A Tribute to Tranquility: The Karol Hotel, Clearwater, Florida

We spent nearly a week in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area at a new hotel.  The Karol Hotel isn’t just new to us.  It is new in general.  It opened in February 2020 just before the pandemic began to muck things up for travelers.  The Karol Hotel is part of Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio.  This is a collection of independently owned hotels that are unique enough to have caught the Marriott Corporation’s collective eye. 

Now that I’ve spent time at a Tribute Porfolio hotel, I can see why they are considered special. This property was developed by Frank Bullard, who has developed a lot of the Clearwater area.  He created the property as a gift (a tribute, if you will) to his wife of 50 years, Karol Kelly Bullard.  She is a former beauty queen and local “weather girl.”

The St. Petersburg/Clearwater area has some of the most famous beaches in the world.  The Bullards have created a design theme that references the ocean without being overt.  There are no lighthouse wall hangings or star fish throw pillows here.  Typically, I don’t like ultra-modern hotels because in addition to everything being sleek and shiny, everything is all hard right angles and sharp corners.  There is no softness.  The Bullards have taken modernity in another direction by melding it with the gray-blues of the ocean and peachy-beiges of seashells and sand.  If a visitor really looks, they will find curves and swoops that seem to be an homage to waves and coastlines.

We were fortunate enough to be upgraded to a suite for our stay.  The living room furniture was comfortable and classic.  Though the walls were a plain sand-beige color, the glittering crystal light fixture overhead threw shadows and patterns when lit, turning the walls into a parchment paper pattern.  It was a lovely effect.  I mention this because my husband has never commented on a light fixture ever (that I can think of).  He made specific mention to me of how much he liked this light fixture and the effect it had on the walls.  That’s high praise.

Since my husband and I travel full-time for work, we are very, very familiar with Marriott properties and have developed a mental list of pet peeves (and aspects we love too).  The biggest pet peeve is the lack of towel hooks and bars in bathrooms.  To make walls sleek, most hotels have one two-pronged towel hook on the back of the bathroom door and that’s it.  Reality check, Mr. Marriott, that is not nearly enough!  For example, women often use two towels to shower (one to dry off and one in which to wrap our wet hair).  When you add a spouse’s towel, that equates to a minimum of three towels to be dried.  We were pleased to see two, two-pronged hooks in this bathroom.  There was still nowhere to put our hand towels, we had to leave them crumpled on the counter, but at least we could hang our bath towels out to dry properly.

The fridge in the room was large enough to fit more than just two bottles of water.  That was nice since most guests will have a take-out container from a restaurant at some point during their stay.  There was no microwave in the room, but for some guests that wouldn’t be a big detraction.

The gym was very large (as it should be for a 123-room, eight story property) with multiple treadmills, ellipticals and bikes.  Recently, we spoke to a very fit friend who, like us, doesn’t miss a workout just because she’s on the road.  She said her pet peeve is when hotels build the fitness centers so small that if you want to lift weights, you are nearly on a stranger’s lap.  There is no fear of that at the Karol Hotel.  There are two weight benches at opposite ends of the room with dumbbells, kettle bells, inflatable balls, mats and more.  The variety of equipment means you truly can get in a good workout and not feel like you are “just getting by.”

This property also has three food/beverage options: The K-Club Bistro, The K-Club Bar and the Vantage Rooftop Bar.  We had breakfast every day at the bistro and lunch from there once, which left us wishing we had tried the lunch menu sooner.  Breakfast is their one area of opportunity, if you ask me.  The lunch was significantly tastier, so my suggestion for your future stays would be to try the bistro for lunch or dinner.

Relaxing on the balcony of the Vantage Rooftop Bar, sipping my Mai-Tai was a memorable way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  The views are lovely and I would imagine get better even better at night.  Afterall, who doesn’t love twinkling city lights at night?

It is nice to see that in developing the property, the Bullards thought to locate the pool somewhere attractive.  It is in the back of the property overlooking a small pond and bridge.  That is certainly more relaxing than looking at a stucco wall, which is the choice of so many properties.

We are HUGE fans of the free onsite parking and the location 3 minutes from the interstate.  Charging $15/day for parking (or more in obnoxious cities like Miami) is unacceptable and we have decided not to do it any longer.  As customers, we simply refuse.  I also noticed that the staff makes a concerted effort to speak to every guest as they pass through the lobby, whether you are coming in or out.  From my days in the facility-management industry, I can tell you that sometimes that is a security protocol (it makes it clear that your comings and goings have been seen by staff) but it is also friendly.  The Karol Hotel is not so large that it is unfriendly. Special thanks to Sonia and Carly who helped me navigate some special requests for breakfast each morning. You two are the epitome of southern hospitality.

Two unusual quirks: In an effort to streamline the appearance of the hotel, it is hard to find a public trash can, so keep that in mind.  Throw necessary items away in your room before you walk out.  Ice can only be found on floors four through eight and then, it is in small bags in upright freezers.  Since our room was on the third floor, we went up one floor, grabbed a bag of ice and brought it back to our room once or twice each day.  I don’t know if this is a permanent plan or a maintenance issue gone awry.  Anyway, it wasn’t a problem.  It was just unusual.

Special Note for my Event Planner Colleagues:

Since the hotel is only eight stories and 123 rooms, you might think that it’s too small to have event space, but you would be wrong.  They have 7300 square feet of meeting space.  The ballroom can accommodate up to 225 guests (depending on layout).  There is also a junior ballroom and two board rooms. Here again, the décor of the meeting spaces is soft beiges that invoke the sands of the nearby beaches. Imagine having your meeting attendees spend the night in a spa-like room and waking up refreshed for a day of productivity.  I did have a couple of bumpy wi-fi days during my stay, but to be fair, I was connecting to people overseas, so it may have been related to that and not to the property’s technology offerings.

The Karol Hotel, may be new, but it seems to have a bright future ahead.  Even as the pandemic was picking up speed again outside its serene walls, there were guests inside enjoying lunch in the bistro under the stunning wall art, sipping cocktails in the rooftop lounge and working in the ballroom. We look forward to returning one day ourselves and we encourage our friends and colleagues to plan their post-pandemic road trips to Florida.  I have no doubt that the tranquil Karol Hotel will be an accommodating host.