It has been almost a year now since the start of a global pandemic that changed everything! Being a family that loves to travel, we have missed our weekend getaways.
When my brother, sister, and family informed me of their planned vacation to Indian Rocks Beach, we decided this was the perfect time to visit with family and explore a new area.
I had previously considered staying at the Holiday Inn & Suites Clearwater Beach S-Harbourside on numerous occasions. It looked like the perfect beach getaway for a family with young children. Here are things to consider for your stay.
Location
Indian Rocks Beach is a short drive to Clearwater, being less than 8 miles away. Clearwater happens to be my favorite beach, so we planned to venture to Clearwater for a day trip during our stay at Indian Rocks Beach.
Holiday Inn & Suites Clearwater Beach S-Harbourside is located directly on the Intracoastal Waterway. Since we planned to spend as much time at the beach as possible, we were super excited when we discovered it was such a short walk to the beach.
An essential tip for families: With kids, we always take everything but the kitchen sink to the beach. We have our beach toys, blankets, towels, food, and so on. If you are like us, our suggestion is to invest in a wagon! Although it is a short walk, it was exhausting to carry everything back and forth between the beach and the hotel.
Rooms
Holiday Inn & Suites Clearwater Beach S-Harbourside offers guest rooms with two queen beds, a small work station, mini-refrigerator, coffee maker, hairdryer, iron & ironing board. The Key West Studio has either one king bed and a sofa sleeper or two queen-size beds, a mini-refrigerator, microwave, dual stovetop burners, toaster & coffee maker.
They also offer suites with fully equipped kitchens and a living room with a sofa sleeper. However, the pandemic limited what was offered in the room. Upon arrival, we discovered there were no utensils, dishes, or glasses due to concerns with sanitazation. We did have a spectacular view of the Intercostal waterway during our stay.
Dining
We always love when we can stay somewhere that we do not have to go offsite to eat. The Holiday Inn & Suites Clearwater Beach S-Harbourside has one restaurant, Jimmy Guana’s Waterfront Bar & Grill. We loved that they served breakfast, lunch & dinner. The prices were reasonable, and there was a good variety, plus the kids ate free with the purchase of our meals.
Not only is there indoor and outdoor dining available but during the evenings, there is entertainment on the deck.
You can also find a local favorite, The Original Crabby Bills. This family-friendly restaurant is exceptionally close to the hotel and within walking distance.
Amenities
The Holiday Inn & Suites Clearwater Beach S-Harbourside boasts a fitness center, onsite business center, cocktail lounge, and gift shop. They also have a heated garden pool and hot tub, which we thoroughly enjoyed during our stay there.
There is also an onsite 50 slip marina with boat rentals and fishing charters that we could see from our balcony!
Kid-Friendly Amenities
The Holiday Inn & Suites Clearwater Beach S-Harbourside has plenty of fun things for the kids as well. From miniature golf right inside the hotel, a game room, and the newly added Splash Harbour Water Park.
Splash Harbor Water Park has two 42 ft high Water Slides, a 600 ft long lazy river, Splash Pad with three slides, and a sizeable zero-entry pool. Being in the middle of a pandemic, it was not a place we were comfortable going to, but it looks like lots of fun, and we look to checking it out on our next trip.
Splash Harbor is open to the public and is not included in the price of your stay at the Holiday Inn. Hotel guests can however purchase discounted tickets, and the hotel even offers packages that include water park tickets.
Although our experience was skewed from being in the midst of a global pandemic, we still had a fantastic trip and look forward to returning to The Holiday Inn & Suites Clearwater Beach S-Harbourside when we can enjoy all that it has to offer.