St Pete's Bay side or St Petes Beach??

I%26#39;m helping my sister and her hubby plan a trip to St. Petes area for March 07. She has fond memories of St Petes and thinks the Bay side would be better, I%26#39;m trying to talk her into staying on the Gulf side, St Petes Beach. I would love any advice from others. They are very laid back, young 50%26#39;s and are planning to hike and site-see. I think they%26#39;d prefer a small, quaint, waterfront establishment.

St Pete's Bay side or St Petes Beach??

It is St. Pete, not St. Petes, for the abbreviation. BTW, why is abbreviation such a long word, LOL. Anyway, I don%26#39;t think the Bay side has much of a beach to walk on. My personal choice would be the Gulf side - should see some spectacular sunsets during evening walks on the beach.

St Pete's Bay side or St Petes Beach??

Thanks and sorry for the incorrect abv. (haha). I have seen such great reviews of Saint Pete Beach and now I just have to convince my sister that the Gulf is a great location. She wants to stay a couple nights near Saint Petersburg and a couple nights closer to Sarasota (better hiking?). Now I just have to help her find accomodations that suit their needs and budget. Any advice on a nice clean beachfront, small and with very little amenities would be great.

I also second the recommendation of staying at St. Pete Beach. You might like the area of St. Pete Beach called Pass-a-Grille at the southern most end of the SPB.

What kind of hiking do you want to do? SPB is fairly urban area, but you probably would enjoy going to Ft. DeSoto Park. It has beaches, picnic areas, a fishing pier and a Spanish-American War era fort. I can%26#39;t think of any kind of hiking right at SBP. Weedon Island Preserve is another place you might like.

Here is a web site listing Pinellas County Parks.

www.pinellascounty.org/park/ParkMap_v2.htm

why don%26#39;t you try giving plaza beach resort a call? they are located on the gulf side in st. pete and they also own a small hotel on the bay side called bayview plaza. if she would like the bay side, she could stay at the bayview and still use all the amentities of the plaza beach(beach, pool, etc) just a short walk away. the bayview is very small(only 7 rooms I think) but they have rooms facing the dock and water and look very nice.

we always stay at the plaza and we love it. the places are VERY clean and the people that own the places and run it are all family and very nice. all rooms have kitchen facilities and there%26#39;s a publix within walking distance to buy food if they want to save a few bucks.

my suggestion is you better start calling soon, as march is a VERY busy season. I called like 2 months ago for march to stay at the plaza beach and got one of the last 3 rooms available for my time period. usually we stay in july, but we love it so much there, next year we are going there twice. you probably won%26#39;t have a hard time getting a room bayside, but you better start looking now and not wait, as that%26#39;s such a busy time in st. pete.

good luck and I hope they have a great time!

one more thing I forgot to mention tk, if they are on a budget, rates in march are pretty high, so the bayview would be cheaper than the plaza beach resort. if you call, get rates for both places so you can compare, and remember, you can share amentities from both places. good luck and maybe I%26#39;ll see them there- we%26#39;re going march 10th thru the 16th! enjoy!