Thunderbird Beach Resort — Hotel in Treasure Island

Overall I was very disappointed with our stay at Thunderbirds Beach Resort, which is a shame as the hotel has real potential.||Our room was clean and looked like they had been recently painted and cleaned up. The bedding was cleaned daily and the beds were comfortable. The rooms were spacious and the kitchenette was a lovely addition. Floors in the room and outside on the balcony were swapped and mopped daily.||Unfortunately outside of the room the hotel is in need of major investment and repair. The main pool area looks tired and has seen better days. The paving around the pool was dirty with debris from the surrounding trees and bush areas. This meant that the pool became very dirty quickly. This may have had something to do with the Hurricane the week before, however I never saw anyone attempting to clean the pool or the surrounding area until the Tuesday after arriving the Saturday before. From the Tuesday there was a cleaning machine in the pool constantly sucking up all the debris. I only saw an attendant clean the pool and surrounding area once during my 7 nights at the hotel.||Our other disappointment was the renovations to the on-site restaurant and reception area. Both were closed for the duration of our stay. We chose this hotel for a weeks rest after 2 tiring weeks in Orlando. Not having the ability to be able to order any food on-site was a big negative and was frustrating to see it all starting to open up again the day we left. Also the constant noise of banging and drilling impacted our stay. The renovation work would start bang on 9am each morning. At no point did anyone pre-warn us of the renovation work. Imagine our disappointment when we turned up at check-in to be greeted in a temporary reception with what looked like a building site outside my front door. We should have been contacted ahead of our stay warning us of the work and at least offered us the chance to cancel free of charge and book an alternative hotel.||During the whole week there was only one sun umbrella available for the sun beds around the main pool. In 90f heat that is ridiculous and a health and safety issue for guests. When my wife spoke to one of the reception team about the lack of shade she was told words to effect "This is Florida, it is sunny, get on with it"||I found several of the staff on reception and the Tiki to be rude and severely lacking basic customer service skills. I was goaded a few times by what I can only describe as a local who spent almost every day sat at the bar getting drunk. Whenever I approached the bar he felt it was acceptable to speak down to me as I was British, he then began to pass comment several times on how attractive he found my wife. It got to the point that I asked my wife not to approach the bar when he was around. What I found extremely disappointing was that the staff at the bar seemed to think this was acceptable behaviour and did nothing to protect someone that was paying to stay at the hotel that was paying their wage. ||The reception staff were hit and miss. Depending on what shift you got determined if you spoke to someone helpful or not. One example was at the end of the holiday when I enquired about an extended check-out. The employee I dealt with was rude and unprofessional and made me feel like I was putting her out just by asking a question. Despite all this the hotel still insisted on charging me $25 per hour past midday for an extended check-out.||Like I said I think it is a real shame as I do believe with investment this hotel could be a real gem. It needs a load of TLC and some of the staff need to be replaced or given training in customer service. The hotel management also need to review policy about who can use the Tiki bar as it attracts undesirables that damage the image and reputation...

I've never taken the time to write a review for a hotel before, but this place was so rough our kids made up a song about it.. started something like " the ceiling is chipped and the bed is ripped.." The first thing we noticed was the horribly strong smell. The best thing I can figure is they used a ton of cleaning chemicals to try to cover up the smell of someone smoking in the room? To make matters worse I couldn't get any windows to open - in the living room or bed room & the heating / cooling is the kind that just recirculates air doesn't pull any in from the outside. We only stayed one night, and I woke up with such a horrid migraine from the smell there was no way we could stay for the second night.

The outside area seemed to be well taken care of, and the gardeners were hard at work when we got there.. the pool rules were a bit disconcerting, one line said something like " if you're sick with diarrhea don't swim".. lol what the heck is that?

You can tell they tried to update the rooms with nice looking furniture and linens the tile in the kitchen area looked pretty cool.. there was even pots and pans and a 2 burner stove.

However the negatives didn't end with the smell...as the kids lyrics alluded the ceiling had a big gouge in it,

the bathroom door was very difficult to shut and the paint was chipping off of it at the bottom.

The tile underneath the grout had something red on it... like maybe it was stained by a beauty product? hopefully it was a stain and not just something that wasn't cleaned.

The sealant around the bathtub was pretty gross and in need of being redone.

and then there was the pull out couch.. the pull out part was very difficult to get out and the frame looked very flimsy - i was concerned it wouldn't be able to hold our 2 kids... and then there was the mattress.. it was maybe 3 inches thick and was all springs with a very thin material over them. The material was frayed and coming off on one corner.

In the bedroom, the tv didn't work at all - we checked the power cords and we just couldn't get it to come on. One of the power outlets was loose and sticking nearly 1 1/2 inches out of the wall next to a bed. I couldn't let my son in there w/o supervision for fear he would mess with it.

The mini fridge had a lot of condensation and ruined a pizza we had planned on having for lunch the next day.

Also, as others have said the parking is pretty tight.

After staying less than 12 hours we decided when we woke up there was no way we could stay- none of us wanted to chance the shower and decided to instead to deal with the 6 hour drive to Savannah a day early.

It's worth mentioning the staff I dealt with were all very friendly.

I really really dont understand how this resort ( which is really a motel) has 4 stars.. I'm guessing most people spend their entire time out of the rooms on the beach or...

Terrible Experience - We were promised and reserved a "Gulf Front room with an awesome view." When we called to inquire about making a reservation, the rep at the front desk (Bradley) told us we could get a "great rate" for this room because it was on the third floor and the hotel has no elevators. He convinced us that the fantastic view was well worth it, if we didn't mind climbing the stairs. However, after we arrived and checked in, and dragged our suitcases and cooer up the three flights of stairs we were disappointed to learn that the room we were given actually was facing the street and overlooked the old hotel rooftop! When we returned to the front desk to inform the staff that this was not the room/view we were promised, Bradley asserted that the room still had a great view--from outside, once you left the room! The other front desk staff member ("Tia") then began to argue with us, maintaining that this was a "Gulf front" room. She then offered us a room facing the Gulf on the floor below (2nd floor), but insisted she would not tell us the cost until we told her if we wanted it or not (very odd). When we went back upstairs to check out the room we found that it did in fact have a Gulf view (from inside the room), but like the first room we were offered, was aged, damp, and smelled musty; however, since we had already registered and dragged our stuff upstairs we decided we would stay for one night. When we returned to the desk, however, Tia told us the new rate would be $65 more, and she continued to argue with my wife when we stated that we should be given the original rate we were quoted for a Gulf view room (and had already paid for). While Bradley then apologized to us, Tia then got nasty with us, at which time we decided to leave. Upon requesting that she return the original form we had filled out containing our personal information, Tia refused to do so, at which time I called the police. Needless to say, I could not recommend this hotel to anyone. To the hotel management: I strongly suggest you cease misleading your customers, and that you also provide additional much-needed customer service training to your reception desk staff. On a brighter note, we did find a fantastic resort hotel nearby for the same original rate and ended up enjoying a week-long stay on the beautiful beaches of...