Wen-Ju C.
Yelp
I found out about this hotel when I looked up dog friendly hotels. My friend and I decided to do a little staycation. I was originally going to bring my dog along but ended up having a friend dog-sit him. I booked my accommodation through Chase/Expedia and was happy to find out that the hotel provides free parking and wifi, which a lot of places charge extras for. I spoke to Chris to double check the hotel information and he was nice over the phone.
We had a little trouble finding the main entrance, but when we finally found it, it made sense where it was located. Since we had parked by the pool and spa place, all we saw was the Tap Room entrance. The check-in process was easy because we had already pre-paid. The staff (I think his name was Jeff?) gave us a parking pass to put on the car dashboard for overnight parking, 2 bottled waters, and room keys. He was informative about the hotel, restaurant, and amenities.
The hotel room was so cute. Everything was clean and organized. After settling down, we walked around for a bit, checked out the lobby, stairs area with all the framed pictures, and went to the Tap Room. I wasn't a big fan of the cocktails that we ordered but it's fine. I found out that hotel guests can reserve cabanas for free, so I asked the manager, Aaron, about it and he put us down for a slot and explained how it works.
Next day, when we went to the pool during our assigned time, there was a yoga class going on! I wished we had known so we could have had the right attires and joined. We hung out at our assigned cabana until the class finished and then ordered drinks from the bartender, Langdon. He was friendly and professional. Later a server, Jane, helped take our food orders and she was nice too. The pool was gorgeous and fun!
Overall, our experience at the Hollander was GREAT! The staff members have been so nice, we did not have to worry about parking, there is plenty of seating, a lot of places are walking distance, the area was safe and well lit, hot water in the shower works, the decors are cool, and more. We did hear neighbors fight during the night on our last night, but it did not bother us, we thought it was funny. I definitely want to come back again and bring my dog, he would've loved to stay at this hotel and explore St. Petersburg.