ton of things to see and do in the surrounding area. This small island is very walkable. Pier 60 is a short 6 minute walk. The Clearwater Marine Aquarium is only 1.2 miles away and should take you less than a half hour to walk to. Even a walk to the shops and Hogan’s Hangout is no more than .7 miles or under 15 minute walk.
You won’t need to bring the car out at all while staying at the Residence Inn. If you do have a destination a little further in mind. Make sure you check out the Jolley Trolley. For $5 you can ride it all day and can also ride on the Suncoast Beach Trolley and PSTA. You can get to a lot of different destinations taking any of those routes. Just make sure you look it up before you hop on one. You don’t want to end up in Tarpon Springs without a way back.
The Clearwater Marina is just a short walk from the hotel. Here you can find all kinds of boats to go on a nice little tour of the surrounding waters. Most of them also offer sunset tours. Some of the boats do dolphin watching while others are just for pleasure.
You can even rent out Jet Skis from this area. Make sure you look around first. Don’t just jump on the first cruise you can find. Unless it’s getting close to sunset. You might want to grab the first one. Those tours fill up pretty fast and sometimes within the first hour the ticket booth is opened for the day.
Down Mandalay Ave, you can find all kinds of shops and eateries. Some of the highlights are Ron Jon Surf shop, Wings Beachwear, Beach Shanty Cafe, Waves, The Salty Crab Bar, and Hogan’s Hangout. You could easily spend the whole afternoon walking around checking out the different shops, bars, and cafe’s.
Or just walk across the street from the hotel and check out Surf Style. This place has it all. Tons of gear for the beach. Plus they have a small convenience store that sells drinks, snacks, alcohol, and prepared foods.
Of course, I am pretty sure the main reason you are staying in Clearwater is to visit the beach. Well, the Residence Inn is only a short walk to the beach. Plus, did you know Clearwater Beach was voted the number one beach in the south. Once you visit you will understand why.
The white sands and blue water make for the perfect beach day. Bring your chair or rent one for the day. Or just walk along the coast getting your feet wet in the waters of the Gulf.
Clearwater Beach also makes for a perfect location to get some amazing sunset shots. The only problem you will have are other people in the water in your photos. However, it does help make them a little more interesting.
Food
There are a ton of places with amazing food around the hotel. I have tried Ck’s, Crabby’s, and Frenchy’s before. I still will hit up at least one of them each time I visit Clearwater.
If you like crab, you have to check out Frenchy’s South Beach Cafe and get the Crab Fries. They are not like Chickie’s & Pete’s Crab fries you can find at Citizens Bank Park or the Philadelphia area. Here you will get hot and crispy seasoned fries with garlic aioli and snow crab meat on top. They are amazing.
You can also get incredibly fresh grouper here. The grouper is super fresh. To be fair, most of the area restaurants that offer grouper have very fresh grouper. However, Frenchy’s might have the best grouper sandwich in the area. You will just have to be the judge of that.
If you are a fan of spicy dishes you have to try the Shrimp Diablo. This dish is spicy and delicious. It’s one spicy dish but you will want to try and finish it all or at the very least eat all the rock shrimp.
King’s Pizza & Grill right next to the hotel is a great place to go for a slice of pizza. I was surprised how good it was. It’s nothing like the pizza you will find in Philly or NYC but it was still pretty good. The wings were even cooked perfectly.
Another place to check out right next to the hotel is Coco’s Crush Bar. The price for the drinks is a little steep. However, the food prices are very reasonable plus the food was delicious.
I couldn’t believe how many nachos you got. Plus they really did have them loaded and didn’t skimp on the toppings. There is nothing worse than getting nachos and still having a ton of chips left with no toppings to put on them. At Coco’s Crush Bar we didn’t run into that problem.
If you are looking to cool off for a bit check out Beverly’s Ice Cream shop. They offer a nice selection of ice cream. Get it in a cone, bowl, or try one of their sundae’s. If you are visiting in the summer just be prepared for it to melt super quick.
If you are planning a trip to the Gulf Coast make sure you check out Clearwater, Florida and the Residence Inn Clearwater Beach. It is one of the cheaper hotels in the area but you won’t feel like you are missing out on anything.
Have you ever visited Clearwater Florida? If so, let us know where you stayed or if you stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott Clearwater Beach in the comments below.
