Overview
Located about a 15-minute drive from the Clearwater Beach just off Highway 60, the Days Inn Central Clearwater is popular with travellers passing through the area who prefer an economical hotel with easy highway access, extended kitchen amenities and a free breakfast.
This hotel has 90 air-conditioned guest rooms, each offering one king, two double or two queen beds, free Wi-Fi, cable TV, a coffeemaker, a desk, an iron and ironing board and a hair dryer. Rooms with a kitchenette and wheelchair-accessible rooms are also available, as are smoking and non-smoking rooms.
The hotel also offers an outdoor pool, a hot tub, meeting/conference space, a business centre, barbecue facilities, guest laundry, a children's playground, free parking and a free continental breakfast. Pets are not permitted. Guests must be 21 years of age or older to check-in at this hotel.
Ceviche Tapas Bar and Restaurant is located about 1 minute away on foot, while Clearwater Mall can be found roughly 10 minutes away on foot. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is about a 35-minute drive northeastward and Saint Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is a 10-minute drive south. Dunedin, Florida, is a 15-minute drive away. (All distances and travel time estimates: Google Maps)
Verified with a front desk agent: Free Wi-Fi, free parking, pets not permitted, wheelchair accessible. (Call Date: June 4, 2013)
The GoodThe majority of the reviews sourced for this analysis were positive, with praise going to the hotel's location, value and rooms.
Many guests were pleased with the hotel's location. They found it to be close to Clearwater Beach, Dunedin, shopping, restaurants, Clearwater Christian College, Tampa Airport, Bayside Bridge and highway access.
The hotel's value and rates were praised by numerous reviewers, who described the room rates as reasonable, extremely good and great.
Several guests complimented the hotel's accommodations. They described their rooms as clean, spacious, well maintained and functional, with comfortable beds and linens. It should be noted, however, that some guests had complaints about aspects of their rooms (see below).
Finally, although there were some positive comments about staff, there were several negative comments as well (see below for more details).
The Bad
While the majority of reviews consulted for this analysis were positive, there were some common complaints about the rooms and staff.
While the majority of guests were pleased with their clean and well-maintained rooms, some guests were disappointed with their accommodations. They reported not enough hot water, dated and worn decor, musty smells and cigarette odours in non-smoking rooms.
Although some reviewers found the staff to be friendly and professional, some lodgers complained about the level of customer service they received. They characterized the staff as unfriendly, not accommodating and rude, with one guest remarking, "General courtesy was not present".
Expedia.ca guest reviews rated the hotel 3.2 out of 5 with a 71% recommendation rate from 108 reviews.
TripAdvisor.com guest reviews ranked the hotel #66 out of 95 Clearwater hotels with an average rating of 3 out of 5 from 96 reviews.
Booking.com guest reviews rated the hotel 6.9 out of 10 from 25 reviews.
The author called the hotel on June 4, 2013 to verify some information.
