Review: The Vinoy St. Petersburg, Marriott Autograph Collection (Lovely!)

Recently, we spent a couple of nights in St. Petersburg, Florida, at The Vinoy Resort & Golf Club, Marriott Autograph Collection. This was for a trip to take our son, Miles, to go see my mom (who lives in St. Petersburg). During the same trip we also spent a couple of nights at the St. Regis Longboat Key, which I reviewed in a separate installment.

The 354-key Vinoy is a gorgeous historic property that’s oozing with charm, in one of my favorite cities in Florida. The property underwent a full renovation in recent years (whereby it was also rebranded, from a Renaissance to an Autograph Collection), and they really did a great job.

If you’re going to visit downtown St. Petersburg, this is definitely the place to stay. Admittedly the property is pricey, but then again, the city otherwise mostly has limited service properties, also with eye-watering prices. The only thing I’d mention about The Vinoy is that I think the hard product is a bit better than the soft product.

Booking The Vinoy St. Petersburg

We paid cash for our stay at The Vinoy St. Petersburg, and the rate was around $350 per night, including the resort fee. We booked through the Marriott Luminous program, which offers extra perks at Autograph Collection properties. For booking this way, we received complimentary breakfast, a room upgrade subject to availability, a $100 property credit, and more.

If we had redeemed Bonvoy points for our stay, the rate would’ve been 52,000 points per night. For what it’s worth, I value Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each, so this was a case where paying cash was the better value, in my opinion.

Regardless of how you book, the hotel has a resort fee of $40 per room per night. This includes two specialty cocktails per stay, two passes to the St. Petersburg History Museum, e-bikes for one hour rentals per day, access to wellness classes, and 90 minutes access to tennis courts.

The Vinoy St. Petersburg location & history

The Vinoy is located right in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg, so it’s walking distance to most of the city’s attractions. St. Petersburg is such a lovely city, and we’re seriously considering moving there some day. Vibe wise, it’s exactly the opposite of Miami.

From Miami, St. Petersburg is roughly a four hour drive, so we arrived by car. The hotel offers valet parking, at the steep rate of $45 per night. If you’re flying into the area, Tampa International Airport (TPA) is roughly a 30-minute drive away, while St. Petersburg Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is roughly a 20-minute drive away.

Probably my favorite thing about The Vinoy is how it’s a historic property, as it initially opened nearly 100 years ago, in 1926. As the property has been updated, they’ve done a great job making the rooms modern and comfortable, while maintaining the old world charm of the public areas.

The Vinoy St. Petersburg lobby & check-in

The Vinoy St. Petersburg has to have one of the coolest lobbies of any hotel in Florida, perfectly reflecting its Mediterranean Revival-style design. The lobby is massive and spans two floors, so it feels quite spacious. Seriously, how gorgeous is this?!

The lobby has plenty of seating, should you want to just lounge around and take in the views.

Reception is located just inside the entrance and to the right. The check-in process was friendly, and we were informed that we had been upgraded to a corner studio suite, on account of my Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador status.

Once checked in, we headed for the elevators. Our room was located on the second floor (the mezzanine level), in a wing not far from the main lobby.

If you have the time, it’s worth popping up to the second floor to read about the property’s history, as you’ll find a bit of a display there.

For that matter, off the elevator, there’s a machine that will create a wax mold of the hotel for $5. We ended up using this, and Miles is still walking around with his little wax mold of this property, a couple of weeks later, so I guess it was money well spent.

The Vinoy St. Petersburg suite

As mentioned above, we were assigned a corner studio suite. Specifically, we were assigned room 221, located at the end of the hall and on the left.

These accommodations are marketed as being 510-600 square feet (46-54 square meters), so they’re quite spacious, but aren’t full suites (which is to say that there’s no door between the living room and bedroom).

Upon entering the room, there was first a little partitioned off dining area, with a table and two chairs.

This also contained the minibar area, which included a Nespresso coffee machine, a selection of tea, bottled water, and a mini-fridge. There were no drinks or snacks available for purchase.

Then there was the living room area, with an L-shaped couch, plus a TV on a stand across from the couch.

The bedroom area had a comfortable king size bed. As you can see, the suite was a good size, though there are no privacy partitions between the bedroom and living area, so it’s not ideal if two people are on different schedules (sleeping vs. being awake).

The bathroom was back toward the entrance, and contained double sinks, a walk-in shower, and a toilet in a separate room.

Toiletries were from Ortigia, in very cool individual tubes.

Our room was described as having a partial bay view. It had a view of the hotel’s driveway, the marina, and even the St. Pete Pier in the distance.

