What a great place this was for our recent Spring Break trip. The hotel is beautiful and has a wonderful restaurant and Starbucks on premises. The beach is gorgeous! Close to pier and activities there. Every night we enjoyed an awesome sunset.
Room was very nice
We would highly recommend.

The hotel itself is beautiful. It is one of the prettiest hotels I have seen. The food was not good. I do not think of myself as a picky eater, but Frenchies the dive next door, had much better food than the hotel. We even found that the drinks at Frenchies were better and half the price. The service was poor. I have had much better service at Holiday Inn. They could not grant my request for a King bed, nor a balcony, not a beachfront view. These were all requests that I had made when I booked the room in January. I would have been happy to pay extra even. On the last day we asked for a late check out, they would not do that either. It was a very expensive place to stay for such poor service.
I spoke to the locals and learned that it is well known that the owners are accomplished at building but not at management. They really should turn the hotel over to Four Seasons or Westin. It has the potential to be a great place.

I had to take care of some business in the Tampa area and decided to take a few extra days and have my wife go along, so we could celebrate our anniversary. We wanted to stay at the best hotel in Clearwater Beach - the Sandpearl was listed as a "Preferred Hotel" and rated "five-star". We made reservations for a six-day stay in a king room, facing the gulf, and looked forward to a luxurious, relaxing business vacation.

The following is a day-by-day synopsis of our stay. I included this summary as part of a six-page letter to both Mr. John Uberroth (president & CEO of Preferred Hotels and Resorts) and Mr. Stuart Arp (General Mgr of Sandpearl). I soon received a letter from someone "on behalf of" Mr. Uberroth stating that they were sorry that our stay was so disappointing, and that they would URGE Mr. Arp to reply to us directly. It's been over a month now, and we have yet to receive the courtesy of a response from him or his staff. This should give you an idea of management's attitude towards their guests - apparently, they just don't seem to care.
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Arrival and Day 1:
- Driving up the brick-paved main entrance to the hotel was impressive, and we both shared a “wow’ moment. As we pulled around to the front entrance, two valet employees quickly approached the car, one on either side. The one on my side gave me a very respectful welcome, while the one on the passenger side crudely asked my wife, “Anyone back there? Can’t see through the dark windows” (if he just opened the rear door, he would have known for sure). Some of the “wow” suddenly went away.
- We gathered our personal belongings from the car (coats, camera, tote bag, laptop computer, briefcase, etc.), and headed for the lobby, informing the valet employees that there were two suitcases in the trunk.
- We approached the front desk with our arms full. As I fumbled with my gear, trying to get to my wallet and the requested credit card, we were approached by a woman who held a tray with two flutes of champagne. She presented a plastic smile and recited her lines like she’s probably done hundreds of times before, without feeling or sincerity. In addition to all the other stuff in my arms, I now had to contend with a glass of champagne. I turned to my wife, clicked her glass and wished her a happy anniversary. We each took a sip and I turned to place my glass back on the tray, but she had already vanished. I guess her job was to just deliver the drinks and say her lines. The champagne is a nice touch, but I’m sure the ceremony could be handled in a much better manner.
- The desk clerk was very courteous and asked if we were celebrating any occasion? I told him we were celebrating our anniversary. He congratulated us and continued to process our registration. During this time, I asked him to verify that our room was indeed a gulf front. He assured me that it was, as he handed me the room card keys.
- We then headed to the elevator and our room, juggling personal items and champagne flutes. We arrived at our room and as soon as I opened the door, saw that we were facing a high rise building, while my wife quickly added, “…and there’s two beds”.
- I called the front desk and spoke to the gentleman who had just checked us in, explaining that he made an error in our room assignment. It wasn’t a gulf front room and had two beds. He said that the hotel “considers” that room a gulf front. He also said he found it strange that there were two beds in our assigned room considering that we were celebrating our anniversary. He then added the extraordinary comment, “I thought that maybe there was someone else joining you”! He said he’d check and get back to us about getting another room.
- About 15 minutes later, I received a call from a female asking what was wrong with our room. After explaining the situation to her, she said that there were no other rooms available, but there’d be a couple of gulf front king bed rooms becoming available the next day, but there’s nothing that can be done today. She went on to say that the available rooms would be junior suites and would cost an additional $50/day. I reluctantly agreed, wanting to make this vacation a special remembrance for us. She also said that we should confirm the room change at the front desk in the morning to be sure we will be getting one (I wondered why we would have to do this and not her).
- A short while later, I received another call from a different female voice saying her manager wanted her to confirm that I knew that the room change will be to one which costs an additional $50/day, as they didn‘t want any “misunderstanding” at checkout. I assured her that I understood the increase in the room rate and have agreed to it. There would be no “misunderstanding” at checkout. Apparently, there is more concern about ensuring the collection of the up-charge than there is about their guests’ satisfaction.
- I apologized to my wife and told her I was really trying to make this trip wonderful. We went to our respective beds to sleep.

