I am typically a Hilton Hotels guy – this is also the reason why most of the hotels I visited on my October 2022 trip to Florida have been driven by this brand. However, for the very last night in Tampa, I went for a Choice Hotel stay. The Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South has been actually the very first time I spent a night in that brand of the hotel group. Quite exciting for a travel-addict like me – here are my thoughts about the stay.
Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South – Location
The hotel is in fact located on the Southern part of the city of Tampa. The Gandy Bridge (route 92), some Port Tampa facilities and the MacDill Air Force Base are likely the key landmarks of the area, which is a rather basic residential one. However, I did not feel unsafe – the people around felt very friendly.
There are some basic hotels and stores around. A Dollar Tree is more or less across the road. In front of that store, there is also a bus stop, which might not really be of touristic value. The hotel offers free parking though. There are a bunch of car services and petrol stations around, as well as some basic hotels and restaurants. Britton Plaza is a basic shopping mall.
Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South- Room
I honestly did not even know that Sleep Inn is a Choice Hotels brand, so that I booked the hotel on booking.com. The one night stay in mid-October 2022, Monday to Tuesday, was 95.45 USD, including tax – which has been a really unbeatable price for a comparably central location. Sleep Inn & Suites Hotel stays generally include breakfast.
Already the first steps into the room strongly reminded me of Hampton Inn stays on the Hilton Group side. The hotel room was maybe a bit more spacious and definitely more modern than the average Hampton stay on my trip. The large stool (or table to the sofa, depending on you finally use it) had some significant marks from previous guests, though. The room also had a large work desk, a coffee machine, a fridge, TV set and a microwave oven – so you just cannot decline that there is some competition with the peer provider of global accommodation solutions.
The bathroom with US-style bathtub felt really warm and nice and was absolutely clean (as well as the whole room). There was also sufficient space for my bathroom stuff. You had all you need in the bathroom, including the necessary basic amenities.
Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South – Breakfast
The breakfast was nice as well and featured some good items. Again, I would strongly compare it to Hampton Inn level breakfast – I would even rate the Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South experience above my general Hampton experience.
However, the breakfast staff was a bit too rude. I strongly felt that the lady who cared for the buffet did not like her job. What I especially disliked was that she was conspicuously watching each and every guest when they got some new food from the buffet. Rather a German habit than a US-American one. The refill of the buffet was also a mess. Filling up a half-filled bowl of scrambled eggs instead of the bread and pastry, which was practically empty, gave a doubt on her attitude. Very sad, finally that experience is the only really negative experience I will report in this review.
Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South – Service
Especially the check-in, but also the check-out was very friendly. I liked the atmosphere in the hotel, even though there were rather simple people and you just could not deny a slight touch of weed in the elevator in the evening. The hotel also drives a nice little gym and an outdoor pool (typical US hotel pool, I forgot to take some snaps), which is a nice feature for a Florida stay.
Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South – My View
The Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South is not luxurious. It is not posh. But it has good staff (apart from one person I ran into), nice rooms and provides you a nice stay. I felt that they did an absolutely good job. I highly appreciate the performance, which is a straight and clear Top Pick!.
Hotel Reviews (without Hilton Hotels)
Here are all my hotel reviews, apart from Hilton Group locations:

NH Collection Hamburg City

ibis Styles Hamburg Barmbek

Motel 6 Pittsburgh – Crafton

ibis Hotel Cologne Frechen

Asiatic Hotel Flushing (New York City)

ibis Styles Budapest Airport

Mercure Hotel Frankfurt City Messe

RiKu Hotel Reutlingen

Moxy Cologne Muelheim

The Royal Park Hotel Tokyo Haneda

Hotel Andromeda (Ostend)

ibis Styles Bern City

ibis London Shepherd’s Bush

Post-Plaza Guesthouse Husavik

Quality Inn Arena (Wilkes-Barre)

Holiday Inn Express Dublin City Centre

ibis Kassel

Anemi Hotel & Suites Paphos

RiKu Hotel Pfullendorf

Pullman Cologne

Premier Inn Swansea City Centre

Mercure Hotel Severinshof Cologne City

Mercure Cologne City Friesenstrasse

Airport Hotel Aurora Star Keflavik

nhow Frankfurt

GLO Hotel Helsinki Airport

Hafdals Hotel Akureyri

ibis Styles Zurich City Center

Holiday Inn Express Glasgow – City Centre Riverside

Premium Traveller Air Rooms Madrid Airport Terminal 4

Melia Berlin

Hrafnavellir Guest House (Hornafirdi, Iceland)

