Sands of Treasure Island Apartment Motel

Upon first glance, I was extremely hesitant the road-​side view is a little underwhelming and definitely appears old. Our room was upstairs with a beautiful view of the pool and beyond that, the ocean. It’s by no means a high class resort and it’s still stuck in the original 70’s sort of vibe but if you’re looking for an affordable place to stay on the gulf this is so worth a chance!!! Free wifi, great air conditioning in our room, shower/​water worked great and the ocean is our backyard!!! We even made friends with the maid that frequented the top apartments :) the owners/​employees in the front office were friendly and willing to help with anything we needed and it’s a good spot in town just a short drive from plenty of great restaurants, stores, and nightlife! The only complaint I have is the lack of parking, there are only (maybe 8) parking spaces near the building, the rest are located across the street and you cannot see your vehicle from this side of the road!!! Otherwise, we’ve had a nice stay

Many members of my extended family are currently staying at the Sands for a family reunion. I decided not to attend for various reasons and boy, am I glad! When my family first arranged for a block of rooms last year, they were given a set nightly rate. The rate has since gone up, not once, but twice. In the end, it went up $ 15/​night, which may not be earth-​shattering financially but is extremely poor business practice. Additionally, multiple family members in multiple units have found evidence of MICE in their rooms — ranging from droppings to eaten/​missing good. The place is clearly in need of attention. You’d think with all the rate hikes they could afford an exterminator. Several of my family members are regretting this trip and wishing they could leave now. I was initially a bit forlorn about not attending but now I am extremely relieved to not be there.
One other thing: when I called the hotel back in the winter to see about reserving a room for the reunion, I asked if they had a gate for the pool, since I have two small children. They did not and seemed baffled as to why I would even ask. Given my family’s experience, I would venture to guess that water safety is not high on the Sands’ priority list, either.

If you are expecting a 4 or 5 star resort, you should not expect to pay less than $ 100 per night on the beach on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
This is a small motel directly overlooking the beach. It was built in 1947 and it has had very few upgrades in the time it has been here. I will say however that my family and I had a very enjoyable experience. The people (staff and other visitors) were all surprisingly polite/​friendly, our rooms were dated but clean (think «grandma’s guest house»), and offered all the necessary amenities for a budget-​friendly, enjoyable beach weekend. My only recommendation for other travelers would be to bring your own (beach and bath) towels, as they ran short of them very early in the day.

Let me just begin with, I was not expecting anything fancy at The Sands. My expectations were low. But I will never ever go back to this place.
First of all, less than 24 hours before check in (7pm the day before to be exact) I received a call from The Sands informing me that my rate was going up $ 10 a night. Though that is not an astronomical fee, I did not feel that that was professional. I had booked the room at a certain price two weeks before and they should honor that price. Due to it being literally the day before we kept our reservations because everywhere was booked.
So we arrived, I will say the man Harry who helped me was extremely pleasant and agreed that the owners should not have changed the rate. We were given a parking pass and informed that we would be parking a block away. Let’s just say we passed police walking to our car on three separate occasions due to domestic disputes… not exactly the BEST location.
So, upon trying to enter our room for the first time, neither of our keys would work. I go to the front and they say they have been experiencing problems with the locks for that room. A different guy (one of the owners I presume) then hands me the MASTER KEY to the whole hotel and says don’t lose this. The inappropriateness of a guest having a master key. there are no words. Even the master key would not work in the door so I went back saying that this one wasn’t workin either. He then snatches the key from me and says «well all I can do is do it for you then I guess» and storms out the office. Turns out we could only unlock our back door the whole time we were there…
The room was much bigger than expected, I will give them that. Very outdated and run down but overall clean we thought. Downfall: took forever for the ac to work well enough to get the mugginess feeling out of the bedroom. Beds were clean but soooo uncomfortable. We didn’t touch the kitchen so I can’t comment on that.
The last morning we were there we found the biggest roach I have ever seen on the side of one our bags so lord knows where he and his friends were hiding.
We got out of this place as quickly as we could and we will NOT be back.

I LOVE this place! I’ve been coming to Treasure Island for beach getaways long before I moved to the Tampa Bay area in 1997. The rooms are well kept and you can tell back in 1947 when it first opened that it was the MacDaddy for sure and it still is! Harry and Kristie and Maria who work the front desk are awesome. I stayed Valentines weekend and that morning they had breakfast treats for guests with kisses, sweet breakfast breads, strawberries, cupcakes and coffee. Very nice! The front desk is open ²⁴⁄₇ which is good in case you have an emergency or need anything (which I didn’t). I probably shouldn’t give away how great this place is as it’s my new fave place to stay and the fact that it’s right on the Gulf is a plus as well. There is a big pool and the Treasure Island beach sidewalk to use for exercise or just to get around without walking Gulf Blvd. or calling a cab or waiting for the trolley. I plan on many more beach getaways here in the future for sure!

Biggest dump I’ve ever experienced. Obviously has not been updated in at least 30 years, and most of the bones of the place have not been updated since the motel was opened in 1947. I’m not kidding.
I do not have the patience to list how awful this place is. The only thing goin for it is the proximity to the beach. $ 40 a night would be acceptable (tho I’d still pass, personally) but we just paid $ 120.
If I walk out of here without some skin infection I’ll consider myself fortunate.

If you’re looking for a cheap place, on the beach… this is definitely it!
Yes it’s dated. It looks like it’s never been redone since the 60’s, but it doesn’t show wear. The rooms are super cheap, including the bed, with a kitchenette in it. They also have apartment style rooms with 2 bedrooms, a fold out couch and a kitchenette as well. And when I say on the beach i mean On. The. Beach. You walk under a cross section of rooms, past the pool and Bam! Sand and ocean.
Just a warning if you’re younger, if you try to check in during the day and are under 25 you’ll have a hard time, unless the old people that run the place have moved on. But after peak hours we had a nicer lady who warned us that they wouldn’t be happy but we were 18 – 20 (at the time-​3 of us) and had a credit card, so she would let us.
The beds are comfy the views can’t be beat, and the availability to the water front at all times of the day and night is amazing! There is no breakfast, and you will either have to take a drive or walk a bit to get food. There is a little grocery store about 2 blocks away, which the rooms with kitchens are handy for. The rooms do include a few pots and pans and mismatched dishes (also dated), but seriously it can’t be beat, especially if you’re spending a whole week there!
It’s quiet and seems to have quite a few regulars most of the time, staying in the larger rooms. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the pool being used either, but when the beach is 30 ft away I guess you can’t blame people. The cleaning persons have a sense of humor too. They cleaned and restocked everyday, and folded clothes and laid them on the bed if we had them strewn about, propped and stuffed animals near the pillows and occasionally folded towel animals.
The only downfall is its a local run business, where I believe the owners live in one of the rooms, so if you need room service in the middle of the night or anything, you need to go out the lobby area and ring a call box outside of it. Like I said… very dated, but way way cheap well under $ 100 for beach side hotel. My parents had stayed there, and loved it when they were younger, and I make it a point to stay there every time I’m in the area.