Day 2:
- Arose early after a restless night worrying if we would be able to get a better room and replaying the disappointment of the first day in my mind.
- I went down to the front desk to confirm our room change. They had no record of any impending change and didn’t have any idea of what I was talking about. In frustration, I related my tale to the desk clerk, starting from the beginning. I also stated that we would be going sightseeing for most of the day and wondered about the logistics of changing our room, with respect to the luggage and our personal belongings.
- She said that there were a couple of king junior suites becoming available today but couldn’t yet assign one to us that morning. She would see what opens up and that she would assign the “best one” for us. She also told me to check out of our old room when leaving for our sightseeing, but to leave all of our luggage in the room. She would have it moved to our new room while we were out.
- I went back to our room, packed our luggage and gathered all our things, leaving them together near the door.
- We went to the front desk to check out, as instructed, prior to going on our sightseeing trip. After checking out and as we started to leave the hotel, I became concerned that when we returned, we might not have a room In fact, what if we were told that there were no rooms available? After all, we had checked out of our original room. I returned to share my concern with the desk clerk and she assured me that she would take care of everything herself and that we shouldn’t worry.
- We wound up in Tarpon Springs to relax, but I spent the day worrying.
- We arrived back at the hotel around 2:30PM, looking forward to changing into our bathing suits and going out to the beautiful pool for the remainder of the afternoon. I was relieved to see the same woman behind the front desk. I smiled and asked if we had a room. She smiled back and said that everything was taken care of and gave me a set of room key cards to out new junior suite! I was relieved until she said that there was one small problem – our luggage was not yet moved from the old room because they were so busy, but she’d have that taken care of immediately. Our bathing suits were in the luggage.
- We went up to our room and as I opened the door, was pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful panorama of the gulf from our window and my wife quickly mentioned that there was a king sized bed. The room was exactly what we wanted!
- I gave my wife a hug and told her that although the first day was a disappointment, it would be wonderful from now on.
- We went out on the balcony to take in the view, but I quickly went inside so I would be sure to hear the imminent knock on the door from the bellman, delivering our luggage.
- I turned on the TV to watch the news and sat on the edge of the bed while my wife was enjoying the view from the balcony.
- After about 20 minutes, my wife asked if our luggage had arrived yet, as she really wanted to change into her bathing suit and go to the pool before it got too late. I offered the explanation that they had been busy and our luggage would be here any minute (although I had difficulty believing that myself).
- After another 15 minutes and no bellman, I called the desk and asked about our luggage. She didn’t know what I was talking about, so for the second time that day, had to explain my entire circumstance to a “new” person from the beginning. She assured me that although they had been very busy, she would take care of it immediately. Another 30 minutes with no luggage, and the beautiful view no longer soothing our growing anger and frustration, I went down to the front desk to get a key to our old room and move the luggage myself..
- The lobby and front desk area were both deserted and I found it difficult to understand why they keep telling me how busy they were.
- As I approached the front desk, a man dressed in a jacket with a name tag on it (I assumed that he was a hotel employee) was talking to the desk clerk. He smiled and said hello and asked the generic “how are you this afternoon?” I told him I was not very happy and told him I wanted a key to my old room so I can move my luggage. “We’ve been waiting almost an hour and a half after being promised that it would be taken care of immediately, and I’m tired of waiting.”
- He said that our luggage would be delivered in five minutes and that he would take care of it personally.
- I went back up to our room to ask my wife to please try to have a little more patience as someone is taking care of it right now.
- The knock on the door came a minute later – a bellman with our luggage had arrived! It was 4:10PM.
- He placed the luggage in the room and proceeded to go through his routine of explaining where everything was located and gave us a tour of the room. I was too tired and frustrated to stop him, so I just let him continue. Obviously, he thought we were just checking in. When he got to the radio, I was reminded that we needed to put out Ipods in the docking station to let them charge. I opened the top to inset my Ipod and saw only a hole where the connector should have been. I asked him to show me how the docking station worked, and as he looked inside, arrived at the same conclusion – the connector was missing.
- I asked if he could bring a replacement radio and he said that I would have to call housekeeping! I thought it would have been nice it HE would have called them.
- Disappointingly, it was just too late to enjoy the pool and sun for that day.
- I called housekeeping and explained that our radio’s docking station was missing. She said that she’d get a replacement up to us right away. After 30 minutes, I called back and asked about the replacement radio. Got a different person, so had to explain the situation from the start, again! She proceeded to explain that there had been a severe electrical storm recently and that many of the radio units were “fried”. Replacement units had been ordered and a few came in, but most of them were still on backorder. Of course, none of this interested me; I just wanted a radio with a docking station. She said that she’d take a unit from another room and have it delivered right way.
- Surprisingly, within 15 minutes, there was a knock on the door. It was a bellman with a brand new radio, still in the box, but a different make and model from the one in the room.
- He asked what was wrong with the old one and I explained that we couldn’t plug in our Ipods into the
docking station. He said that the new radio didn’t have a docking station, that there was only an input jack into which we could plug our Ipods to play through the radio’s speakers, but they wouldn’t be charged while plugged in. He suggested that we try an electronics store in which to purchase a charging docking station.
- By this time, we were so frustrated that we abandoned our plans to have dinner at one of the area’s fine restaurants and decided to just eat at a nearby sandwich shop. We had lost our mood for an elegant meal.
- We retired that night convinced that the worst was over – after all, we still had three more days to enjoy ourselves and it just had to be better from now on.
- I apologized to my wife again and told her I was really trying to make this trip wonderful. She said she understood…

