Bay Street Inn — Hotel in Saint Petersburg

Excuse the long, but necessary, review: Should not be described as a B&B… much more appropriate to call it a rooming house. I surprised my husband with a weekend away for his birthday & made the reservation with Wendy over the phone. She indicated she was the owner, & promised “champagne & dessert“ when we arrived. In addition, she offered us the e-bikes on Saturday & assured me they had been reserved for us. The week of our stay I had to reach out to them for confirmation & check in instructions. Both Wendy & Brooke (who was supposed to be the property manager?) assured me that the e-bikes were reserved for us. As requested, I advised Brooke what time I would arrive (between 6-7p Friday). Upon arrival, no one was there to greet us or let us in. I had to call & text multiple times- Wendy called me back & apologized, assuring there would be a “lavish spread” for breakfast to impress us, after this not-so-stellar arrival. There was certainly no “champagne & dessert” to greet us. Saturday morning there was no “spread”. There was no one in the kitchen who works there- just several guests milling about, of which one couple told me they have been there several days & there has been little to no service, just a “help yourself” communal kitchen. This is NOT a bed & breakfast. We go out for coffee & I start reaching out to Brooke about the promised reserved e-bikes; she initially says she will arrive soon to provide them. Shortly after she texts that there are no bikes because they are out “being serviced” & they were working on finding e-bikes for us. I responded that this was “not great”. I heard nothing else from her. The bikes were a big deal. I could have easily brought my own bikes, but had been assured multiple times that e-bikes would be there for us. If you have ever used the St. Pete bike rental service then you are aware that it is difficult to use and subpar in comparison with other major cities. In summary, the service is nonexistent & calling this a B&B is false advertising. In addition, the mattress was of the springy bouncy uncomfortable variety, which is generally seen as inferior by even standard hotels. The rooms do not cool well. This is bearable in February; I can see it being a big issue in the summer heat. It’s unfortunate this was my husband’s first experience with a “B&B”. I’ll have a hard time convincing him to try a different one, & there are great ones out there- this...

I don’t even know where to begin. It’s been a year since we stayed there and still the worst hotel experience we have ever had. I had a bad feeling when they got our reservation wrong over and over and I had to call 4x to finally get it right. I told myself it would be ok because they got good reviews but even told my husband I had a bad feeling because the owner would talk to me personally and promise this and that and then nothing would get fixed. Then it got changed to the wrong dates. Wrong person. Etc. It started with a bunch of people showing up with reservations, only to be turned away to another hotel by the owner who was driving them around, trying to smooth things over. They only had us down for one room so we were lucky to get two. One was upstairs and was super hot so they had to put a second portable AC and run the hose out the window so then there were two on either side of the bed. We were put in a room that shares hallway space with the cleaning staff and the bathroom is down a hall across from the pantry, there is a cheap partition between the bathroom sink and where the housekeeping staff does all the laundry. The staff was telling stories of other staff stealing credit cards and the owner acting very erratically. The whole time we were walking on eggshells because there was nowhere else in town to stay at that point but it was such an embarrassment to have brought our out of state guests here. It got good reviews so we were totally in shock at what we experienced. Guests were getting together and talking about their mutual horror stories every night, we were like how does this place still have a good rating. Very strange. Beware. Also the staff was openly using the F word in conversation with us and asked my husband to drive them...

With great appreciation for quality of service and accommodations, my wife and I enthusiastically recommend a stay at Wendy Stevens’ Bay Street Inn in the Historic Northeast of St. Petersburg’s Downtown District.

We had truly been offered the most professional service and courtesy that, in essence, has been nothing short of spectacular. Both Wendy, a supreme host with every local connection to St. Petersburg’s most desirable amenities and her ambassador and all-around superb gentleman, David, paid the strictest attention to all critical details and reliably prompt responses proved to meet hospitality commitments that truly went the extra mile! Wendy, it is evident to us that you and your team truly took on the responsibility along with the full measurement of accountability.

If you are not familiar with the east side of this peninsula, St. Petersburg continues to blossom like a flower and is readying itself for a new era and generation. However, it still maintains family fun activities and an historic element with exquisite museums and sightseeing, that from time to time offers a jet-set community with beautiful people, cars, fashion, and trendy eateries. A little something for everyone, just a 5 minute walk from the stunning Bay Street Inn.

We are very likely to be back again ​soon for another stay and are grateful to have been the recipients of this commitment...