Relax by the bay at one of the newest premier resort locations on Anna Maria Island. Tortuga Inn Gardens are located on the East end of... more »
Relax by the bay at one of the newest premier resort locations on Anna Maria Island. Tortuga Inn Gardens are located on the East end of Tortuga Inn Beach Resort. Newly constructed, these two-bedroom, one-bedroom and hotel units feature all the latest modern amenities including granite countertops, heated courtyard pool, designer decorations, under-building parking, free HBO, wireless high-speed Internet access, fishing pier, private beach access, complimentary beach towels and chaise lounge chairs, rentable boat docks, private and community washer/dryer and more. Check-in is at on-site office. Check-in is at 4 pm, check-out is at 11 am. If you will be arriving after standard business hours, please call the main office at 866-542-1974, at least 24 hours prior to arrival.
Orbitz
Loved the location (besides walking across the road to get to the beach). The attitude of the front office was horrible. I was told I had a Florida rate at 3 nights, 4th night free...then when I arrived I was told I had to speak to the manager...
44 year old female with a luxury budget, traveling for leisure
My family (5 of us, and our 2 small dogs) and and I stayed for 4 nights at the Tortuga and there were some things to like and some things not to like. We stayed in the 2/1 (Palm Court North - Room 126).
The good: Location, right across the street from the Gulf. If you have children, make sure to be careful of this--there is a pretty decent amount of traffic on Gulf Drive. The private beach is beautiful, no doubt about it.
The not so good: The "main pool" was small (maximum capacity 17) and does not get cleaned every night, as in large resorts. We only used it the first day, and stopped when we noticed that the pool was crowded with small children, and there is no bathroom nearby... It might be a good idea to take a pool kit with you. The grounds were quite lovely, with trees and foliage. You could also walk on the fishing pier (and fish if you brought/bought your own poles and bait). I thought this was neat. We checked in and it was told to us that the resort was a wireless hotspot. You may be able to get online if you stand outside your room. Also your cell phones wont work too well until you are away from the resort. The room had a full-size refrigerator, microwave, oven, dishes and utensils. It also had a dvd/vcr player. The walls are paper thin, and we could hear the conversations of the guests upstairs. We checked in and it was told to us that the resort was a wireless hotspot. You may be able to get online if you stand outside your room. Also your cell phones wont work too well until you are away from the resort.
The bad (or strange): The office hours of the front desk. This could be construed as good or bad. They are there from 9 am-6 pm. I guess it's because they are a privately owned resort. From 10 pm-7 am is "quiet time" (though our neighbors seemed to be unaware of this). This might not be a bad thing, as not everyone wants to party into the night (though our neighbors did). However, the resort said to call 911 (emergency fire/rescue and police) if someone is loud during those times. I would prefer to call the front desk if someone is loud and save 911 for life threatening emergencies. The vertical blinds didn't offer a lot of light blockage or privacy either. Our "pet friendly" unit offered carpeted bedrooms, but we found pet spot stains in both rooms... which we didn't like so much!
The Ugly: The front desk staff! We had problems/issues from the beginning. This should have tipped us off, but we honestly like to give people the benefit of the doubt. We arrived for check-in at around Noon on a Saturday. Yes, check in time is 4:00 p.m., but that's just a standard and we've always been able to check in earlier at other resorts (all other resorts, actually). It was pouring rain on Saturday, and we packed our family of 5 (and don't forget our two dogs) into our small car. It was hot, humid and pouring rain. We didn't get our room until 5:30 p.m. even though it was pouring rain and we had our 3 kids and 2 dogs (yes, the property is pet friendly). For this inconvenience (a wasted day), they waved the pet fee ($50) and we were given a 10% discount from the remainder of the bill. That didn't make up for the lack of good service... we had our budget and were perfectly happy paying all of the above, but at least we didn't have to pay for the lost day.