Day 3:
- I awoke with a renewed hope of having a memorable remaining stay at a luxurious resort.
- The weather was sunny and warm, so we decided to spend the day at the pool. Pool-side service was efficient and courteous. The food and drinks from the Tate Island Grill were very good. We started to feel a little better.
- While at the pool, we struck up a conversation with the couple sitting next to us. They were from Delaware and had also arrived on Saturday. We asked them how they liked the hotel, and they said it was great! When they checked in (about an hour before our arrival), they were given a complimentary upgrade to a gulf front view without knowing why. I jokingly asked if it had a king size bed and they said yes. He pointed to their room from poolside and there it was, a king size room looking directly at the gulf! I couldn’t help but wonder if they had been given our room.
- At about 4:00PM, we decided to go back to our room to shower and change for dinner.
- As we went inside our room, we saw that it was still unmade. I called the front desk and informed them that our room cleaning was somehow missed. She said that we would have to call housekeeping and let them know (I guess she was too busy to take care of that herself).
- I called housekeeping and told them about our room. The woman explained that they were very busy but would get our room cleaned right away. After the now-usual 30 minute wait with no response, I called again.
- Got a different voice. After explaining our situation, she said that she will have it taken care of right away. After about 20 more minutes, my wife, growing ever more frustrated, said that she’d make up the room herself as she didn’t like being in an unkempt room. I refused to let her do anything, saying that housekeeping would be there any minute. So, she decided to take a shower and start getting dressed for dinner, fully expecting that our room wouldn’t be cleaned until tomorrow.
- Sure enough as my wife was showering, there was a knock on the door - housekeeping had finally arrived. It was 5:20PM.
- I asked them to come back in about an hour or so, that we were getting ready to go out to dinner and the room would be available for cleaning then.
- We finished dressing and left for dinner, fully expecting that the room would remain untouched.
- When we returned from dinner, I opened the door slowly and peeked in. The bed was made - the room had been serviced in our absence!
- As we went inside, we saw that the dirty glasses on the coffee table were still there, but were glad that we at least had clean sheets.
- We retired that night convinced that the worst was now over – after all, we still had two more days to enjoy ourselves and it would be better from now on.
- I apologized to my wife again and told her I was really trying to make this trip wonderful. She didn’t say she understood.

