We arrived on Christmas day 2016 at this hotel from the Houston airport. Before starting the hotel portion of the review, for those interested, it is a 45 minute ride from Houston airport, to this hotel. You can use an Uber from Houston to Galveston, but once you arrive in Galveston, they do not allow Uber and from our experience, taxis were very limited.
The hotel looks a little older on the inside, but they had it decorated nicely for Christmas. The lobby area consists of a nice sitting area with a television. There's a small bar in the lobby that provides a happy hour in the evenings. There's a restaurant as well that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We arrived at 11am and were allowed to check-in right away. Everyone we encountered at the check-in desk was extremely friendly and knowledgeable of the area.
Our room was on the 4th floor. The hallways leading to the rooms appear to have recently been furnished with new carpeting. The elevators are a bit older and rickety, but I'm not sleeping in the elevator, so that didn't matter. Our room was a nice size with plenty of space to store luggage, hang clothing, etc. Our room consisted of a medium size flat screen tv and a very large dresser area. Great for storage on top and in the drawer area. There was a sitting chair, plenty of lighting, etc. The bed had upgraded linens and was extremely comfortable. Each side of the bed has a night stand.
In the hallway there is a closet that opens and it consisted of a coffee pot, ice bucket, storage area for hanging clothing, an ironing board and iron. Also, inside the closet was a full length mirror. Aside from a mirror in the bathroom, this is the only other mirror in the room.
The bathroom had great lighting and a single sink. Plenty of storage space by the sink area and underneath the sink were baskets that consisted of towels and wash cloths along with a blow dryer. There was a tub with the shower.
The room appeared to look a little older, but by no means in crappy condition. Our window had a view of the ocean. The curtains to the room are decorative and don't close as a typical hotel would have set up. Be sure to use the metal cords to close the shade and you will have all the privacy you need.
The hotel is conveniently located to the pleasure pier (walking distance) and many restaurants such as Fish Tales, Bubba Gumps, etc. The hotel has a fitness area as well as a nice swimming pool. Even in December the pool was open. It was a warm day and we sat by the pool in our swimsuits. The beach is directly across from the hotel in easy walking distance.
We stayed here the night before our cruise. The day of our cruise our ship was delayed and we had already checked out of the room. I mentioned this to the front desk and the manager came out and told us to please feel free to use the room until we left for the ship (which was 5pm that evening due to fog). I thought this was an incredibly nice gesture as many people who experienced the delay were in other hotels nearby and were not allowed the same convenience.
Lastly, as mentioned earlier they have a bar and restaurant. We utilized the bar in the evening for a drink before dinner. The bartender was a lady who had very limited experience in making drinks. I ordered an Irish Coffee and she said she had just learned to make it last week when a customer taught her. Another gentleman came in while we were sitting there and he ordered a white Russian and she said she didn't know how to make one, but could google it???? Also, one thing I found disturbing while we were having our drinks at the bar is the bartender opened the container that had toppings for drinks and began using her bare fingers and eating the cherries out of the container as she talked to us. YUCK!
The hotel restaurant we used for breakfast. They have a standard buffet for $9.99 and it consists of your usual scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, Danish, waffles, cereal and toast. By chance we were told the night before by a customer that they also have a menu to order off of (however, the hostess never told us this, so thankfully we knew from someone else). We ordered off the menu 2 omelets which comes with potatoes and fruit and toast. I asked for a side of bacon to come with mine. Be careful, don't order a side of bacon unless you are feeding the whole family from one side of bacon. They brought out about 10 pieces of bacon and charged an additional $7 for this. Lesson learned there. Our simple breakfast was almost $40, and they do add the tip into the bill.
Give the hotel a try. The price is right. The people are friendly and the manager is extremely kind and pleasant.