Island Hotel

After almost 30 years in the military, traveling all over the world, today I had the worst hotel checkin experience of my life at this establishment, The Island Hotel Port Aransas. The biggest problem here is that not a single person at this establishment takes ownership for problems.First, their official website says checkin is at the traditional 3pm. Checkin is actually not until 4pm which the manager or owner tries to highlight when I point out that I couldn't checkin for almost 5 hours. Problem #1, this establishment needs to correct their official website.Second, I arrive at 5:40pm and I am not allowed to checkin. According to the front desk two cleaners did not show up to work. The front desk says "It's not my fault", as if the hotel staff is not part of the establishment. She suggests I go wait at a bar. She takes my name & number and says she will call as soon as my room is ready. Spoiler: she never calls. Because of this I am not able to use the pool before sunset. Problem #2, this establishment needs to hire reliable staff (e.g., cleaners that will show up to work and a front desk that will pass down information to incoming staff or hotel guests).Third, I arrive a second time at 7:41PM. I see guests checked in leaving with hotel keys. I asked the front desk why was I not called. The front desk says she did not know she was supposed to that it's not her fault. I look around the desk and I see the note indicating to call me. She sees that I see it and she says, "I know, I just saw it now." No room is available despite the fact that I paid a month in advance and other guests that arrived after me were permitted to check in. The new front desk was panicking, unable to help guests and lashing out. The front desk calls the hotel owner or manager who was also unprofessional. The owner or manager did not take accountability, tried to redirect to a 3pm vs 4pm checkin, threatened to cancel the paid reservation, etc., etc. She asked what do I want? I want to check in! Problem #3, the owner or manager herself is the problem, she makes excuses for the lousy staff and does not take ownership for the company they represent. The new front desk staff needs more training or should be fired as she cannot professionally interact with customers. (The job is not that high pressure.)Fourth, after 20 minutes I am finally checked in and given hotel keys. The hotel keys do not work! I cannot get into the room. Staff from a different hotel was called in and came and gave me a key fob with instructions not lose it as it is there last one. Their machine to program hotel keys did not work and they were trying to fix. Problem #4, this establishment needs new key card hardware or software (if it was not user error).The hotel room was nice, clean, spacious, with a cold A/C. There was a little musty or moldy smell...may be. The checkin experience was so bad that it doesn't change the rating.

This place is to be avoided ~ the owners /management could not accommodate a reservation I made on Hotels.com for a ground floor unit for traveling with my handicapped dog. The hotel was pretty much empty and the room they offered was upstairs, dark and smelled like mold. In fact the lobby even had a weird mold smell. (Could be the reason for the mentally off woman at the front desk ~ mold is toxic). When I said I had to cancel because I couldn't stay upstairs with my handicapped dog, she gave me the run around and said I had to go through Expedia (who I did not book with). Argued back and forth with me about it, and insisted she was charging me for a night there anyway. Ridiculous. AVOID this place ~ these people are jerks!

I found Island Hotel Port Aransas to be a decent stay when we were in the area. Price was a bit under $60 per night for a double queen bed room. Cheap enough for a tourist area. Access is super easy since it's on the main highway through town. Room was acoustically insulated well enough that traffic noise was never an issue. Room was acceptably clean & comfortable to me. But my criteria for lodging is pretty simple: a place to sleep & clean up before heading out on touristy adventure. Complimentary breakfast had usual sorts of options: coffee & tea, pastries to include bagels, hot & cold cereal, fruits & yogurt, waffle batter to make if you like, etc. Breakfast room decor was light, bright, and cheery. Desk staff was always friendly, smiling, and outgoing. Downsides were:1. The shower/bath tub did not have traction strips, so caution was called for to avoid slipping & falling while showering.2. Vent fan in bathroom did not work. Flipping the switch on-off was an exercise in placebo gratification for the gullible.3. Overhead light in our room did not work for the five days we were there. Other lights (bedside lamps & vanity alcove light) did work. Supposedly maintenance was changing all the bulbs in the building to high efficiency bulbs. But they obviously didn't get to our room while we were there and we lived without that light. Nonetheless, I'd gladly utilize the Island Hotel as my Port Aransas home base if and when I visit the area again.

