Blue Waters Treasure Island — Hotel in Treasure Island

TL DR; Great location. Beautiful sunsets! Successful gathering of friends for 40th birthday. Unit 10 had AC issue, eventually resolved.  Stay was in early June (Fri-Mon).

Bluewaters (BWI) was selected after thorough research on a small boutique hotel/place to stay for my 40th birthday in the Treasure Island, St Pete Beach area. BWI checked all the boxes. Plenty of units (and beds) for travelling friends and availability matched our dates. Easy access to the beach. Pool. Outdoor gathering space. Quiet. Pets welcomed (for fee).  Beach chairs/umbrella (for a fee). Yes, there's extras available for a fee, but they are clearly listed on the website and your agreement.

I personally rented #10 (3 nights) & #6 (one night).  The group who traveled in for the weekend occupied units 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, & 12.

The positives.

BWI is directly across a street with beach access after using a dedicated crosswalk. The water was wonderful and plenty of space for a big group gathering. And...it's such a perfect for the sunset or a moonset. There's also a public lot if needed.

While BWI is not a quick walk to restaurants, the area has a local free shuttle service - Free Island Hopper -tips encouraged.  Our ride was quick and easy, absolutely loved Jeremy.  Each unit has a refrigerator and amenities for cooking in if needed. Also, plenty of food delivery services in the area. Including lateish night pizza.

We had a few local friends who were joining us for the main gathering. BWI has an option to pay for day visitors. Loved this option!

The central shared outdoor space was clean, plenty of tables/seats, umbrellas, for all who were staying at BWI. We took advantage of this area for the guests staying to enjoy dinner together one night.

The not-so-positives. But we worked with BWI through this.

The only major issue we had upon arrival was an AC issue in unit 10 (our unit for the weekend).  Luckily, none of the other units rented by our group had issues.  Back to 10, the temp was 85 degrees and was unfortunate as this was the unit we had selected as our dog was traveling with us. Barbara was kind and understanding when we immediately called. She contacted maintenance and they arrived soon after.  While maintenance was working, we were able to move our dog into another unit rented by our friends to avoid him overheating, temp remained 85 to 86 degrees. After sometime (and before dinner), we were informed the AC was fixed with a temporary measure, but should allow the air to cool. We took that as an okay to move our dog back over and prepare for our dinner out.  The group headed to dinner and upon return, the temperature in unit 10 was still hot (85/86 degrees). This had created our dog to be hot and stressed. Luckily unit #6 had remained vacant for that night and we were renting it the next day for friends arriving the following day. Barbara gave us the OK to stay there until maintenance could return the next day to fix the AC.  Around 11 pm, we moved the important items (dog, personal items) over.

Maintenance arrived the next morning and was able to fix the AC later in the day, but due to the hot day and high temp in the unit that it didn't cool down to a reseasonable temp until late in the evening. We had to shift around our sleeping options to accommodate those who arrived on Saturday and were staying for one night.

Overall, Barbara and BWI did they best they could with the AC issue and helped accommodate us in another unit to ensure that we and our dog had a cool place to stay for the full 3 nights. The friends all agreed if we returned for another group event, BWI would be our first choice. My husband and I will continue to consider BWI for a...

Bluewater's used to be my favorite and the only place I'd stay on TI. My recent experience here has changed this forever. Our family flew in from Oregon and was looking forward to staying here again. The units are newly renovated so we were expecting the units to be anything then what ending up happening to us!!

Upon arriving we already knew the beach was going to be closed and no access to it. We were told to go down to Caddys if we wanted to go to the beach!! The property manager text me 2 days before we arrived to let me know this. Even with that being a huge let down we were all excited about going and using the pool more. When we got there and opened the door to our unit the heavy smell of paint was so intoxicating! They used the WRONG PAINT! After entering the unit we also found out that all 3 tv's were not connected to cable. Possibly because of the renovation they were never reconnected. I would have thought the property manager would have checked the unit prior to us arriving. There was going to be 5 adults in our party and i taked to PM about extra seating. The living room only has a couch that sits 3 adults. The gave us a bench! Can you image? A bench?? $1,400 and a bench to sit on?

