Six Principals, Four Nights, One Garage
A district sending six principals to the National Principals Conference arrives Friday 5 February 2027 and leaves Tuesday 9 February. The conference runs Saturday 6 February to Tuesday 9 February at the Tampa Convention Center, 333 S. Franklin Street.
The City of Tampa event record books the building from 6 a.m. Sunday 7 February to midnight Tuesday 9 February, for the entire convention centre. The organiser schedules a day earlier. Pre-conference sessions run 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, and the National Education Leadership Awards Dinner runs 6 to 9 p.m. that evening.
The venue holds 17,000 guests across 600,000 square feet on four floors. It sits 16 minutes from Tampa International.
What Six Registrations Cost
The association publishes three rate windows. Early Bird ran to 30 September 2026 at $699. Regular runs 1 October 2026 to 5 February 2027 at $949. Onsite starts after 5 February 2027 at $1,399.
Six registrations inside the Regular window come to $5,694. Six at the closed Early Bird rate came to $4,194. Six who register at the desk pay $8,394.
The fee covers conference materials, general sessions, concurrent sessions, exhibit hall access and one lunch voucher for Sunday or Monday. Pre-conference sessions cost $200 each. The two ticketed luncheons cost $125 each. Six of each comes to $1,200 and $750.
Two payment rules fix the calendar. Checks and purchase orders must reach the association by 9 November 2026, and after that date registration runs on a credit card only. Cancellation needs a written request by 9 January 2027 and carries a $100 fee per registration. Across six heads that is $600 to cancel, and after 9 January the association honours substitutions only.
The Garage Across From the Main Entrance
The Convention Center garage at 141 E. Brorein Street holds 454 spaces, 11 ADA spaces and 2 electric-vehicle chargers. The city charges an event rate of $5.00 to $50.00, and a non-event rate of $3 an hour with an $18 daily maximum. Clearance is 6 feet 6 inches. The Franklin Street main entrance sits across the street from that garage.
Four days at the top of the event band comes to $200 a vehicle. Four days at the $18 non-event maximum comes to $72. Two vehicles span $144 to $400.
The garage carries no long-term parking. The city routes long stays to Pam Iorio at 301 Channelside Drive and Fort Brooke at 107 N. Franklin Street. Both allow overnight hourly parking until 6:00 a.m. Fort Brooke has 556 hourly spaces and 6 feet 8 inches of clearance. Pam Iorio has 790 spaces, 41 ADA spaces and 2 chargers.
That rule decides the plan. A district that drives in Friday and leaves Tuesday parks the stay at Fort Brooke or Pam Iorio and walks. Fort Brooke sits on the same street as the venue's main entrance. The Convention Center garage rules out any vehicle taller than 6 feet 6 inches.
The Channel Entry off Front Drive
Front Drive runs off Franklin Street past the building. The venue names it as the best drop-off point for visitors with disabilities, with a rideshare bay beyond the entrance at 333 S. Franklin Street.
Front Drive holds 36 metered spaces at $4 an hour, open 8:00 a.m. to midnight, with no overnight parking. The Channel Entry is the double-door entrance reached most directly from that lot.
A van can set six people down at Front Drive and clear the block without entering the garage.
Rooms Inside the Walk
The venue publishes its own distance table. Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Downtown Convention Center at 513 S. Florida Avenue connects to the building by sky bridge. Tampa Marriott Water Street at 700 S. Florida Avenue and JW Marriott Tampa Water Street at 505 Water Street sit 0.2 miles out. The Westin Tampa Waterside is 0.3 miles. The Tampa EDITION, Hilton Tampa Downtown, Hyatt Place/Hyatt House and ROOST Tampa all sit 0.5 miles out.
The NPC27 housing portal publishes twelve Tampa properties at $269 to $339 a night for its default four-night stay. Its group route asks for five rooms minimum. A six-person team in three rooms sits below that floor, so the request goes to the hotels directly.
A three-room request across four nights goes to competing Tampa properties through bookMyTeam's RFP form. At a $200 nightly working figure the room line is $2,400 before tax.
The Total and the Order of Booking
Registrations come to $5,694. Three rooms for four nights at the working figure come to $2,400. Two vehicles for four days run $144 to $400.
The core trip lands between $8,238 and $8,494 before tax and airfare. Pre-conference sessions add $1,200, and the two ticketed luncheons add $750.
The order matters. The Regular rate closes on 5 February 2027, the Friday the group lands. A registration submitted that week and paid at the desk moves into the Onsite window at $1,399 a head. Submit and pay inside the Regular window, confirm the room block next, then fix the garage.
A team roomed within half a mile of 333 S. Franklin Street walks to the doors, and one vehicle covers the airport runs.
