Reviews

Postcard Inn on the Beach Reviews
6300 Gulf Boulevard, Saint Pete Beach, FL

66%
families recommend
76 family reviews



lyaggie - May 15th, 2010
I booked the Post Card Inn because right at the time when I was hemming & hawing about where to stay for our Spring Break this year, I received an email from Trip Advisor that was highlighting this great newly refurbished budget boutique hotel in more +St. Pete's Beach. The email also said it was just promoted on NBC's Today Show. Well if Ann Curry or Matt Lauer says it's good.....

I also liked that each room was only $99 per night. At this price I could afford to get two rooms, one for my husband and me and the other for the 3 boys (ages 11, 17 & 17). The two teens are Rotary Exchange Students living with our family right now, so I wanted it to be nice and to give them some privacy too.

The reviews for this hotel are varied. Yes, you can definitely tell it was this 1950's style motel (an old Travel Lodge according to some sites). The two story, U-shaped building shows some signs of age. But the fresh coat of white paint and sky blue doors give it a clean feeling. The grounds are well kept and the flowers around the pool area were some of my favorite. There are also extremely large palm trees in the center court area. This provides a beautiful seating area at night because the hotel has put all these different shaped & sized lantern in their branches. The hotel also has a fire pit that they light at night (weather/wind permitting)that you can go out and relax by.

Some of the reviews I read warned me that the rooms had paper thin walls. Yes, I could definitely clearly listen in on somebody's conversations if I was sitting on the toilet and their voices would come through the air vent in the ceiling. And of course, there was the cliche bed banging noises on Saturday night. But other than Saturday night (which I assume is THE party night) we didn't have any noise issues. And, the boys didn't hear ANYTHING which I chalked up to being a 40 year old light sleeper, so it was only my problem anyway.

One night I was woken up to a very drunk man banging on my door and the kids door. He was trying to find his room and security showed up RIGHT away to escort him to his room. This could've happened in any hotel and I was pleased to see security be so responsive without me even having to call. Again though, the boys never heard a thing.

The decor of the rooms was really quite cool though. Each of our two rooms had different lay-outs but similar colors and decorations. Each room gets a refurbished surf board and surfer-themed pictures on the wall. Each room gets a large flat screen TV but I know we only had ours on one night so my husband could catch the Yankees game. The beds have white linen and are quite comfortable. There are sisal rugs on the floor but for a sandy beach location, you really don't want much more.

The bathrooms were tiny and very 60's pink. But clean & functional. The showers all had new curtains with the bow rod so you had a bit more room in the tub.

Some reviews also warned that they had no control over the temperature in their rooms. We found we could use the thermostat and control the temp to our exact requirements.

Overall, we were in our rooms from 11pm to 9am and we were pretty much passed out with exhaustion during those hours anyways.

There is a really good restaurant on site- Wildwood BBQ. It has some famous NYC chef attached to it. The fish tacos were amazing. It was nice for a quick lunch the day we spent at our beach. The hotel also serves complimentary breakfast each morning, which was a huge savings for us. It was yogurt, muffins, cereal, oatmeal, toast, fruit, juice & coffee. You really don't need anymore than this for breakfast.

There were no organized kid activities but there was PLENTY for kids to do. They had a ping pong table we used quite a bit. Also inside the really outstandingly decorated lobby, there is a game arcade and a computer hooked up to the internet. Our exchange student from Argentina would get on every night and report back to his friends of his daily activities.

The pool area was fantastic. Clean, plenty of chairs/tables/umbrellas. This is not the kind of place you need to get up at 5am to go run out and throw a towel on a chair just to reserve it for the day. The hotel provided as many beach towels as you needed also. The bar with live music is between the pool and the beach so drinks were available also.

The best feature of the hotel though is it's location. RIGHT ON ST. PETE'S BEACH. The sand is white and there are a ton of shells for the kids to pick through. We saw one spectacular sunset and the last night the sun was so huge & red, my 11 year old said "mom, what IS that?" That was the night he found a live star fish and thought he was king of the world. "A one-in-a-million-find mom, a one-in-a-million find!".

During the day, on the beach you can rent cabana type lounges chairs, water bikes, book snorkeling tours, go para sailing, play on the giant water slide, sunbathe, and play in the water. The boys were a bit apprehensive about the sting ray shuffle - gliding your feet around in case the sting rays were in the sand...but honestly we never saw one.

Hotel parking was convenient and included in the price. We could always find a spot right near the walk way to our rooms.

Overall, I was pleased with our choice to stay at the Post Card Inn. It fit our budget, provided everything we needed and the location was outstanding. I also ended up appreciating the differences from the standard Marriott experience. The staff here was always helpful - we didn't need a lot of help though. The maids were quick and thorough and respected the do-not-disturb signs.

In general, I felt as if this whole part of Florida was kind of retro. I always had this feeling that I was vacationing the same way as folks did maybe 30 years ago here. But it was really nice. Very relaxed, very casual and we ended up having a TON of fun. The Post Card Inn fit in really well with the whole overall atmosphere and tone of the vacation.

I only have one complaint. For a hotel named, The Post Card Inn, I would've thought they'd have post card stamps (or any stamps for that matter) to sell at the front desk. The boys wanted to send the grandparents post cards (and the hotel gives out really nice free ones) but no stamps! :)




Date of Stay: 04/10/2010
Children in Party: 3


Tweens (10-12)
Tweens (13+)
Accommodations
Dining
Kids Play Area
Money Value
Pool & Water Fun
Staff



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