All things considered

We stayed for 3 nights, checking in one day early on a Thursday. We considered the Hilton, but with a family of four we needed queen size beds, not full. The first room on the second floor was recently remodeled but already showing wear and tear. We were disappointed. The service was great, but the customers showed no respect for the property.

The next two nights we stayed on the seventh floor where the view was much better and the room was like new. Here we had a tad more space, plus a fridge and microwave, glasses instead of plastic, bath & body works toiletries, and a real ice bucket, not a plastic pail. Definitely book only the seventh or eighth floor if you are staying here. Keep your drapes closed when gone during daylight hours to keep your room cool.

The shame of it is we saw friendly staff literally scrubbing the elevator floors with a toothbrush only to see one hour later that it looked as though it hadn't been cleaned in a week.

The week-end crowd was definitely more respectful, but still there was the element that would just leave drink cups, wet towels and trash at the tables and chairs of the pool when there was adequately marked dispensers for these items.

What's wrong with people these days? At any rate, the staff remained upbeat through their almost complete renovation process.

I just hope customers start to take the same interest. The staff are trying very hard to create an upscale beach hotel at reasonable prices, despite the ravages of a minor few but effective unsavory guests.

A Awful view

Just stayed here July 7, 04. The room itself was very nice and spacious. When making the reservation I was very specific about the view. Upon check-in I went to the balcony to find there was a satellite blocking the view as well as construction and a/c units. Overall I would stay here again hopefully the elevator will move faster.

We enjoyed the Holiday Inn

We stayed the week of July 5, 2004. We found the rooms to be clean and with a good view of the Gulf. The elevators were a bit slow, however. We would stay again at this Holiday Inn.

Big Improvement in Last 3 Years

I stayed here Labor Day weekend 2001 and I was disappointed in the quality. I tried it again on 4th of July weekend 2004. Tremendous improvement! They are in the middle of a renovation (new ownership I believe). The restaraunt was tremendously better. A/C units are still noisy. New ownership also has San Luis, Hilton, Rainforest Cafe, and Landry's all adjacent to Holiday Inn. Good 3 Star hotel for the area. We had 2-rooms adjacent to each other--8th floor--good view!

Friendly Staff

We stayed at this hotel over Memorial Weekend. I have never stayed at a place where the staff was so friendly....from the front desk, to the cafe, to the pool waitress. The food was great and the pool is beautiful. Our room was clean and no odor at all (which is unusual with a beach location). The staff came to our room every evening to see if we needed more towels or bottled water. The hotel is in a great location too. Compared to a lot of places on seawall, this was a good deal.

Don't let these reviews fool you, this hotel was just fine.

We stayed at this Holiday Inn on 4/3/04 and found that these reviews on Trip Advisor were simply not the case. The hotel was undergoing some renovations but the pool are looked as if it was done. It was very, very nice with a little waterfall and plenty of chairs (new) and pool towels. The elevators were a little slow but definitely nothing that would make me not recommend this hotel. Our room was great, no smell at all very well cleaned and maintained. All rooms have a small balcony that overlooks the ocean. The resturant was wonderful and the staff at the restaurant very, very friendly and helpful. The front desk staff, actually the manager, drove us in their shuttle to the grocery to pick up a few items and waited for us while we shopped. They couldn't have been more helpful. This hotel is within walking distance to the Rain Forest Cafe and the Galveston shuttle runs directly in front of the hotel, so once you get here you shouldn't need a car to get to some fun stuff. The beach was very nice right across the street - no hotels in this area are directly on the beach, you have to cross the street to get to the beach but it's not that far. This hotel even had a very nice gift shop.

Not recommended

The hotel staff were generally not very friendly and the hotel needs a good upgrade. The elevators were noisy, dirty and rusty, as was the pool and equipment. The room smelled of mold and must and was also visisble in the bathroom. Location good but you may well do better elsewhere.

Dbl. check your reservations!

Labor Day Wk End: Had time to find the hotel where we would be staying after our cruise. Decided to dbl check our reservations. Good thing we did. They said it had been canceled "at your request"! I don't know how they messed that up, but we did not cancel our room. Make sure you double check your reservations before arriving!

Great Experience

We stayed at the Holiday Inn over the Sand Castle Competition In June 2003. It was absolutely wonderful. The front desk was friendly, the room was clean , and the pool was kept up nicely. I do agree they can repair some the chairs by the pool but other than that , it was first class. As a matter of fact we had some friends who also stayed there at the same time, and everyone was more than satisfied. I'll go back again.

Disgusted

First upon arriving to the Holiday Inn to check in was frustrating.They say that they guarantee check in by 4:00pm and what they really mean is that you will not be able to check in any time before 4pm.I have checked into over 20 hotels in the past year and have been able to check in early morning or at least by 2pm.I had went back to check in several times before 4pm at the Holiday Inn in Galveston & the room was not ready.I even tried to check in at 3:30pm & still couldn't check in.I thought it was pretty funny when I went up at 4pm the room was ready.So that was really frustrating.Even went into their cafe for breakfast & was disgusted.It was filthy.Let alone getting service was almost impossible. Okay,so putting frustrations aside after checking in, I was trying to make the best of it. So my husband and I went down to the pool. Had to walk under air conditioning drippings to get there. The pool area was pitiful. There wasn't one lounge chair that your butt wouldn't be falling through the chair because of the missing straps. I didn't expect luxury accomodations, but my god, what nerve do they get charging as much as they do.I have stayed at many Holiday Inns & this by far was my worst experience.Just plain Gross! My advice to those who think about staying here, spend an extra $75.00 and stay next door at the San Louis Resort. Or better yet save up & go to Mexico!