On my first trip to St. Pete's I decided to stay at Lamara, after reading some great reviews....but as soon as I arrived, I felt like I had made a big mistake. One of the owners, Helen, who spoke with a very thick Eastern European accent started to give me a hard time, that the room rate I was given was for an efficiency and she didn't have any left & the the only room available was a 1 bedroom and that it usually goes for more money. I was taken aback by this since I had made the reservation months prior to my arrival and had reconfirmed the reservation with her daughter and had received an email confirmation with all the details. I had to state this fact to her until she relented in giving me the room at what had been negotiated. She then gave me the room key & walked me to the room and didn't say another word. I was happy to be rid of her....I was trying to get some R & R and this was not what I had bargained for. On the other hand, the room was very nice, clean & had a full kitchen, tv, vcr, a/c, fans & car parking.
The room was plastered with all the rules of the house & I happened to miss the part about the early 10am check-out....regular check-out is usually 11am-noon. On my check-out date, around 11am I hear frantic knocks on my door, only to discover it's Helen demanding that I vacate my room immediately and that they had a 10am check-out time and hadn't I read the sign?! I told her that I had not seen it and that she should have advised me when I checked in. She continued to shriek about how she had someone waiting to use the room and they needed to clean it. Needless to say, I've had better experiences with hotel/motel staff....I am a Travel Agent... and this was extremely unusual behavior....and given that there are hundreds of other motels on St. Pete's Beach, I will most definitely never return to this spot...unless of course, there is a change in management.