Day 4:
- This was our day to travel to Epcot. We left early in the morning and anticipated a fun day, but in my mind, I wondered what other surprise awaited us when we returned.
- We got back to the room around 6:30PM and I nervously opened the door. The room was serviced, there were no dirty glasses, and all seemed right in the world.
- Then my wife asked me when I had the time to get a Red Bull from the mini-bar, as we were up early and had just returned. She showed me a bill for $4.11 for a mini-bar item which was on the counter. I never went into the bar and certainly didn’t drink a Red Bull.
- I called the front desk and told them of the error. She started asking me questions with the tenacity of a prosecuting trial attorney. Not only did she question my memory about taking the item, but insinuated that my wife might have taken it without telling me. I fully expected her to ask me to put my wife on the phone for questioning, and as I started to come close to just hanging up and letting the $4.11 stay on my bill, she reluctantly said that she would have the item credited.
- After spending such a nice day at Epcot, the mood was shattered by the unpleasantness of having to deal with such matters and obnoxious hotel staff.
- I had so much wanted to just relax and be pampered, just the way we planned, but it seems that it was just not to be – at least for another day.
- We retired that night convinced that the worst was now over – after all, we still had one more day to enjoy ourselves and it just had to be better from now on.
- I apologized to my wife again and told her I was really trying to make this trip wonderful. She apologized to me too, saying that this may not have been such a good idea.

Day 5:
- I had invited two of my business associates to have breakfast with us at the Sandpearl’s signature restaurant, “Caretta on the Gulf”. I had not yet eaten there, but my associates were in town for only two days and we would be tied up in meetings during that time. From the publicity about the quality of Caretta’s, I thought that they’d enjoy the famed atmosphere and service of this fine restaurant. I had also taken the precaution of calling valet parking the night before and getting the ground rules for parking at the hotel for an hour or so. I didn’t want them to be asked for a parking fee just to eat at the hotel’s restaurant. They said to just have the ticket validated by the restaurant and there would be no charge.
- My wife joined in and the four of us entered the restaurant. We were seated at a table with a great view of the gulf and pool. There were only four other people seated in the restaurant. Our server came over with a large silver pot of coffee and poured each of us a cup. Another server filled our glasses with orange juice. I suggested the buffet, as we would be able to choose a little from each of their offerings, instead of ordering a single item from the menu.
- As the others went to choose their items, I went to the egg station and ordered scrambled eggs for my wife and two eggs fried over for me. I watched the young man pour the pre-beaten egg from a pitcher for the scrambled eggs (thought a “signature” restaurant would use only individual fresh eggs for this) and then he proceeded to prepare my eggs. He resembled a college freshman trying to cook his first breakfast away from home. His clumsy hands attempted to crack the eggs on the side of the frying pan with only a gentle tapping. He finally got both eggs opened and in the pan – yokes unbroken, but I didn’t know if they were also shell-less. While they started to cook, I asked him where the toast station was located. He directed me to the far end of the buffet, but warned me that their toaster was very slow and that I would need some patience before the toast was ready.
- I selected a mix of white and grain bread slices and inserted them into the chrome four-slice toaster and pressed down on the handle to lower the bread. I slowly surveyed the items on the buffet traveling its entire length before returning to the egg station. The buffet continued into a separate room where there were more tables. I noticed that there were about six people sitting around one of the tables – a closer look showed that they were all hotel employees. I figured that they must be on their break. When I got back to the egg station, the young man motioned to the overdone, browned, crispy eggs and asked if they were alright. Not wanting to stay away from my guests for longer than necessary, I said they were fine and carried the two egg dishes back to the table. I then went back to get the toast to place in the middle of our table for all to share. The toaster was still in the down position, and I worried that the toast might be burned. I quickly lifted the handle and removed the toast, only to find that the bread was still soft (untoasted), but slightly warm. I can’t understand why they just didn’t buy a new toaster.
- After we ate, we talked a little business. I wanted to refill the coffee cups but the pot was empty. I looked around and saw no servers – even the egg station man was gone. Guess they were all in the “break room”. Including us, there were less than ten customers in the restaurant. Finally, our server reappeared and came over to the table, but instead of asking if we needed anything else, simply presented me with the check.
- I paid the charge and as we started to leave, I reminded our guest to validate her parking ticket, so we went back to the hostess counter, which was vacant. We waited a few minutes and then were noticed by the hostess who was in the restaurant, heading towards the break room apparently to join the rest of the employees. She yelled from across the room that she would be with us in a minute. When she emerged again, our guest asked to have her parking ticket validated. Without a word, the hostess hand stamped the ticket and the “thank you” that was offered by our guest went unacknowledged as the hostess quickly turned her back to return to whatever else she had been doing. I tried very hard to hide my embarrassment as we left the restaurant.
- Signature restaurant? I think not.
- We attended a business dinner that evening and returned to the hotel about 9:30PM. I wanted to print out our airline boarding passes, so I went into the “Business Services” room off the main lobby. There were two personal computers and a printer. I logged onto the airline website and got our boarding passes displayed. I hit the print button but nothing happened. I went all the way back out and tried doing the entire transaction again, with the same result. I went in and looked at the print queue and fount 13 other print jobs in the queue, the earliest ones being from the night before! I wondered how many complaint calls went unaddressed and unresolved by the hotel staff. Instead of complaining to anyone, I went in and cleared the queue, made sure the printer was properly configured in the computer, recycled the printer power, and tried it again. It printed perfectly and only took a couple of minutes to fix.
- My wife and I joked about billing the hotel for IT services.
- We retired that night convinced that the worst was now over – as was our vacation. We would be flying home tomorrow.
- I apologized to my wife once again and told her that despite my trying to make this trip wonderful, I wasn’t convinced that this resort was capable of providing a “wonderful” experience.

