Quality Inn & Conference Center Tampa

Quality Inn & Conference Center is the second hotel my buddy and I stayed at during our Tampa Bay trip in May 2018.  We stayed at Express Tampa Stadium Hotel for one night before going on a 5 day cruise and then stayed for 4 nights at Quality Inn & Conference Center after the cruise for the rest our vacation.  We wanted a budget accessible hotel that wasn’t too far from Busch Gardens and not too far of a taxi ride to Raymond James Stadium for Sunset Music Festival.

in front of our room

Location

Quality Inn & Conference Center is located on E Fowler Ave and is very close to a lot of shopping plazas, restaurants, stores and University Mall.  During our entire Tampa trip, it was either cloudy and windy or it was slightly raining or severe thunderstorms.  We were happy that we had a lot of places near our hotel to take cover if it suddenly started pouring.

rainy view of all the shops in front of our hotel

We did visit University Mall a few times to shop, eat at the food court and get taxis to pick us up from.  This mall has over 150 stores and is about a 20 minute walk to the University Of South Florida.  There was also a Winn-Dixie supermarket that was on the next block that we went to a few times for snacks and drinks.

University Mall is so close by

Accessibility

Getting to and from the hotel was pretty easy.  They offer a free shuttle to anywhere that was within a certain distance and within a certain time frame.  Even though they did not have an accessible shuttle van, it was convenient to use as my buddy would just carry me into the front seat of the shuttle van.  We used the free shuttle van to get to and from Busch Gardens and also a ride to the closest Walmart and Target.

we used the free shuttle van to get to Busch Gardens and to Walmart

Also, maneuvering  throughout the property was easy too.  From going to the front desk to our room on the main floor, there weren’t any real issues doing that.  It was also easy to get to all the surrounding shops and restaurants.

Sonic Drive In was just a short 2 blocks from hotel

Room

The room was a little small as they only gave us 1 king size bed instead of 2 queens or 2 twin beds.  We were fine with that because we were told that all the accessible rooms only have 1 bed.

room was a bit small and only had one bed

The bathroom was spacious and big but it did not have a roll in shower like we requested and was told that we had.  For my showers, I had to get my commode tilted back over the bath tub and try to shower my upper body that way.  Washing my lower half was more challenging as it got the bathroom wet.

bathroom did not have roll in shower

Amenities

The hotel did provide a free daily breakfast buffet.  Items include scrambled eggs, bacon, waffles, fruit, coffee and a few other items.  We did try to take advantage of this when we were up early enough.  We never used the free gym room, business room or ate at the restaurant so I can not comment on those amenities.  The free wifi worked well in our room and in the lobby and front desk area.

free breakfast buffet

Outdoor Heated Pool

There were 2 outside pools at this hotel, one being for kids with a mini water park and the other a heated pool for the adults.  The whole area was gated to keep away people who are not staying at the hotel.  There was even a wheelchair pool lift but we never spent any time at the pool or the pool area.

kids pool area

wheelchair pool lift

Quality Inn & Conference Center was a great budget hotel to stay at if ever visiting Tampa.  They do offer rooms with roll in showers, so you just have to make sure you get that room if needed.  With the hotel being close to Busch Gardens, University Mall, lots of shops and restaurants on a great location with free limited shuttle service and free breakfast buffet, I would think it’s a great value to stay at this hotel and would definitely stay again.