Alden Suites is a great home base for a St. Pete Beach vacation.
The Alden Suites beachfront
I visited this all-suite beachfront property last week as part of a so-called Blogger Bash and paid for the third night myself. Over four days, I came to love the place, and now I want to make it my St. Pete Beach go-to.
Sunrise view from my Alden Suites St. Pete Beach balcony
As it turns out, Alden Suites provides every single thing lodgers might want in a beachfront resort. That’s it. It doesn’t get fancy, yet you won’t lack for anything that matters. The en-suite coffeemaker is an old-fashioned drip type, not a trendy Keurig. The bed is decent but not luxurious. The hotel doesn’t slip check-out slips under each door; instead, you walk to the front office, like in the olden days.
And that’s all OK. You don’t need more – and, notably, you don’t pay for more. You’ll have a load of space, access to an amazing beach, more recreational options that you can imagine, and you’ll be in the heart of the area with restaurants and such. The price is low for a suite in a prime location. The place bills itself as something like “a suite for the price of a room,” and that’s honest.
Peering out of my Alden Suites beach cabana
Here’s why I like Alden Suites in St. Pete Beach, Florida
Alden Suites is on St. Pete Beach. Not near it. Not across the street. It’s directly on the clean white wide strand of Gulf-front shoreline. It rents out rounded yellow cloth cabanas that have two lounge chairs apiece, a small table and great protection from the sun. I spent hours there at a time with a book and a water bottle. Next time I’ll copy my neighbor and bring a Corkcicle wine tumbler.
Alden Suites is family-owned. Gary and Mary Ann Renfrow run the property, and it has been in the Renfrow family for 50 years. The couple visits regularly and seem to know what’s going on everywhere. The staff was incredibly friendly, from the front desk to the cleaning crew. That makes me think they’re treated with respect. And, the Renfrows are philanthropists, sharing chunks of their profits for good causes such as shoreline restoration, with an ecosystem educational component for local kids.
Suites are sweet. If you stay in any of Alden Suites’ 141 one-bedroom accommodations, you will be in a suite. I only saw the two I stayed in, one a king, the other with two queens, but both had nice-size bedrooms and large living rooms with a kitchenette. A bathroom area separated the two, and that was split into a sink section and a toilet-shower space with a door. The kitchen wasn’t amply stocked, yet it had enough in the way of pots, plates and flatware to do basic vacation cooking. Both main rooms had large flat-screen high-definition TVs.
It has adorable super-suites. They were booked so I didn’t get to see inside, but Alden Suites recently created seven revamped accommodations called Courtyard Bungalows that resemble little houses on the outside. They start at $179 and look adorable in the videos toward the bottom of this page. Personally I’d rather face the beach, but these seem like a fantastic option for families.
Courtyard Bungalows, from the outside
Alden Suites has no resort fee. “Resort fees” infuriate me. Offer what you offer. Don’t charge for your beach, pool and fax machine as part of a pricy per-night resort fee. It’s dishonest. And Alden Suites doesn’t do it.
The food is great. Since it’s on St. Pete Beach’s main drag, Alden Suites doesn’t need a restaurant. You can walk to meals plain and fancy in minutes. Still, a colorful little permanent food truck doles out surprisingly good bites at reasonable prices. My smoked fish dip with crackers and hot sauce came in at $9 including the tip, and the Cuban sandwich is just as good.
Mary Ann Renfrow at the tiki-themed Alden Oasis
The bar is perfect. “Perfect” is a lazy adjective, but what can I say? The friendly pourer of spirits is situated at the edge of the hotel near where the beach starts. It’s popular from 1pm on, from what I saw, and offers chilled beers, wines and cocktails.
The bartenders don’t usually dress like Richard Simmons, but they do often conjure up fruity cocktails.
There’s loads of recreation, especially considering the relatively small lot on which it’s all located. Alden Suites has two heated pools, a large and appealing hot tub, two tennis courts that sit on top of the garage, shuffleboard, beach volleyball and a cornhole game. Apparently a basketball court and pink-pong table are available too. You can also book watersports from a kiosk on the beach. I tried a WaveRunner and it was incredibly fun. You can reserve space on a sunset cruise, too. We saw dolphins frolicking on ours. Plus, if you want to work out, you’ll get free access to a gym nearby. A Grab & Go shop carries necessities.
The part of Alden Suites that faces the beach. The pool-view rooms are behind this.
Suites start at about $111/night. A large suite with loads of amenities, most free, is a great deal – and I know because I am quite the hotel shopper when I’m not bopping around blogger and media events. I’m told many guests are midwesterners who come for two weeks at a time to escape brutal farm-country winters. They return annually, often as their family has done for three generations. I can see it. The suite set-up allows for some people to sleep while others read or watch TV, and with kitchens you can buy groceries and make your own food. The local Publix supermarket delivers. Oh! And a deck with several grills allows for making fire-kissed food out in the sunshine.
Half a Cuban sandwich from the Alden Oasis
Rooftop tennis to the left, grills to the right
#aldenwow50 #ronarecommends