I booked a stay in this hotel via otel.com. When I checked out the reception gave me the invoice and, when I tried to make clear that I had already paid, they answered they would have fixed the issue. After a month and many emails and calls I am still waiting for my money...
Bottom line, if you want to sleep in a old hotel with thin (very thin!!) walls and get charged twice as much, just go to howard johnson downtown tampa and enjoy!

Stayed at this hotel over the weekend. I was not aware this hotel was being contracted out by University of Tampa as a dorm. (Should of read the reviews) The dorm students do not stay on the same floors as the guest but use the lobby and elevators. Wow ! When the elevators opened to the college floors what a mess. HoJo needs to decided if they want to be a hotel or a dorm facility.

My wife and I just spent two weeks at the HOJO Plaza in Tampa. We are both senior citizens and chose the hotel as a good central point for exploring Florida from Orlando to Clearwater. We were a bit worried beforehand with one or two reviews and we had emailed Tracy Foley twice with room requests but had not received a reply. However, an email to "info" at the hotel elicited a reply which sorted out our requests. At first sight the hotel is a bit worn but clean. We arrived after a long flight from Scotland and were immediately offered help to get our cases from the car into the hotel. The staff continued to be excellent for the rest of our stay other than a couple of hiccups with the free shuttle and room service but these things happen in the best of hotels. There were groups of rowers staying at the hotel while we were there but we had no problems with them. They treated us as teenagers everywhere treat us ancients - they basically ignored us. They made plenty of noise which was not unexpected but every night around 10pm silence descended - we suspect a curfew was in place as the athletes had to be out on the river early each morning. Our room was a reasonable size and had the fridge and microwave we requested which were excellent for a quick breakfast and late night snacks. We had two queen sized beds which were reasonably comfortable. The free shuttle is excellent and took us to and from everywhere Ybor City, Bayside etc. I think they limit the shuttle to a two mile radius of the hotel. There are not a great choice of restaurants immediately round the hotel - Tampa is not Orlando - but there are half a dozen or so offering pizza, burgers, Chinese and Thai within a 10-15 minute walk. Walking around at night wasn't a problem although the area is mostly business and is really quiet at night. We ate once at the hotel restaurant which is basically tables in the bar area. The food was OK but nothing special. They have a pool which we looked at but didn't use as it needs a major overhaul. Overall a reasonable hotel for the price we paid but made much better by very friendly and helpful staff.

Tracy Foley (asst. Mgr.) and the entire staff was exceptional in EVERY aspect. The rooms were big, the beds were comfortable. I was disappointed when I bid on this blindly on Priceline as I did not think a Howard Johnson's could be as nice as this hotel was. The lobby was modern, new & fresh with plenty of room to hang out. Waliking distance to Subway sandwiches etc. We had 10 rooms booked for a New Year's celebration on our way to a family cruise. What an awesome way to kick off our vacation. This hotel was well worth the $ spent. People were caring, kind & considerate. They even printed out Groupons for us to be able to visit an attraction. Not disappointed at all! 1.7 miles to the cruise port.