John's Pass Hotel — Hotel in Madeira Beach

I rarely write reviews, but my recent stay at John’s Pass Hotel was so disappointing that I felt it necessary to share my experience.

I travel frequently for both business and leisure, and while the property benefits from a prime location with convenient access to the boardwalk, the overall experience fell far below expectations.

The hotel operates more like an Airbnb than a traditional property, with no on-site office and check-in handled entirely electronically. After booking, I did not receive my parking information until I called to request it. Parking is on the third floor of the parking ramp, with designated parking spots, close to the rooms.

The guest rooms feature large windows and frosted doors with thin shades, allowing significant light and noise to filter through. In over 25 years of travel, I have never encountered a property as noisy as this one. Beginning at 6:00 a.m., garbage trucks and semi-trailers with backup alarms made restful sleep impossible.

A particularly distressing incident occurred when I was abruptly awakened in the middle of the night by the fire alarm while sleeping with my service dog. Believing there was a genuine emergency, I almost called 911!! Instead, I contacted the help desk and was informed it was a false alarm caused by a faulty system. The representative explained that no maintenance staff were on-site but offered to move me to another room for the night, assuring me it would be fixed “in the morning.”

I decided to sleep in a different room expecting the issue to be addressed in the morning. Unfortunately, “morning” turned out to be 10:30 a.m.—well into my workday. The alarm’s volume made staying in the room unbearable, forcing me to relocate. Packing and moving my personal and business belongings took 45 minutes, disrupting my work schedule.

Between the excessive noise, safety concerns, and lack of communication, this was one of the more disappointing hotel stays I’ve experienced. I left feeling exhausted and would not book an extended stay here, this is for short term stays.

On a positive note, the housekeeping staff are friendly and hardworking despite operating from a small, hot shed. (Thank you to them, this “hotel” doesn’t deserve you!!) The rooms were generally clean, and I appreciated the tall ceilings. The fridge was cold and the beds were comfortable. The rooms have a desk which is necessary for me when traveling. The air conditioners worked well, however, the toilets...

It’s a clean, nice, no-frills place to stay for a night or two. While the important amenities check all the boxes: i.e., free garage parking space, chilly AC, fridge, remarkably clean bathrooms, comfortable beds, et al; there’s no one on premises to make things right should something go wrong. I think the contact number provided was some guy’s home in Quebec. I did need to call the number; fortunately, for both of us, it turned out to be an easy fix; certainly not something the CSR could’ve stepped outside of an on premise office and addressed.

My suggestion: if you’re planning to have a little too much fun enjoying the sometimes crazy Madeira Beach nightlife, and you might not oughta’ drive home – John’s Pass Hotel has you covered – and in style for those who know how to behave themselves.

If it’s a carefully planned family vacation you’re planning; or you and the Mrs. are looking for a romantic getaway, I wouldn’t recommend booking this or any other hands off no-frills rooms for the week or weekend. Like most no-frills joints, you can anticipate the free Wi-Fi and TV channels are little better than an advertising gimmick (“What? You don’t understand the fundamentals of wireless networking and aren’t privy to our network sign-in/password protocols?”). So, JHP isn’t a place to conduct business either. It’s a hotel that fits in that niche of fun in the sun weekend getaway.

The beach is easily accessible just across Gulf Boulevard, but you won’t see as much from your room – the views aren’t all that spectacular lest you enjoy looking over the backside of busy restaurants and shops. There really is nothing here that says business, family or romance, something reflected in the lower price associated with this and other hands-off no-frill properties.

It is, however, a damn good place to stay if you’re a local looking for a weekend getaway without paying full-on tourist rates. You’ll get a clean and (mostly) quiet room, with a good chance there’ll be no TV noise to bother you, FBOW. You will get a surprisingly comfortable bed – and you’ll be in walking distance of most every popular busy restaurant, shop and bar on Mad Beach and John’s Pass. For those places beyond walking distance , beach transportation is pretty good. Of course, if you’re local, you’re likely to have your own transportation! For many of us, that’s...

We stayed here for a week. It should not be advertised as a hotel. It's the 3rd floor terrace of a parking ramp. There are not really any hotel amenities. Our room was cleaned only twice and we needed new towels in that time. There is no lobby or pool or anything else that a hotel may offer. The terrace is open to the public and connects to the Hooters and Bubba Gump Shrimp patios. There was people traffic going past our room all day long. There are also a couple businesses and a John's Pass public restroom that people have to walk past the rooms to get to. The room itself was nice and the bed was comfortable. Your parking spot is on the ramp and it's an easy walk to the room. Unfortunately it's an extremely busy ramp all day long and takes a long time to get in and out of. Once there was a car parked in our reserved spot overnight. It wasn't a big deal because it was late at night and another spot was available. Once trying to enter the ramp, the attendant had placed a cone blocking the entrance with a sign that said the ramp was full. I couldn't even pull up to enter the hotel code. It was a pain in the ass. The area of John's Pass is extremely busy and noisy. It's a popular area so that wasn't much of a surprise but hearing leaf blowers at 7am was not expected. The room shook a little bit when cars were driving through the ramp. This may not be a bad place to stay for one or 2 nights if you just wanted to visit John's Pass but traveling in and out was horrible. Not having on site staff was the biggest gripe. When we called for towels were were told "it might be her day off". The people that were in the room next to us couldn't get in their room because the keypad stopped working. There was nobody to get them access. They were given another room for the night but all their luggage and personal items were locked inside till the next day when a locksmith could show up. It was our last night so we gave them some extra travel toothbrushes we had along with a bottle of vodka. I'd look into any other options unless you just needed a place to crash and didn't want to leave the...