Barefoot Beach Resort, Indian Shores, Florida: A Review
Anyone who's ever traveled and had to stay overnight at a hotel knows that a lot rides on a good night's sleep. If you're not comfortable, you won't be at your best to drive another long stretch, put up with your crazy aunt at the family reunion, and/or make some great memories. (And yes, I know these are all first world problems. 'Tis the life I live.)
I was excited about our home away from home in St. Petersburg and had big hopes that it would be everything I needed it to be. Because if you haven't notice, we packed A LOT into those three days that we were there, and I needed to be relaxed, well-rested, and happy.
No pressure, hotel. No pressure.
Luckily, the Barefoot Beach Resort in Indian Shores worked out beautifully for us. It isn't your traditional high-rise hotel that can often be found in the area--but that's a good thing.
The resort is made up of condos and townhomes, all of whom are owned by individuals and then rented through the resort's management office. Because of this arrangement, Landon and I got to meet several of the homeowners during our stay, and these interactions added to that home-away-from-home feel of the place.
Another cool feature of the resort is that it is positioned directly on a waterway, yet only about a minute walk from the beach. To get to the Indian Shores beach, we walked across the two-lane road in front of the resort, and down the path to the beach that was exclusively for homeowners and visitors to Barefoot Beach Resort.
Other than the beach, the other major draws in Indian Shores are a putt-putt place and an ice cream shop. It's very laid back and quiet and would be perfect for an old-fashioned family beach vacation. If you're looking for something to do one day/ night, Clearwater Beach is less than twenty minutes north, and downtown St. Pete is about thirty minutes east.
Instead of a lobby, there's a separate rental apartment with brochures and a few small items for sale (like beach towels). The rental office wasn't open when we arrived (the hours are only 9-5 each day), but I called the after hours phone number; the woman who answered was helpful in quickly getting us into our room.
She did request that I bring an ID by the office at some point during our stay--and I did try to do this twice--but both times I went were either before the office opened or after it closed. We just had so much to do during our stay that I wasn't ever at the resort during the open office hours. Minor complaint that had little impact on our overall stay.
We were placed in a second floor two-bedroom apartment, and I can't say enough good things about it. It was clean, comfortable, and perfectly decorated for a beach vacation. I could totally see us bringing Britton back down when she's older for a longer family trip.
The apartment comes with a full kitchen and included dishes, silverware, and pots and pans. (I, for one, had having to buy packs of plates and plastic cutlery, only to throw out 90% of it.)
We loved being able to cook out on the grills that were scattered around the property, and took full advantage of that one night when we were too lazy to head back out to a restaurant.
There's also a pool, which goes to 8 feet. It's surrounded by plenty of lawn chairs and a couple of tables. Sadly, we never got to use it, but I looked wistfully at it several times before passing out in exhaustion in our room.
There were plenty of little fishing docks on the waterway side, and Landon looked at them the way that I looked at the pool. No time (or gear!) for fishing, plus he didn't have a Florida fishing license.
I quickly turned the office into my own personal blogging station. I loved having a dedicated space for all of my electronics, notebooks, and writing stuff!
The entire resort was quiet and peaceful; we really couldn't have asked for anything more. At the end of the trip, Landon and I were trying to figure out if there was anything we didn't like about the hotel.
Landon's complaint: "We didn't get to play with any of the games in the room."
So, there you go, folks. If you go to Barefoot Beach Resort, make sure to check out the games you can find in the TV stand. Your trip will be found lacking otherwise. (I kid, I kid.)
Barefoot Beach Resort is located at 19417 Gulf Boulevard in Indian Shores, Florida.
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