BED BUGS! I booked 4 nights at this hotel, we left after 2 nights because of the cleanliness and safety. I was understanding that they were very busy for spring break and since our kids were not with us the first night, I figured it would be fine until the next day. We asked for the room to be cleaned, it was not by the time we got back in the next night with our kids. I kept shoes on them if they were walking about the room because they floors were disgusting. The next morning we ask again for the room to be cleaned, citing the dirty floors, dead bugs on the walls, food spills. We got back at 5 pm and no one had been in the room. I go to the front desk again, it was the same woman we had talked to. She said housekeeping had left, we could switch to another room. We go to that room to find a broken door. Go back to front desk again and she tells us to come back for the manager at 6pm, and that she would explain the whole situation to her and she would "make it right". We come back at 620, the manager lets us know someone is doing a quick turnover on the room and apparently has not idea about anything else. We explain again how filthy the rooms were and she phoned the person cleaning the room. She said to give them 15 minutes. The cleaner had glided a swiffer over some parts of the floor but all of the hair and stains were still there. We asked to be move to a clean room. I started checking the room over and found bed bugs in the corners of the fitted sheets. I was finally done and we let them know we would be leaving. The manager, Samantha reassured me that we would be getting a complete refund after contacting the booking company. She said she would approve it immediately. I finally got a reply today that they got ahold of her and she denied the refund , citing their No refund policy. DO NOT STAY HERE

You get what you pay for. Staff was friendly. It's not a motel6. Ice machine broke and it looks like its been that way a while. Morning breakfast was extremely too simple and way too limited. Microwave in room doesn't work. Keycard on door doesn't work, but they actually gave us a key. It was as clean as anywhere on the island. It was useable but disappointing too. I would stay here again, but it most definitely isn't one of the first three choices.

Room 226, advertised as a queen economy for $230 a night when I booked (see attached ad for economy queen), had a makeshift full sized bed and really the bare essentials. The lady at the desk had the gall to tell me hotel queen beds were smaller than regular queen beds. The sheets, while clean, were stained. The pillows were god awful uncomfortable. The bed could literally be moved around the room and the headboard wasn't attached and fell. The shower curtain was stained. The only light that worked was in the bathroom. The TV didn't work. None of the outlets in the "bed area" worked. The only outlet that worked was in the "kitchenette" area which had a fridge and microwave plugged into it so I had to unplug one of those to be able to plug my phone charger in. There was an alarm clock but again, you would have had to unplug the fridge or microwave to be able to use it. The shower was fine. The AC worked great. Otherwise, it should be a crime to charge that much for a room like that. I'll never stay here again.

Totally bizarre nightmare of a hotel to ever have had the misfortune of booking. We walked into our room, pulled the sheets back on the beds and found a gummy to the touch, smelly, mystery stained fitted sheets and mattress covers, mold on every possible surface, unclean bathroom with moldy door that wouldn't shut and disgusting refrigerator. We didn't feel safe staying here and we left very quickly. This place is absolutely filthy and has very low standards of cleanliness. Zero stars if possible.

Hotel location is great. Cleanliness and presentation however is not as we expected, many reviews as well as booking.com stated this was the one of the best hotels in Port A however due to the fact that mold was found throughout the room and on our shower curtain I have no choice but to leave this review. If you are a person who cares about how sanitary where your stay is, look elsewhere.

I had booked a suite at the hotel for my Birthday. I was extremely disappointed. The suite was not what I expected. The suite was dirty, the refrigerator was beat up, the stove vents were dusty and caked in grease, the bathroom door was falling off the frame, the paint was peeling off the wall in the bathroom, the sofa has stains/dirty, and the sheets on the bed had stains. We heard the ice maker outside our suite all night, and extremely noisy guests. I would not recommend this hotel.

Mold was found on our curtains which is a huge problem. My husband and I both have breathing issues as it is. Our room is insanely small for 2 people. I'd understand giving this size room to a single person but this is just too tiny for 2 people!!!!! One side of the bed you can barely even fit to walk on! The restroom cabinets weren't even finished. The bed frame sticks out and you can hit your leg on it. Not to mention the rod to the curtains broke as soon as I touched it. This room seriously looks and feels as if they threw it together over night!!!!! We usually never have issues with this place. We even recommended it to our friends who also stayed here for their anniversary! We will never recommend this place again. I felt so terrible for recommending it.