Comfort Hotel Malmö

Mercure Hotel Tilburg Centrum

Adagio Hotel Bremen

Quality Lodge (Best Western Premium Collection) Larnaca

Even Hotel Pittsburgh Downtown

IntercityHotel Hannover Hauptbahnhof Ost

Quality Inn Pittsburgh Airport

Premier Inn Hamburg St. Pauli

Holiday Inn Express Glasgow Airport

Comfort Inn Blackpool Gresham

H+ Hotel Köln Brühl

hub by Premier Inn London Soho

Premier Inn Peterborough City Centre

Acta Arthotel (Andorra La Vella)

Premier Inn Saarbruecken City Centre

Sofitel London Heathrow (Terminal 5)

Regiohotel Schanzenhaus Wernigerode

Clarion Collection Hotel Hammer (Lillehammer)

Hotel Fürst Bismarck (Hamburg)

Novotel Krakow Centrum

ibis Hamburg St. Pauli Messe

Premier Inn London Southwark (Southwark Station)

Lillehammer Turistsenter Budget Hotel

Holiday Inn Washington (near Newcastle UK)

MAP Boutique Hotel Nicosia

Hotel Hubertushof (Anif near Salzburg)

Radisson Red Oslo Airport

Premier Inn Inverness Centre River Ness

INNSIDE Dusseldorf Derendorf

Holiday Home Wonderland (Ralingen)

Red Roof Plus+ Nashville Airport

Paola Inn and Suites (Paola, KS)

Premier Inn Portsmouth City Centre

easyHotel Frankfurt City Centre

IntercityHotel Hamburg-Altona

Courtyard by Marriott London City Airport

Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura

Premier Inn London Paddington Basin

Comfort Inn Nashville – Opryland Area

Epsilon Hotel London-Stratford

Microtel Inn by Wyndham Long Island City

Holiday Inn Helsinki City Centre

Premier Inn London Gatwick Airport South

Falkensteiner Hotel Bratislava

OYO Hotel St. Louis Downtown City Center

Adria Hotel & Conference Center (Queens, NY)

Premier Inn Hamburg City Millerntor

The Cockpit Suite at Jumbo Stay Stockholm

Premier Inn Cologne City South

Holiday Inn Express Oberhausen

Airport Hotel Grasteinn (Keflavik)

Road Stop Motel Dortmund

TownePlace Suites Mississauga-Airport Corporate Center

The Retreat Palm Dubai – MGallery by Sofitel

Avani Ibn Battuta Dubai Hotel

Albergo delle Alpi (Airolo)

Delta Hotels by Marriott Toronto

Hotel Kjarnalundur (Akureyri, Iceland)

The Wellness Loft at Romantik Hotel Reichshof (Norden)

Hotel Sunset (Kelsterbach)

ME Hotel Dubai

Hotel Restaurant Lewald (Bolzano, Italy)

Mercure Gloucester Bowden Hall Hotel

Hotel Laxarbakki (Akranes, Iceland)

Holiday Inn Helsinki Vantaa Airport

Hotel Duus (Keflavik)

H+ Hotel Lübeck

Hotel Alpina Wellness & Spa (Kössen)

Leonardo Hotel Düsseldorf Airport (Ratingen)

Radisson Blu Espoo (Finland)

InterContinental Toronto Centre

Litli Geysir Hotel

IntercityHotel Munich

Hotel Maranello Village

Nordseehotel Wilhelmshaven

Hyatt Regency Cologne

Hotel Nord (Guardamiglio, Lombardy)

Mercure Hotel Hannover City

IntercityHotel Hamburg Main Station

Novapark Airplane Hotel Graz

Moxy Cologne Bonn Airport

InterContinental Dubai Festival City – One Bedroom Suite

Melia Calvia Beach (Mallorca)

Novotel Suites Hannover City

Hotel Marina Wellness & Spa Port Soller

IntercityHotel Saarbruecken

TRYP Hotel Celle

Pullman Sharjah

INNSIDE by Melia Palma Center

Hotel Massimo D’Azeglio (Rome)

Hotel Abbazia (Venice)

NH Rijnhotel Arnhem

Santa Catalina (Royal Hideaway Hotel) Las Palmas, Grand Canary

Babylon Hotel The Hague (Den Haag)

