Hotels Near Istanbul Cultural Center in Tampa

Room keys don’t work. No hot water. Room not cleaned. And attitude to boot. My stay began pleasantly but that changed drastically, quickly. My 4th floor room key constantly failed - requiring several round trips up and down the elevator to a condescending and contentious staff member. Turns out the lock was malfunctioning (I keep keys far from anything that might deprogram them) Her unprofessionalism and eventual, reluctant choice to troubleshoot was not well received by me, plainly obvious by my frustrated demeanor. Nonetheless, to “compensate” for the inconvenience, I was advised by the same customer service-less staffer that I could be moved to a first floor room; a desirable, more convenient option affording me quick in and out access while I’m here on business. But alas, and coincidentally? The room to which the contentious and condescending employee referred me was without hot water for my 5am December morning shower. Furthermore, upon my 1pm return to my upgraded accommodation I entered into a space completely uncleaned. I feel like I’m being pranked at this point. Brining my concerns to a different staff member reveled that poor customer service is endemic at this particular facility. Her short responses to my inquiry about when my room might be cleaned and mid conversation escape to a back office as I spoke, convinced me I have a duty to inform other weary travelers that might unfortunately happen upon this place.

Nothing stood out here.. I found the price to be too high, but this is post Covid so these prices are probably the new normal. I guess I am just not a big fan of the Fairfield Inns. Shower pressure was non-existant. Breakfast was mediocre and another thing that was probably better pre-Covid. Because of all the changes that e.g. Hotels had to do to meet Covid-Regulations—probably seeing how prepackaged foods is cheaper…and to then just keep this for the future. No more waffle makers.. Lots of dried scones. We requested a quiet room and this was granted. The carpets had just been cleaned. The bathroom has a strange setup when it comes to the towels and where they are, compared to the shower..I normally like to put my towel so that I can get it from inside the shower…not so easy there. It was clean…but needs some TLC in some areas of the bathroom. A bit dark in the room and no main light switch but had to go to each lamp singly which was another thing that I put to „strange set-up“ and maybe this is just how Fairfields are. Unless the prices become more reasonable..I think I would look around before staying here again. But it was fine for a first night after a long flight.

The hotel is a little confusing to get into as far as parking wise. Amenities are fair. The room was clean. One drawback I can mention, is the hotel is located right on the train tracks. You can hear the train running all throughout the night. The train runs the horn so be prepared if you plan on staying here, to hear the train. A second drawback was the thermostat in the room. Yes the thermostat. Why? The one in our room literally illuminated the entire room. It was as bright as a blue fire. I am sure like many of us adults like to sleep in the dark. No this literally was shining so bright you could read a book by the light. I would recommend to dim them for the customers prior to entering the room. Oh we also had some noisemakers in our room next door. Had to call downstairs to let them know that it was time for rest. This hotel is located in a party town. So assuming you like to party, it would be good for you.

The staff at Le Meridian could not have been better or nicer! They were incredibly friendly and helpful….a big shout out to LaLithia at the front desk who was awesome and helped us upon check-in. The glass of complimentary sparkling wine upon check-in is a nice touch. The complimentary coffee in the lobby from 6 am until noon is also a nice and appreciated touch. Our room was very spacious and very clean. I am giving my review a 4 start vs 5 star because of the room decor and, quite frankly, the hotel (hallway decor) as well. Whoever was in charge of interior design should be fired! Our room was incredibly depressing because EVERY wall except the entry hall was painted a DARK gray. The carpet (new at least) was also a DARK gray. The bathroom was ….guess what….a DARK gray. Because the hotel is a converted old court house, the ceilings are high and made of cement so there is no recessed lighting (understandable). BUT, there wasn’t even a floor lamp in our room. It was SO DARK and DEPRESSING. Needless to say, we felt we were living in a CAVE. When you stay at an upscale hotel for a getaway or mini vacation, you expect to feel happy and uplifted. The decor did just the opposite. In addition, our room was lacking ANY seating area other than the bed and a desk chair (at bar height to match the bar height desk). It was CLEARLY MISSING a couple of comfortable occasional chairs. We called the front desk as soon as we walked into our room and requested a couple of chairs. They brought us 2 stacking chairs. I guess it was the best they could do under the circumstances but they certainly weren’t comfortable chairs that one would want to relax in. Also, the TV was very small given the size of the room and the distance from the bed to the TV. As for my reference to the hotel decor, and specifically the hallways, Marriott fell so far short in making this hotel what it COULD be given its unique history and architecture. When you walk down the hallways the bottom half of the walls have old marble (a nice touch and vestigial feature of the court house) BUT the top half of every wall is BARE. It is just COLD and lacks ANY sign of nice decor. Why wouldn’t they line these hallways with old, framed photos of court houses, court rooms, judges, etc???? Or old photos of Tampa? Or have a local artist paint murals on these walls? Ironically, the hotel gives its guests free passes to the Tampa Art Museum but whoever designed the interior space didn’t bother to include ANY artwork in the hallways. And the “artwork” in our room consisted of a few ugly, random cheaply framed posters. You might think that I am overly critical….after all, as I said, the staff was lovely and responsive and our room was spacious, quiet and clean. BUT, because our room was just so DARK and DREARY and DEPRESSING we wanted to minimize the time we spent at this hotel.

