Last Updated on December 17, 2023 by Marybeth
Jewel-bright, uplifting colors catch your eye first when you arrive at this sunny haven in Treasure Island, Florida, overlooking Sunset Beach. Sunset Inn & Cottages has been hosting travelers since the 1950s – back then it was painted olive green, and called The Coral Lee – and has recently had a vibrant, custom renovation by {verdigreen} hotels, an independently owned boutique lodging brand. {verdigreen} has given sparkling new life to hotels in DC, New York, and Florida – including Marrero’s Guest Mansion in Key West – and each renovation captures the spirit of the individual property’s history, with nods to the past but also adding elevated style that today’s travelers seek.
Sunset Inn & Cottages was saved by the previous owners from demolition. Charming updates were made then, and kitchenettes and bathrooms were modernized. When {verdigreen} hotels took over, Sunset Inn & Cottages was due for a makeover. And what a makeover this little gem has had! As we pulled up to the modern + retro style compound of hotel and cottages, I felt aloft with joy. We had the opportunity to stay here during the former owners’ time – and loved it then. The new look, creatively curated by the remarkable CCO and branding/aesthetic director, Azie Shelhorse, blends Old Florida nostalgia with historic Googie architecture, a midcentury roadside motel vibe, and fresh, upscale spaces. The feel is of exuberance and good cheer! You know the new owners had so much fun planning and creating the makeover for this ~70 year old vacation spot.
Stay tuned for a near-future blog post where I’ll share with you my in-depth chat with Azie about her and her husband’s journey to become {verdigreen} hotels. My mind was blown – yours will be too – by the scope of the deliberate decisions, career paths, and channeled creativity that eventually became the experiential stay that will be yours at Sunset Inn & Cottages. I have so much more to tell you! If you’ve ever thought “How cool would it be to renovate an older property and turn it into a boutique hotel?” you’re going to want to read this. Coming soon!
Sunset Inn & Cottages’ location feels a universe away from the bustling thoroughfare that takes you through the surrounding towns of the St. Pete Beach area. You could miss this almost-secret outcrop of Treasure Island if you’re not paying attention. The Inn is located in a mostly residential beachfront community with a peaceful small-town atmosphere. Steps away from Sunset Beach, Sunset Inn is the ideal location for long, lazy beach days, balmy sunset swims, convivial gatherings in the Inn’s multiple courtyards, and the opportunity to rest and reset. Use this as your home base to explore the area’s outstanding restaurants, funky bars, cool beachy shops, and the historic fishing village of John’s Pass. Set out on the water; rent a paddle board, using your smartphone, from PADL, which has a self-service station right there at the Sunset Beach Pavillion.
Our cottage, The Coral Lee, was named in honor of the original motel. The ideal size for my husband and me, and our senior rescue Chihuahua mix, Puppet (some of the cottages are pet friendly!) The living room has a cozy futon that can be used if you bring another person along.
Our space gave us that “THIS is all we need!” feel we sink into whenever we stay at a perfectly intimate property. If you’ve visited our Instagram, you know that we are champions of small structures and spaces. Spending time in a comfortable abode where balance, scale, and enchanting design choices surround us is blissful. Small properties allow owners to be focused and intentional. Vacation heaven for this travel blog!
I’ve mentioned on social media that after ten years of traveling around Florida to bring you the best independently owned places to stay and play, Sunset Inn & Cottages remains our favorite. While we have fallen in effusive love with most of our stays – and you’ve heard me mention, how can you even choose, it’s like choosing your favorite child (which you just don’t do. For me it’s a no-brainer: I love my three kids equally, for vastly different reasons) – Sunset Inn & Cottages remains our top favorite because of our simple, personal history. (And its pure awesomeness, naturally!)
In the early days of creating our travel blog, I didn’t tell anyone who I was and what my hopes were for this endeavor. There was not much to tell, yet, plus all my life I’ve been shy. I know, it’s called introverted now, and yes, that’s me. I booked a hotel room at Sunset Inn & Cottages so I could spend time with my oldest daughter, who was living in St. Pete at the time. What almost sent me clear around the bend, in an amazingly epic way, was when the innkeeper called to say they’d upgraded me to a cottage. Our last name is Bungalows! THIS is what our blog is all about! I was jubilant; I just didn’t let on.