Leonardo Hotel Munich City Center

Fleming’s Express Hotel Frankfurt

Motel One Salzburg – Mirabell

Park Inn by Radisson Papenburg

Hotel Flora (Milan)

NH Collection Munich Bavaria

Maritim Hotel Cologne

Voss Chocolate Hotel (Schokoladenhotel) Westerstede

Hotel Grossfeld Bad Bentheim

The Fair Play Suite at the Kameha Grand Hotel Bonn

Pullman London St Pancras

Bonn Marriott Hotel

ibis Dusseldorf Main Station

Novotel London Canary Wharf

INNSIDE Hotel Dusseldorf Hafen

NH Collection Eindhoven Centre

IntercityHotel Nuremberg

1st Creatif Hotel Elephant Munich

Mövenpick Hotel ‘s-Hertogenbosch

ibis Styles Amsterdam Central Station

Avalon Hotel Bad Reichenhall

Golfhotel Bodensee (Weißensberg)

ibis Styles Konstanz (Constance)

Serways Hotel Weiskirchen Nord (A3 Autobahn, Rodgau)

Vliegtuigsuite Teuge (NED) – Sleeping in an Ilyushin IL-18

Novotel Paris 17

OYO Hotel & Casino Las Vegas

Hotel Korpilampi (Espoo, Finland)

Motel One Zurich

Marriott Hotel Al Forsan (Abu Dhabi)

Crowne Plaza Madrid Airport

Hotel St. Gotthard (Zurich, Switzerland)

Toyoko Inn Frankfurt Main Station

Hotel “Zum Goldenen Ochsen”, Aschaffenburg

Melia Hacienda Del Conde (Tenerife)

Johanniter Gästehaus Münster

Motel One Glasgow

Fairfield Inn & Suites Indianapolis Downtown

Premier Inn Sunderland City Centre

ibis Madrid Centro

Premier Inn London Stratford

ibis Luxembourg Airport

So/ Sofitel Singapore

ibis Styles London ExCeL

Cotswold Lodge Hotel Oxford

ibis London City – Shoreditch

ibis Amsterdam Centre

Holiday Inn Express Memphis Airport Elvis Presley Blvd

Hotel du Bois (Paris)

One Farrer Hotel Singapore (Review)

Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi Yas Island (Review)

ibis London Canning Town (Review)

Best Western Premier Parkhotel Kronsberg Hanover

Hotel Allegra (Kloten, Switzerland)

Novotel Sheffield Centre

Novotel Glasgow Centre (Review)

Novotel Zurich Airport Messe (Review)

ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas (Review)

Scandic Hotel Gävle Väst

Alexander Thomson Hotel Glasgow (Review)

Gran Hotel La Laguna (Tenerife)

Melia Hotel Barajas Madrid (Review)

Hotel Olympia (Thessaloniki) – Hotel Review

Novotel Dubai Al Barsha (Hotel Review)

B&B Hotel Aschaffenburg – The No-Thrill Hotel

Garni Hotel Crystal Kraljevo (Hotel Review)

John Hotel (Flushing, New York City)

Novotel Toronto Center (Hotel Review)

Blue Bay Lodges Curacao (Hotel Review)

A touch of Orient in a Munich Hotel Room

Hotel Glärnischhof Zurich (Hotel Review)

Azor Hotels Ponta Delgada (Review)

Germany’s Largest Hotel – Staying at the Estrel Berlin

Sercotel Malaga (Hotel Review)

Novotel Suites Mall of the Emirates Dubai (Hotel Review)

The Riddle Room for Geeks
Free Entry Locations (USA)
Here are all my free admission reviews, which are related to the USA:

Big Mac Museum (North Huntingdon PA, Pictured Story)

Riding the TECO Line Streetcar in Tampa

Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame (Nashville)

Riding the Kansas City Streetcar

Tennessee State Capitol (Nashville)

World Chess Hall of Fame & Museum (St. Louis)

Cooter’s Place Nashville

Tennessee Judiciary Museum Nashville

Smithsonian’s National Zoo (Washington)

Nelson, Nevada – A Ghost Town

Pittsburgh Light Rail – It’s (partially) for free!

Pittsburgh Christmas Market and Ice Rink

National Postal Museum (Washington)

Tina Turner Museum (West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center)

Science History Institute Philadelphia

ICON Park Orlando – A new Entertainment District
