My kids and I just returned from a cruise (more about that adventure later!), but when I looked at the weather for our return flight, I discovered we’d be flying right into Hurricane Debbie who was hanging out right over Chapel Hill, NC. Never one to shy away from an excuse to extend our vacation, we decided to spend two nights in the Tampa area before heading home. More vacation, less hurricane. Big win.
I decided to check out the Holiday Inn Harbourside. This is a resort that has been on my list to visit for a while; it often comes up in my searches when I have families that are looking for more budget-friendly options and has lots of amenities for kids, including mini golf and a water park, so it has always intrigued me, but I find that with budget properties, no amount of webinars, google reviews, or even colleague reviews is enough. I really must see it for myself before recommending it to families.
I’ll start by saying that I *really* wanted to like the resort. I know many agents just won’t book budget properties, but I believe that everyone deserves a vacation, no matter the budget, so I love to have a few options in my back pocket for when folks want a less expensive option.
Since we got off the cruise ship early in the day, we arrived at the resort about 4 hours before check in time. I asked if I could just pay to park for the extra day and head over to the water park. They were incredibly accommodating, didn’t charge me for parking, and then said they would call me as soon as my room was ready. About an hour later, they called and offered me an upgrade to a marina view (I had intentionally booked their entry level room since I was trying to evaluate the resort for a budget vacation), and said that I could come check in any time. I was impressed with how quickly they worked to get us in a room; that level of service was very unexpected!!
Once we got checked in, we headed down to check out the room. I was immediately struck by how clean it was (major bonus for me: I personally LOVE when hotels don’t have carpeted rooms). Not a single grain of sand on the floor. My kids immediately tried out the beds, and I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable they were. I noticed chips in the vinyl covering on the cabinets, but it didn’t really bother me since the price was right and it felt so clean. The rooms also had a full kitchen, which can be a big budget saver to not eat out every night. I was overall pleasantly surprised. My immediate thought was, “I could definitely recommend this for families looking for an easy, cheap, kid friendly vacation.”
We went down to check out the resort. We played mini golf (major hit with the kids!) and then went to the arcade. I think 3 of the 15ish games in the arcade were actually functional. I mentioned it at the front desk, and he said, “yeah, the owner just doesn’t want to spend the money to fix them.” I guess that’s understandable as most kids tend toward video or cell phone games now, but I sort of felt like they should just close the arcade rather than advertise it as an amenity if it was going to be essentially non-functional. That noted, my kids were still thrilled because there was skee ball, their personal fave, and Nat enjoyed a popcorn catching game. (As usual, I’m picky and the kids are thrilled with anything–there’s a good lesson in there.)
The A/C was loud in that way that only happens in cheap hotels and I had to keep the blackout curtains closed to keep the sun out of the bedroom so it didn’t heat up too much (welcome to Florida, lol), but again, nothing crazy or unexpected from a property at this point. The kids and I just hung around the hotel room and watched tv and had turkey sandwiches for dinner. We all slept well the first night.
In the morning, the kids wanted apple juice. I walked down to the restaurant to see if they had any, and the host came out with a big glass and told me it was on the house. Nice touch.
I spent the day unsuccessfully trying to convince my kids to walk the half a block to the beach. They were tired and just wanted to chill, but there is a nice beach an easy walk from the resort. Bring your wagon!
That afternoon, we checked out the water park. Overall, I was really impressed. Water parks sort of skeeze me out generally; I just feel like they’re always so dirty, so I was really impressed when I walked in with how clean it felt. I did find one spot that was scuzzy, but it was a covered spot where kids don’t play (see photo). All the pool areas felt clean. I grabbed a drink at the attached tiki bar, Xan immediately jumped in the lazy river, and Nat snoozed in the stroller with the white noise of the big sprayground! It was a super fun afternoon!!
That night, we went to dinner at the restaurant on property. They gave us two kids eat free coupons at check in, which was an added bonus on top of the convenience of eating here. The menu was good enough; exactly what you expect from a beachside resort restaurant. Burgers, fish tacos, pasta, etc. Nothing was really jumping out at me as particularly inventive or exciting, but it all looked good. I ended up opting for a salad with mahi, Nat got chicken nuggets, and Xan got a cheeseburger. I also order hummus as an appetizer. We ordered at 6:11, and at 6:29, the kids were getting antsy and our appetizer still hadn’t arrived. Shortly after I realized how long it was taking, a HUGE to go order came out of the kitchen, so I cut them some slack. Ideally they would have at least thrown the appetizer our way and warned us the food would take a while or even just acknowledge when we ordered that it would be slow would have been helpful for managing our expectations. Our food arrives shortly thereafter. I take a few bites of my salad (it’s fine) and Xan takes a few bites of cheeseburger.
And here’s where it gets…bad. Xan bites into a HUGE chunk of mold on his bun. I immediately grab the server and show him, and he apologizes and offers to make a new one. I tell him we are finished, we’d just like the check. My kiddo has a lot of food “stuff,” so I know we are on the edge of a major meltdown. He’s getting really upset and beginning to gag, and I’m just sitting waiting for the bill. ELEVEN minutes pass. The server does not come back, a manager doesn’t come talk to us, nothing. Xan is really struggling at this point, so I just throw $50 on the table along with our kids eat free vouchers and hope that covers it.
I immediately place a DoorDash order that looks like a 7 year old got lost in the gas station….ice cream, candy, chocolate bars, literally anything I can get Xan to eat and distract him from the disgustingness he just experienced. I order alcohol for myself because even though it wasn’t me that ate the moldy burger, I’m so horrified and feel like the alcohol will kill the mold spores in my mouth.
Xan declares he is never eating a cheeseburger again, which I was very afraid of. It is the one safe food that is readily available nearly everywhere, so I was terrified of them being crossed off the list. I went to tell the reception desk about my experience. They told me that the Holiday Inn isn’t affiliated with the restaurant. I said, “sure, but it’s on your property, the kids eat free vouchers said Holiday Inn, and it does represent our experience of your brand, even if you don’t own it. Just thought you might want to know about our experience.” A little while later, she knocked on my door with a brief apology note and a gift card to go back to the restaurant from the manager. LOL. Won’t be eating there again, but thanks for trying, I guess.
The restaurant experience really put a damper on what otherwise a pretty nice stay. Again, nothing fancy by any means, but cheap, clean, and friendly. I had sworn off the whole facility after the cheeseburger incident, but just last night, Xan asked me if we can stay there again the next time we’re in Tampa because he wants to go back to the water park, so now I don’t know…. What do you think? Would you stay there?