amazing

I stay in hotels frequently and I have status with both Hilton and Marriott but I would consider Marriott my day ones as throughout my career and travel heavy periods of my life, Marriott has been a mainstay. Based on the frequency with which I stay at hotels, as well as the understanding that staffing and supply chain shortages are making service more difficult than ever, I just had to commend this location. Though it’s an older location, the rooms are renovated, I was upgraded to a suite, the rates were phenomenal, parking was convenient, and the location could not be beat. But even better than that, every staff member, from Yuni at the front desk to the cleaning crew to the restaurant lounge staff, was genuinely friendly, welcoming, and provided memorable service. I’m adding this hotel to my list of favorites and it will be a mainstay during my frequent business trips in Tampa. Thanks again! It almost felt like pre-Covid times. #Hospitality2022

Good Stuff: location, amenities, service, cleanliness Bad Stuff: pillows I visit Tampa occasionally for work and this is the first hotel I stayed in that I will try to return to. The location is excellent. There is plenty to do in the immediate vicinity. There is easy access to the trolley service. You are close enough to walk downtown or to Ybor. The Selmon Greenway is across the street too - dumps off at the Riverwalk, so it’s great for a run. I was pleased with the amenities. The on site gym is one of the nicer hotel gyms I have been in. The pool looks great - definitely high-end for my normal level of hotel. There is also nice space to eat and drink either around the pool, in the lobby, or out front. I had nothing but positive engagements with the hotel staff. Everybody was friendly and polite. My only issue was it could be hard to get definitive answers from the front desk - lots of “probably,” “I think so,” etc. No issues with cleanliness. It’s not immaculate, but for this level of hotel, it was one of the better kept I have stayed in. Pillows - awful. They squish down to about the thickness of a piece of cardboard. And then they are so long that you can’t really fold them up under themselves well to make it better. The pillows caused me a few nights of problematic sleep.

Stayed here for one night while looking at the University of Tampa with my daughter and her friend. I had the fold out and still got a good night sleep. Trevor and Dawnn at the front desk were very helpful and nice. 5 star employees. Good location if you have a car. Close to airport and downtown and Ybor. Breakfast was fine for an included breakfast. There is a very nice WaWa right there if you need anything. Only small thing is it can be confusing to get to it but I'm not from FL so not used to divided highways. Would definitely stay here again.

First the good news, front desk was cheery and helpful. This hotel was built in 2019, so it’s pretty new and modern. Bed was VERY comfortable. Good water pressure. Now the not-so-good news. Be VERY CAUTIOUS regarding their entrance from Dale Marby. The second entrance, the one closest to McDill AFB is a one lane entry, which some people use as as exit. If they are exiting, you can’t enter, and you have to come to a full stop on a busy roadway without a shoulder. I almost got rear-ended. Use the more northern entrance. This is extremely poorly engineered, I’m not sure how they got it permitted. The second engineering flaw is that they use cardboard between the rooms. Last night I heard the neighbors shouting back and forth with their TV on until 2 am. A previous customer made the same complaint. It’s interesting that their TV volume only goes to “21” which is barely loud enough for me to hear the TV with my hearing loss. Now I see why. The walls are so thin that anything louder than 21, and your neighbors could hear it as loud as you do. Your only salvation is to turn the fan for your AC on to high and hope the white noise drowns out the neighbors. Oh, maid service every third day, unless you request more often. Just not what I was hoping for, or expected given the good first impression from the lobby. My advice, get a room at the end of the hall, then you might only have one noisy neighbor.