On account of the way we booked and (presumably) my status, we received a welcome gift around an hour after arriving to our room, consisting of a bottle of San Pellegrino water, plus a box of homemade chocolates.

All-in-all, I thought this was a great room. I appreciate how The Vinoy maintains its old world charm in the public areas, while the rooms as such feel quite modern, but still have some pizzazz.

The Vinoy St. Petersburg pool, gym, and spa

The Vinoy St. Petersburg has a nice outdoor pool setup, with a huge pool that has a waterfall, as well as a hot tub. There’s plenty of seating around the pool, plus service during the day.

We weren’t here to lounge at the pool, but I’d consider this to be a nice space. While this property is marketed as a “resort,” really I’d consider it to be more of a large city hotel. If you’re looking to go to the beach or pool, there are probably better options.

The Vinoy also has an excellent 24/7 gym. While I wouldn’t say the machines are cutting edge, the variety of equipment is huge, so that’s appreciated. Note that due to the gym’s location, it lacks natural light, and therefore feels a bit like a dungeon.

The Vinoy also has a full service spa, with four treatment rooms. We didn’t get any spa treatments during our stay, but you can find all the details here.

The Vinoy St. Petersburg restaurants & bars

The Vinoy St. Petersburg has several dining options. Let me first summarize them, and then I’ll go into more detail:

• Elliott Aster is the hotel’s new signature restaurant serving steaks and pasta, and it’s open for dinner
• Paul’s Landing is the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• Lottie is the hotel’s all-day lobby patisserie, serving coffee, pastries, and more
• Veranda is the hotel’s outdoor bar area, open in the afternoons and evenings
• Parasol is the hotel’s daytime Latin American restaurant at the pool, open from midday until late afternoon

Okay, so here’s what kind of bugs me. Elliott Aster is the hotel’s signature restaurant, but hotel guests don’t actually get preferential reservations, or anything like that. I guess Autograph Collection isn’t a real luxury brand, but in general, when staying at a nice place, I expect that hotel guests get some sort of preferential reservations. Instead, I was told to just look online for reservations, and there was no availability for the next two weeks.

So unfortunately I’d consider this venue to simply be a third party renting the space, rather than actually an integrated part of the hotel, which is unfortunate. For example, it sure would be nice if the hotel offered breakfast in this restaurant, rather than where it’s actually offered. Since the restaurant was locked before opening time (and our main priority was to spend time with my mom), I wasn’t able to get pictures, but I’ve heard good things about the restaurant.

Instead, Paul’s Landing is the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant, described as serving “seafood with old-Florida flavors.” This is open daily from 7:30AM until 10PM (11PM on weekends), and it’s also where breakfast is served. The restaurant is near the pool, and I’ve gotta be honest, I don’t love it.

The whole restaurant feels a bit like a sports bar, and it just doesn’t fit the otherwise charming vibe of the hotel. It’s a shame that breakfast can’t be enjoyed in the hotel’s more traditionally designed area. This restaurant could literally be anywhere.

You can find the breakfast menu below.

The food as such was quite decent, and all included on account of booking through Marriott Luminous. I enjoyed the cappuccino that I ordered…

We also had the two egg breakfast, the lox and bagel, the avocado toast, and the waffles. None of the food was earth shattering or amazing, but it all did the trick.

Lottie is a more charming venue, and is the hotel’s lobby coffee bar, serving barista coffee, freshly baked pastries, cake, gelato, and more.

There’s also a selection of grab & go options, should you want to get a snack, a bottle of wine, or something else.

Then there’s Veranda, serving cocktails in the afternoons. The Vinoy has a gorgeous porch out front, so this is a place that’s worth stopping at for a drink (and you can also enjoy the drink offered as part of the resort fee here).

Bottom line

The Vinoy St. Petersburg is the best option if you’re looking to stay in downtown St. Petersburg. The hotel has nearly 100 years of history, so it has lots of charm, while still feeling fresh and modern where it counts. There’s a lot to like about this hotel, as it has great amenities, including a pool, a huge gym, and several dining outlets.

Honestly, I could’ve seen this property being branded as a Ritz-Carlton, if they had just upped the soft product a little bit. I always enjoy staying here when visiting St. Petersburg, though do manage your expectations when it comes to service.

Given that the hotel has over 350 rooms, service often isn’t very attentive. I also wish that Paul’s Landing weren’t the all-day dining restaurant, because it just doesn’t otherwise match the hotel’s vibe.

What do you make of The Vinoy St. Petersburg?