Travel Dates: April 2021
Hotel: Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa
Great location–right on the beach and walkable distance to restaurants, stores, and a Walgreens that has a liquor section.
There is valet parking for $25/night and free continental breakfast which is just fruits and bread/pastry. You can pay more for the breakfast buffet or you can always go to the Starbucks at the hotel or Dunkin Donuts across the street.
The hotel has an outdoor pool and bar that is only accessible if you wear the Hilton bracelet that is given to you at check-in (there is security by the pool that will check for this). Towards the beach, hotel guests can pick up free towels (you do have to give them your room number and return the towels), grab food and drinks at the tiki bar, and play giant chess and cornhole. Further down you’ll get to the beach, and the one issue about Hilton was that beach chairs and umbrellas were additional costs. I was surprised to see this rental fee on top of the resort fee you already have to pay for the stay. Because of that, we actually spent most of our time at the tiki bar area where there were tables and seats. Added bonus of the tiki bar was the live music around 5pm.
Food:
In general, the restaurants in Clearwater are mostly seafood. We went to Frenchy’s Saltwater Cafe and it was the best food (and relatively inexpensive) that we had on the trip. We went after 7pm and it was a bit crowded, but we only waited about 15 minutes. They catch their seafood fresh every morning, and I highly recommend their Garlic Crab Fries and Baked Crab Stuffed Grouper.
Spotted Donkey Cantina, on the Hilton property, was the other restaurant we went to just because it was convenient. It’s a typical Mexican restaurant but the salsa and sangria were good. It did take longer to get a table here even though there were many open. The restaurant is facing the public street so a lot of patrons were not guests at Hilton.
Activities:
Pier 60 – Just a 3-5 minute walk from the Hilton hotel, the pier is mainly an attraction for families. There are bungee jump trampolines and inflatable slides for the kids (pay per “ride”), street performers, and craft vendors along the boardwalk. To go all the way to the end of the pier/boardwalk, you have to pay $1. The view there is great for sunsets, but you can also just watch it from the beach.
Fort De Soto Park – Park and beach area in St. Petersburg, which is 1 hour drive from Clearwater. Although it was far to get to and cost $6 ($1 for toll and $5 for parking), North Beach at Fort De Soto Park is hands down one of my favorite beaches ever. The water is beautifully turquoise and the sand is extremely soft–you’re not really walking on pebbles and shells. What was also interesting was how the sand was compact and solid away from the water, which made placing blankets and setting up umbrellas easy, along with minimal sand blowing everywhere. At North Beach there are bathrooms, a snack bar that also sells beach items, picnic areas with shade, and chair/umbrella rentals ($16 for umbrella and $26 for both a chair and umbrella–all way cheaper than Hilton’s rental rates). We also checked out the actual fort area where you can see cannons and remnants of the old fort wall by the shore, called Battery Bigelow. You can also rent bikes here and there’s a boardwalk to explore. The beach in this area is a much thinner strip and more crowded than North Beach. We then went to the East Beach where there is barely anyone. The water here is more calm so people kayak, kitesurf, and fish here. East Beach also offers a great view of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
Globe Trotter 