Royal North Beach Hotel
A Great First Stop
The first stop on our Luxury Vacation, Recession Style was the Royal North Beach Hotel in Clearwater Beach, Florida. UberGeek, master of all things Internet, has a way of finding out of the way boutique, niche or otherwise non mainstream hotels. Royal North Beach fits in this category, it's a motel, most likely built in the 1950s, that appears from the exterior to maintain its fifties deco appearance. In fact, if you didn't know what the rooms looked like inside you would probably just drive on by.
The grounds are unremarkable, mostly tidy patterned concrete, with a few tropical bushes and plantings. There is a sparkling pool once inside the gates, plenty of lounge chairs, umbrellas and even beach chairs, clean beach towels and coolers for guests. Once inside your room however, you realize what a little gem the Royal North Beach is. The door is frosted glass and opens into a good size living room with couch, arm chair, coffee table and television armoire. Everything is tastefully decorated in a beachside theme. Rooms are
cleaned every third day although you may request daily cleaning, we preferred not to. Each day you may have your bath towels replaced by staff and they will also take out your trash. In the kitchen paper towels and dish soap were also provided, a nice touch that often is not in rentals. The management also provided Kleenex brand tissue and moderate quality toiletries.
There is also a full kitchen with granite countertops, full size refrigerator and eat in area with table and chairs. There is a separate bedroom with a comfortable mattress, plenty of fluffy pillows, a dresser and a roomy closet. Between the bedroom and the tidy bathroom is a walk in closet, in case you have a lot of luggage or stay the winter I suppose. The bathroom is not large but it is clean, with new cabinetry. Hot water was plentiful as were the towels provided.
Just across the street was a quiet, beautiful white sand beach that seemed to stretch on forever. We walked over there and felt as if we had an entire island to ourselves. The Royal North Beach is on the North end of Clearwater Beach, hence the name, and it is quieter there without all of the crowds. The location is close enough to walk to many restaurants, shops and even live music at night. If you have children there are a number of parks and playgrounds within walking distance. We did see several families staying here although the units are very quiet so we never heard of them once inside our room. It seems as if it would be very convenient with kids, one or two bedroom units with a full kitchen, pool and just a short walk to the beach.
The Royal North Beach is not the Ritz but it is clean, spacious, comfortable and definitely luxurious for the price. We paid $139 a night for two nights and received the third night free as a promotion. A great deal in a resort town for a full size suite with full kitchen and separate bedroom.
