What are some of the good beaches in the Gulf to visit in April?  Will need a decent hotel to stay in that's not too far from the beach.  I prefer to walk to the beach, but a 10min ride to the beach will work.

Haven't been there in years, but, I always liked Destin in the Panhandle.  IIRC there are hotels on old 98 across the street from the beach.  Water there was like the carribbean.   Turquoise blue, white beaches.

Any specific area in mind?  The Gulf coast stretches from Pensacola to the Everglades NP.

Clearwater area.  Was looking into Siesta Key.

Siesta key is in Sarasota  Caladesi is just off/north of clearwater. The rest of clearwater sucks lol.
The beaches are pretty from clearwater to south of Sarasota. Clearwater beach is more of the “party” area than most of the rest of the Bay Area beaches.

Siesta key can be a little crowded that time of year but not terrible. Siesta key, anna Maria island, ft desoto , saint Pete beach south of the Don Cesar, treasure island and caladesi would be a good beach route, but that last one is a trek from north clearwater beach..

What would you recommend?

A beach/island where you can only get there by boat.

https://palmisland.com/

I'm a bit bias, but Siesta Key has one of the most beautiful beaches in the country.  There are countless AirBnbs right on the water up and down Beach Rd, which is the road right off Ocean Blvd where Siesta Key Village is located on.  There are plenty of good places to eat and drink there so depending what you were looking to do, you could potentially never leave the key if you didn't want to.  You can rent a golf cart for your entire stay, drive up and down the key and never have to get in your car.  You can go down to Turtle Beach and rent kayaks or paddleboards and either go solo or a guided tour through the mangroves.

Clearwater area and siesta key are touristy areas. Good beaches and such but expect tons of people. I always recommend pass-e-grille area.

To get to either Pass a Grille or Siesta Key, I'll be landing in St Petersburg.  So it would come down to weather or not if I want to deal with people, since it seems the beaches in that area are about the same

There's Anna Maria, Longboat and Lido key across the bridge in Sarasota/Bradenton. Traffic will be terrible, so hit Costco and plan on staying in and cooking or walking/golfcart/shuttle to restaurants. Manasota Key a bit further south will have less tourists because there isn't much parking and less hotels/motels.