Howard Johnson Plaza Tampa-Downtown

Tampa reminded us of Honolulu, the weather was pretty much alike and the atmosphere of the town was similar. The elevators in the hotel were very slow and at first only one worked. Breakfast was $10.00 for a buffet similar to what Best Western provides for free.

The location was convenient, the price good, the staff nice, but the van service was sporadic. The pool access was difficult for handicap people. The room was clean, view was nice.

The check-in staff was friendly. The hallway was dark. The room smelled stale. The door key only worked after several tries. The toilet kept running for several minutes. Or room was not made up-we left the room at 10 am and came back at 10pm to unmade beds, etc.

The hotel though old was not bad. The rooms had been renovated since my last visit.[...]

While waiting out the time between arrival in Tampa and departure on our cruise, my friends and I stayed overnight at the Downtown Tampa Howard Johnson. This hotel had the perfect location along the developing Riverwalk. We were able to see a great deal of Tampa attractions by walking this path, including the Florida Aquarium. As far as amenities and accommodations go, the room was pretty standard with two double beds, small sitting area, and tv. The bathroom needed some work with its tub draining and toilet flushing. However, these issues were overshadowed by the fact that HoJo's offered many complimentary services. Not only were we able to store our luggage both before check-in and after check-out, they also had internet-connected computers for guest use in the lobby and a free shuttle.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. IM USUALLY NOT EXTREMELY PICKY BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND THE "NOT HAVES" OF YOUR OWN BED. BUT THIS HOTEL COULD STAND SOME RENOVATION. NOT ONLY THAT, I'M NOT A SMOKE AND WAS PLACED IN A "SMOKING" ROOM AND WAS APOLOGIZED TO FOR THE INCONVIENCE. LIKE I SAID, IM NOT PICKY BUT HOW DOES AN APOLOGY SOOTH MY SINUSES? I WAS EXTREMELY OFFENDED BY THE PLACEMENT. I WOULDN'T PLACE THIS AS THE LAST PLACE I WOULD STAY, BUT IT WOULDN'T BE ON MY TOP 5.....

Good hotel, friendly nice staff. Has a schuttle which will take you two miles of the hotel which reaches most places in down town. Way better than paying 199 dollars a night for Marriot. I paid 70 dollars a night here and got a free schuttle to the convention center every morning and then pick up every afternood and saved about 400 dollars for the trip. Again, this is a key point-PICK UP. So I call the hotel and they send the schuttle to me and take me back to the hotel- nice. Also- be aware that Yarbor city which Tampa is trying to attract people to go to is in the middle of a getto. I found it interesting that no Tampa bay resident I spoke with said to be there past 10 at night. Two floors are used to house Florida college students. I experienced no noise- just some college kids in the lobby. All in all not much different than a lobby of a regular hotel. I don't blame the hotel for doing this in this economy. If I go to Tampa again I will stay in this hotel.

It's just a hotel but more of a motel type environment; not much in the way of gratis amenities. Included Wi-Fi of sorts but very poor coverage and no network jack in room; 3 floors were being used as dormitory housing for local college so lots of kids running around using business services. Restaurant was supposed to be hot and cold buffet but only cold was available on 2 of my 3 days there. Room was neat but toilet ran continuously and feet were black from carpet.

The only problem was the fact that the restaurant closed from 10 - 11 am. I was on Mountain Time looking for breakfast and had to have a little hike to go to an off location restaurant. This was not convenient.

This Hotel provided very reasonable service for the lowest price I could find for the downtown location. No complains at all.