At this point the property manager was called and she was on her way. She stated she would have Spectrum come out the next day to reconnect the tv's for us. The next day was Saturday, how is she going to have them come out on a Saturday!! Once the manager arrived I kept asking her, why? Why didn't she tell us? My mother inlaw is 78 years old with medical issues and I myself have upper respiratory issues. She would never admit to the unit being Uninhabitable and kept talking over me. My husband who stayed quiet started asking her over and over again. YOU KNEW THE UNIT WAS LIKE THIS DIDN'T YOU?? Finely she Nodded her head and said yes I did know it was like this!

The only other unit she had available to offer had been painted just 2 days ago compared to my unit that was painted a week ago so obviously this was not gonna work. She did mention she had another unit for us to look at but there was no smoke detector she was not even sure if the TV's were connected and did not have a blind in the kitchen. I didn't know you could rent a room without a smoke detector. This room was definitely not something that we would have rented.

When I explained to her that there was just no way that we were going to be able to stay she reminded me that I was not going to be able to get my money back! It was really sad that she had not one once of compassion for the situation we were in. When she said she was sorry I told her if she was really sorry and wanted to make it right she would tell her owners of the issue and refund our $1,420.00 for our 3 day stay or possibly offer us a credit for us to come back and have the stay we were expecting in the future. We were not offered anything but a FAKE I'm so sorry!!

luckily another place offered us a 3 day stay and a discount because THEY felt bad about how we were treated!! Can you image that? Some people have compassion and great customer service and others do not!

Note to the owner & management: It was never about the money! It was all about doing the right thing by people who come to enjoy your place for a vacation! I assure you we'll never be back. Your decision to treat us the way you did made this decision easy for us.

I only hope whoever reads this keeps in mind that customer service is very much a part of the places you stay or trust will...

We have stayed here before and loved this place. My parents come in to visit and stay here, we see many of the same people each year who we have made friends with. Unfortunately, it is under new management and there were many issues this past weekend.

The "upgrades" they have made to property included a bedroom door that would not close as the bed comes out too far not allowing the door to close. They have a huge window on the front door with a very bright porch light that cannot be turned off, so my parents had a very difficult time sleeping since the bedroom door could not be closed. There was no hot water for a day and a half. Maintenance arrived at the end of the 1st night and the breaker had popped. By the time they fixed it, there was no hot water within the hour when parents wanted a shower. Maintenance was not back until the next day and they finally had water by mid-afternoon.

Maintenance was very nice, but the new management was very rude every time we had to contact them for issues. They stated the porch light could not be turned off for security reasons, even though the place is very well lit already. No accommodations were made for not having any hot water for half of the stay or the door not being able to close. The security cameras are clearly being used for constant monitoring of guests. We were contacted by management stating they had been watching us and see that we have unauthorized vehicles parked there. Even though the room is for 4 people, you only are allowed one car permit and must pay additional fees for other vehicles. Last year we had 3 cars each day with no issue as there is plenty of room. Even though we stated the other cars will not be there overnight as we are visiting our parents while they stay we could not park there. Whatever, we parked on the street down the block. Other long time residents had also complained about various issues and being monitored with calls about activity happening at the moment. One guest was called about another guest having a dog with management stating "we are looking at you right now".

Bottom line is new management increased prices with new fees such as the parking issue, cleaning fees, a book of things you will be charged for.. like $50 if there is even 1 plate left in the sink, so not sure what the crazy "cleaning fees" are for. All the long time returning guests we see yearly were not happy with how they were treated either, the increased/added fees and that it felt very strange to know that they were constantly monitoring all the activity when we are hanging outside on the property or in the pool. The property is wonderful and has a great location, but as a resident I would not recommend this place anymore with the new management. I know many of the guests said they will find somewhere else next year as well. Hoping that in the future this place is bought by someone who cares about their guests and their vacation experience rather than just trying to squeeze a dime out of everything possible and then we...