Howard Johnson Plaza

Stay Away!! I'd rather pitch a tent under the bridge.

This was the sorriest excuse for a hotel. First off finding the place is a pain but it is manageable. They know it's hard to find so the info ought to be in the email. When I checked in the first thing I got slammed with was the $8.00 per night to park my car on the hotel property. This is B.S. and I complained because there wasn't any disclosure before hand. For the extra money I would have stayed at the Marriot or Hampton Inn which were closer to where I wanted to visit. They were renting parking spaces for the nearby Arts Center at $5. The desk clerk said the price difference was because my car would be there the whole night like it somehow costs them extra money to let me park at the hotel I'm staying at. The room was 3rd floor overlooking a puddle of standing water on the roof below. The bathroom was small with poor design and counter space. The counter was so small my wife's stuff rolled right into the toilet. Then there was the leaky air conditioner spilling water onto the moldy carpet. There wasn't any dial up internet as advertised. It was wireless with very poor connectivity. Basically I had to be in one corner of the room for it to work. They had one access point for the entire hotel. The restaurant is hopelessly overpriced for the quality of food. It's your only choice because the hotel is downtown and fast food just isn't happening if you're not a local and don't know where to look. I will say hoping they read this that Julio our water is the most professional employee in the entire hotel. He, unlike the rest of the staff, actually did his job and cares. My whole reason for staying at this hotel was the name (which I now know is only a shadow of its former glory) and the advertised distance to Ybor City which is a local attraction. The info says 1.5 miles which is B.S. That was at least 3 miles. They must be using the as-the-crow-flies version of mapquest. All in all the place was not worth the money. The ONLY upside is that the

Dirty Tubs, Free Shuttle Runs Much later than scheduled if at all

We chose this hotel primarily because of the "decent rating" and free shuttle to airport and seaport for cruising. The bathrooms were dirty, hallways were hot, and overall the room did not feel clean. There are no restaurants downtown nearby that you can walk to on the weekends for breakfast, lunch, or dinner-as hotel is located in the business district and restaurants are closed on weekends. The hotel restaurant was expensive for our family of four. We could have and should have stayed at the Embassy Suites, had a much nicer room, free breakfast and evening cocktails, and just pay a minimal fee for shuttle to portside and airport. Lesson learned!!!

Guest did not leave a comment.

Guest did not leave a comment.

Hidden Cost!!!!!!

Although the hotel was a little hard to get to, apperance was nice...but appearance is not everything. First, get ready to pay about $8 a night to park. Yes that's right, the hotel charges you to park there. Second, if you're not in a hurry for breakfast, go somewhere else. Roughly $12 for what amounted to a warm 2 or 3 day old breakfast doesn't cut it. The desk staff was very friendly and handled my concerns quickly and effectivly. I am a smoker but even my room stinch was alittle overwhelming. The toilet ran all night the first night but the staff had it repaired by the next night. Mechanically, the hotel needs some work. The elevators had us worried that we wouldn't make it up or down. Very noisy and creeky!! For the money you pay for the room, plus parking, you could do better somewhere else. A "3" star hotel it is not!! Max "2".