Well, I won’t beat around the bush here…Staying at the Don CeSar Hotel in St Pete Beach and spending time in nearby Pass a Grille and Fort de Soto State Park just might be my favorite Florida beach vacation.
St Pete Beach isn’t exactly unknown (it was named TripAdvisor’s #1 Beach in the US in 2021), and the Don CeSar Hotel isn’t exactly a “sleeper” hotel or a hidden gem.
Immediately after we checked in at the Don CeSar and walked through the lobby, my cousin and I both turned to each other and said it reminded us of the hotel from the Tower of Terror ride at Disney World BEFORE it got struck by lightning.
The Don CeSar is located in the southern/middle part of St Pete Beach. St Pete Beach is actually a barrier island off St Petersburg which is in the Tampa Bay area.
I didn’t really have any expectations, but I was still super impressed by the room. We were in a standard room (nothing special) and it honestly seemed about 50% larger than most hotel rooms.
This is the last resort as you go south on the island so the beach tends to be quite a bit less crowded than pretty much everywhere else on St Pete Beach. It’s really only people staying at the resort and walkers.
It’s one large pool area with two different pools. No slides or anything but very family friendly. There’s a counter where you can get your towels (they had stuff like sunscreen there too) and then it’s all first come first serve.