I was at the InterContinental for a work conference. The hotel as a whole was very nice. The room was exceptionally clean and fairly well maintained. The hotel can be rather noisy. I would recommend asking for a room that faced the atrium. I was on the 9th floor and my room faced the street and I could hear every rev of a motor and all of the passing traffic. It was exceptionally bad on the weekends. When closing the room door it does close rather loud, actually kind of slams. Every time someone would enter or leave their room I could hear it very loudly in mine. This became frustrating when trying to sleep at 3 a.m. Between the noise outside and the doors slamming it was rather difficult to sleep at times. For a hotel, the beds were very comfortable. The hotel does have Wi-Fi capabilities but charges almost $13 dollars a day for the services. Food was provided several times during the conference and I did order room service once. The food was pretty good, no complaints. The attitude of the staff at the hotel did kind of vary. Some were very friendly and helpful while other seemed like they couldn’t be bothered. Some of the maids had a better personality than some of the front desk staff. If you are flying in from TPA you will have to call the hotel when you arrive to have the shuttle come to pick you up. There is a Walgreens across the street and a Panera Bread and Starbucks. Also, there is a mall directly across from the hotel. You do have to walk back a little farther to get to the entrance but it is not far at all. The mall has numerous shops, 3-4 sit down restaurants and a food court. You are not able to see the water from the hotel unless you go the pool on the 9th floor, you can see it in the distance. I was told it was about a 20-30 minute drive to the main beaches.

I stayed here for a conference and overall enjoyed the stay. The room was clean and comfortable, and the typical conference catering and services were good. Good chain restaurants in walking distance but nothing unique or spectacular. The hotel is only three miles from the airport, and the complimentary shuttle was very convenient. Just a few minor notes though:
--I couldn't seem to find a 'do not disturb' card for the door, and even though they outlined their 'green' policies, they still washed my towels after one night even though they were hanging and not dirty on the floor.
--My room was very near the elevators, where you could hear the compressors all day and night. My room also faced the interior atrium, which meant there was little privacy with an office window right across from mine.
--Inexplicably, there was no hot water my last morning there. I was surprised that a higher-end hotel would have that issue.

I booked the Interncontinental through Priceline for a 1 night pre-cruise stay. I had an extremely great price, 80$ per night, so I was very happy about getting a 4 star hotel for such a good price. We were only getting into Tampa for dinner time so we did not have much time to enjoy the facilities of this hotel so I can't talk at length about everything this hotel has to offer. Here are the pros and the cons:

PROS:

*The room was spacious, we had booked 2 rooms and were each upgraded to a king size bed, and clean. I had problems with the television and the engineer was in my room in a couple of minutes and resolved the problem quickly and efficiently.
*Location: It is located in front of a nice shopping mall so we went there on the morning of our cruise for a little shopping.
*Staff: We were treated very well by the staff during our check in and check out

CONS:

*Food: They only have expensive options inside the hotel. We had dinner in the bar area and it was more than ordinary for the price. However, we were tired from our day of flying so it did the job. You can cross the street and there are a couple of restaurants in the mall.
*Location: Except for the shopping mall, there is nothing much to do.

It is an excellent choice for our pre-cruise stay. We were more than happy with our choice for the price. I would stay there again in a heartbeat before leaving for a cruise.

This is my 6th or 7th stay here, usually for 4 to 5 days each trip. On my previous trips I have had a room with a view of the lobby of the adjacent building, these rooms have been nice and also quiet.
On this particular trip I was surprised to get a room on an upper floor with a view of the bay. A view of the bay also means you are right by the street. Starting at about 6am on a weekend you will hear a lot of road noise. So I am torn, a nice view with street noise, or a lobby view and quiet.
Rooms are nice, very clean. Comfortable bed, way better than the omni I just left.
All in all not a bad hotel, just noisy. Also most flight crews use this hotel, so you can get stuck behind a pretty good size group checking in at any given time.