Shephard's Beach Resort
Clearwater Beach, Florida
(February 2018)
About a month ago, my friend and colleague Kim was coming to Florida to visit family. She decided that she would like to make a stop over from Orlando (where she was staying) over to Tampa to visit me. So sweet! So off I went to find a Hotel and/or Resort so that she can get a little glimpse of Tampa and how much JC and I love it here. I also wanted to be able to share all that Tampa has to offer with her. In my research, I found Shephard's Beach Resort. Shephard's Beach Resort can be a great place to stay ans it is right on the beach, has two restaurants (Ocean Flame and Salt), live entertainment, and lots of activities. Depending on the time you stay there, for instance, February during Spring Break, it is mostly a singles resort for a wide range of people. Other times, around mid-September to December it would be a family resort. Now JC and I originally looked at Shephard's Beach Resort as one of our wedding venue and/or rehearsal dinner options and thought that this would be a good way to see what it was like if we stayed there and a perfect opportunity for Kim to enjoy the beach and all the Resort has to offer. Plus, during this time in February its Spring Break and we had a friend who worked there who could get us a discounted rate. Score!
Keep in mind that all the resorts are expensive along the beach. Pricing on a normal weekend can range from $150 to $300 per night and require you to stay 2-3 days. However, during Spring Break it doubles and sometimes triples. Starting price can range from the mid $300's to $600 per night! Plus, in addition to that, you have to pay the resort fee and parking!
Now a month later, Friday to be exact, we all met at the Resort. We were greeted by the Hotel Front Desk, Cynthya. Not such a nice person as when she informed us that only one car per room can be parked at the Resort and would cost us an additional $10 to valet park another car, she acted a little snotty. She was very curt stating that there was nothing she could do, it wasn't her fault that no one told us, and that she just worked there. Nice right? I asked to speak to a manger and she wouldn't allow that either! Makes me wonder why I would want to book my clients if that is the way they are going to be greeted right? (P.S. I even thought later on she would change her attitude but that didn't happen either). With that said and trying to make the best of it, we left our stuff in the room and decided to go down to the Tiki Beach Bar & Grill where the pool and outdoor music was playing. We grabbed some food and drinks and talked well until the sunset started to settle in. We were having a great time and the night was young!
The food at the Tiki Beach Bar & Grill, as you can see from the menu, are your typical munchies and football season grubs. The drinks were buy one and get a double for $1 more was a great deal! That was happy hour until 7PM. All of us definitely took advantage of that as the drinks can be quite expensive if you are getting them at $6 a drink! As far as the service, I do have some gripes about that. When we sat at one of the tables, we had waited over a 1/2 hour for someone to come serve us, let along notice us sitting at a table with no menus. Mind you, I did go across to the bar to let them know that we would like or if they could provide some menus for us, but they would not let me take the menus to the table from the bar. One server, Fernando, just kept staring at us and not coming over to take our order at all. Then about 45 minutes of waiting, the bartender finally got a server, Heather. She was the best! She always checked on us to make sure that our drinks were never empty and the food was good. Although the mold on our grapes that were served to us were gross, but they did compensate us for that. Problem solved!
After the sunset and a full stomach, a band came on the outdoor stage. The outdoor stage is mainly used for the band for a couple of hours and then the DJ comes on for well into the night of dancing. 
JC, Kim and I decided to go up to the hotel room to check out the accommodations. Two double beds, desk, refrigerator, coffee maker, hairdryer, safe, all the standard amenities that would normally come with a standard room. It also had a great balcony. The room we had was a fully handicapped room. I did not mind as the price was right and this was one room that we could have just for one night that was not booked.
Accommodations:
OVERALL REVIEW: Besides the rude hotel staff member in the beginning of our stay, the extra charge for parking, the non-existence and service at the Tiki Beach Bar, and the mold on our grapes, the stay was ok. I would give it a 5 out of 10 as the experience was not that great. The rooms were very clean, beds were comfortable but they need to get their act together when it comes to taking care of their guests.
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