Bellwether Beach Resort

Love ❤️ this hotel, and everything it has to offer. I live only 1.5 hrs south from St Petersburg Beach 🏖️ this is my get-away place to go to, due to the best ocean view on the Gulf.

Now we all here in Florida have been hit very hard with hurricane Debby, Helene and especially MILTON last Sept/Oct. 2024. The Bellwether is still recovering and won’t open for a few more months 😔 At first I heard July but today I heard prob Oct 2025.

I can’t wait to go back. Love the roof top restaurant and bar. Plus Bongo’s restaurant in the sand. Where else can you sit under an umbrella with your feet in the sand while having lunch 🥰.

A billion dollar view 🩷

Let’s hope and pray we won’t get hit with another cat 4 or 5 hurricane 🌀 we had enough here in Florida. I had lots of damage with Hurricane IAN in southwest Florida 🥲 178 mph wind!
If you never had anxiety in your life, this will do it 😔 I recommend not to go on vacation in FL in Sept. it’s the peak hurricane season.

This hotel is simply horrible. It's old and grotty and badly in need of a complete refurb. How it is rated 5* is beyond me .The main entrance is like entering via a staff entrance. The doors are dirty, the walls chipped and wallpaper is peeling and our room smelled of urine. There is no dining room either. We checked out within 5 minutes of arrival. The only good thing I can say is that they didn't charge us.

If you are considering getting married at Bellwether, read this story!! After staying in the beautifully renovated hotel several times before, my husband and I decided to get married here on 10/12/24. It also has special meaning for me, as I celebrated my First Communion in the Bird's Nest when it was still a Howard Johnson. From the moment we met Amalfi Lopez, Wedding Coordinator extraordinaire, we knew we had found the perfect place for our big day! Throughout the planning process, Amalfi was a constant source of support, always guiding me with patience and care.

Then, just two weeks before the wedding, Hurricane Helene hit Florida. As the storm passed, Amalfi kept me updated on the status of Bellwether, but when she finally gained access to the property, she broke the news that it couldn’t be repaired in time for our wedding. I was devastated, but Amalfi stayed on the phone with me, comforting me (she handled my ugly sobbing like a pro) and assuring me that we’d figure something out. At that point, I honestly thought we wouldn’t be able to get married after all the planning.

But two hours later, Amalfi called again with good news. The Bellwether team had decided to help us find a new venue and honor our original contract—even though the new venues were significantly more expensive. We toured the new options, and Amalfi was with us every step of the way. She helped me shift my mindset, hugged me when I felt overwhelmed, and supported me through every decision.

In the end, we decided to move the wedding to Hotel Flor in Downtown Tampa, which meant completely re-planning the event in just two weeks. Our guests’ reservations were transferred, we chose new menus without a tasting, and all the wedding decor we had picked out for Bellwether was ruined. But Amalfi and Jenny at Hotel Flor went above and beyond to secure alternatives and make it all work.

Then, just a week before the wedding, Hurricane Milton started threatening Florida. By the Wednesday before our wedding, it hit, causing widespread power outages in Downtown Tampa and surrounding areas. But somehow, Hotel Flor was one of the few places with power, so we made the decision to move forward with the wedding. Even though many of our guests were dealing with power outages and uncertainty, we went for it.

On Friday, Amalfi showed up for the rehearsal after days without power, determined to make our wedding happen. And on Saturday, she became my day-of coordinator, ensuring everything ran smoothly behind the scenes. I can honestly say that without Amalfi’s help, our wedding would not have been as beautiful or memorable as it was.

I’ll be forever grateful to Amalfi and the Bellwether team for making our wedding happen, despite two massive hurricanes. It’s a day we’ll never forget! We plan to come stay with you for our 1st Anniversary and would love to meet some of the people who made this possible. Amalfi, prepare for tears and hugs at our reunion!

We stayed here for our honeymoon, it was beautiful! the staff was extremely nice and helpful. The stay on the beach was exactly what we needed.

Had a very bad experience, won’t even recommend this hotel. The staff not very good, Shaun the receptionist is not very helpful at all. Simona the front office manager has too much pride to even greet guest, you pass in front in front of her, she won’t even greet you, (unlike staff in other hotels) it’s almost that she can’t see anything apart from her little computer screen which she is constantly looking at with her head down or she just pretend so she don’t have to talk to anybody. We complained about no internet in the room and no one did anything about it, they kept saying that someday will have a look and nothing happened until we left. The staff at the beach bar serve you without even looking at you, that talk among themselves without even looking at guests. No consideration for guests. They charge you for services like beach towels, internet and parking your car ..etc but what a shame as we didnt get internet at all, no housekeeping for 2 days. Not sure what services they charging guests for!!! Lift was not working, guests toilet in lobby was leaking water on the floor. Terrible smell in corridors. But location was not bad, for walking, nice beach also.

Great place

Amafli was beyond amazing! Our wedding was going to be at the Bellwether but unfortunately the hurricane season destroyed our venue... but Amafli and her team went above and beyond to make our wedding day magical. Always professional, was able to find another location and was so beyond amazing. Utterly speechless. Book your event with them.

Betty did a great job with the photoshoot and doing all the poses we requested! I highly recommend sunset photos. They are professional and do an amazing job. I am happy we chose to do our engagement photos with them, as the photos came out so well!

Okay

Great place to stay! Highly recommended!

Fantastic place, just booked the penthouse for our upcoming anniversary

This review is specifically for the resort photo amenity that was provided as a courtesy with an appointment. We went for our honeymoon so of course we booked with Brock Meeler for a sunset photoshoot. We was amazing! He made it comfortable and fun! Edits were completed within a couple of hrs and we were really surprised that every single last photo was absolutely gorgeous! He really knows his craft! We highly recommend taking advantage of this opportunity for any Bellweather Beach resort stay! Thank you so much Brock for capturing these moments for us!

The only thing I did not like was when the repair man came to repair our air conditioner- he used the rest room and left the toilet seat up. Then the maid came later that day - and didn’t lock our room.

That was a great stay! Clean, nice and quiet area, they do have a little cafeteria downstairs with snacks, pastries and coffee, rooftop bar and rotating restaurant with beautuful view both at night and during the day. Little gem is bar Bongos that offers a variety of food and drinks, great atmosphere and lots of good people!
There's also a pool on the property, but we didn't care for it cause the ocean was so warm and beautiful. And it's right there, less than a 1 minute walk from the hotel. We had a partial view room, but it was actually better, cause we coud still see both the ocean and the bay, so i loved it!
Also, the restaurant on top offers brunch on weekends. Staff is great, but the food quality and variety is so-so for the price, it's a self serve buffet, not much to choose from, but the view is worth it for sure!
We will definitely come again!

One elevator working almost caused a riot. Screaming kids in the pool with no one asking the parents to quiet their children. Not sure we will return, other places looked nicer

We really enjoyed our stay at the Bellwether beach resort. The cabana and food service on the beach was excellent. I also had the opportunity to dine at bongos beach bar and spinners. the food, drinks and service was excellent! We also had an excellent experience with the photography session and loved our photographer.

The Bellwether was a homey place that provided us with a great experience and stay. We were always straight out to the beach and the cabanas proved to be always available and set up quickly. The photography service was phenomenal and we got some great shots. We will be back.

Great

Was very relaxing and rooms were very nice and quiet. Spent Birthday Weekend there. Will be back

Mold in room and door wouldn’t lock