Day 6:
- I arose early and checked out, arranging for my wife to stay in the room until the 11:00 checkout time. The only small consolidation, which went unspoken by both parties, was that the charge for the junior suite remained the same as the original room.
- As I would be doing business that day, I also arranged for a limo to take my wife to the airport at 2:00PM, and I would meet her there. When my wife and I next spoke, I asked if the bellman arrived in time for her to vacate the room by the checkout deadline. She said that she took the luggage down herself as she didn’t want to deal with what has become a frustrating experience, dealing with the hotel staff. I couldn’t disagree with her.

I have endeavored to detail as much as I could so that you would get a sufficient flavor of our disappointing stay at this “preferred” resort. I have stayed at Holiday Inn Expresses that demonstrated more care and concern for its guests than the Sandpearl. Not only does this new hotel not measure up to being a five-star candidate, it leads one to doubt the validity of your "Preferred" rating. If you consider the Sandpearl a Preferred resort, I question the quality of the other hotels to which you’ve given that distinction.

Sincerely,


cc: Mr. Stuart Arp, General Manager, Sandpearl Resort
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Me and my family stayed at this hotel right after new years for 2 nights. The hotel looks nice but treated us very poorly in the end. How would you feel if you bing your vehicle in perfect condition to valet, tip him well, not useing your vehicle for the whole stay when you get back thier is a dent in your door? We thought we would have no problem when security were taking pictures of the damage. We were supposed to be trading this vehicle in after our trip, so when we returned we had to have this fixed so it wouldnt affect our trade in value. We got it fixed and we still havent gotten paid by the hotels insurance and its April now!They told us to get estimates at body shops, it came to almost $1000 and they refused the claim!!! Why did they refuse????? My family is in the body shop business and apperently they think we should have fixed it for free. If that werent enough they were calling us liers saying that they can not see damage from the hotels photos. When the secutiry guy had seen it perfectly clear. Please if you do not want to go through months of grief DO NOT STAY HERE!!!!!