I first booked for one night, but didn't get a single room for the other two days. I could only get a two-bedroom, which was only $25 more per day, but check back, I wound up getting the single bed unit after all.
This place looks more like a country club than a hotel (or the traditional national-chain extended stay units), as I pulled up to the Mainsail Suites Hotel in Tampa, on Eisenhower Blvd. It's perhaps a long fly ball away from Tampa's airport. I arrived before noon, after trying to waste time since I had arrived at 9:30 am. The front entrance looks more like a country club, and grounds keepers were busy outside, doing general maintenance on the road. Opening the door to the front desk area, an employee was busy, scrubbing what looked like a tan slate-like floor.
The desk clerk didn't even flinch when I asked if I could check in early, just after 11am - "Your room is ready," he said, instructing me to enter the gated area and head for the 300-series buildings. The place is better than I expected. A lived-in look with shrubs and trees providing a wealth of shade for sunny days, I drove past two cranes that searched for fish in the ponds beside the road. Opening my car, I saw a poor small dead frog. My place was on the third floor, and I do regret my request, even when I was warned that there are no elevators for the units. They look more like condominiums, and you should think along that line since you may see a tied bag of trash at the front entrance to a unit. This is made for extended stay residents, but what a great find for a short stay.
Lugging my equipment to the third floor, I loved the view of my room. A square table set, with settings for two, including wine glasses and cloth napkins, and there was also a small living area with a sofa bed, TV and two big chairs, a small balcony with table and two chairs, a full kitchen complete with a dishwasher, dishes, and pots and pans. I suddenly thought about actually baking a cake and cooking some lobster, which I still may do. There's even a toaster and electric can opener, and there were four coffee bags for me. A room beyond the kitchen revealed a utility room, where a long-term stay person can have a washer and dryer installed.
A short walk to a nice-sized bathroom, not at all dinky, like some other places I've stayed in, a room that is only for the hot water heater, and a decent-sized bedroom, with wired Ethernet, and they also had a strong-signal wireless connection as an option. I had a Queen bed with four pillows and the standard weird-colored cover. Another big chair, a four-foot-long desk with small chair and outlet, and there are a nice number of those in the rooms, and a walk in closet, a first that I've ever had at any hotel. And a digital thermostat and room fans above the bed and in the living room. The carpet had some dark stains in the corner near the walk-in, which is about the size of the bathroom! That walk-in is incredibly big and has shelving for hanging a ton of clothing along all three walls, including shelves for shoes, someone with a large wardrobe would die for this closet space.
You get your own phone number which doesn't go through an operator; two televisions in my unit; mirrors in the bedroom, walk-in (full-length), and dining room; more outlets than I have in my own home; what appears to be another ethernet outlet in the living room; and nice views except a big dumpster sitting in the parking area (but it's a covered type); a ton of cable TV with a placard cheat sheet including golf, cartoon, oxygen, movieplex, and a lot of local stations; and a couple fake green plants to give you an added depth of imitation warmth.
Wow. I love this place. In a heartbeat, you could move here and do most of what you could do at home. It's right near the airport, but the noise wasn't an issue with me, and within about a mile of a Publix market (people claim it's the best market), about three miles to the Tampa Bucs stadium and that nasty Yankees spring training place, it's a gated, secured place, you can get a breakfast buffet for less than $7 and they serve until 2 am, I heard, and you can still order room service. You may even be able to get lunch buffet as well during the week; weekend breakfast lasts till noon, I was told. You also can walk or even jog, I guess, around inside the property. I don't jog, though, so I'm not sure if this is good-jogging-stuff.
Mainsail is the best value and bang for my buck that I have ever had. And I am not affiliated with any hotel and not paid to write this. For less than a hundred bucks? I asked them how they can make money. Please have this hotel chain in every NFL town, I'd stay at Mainsail instead of the regular chains.
For anything "negative" to claim against this property, Mainsail more than makes up for everything. I feel safe, it's beautiful, and you have a wealth of options of how to live (you can pay $1.50 per day to ask for room service, cook in or dine out).
Okay, sorry Yankees fans - No, I'm an Orioles fan and I'm not sorry. But you can stay here, too.