I blogged about my experience, and the then-owners invited us back for a complimentary stay as a thanks. Again – sent around the bend with elation! Another absolutely pleasurable visit in this under-the-tourist-radar slice of paradise. And now the new owners have layered in more richness, radiance, and Space-Age-mod touches that compelled us to come back.
Many vacation properties today don’t have innkeepers on-site. Modern travelers often wish to just check themselves in (you can do that here, too) and hunker down without any interaction. The beauty here is you can do either one. Sunset Inn & Cottages has a small welcoming staff, including a genial, plugged-in-to-the-area host, Sandra, who has been with the Inn since the first renovation in the early 2010s. Ask her any questions you may have, especially recommendations for restaurants and bars. This hotel maven can tailor her suggestions to your cuisine desires. And you’re just going to want to look around that cool hotel office anyway, where you can also purchase branded merchandise: coffee mugs, t-shirts, and more. Sunset Inn & Cottages offers an easy-to-use app where you’ll find all the information you need to know before and during your visit, and what to do the day of check-out. You can communicate with Sandra via text regarding your arrival time, and late check-in with your entry code, if needed.
Our recommendations for restaurant visits begin with Caddy’s Treasure Island, which is a 15 minute stroll away in the Sunset Beach neighborhood (no busy roads to cross.) Caddy’s has five locations; the Treasure Island restaurant is their original beach bar. We sat upstairs – the view is gorgeous – where the breezes kept us cool and our server kept us happy.
Ka’ Tiki Sunset Beach is just across the road, a locals’ favorite with a pub style menu and live music 7 days a week.
A great recommendation by Sandra that we encourage you to try is Sea Dog Brewing Company. With a spacious upstairs bar, restaurant, and outdoor porch overlooking the Blind Pass waterway and Blind Pass Marina, the location itself is worth a visit; breezes blowing in and boats passing below. The food menu is extensive – I had one of the best burgers I’ve ever eaten – and of course beer aficionados have multiple options. For those of us who aren’t fans of beer, Sea Dog offers good wine choices and has a full bar. Sea Dog Brewing Company is just one mile from Sunset Inn Treasure Island, but we recommend you drive, as you will have to cross busy SR 699/Gulf Blvd.
After venturing out come back to your home away from home. Take it from us: you truly may never want to leave your oasis – and you don’t need to! Grill out, carry in, order delivery, make a meal in your kitchen. The cottages and The Lookout Penthouse all have full kitchens with cool retro fridges. The hotel rooms are equipped with kitchenettes.
We like to give you an idea of the surrounding neighborhood where you’ll be staying. Take a walk; the beach is one minute away, but also go east onto Bayshore Drive (a half block from Sunset Inn & Cottages) then north to 84th Avenue where you’ll find a public boat ramp and pier; look out onto the Blind Pass channel and the homes across the way (impressive!) The homes in Sunset Beach that you’ll walk past as you explore range from the sweetest little cottages on the planet to gorgeous new architect-designed stunners.
Back at Sunset Inn & Cottages. Before we leave you to head back to reality, we want to show you the infectious energy the graphics and mini mural / logo icons lend to the magical and humorous personality of the Inn. Because places do take on human qualities, don’t they? Vestiges of the old gal barely remain. If you squint, and imagine another sort of life – one most likely before you were born – you can almost see her: the Coral Lee who offered vacationers in olden times a gracious, if simple, lodging. And now here she remains, for us: still gracious, with good bones, but having reinvented herself, happily submitting to a head-to-toe transformation. Like your favorite, cool aunt who keeps up with the trends and may have had some work done…
Younger me…
Follow along with Sunset Inn & Cottages!
Sunset Inn TI on Instagram
Sunset Inn & Cottages on Facebook
For more interior views and gorgeous professional photos by our talented friend Tamara Alvarez, @tamaraalvarezphotography and @the_sunnyside_up, go to Sunset Inn & Cottages’ gallery, here.
Sunset Beach is a small community with a public beach and beautifully designed Pavillion, on its own peninsula off the main thoroughfare of Treasure Island. Treasure Island is 40 miles southwest of Tampa, and 67 miles north of Sarasota.