Two days after checking-in, I go online to review my checking account, and notice that they've deducted the remainder of the cost of the hotel stay ($792) from my checking account (through my DEBIT CARD, which is how I paid for my deposit, and which I also CLEARLY stated that I did not want my stay charged to (clearly, because they took an imprint of the actual credit card I did want the room charged to). So now they've placed a temporary hold on my credit card AND charged my debit card. This because the employees at the front desk were not communicating with one another... The first employee (Tim) placed a hold of $950 and the second employee (Patricia) tried to charge an additional $792, and for security purposes the $792 was declined (as the temporary hold placed by employee #1 – Tim, was still there). So what does Patricia do? Well, as she proudly explained it, "I didn't want to upset you anymore after the debacle at check-in, so I charged your other card." WITHOUT MY PERMISSION! I said, "Well, it's a good thing you didn't make me overdrawn, because that's my checking account... and talk about being upset if that had happened." No apologies… Nothing! She turned around and continued working on her computer. AMAZING... and CLUELESS!!!!
Now for check out... I go check out and I tell the same woman at the desk (Patricia) to please explain the bill to me, which showed a total of $1,004. So she starts fanning herself with a manila folder and in a very flustered tone says to me, "Oh, I know you... I don't know what Tim (the other clerk) did and he's off today." First, what kind of a comment is "Oh, I know you" to a customer? You know me because you've been messing up since I arrived here. Secondly, how is it acceptable that you don't know what your co-worker did and so you can't explain a simple bill to me? FIGURE IT OUT! I said, "Get a manager, get somebody, get anybody... but I'm not leaving here until you explain how you have total of $1,004 when my total should be $792." I just wanted a simple explanation. Her response to my request? "Well, you're going to have to call accounting." BY NOW, I WAS SO RED MY FACE HURT!! I said, "The only place I'm calling is your corporate office... You call accounting, and you figure it out, and you tell me what the actual bill is, or I'm not leaving." She told me I had to calm down… “I’ll be calm as soon as you get me an answer… This has been a fiasco from check-in.” This went on for about 10 minutes, until she called accounting and they explained the bill to her, and she then explained it to me. The $1,004 reflected the TOTAL cost of the stay... now note, this could have all been avoided, if she'd only been a little more customer focused, and informed... instead of telling me that I had to calm down. So, while the property is nice enough (the furnishings and decor), we will opt out and stay elsewhere next year. Somewhere that offers more cleanliness, and better customer service. We know they're out there because we've stayed there in years past.
Too bad their customer is horrible!!!!
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Posted Jun 21, 2008
Mediocre
The accommodations are nice enough... The customer service, however, leaves a lot to be desired. First, the front desk staff was mouthy and smart-alecky... not just to us, but to other patrons as well. One customer even replied to the front desk...
We did not like that 3 of us contracted pink eye from the swimming pool. Gross! It ruined our whole week. We did not like the fact they said they were a wireless hot spot and you might get online if you stood outside your room, cell phone working...
Would not stay there again!!
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Posted Mar 26, 2008
Mediocre
Very clean room "BUT" to much outside lighting"CAN'T SLEEP". MGMT at the front desk got irratated when asked for extra bath towels, I got grilled like "CSI"on use of the (2)placed in the rm. daily by the maid. I found...
We stayed here for a long weekend in
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Posted Jun 22, 2006
Excellent
We stayed here for a long weekend in June of 2006. The property was beautifully maintained. It had very tropical courtyards. Our room was large and very clean. We even had a DVD player and a VCR. The kitchen was large and extremely well equiped....
Old Florida charm combined with luxury accommodati
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Posted Apr 13, 2005
Excellent
Nice clean rooms, newer furnishings, comfortable stay. Conveniently located near everything we needed -- shopping, dining, and entertainment -- and a great beach! Check in and all went very smooth and they even let us check in early which was very...
Looking forward to our next visit.
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Posted Feb 21, 2005
Excellent
The staff was freindly and helpful. We loved the Tortuga. It is one of the most beautiful hotels on the beach side. The bathroom where spotless. Sperate Tub and shower. Private mini kitchen. Corfortable bed. Kept up very well. We had our...
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