DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Galveston Beach — Attraction in Galveston

I'm not sure how there are so many positive reviews for this hotel, I have to say that this was the absolute worst hotel experience I've had in a very very long time, possibly ever. When we arrived to the room , it was not clean. Ok now in the time of COVID and already being nervous to stay in a hotel this is a HUGE issue. There was chewed up pizza crust in the sofa cushion, someones dirty sock was on the floor (visible) under the chair, there was an insane amount of dust/dirt under the furniture VISIBLE. Also our room had a window that looked directly at peoples pool lounge chairs - like they might as well have been I our room, we had to keep the curtains closed for our entire stay. We immediately went back to the front desk to tell them and they told us that because we booked through a 3rd party they would NOT move us unless we paid a higher rate of an additional $175 - they wouldn't even move us to a different comparable room, and did not offer to clean our room that we were forced to stay in. Ok so we're off to a bad start.... We should have left second, we decide to check out the pool. NOWHERE to be found are pool towels yet everyone else at the pool has them. We decide not to mess with the front desk because they've already been unkind and difficult to deal with, so we use our bath towels. During our time at the pool at 11am there was a couple who were slamming back tequila shots and were completely blackout drunk by 1. Clearly overserved by the bar staff and not appropriate for a family environment. The gentlemen then starts talking to us and trying to get us to 'party' with him. A Hotel manager comes up and asks us ALL to leave the pool area, and he has called the police and we may be kicked out of the hotel. After explaining to him that we were not with this gentlemen and having to get some backup from the bartending staff, we were able to continue with our pool day but with a lot of frustration. Last and most importantly, after checkout we received a $200 charge for 'stealing pool towels'. When we called the hotel to explain that we did not receive the pool towels we were told that it could not be verified and that unfortunately in 'good faith' they could not just take our word for it. Apparently it was 'explained' to us during check in (was not) and that they have video evidence so it is 'our fault' that we did not call someone to tell them we didn't have towels. General comments - the staff was unfriendly and frankly rude every time we've had to speak with them about issues with THEIR hotel. I'm a calm person especially when dealing with situations like this, as I know getting worked up makes things worse. Even though we were calm during each of these encounters, they talked over us, raised their voice, and the Office Manager Theresa Esparza even hung up on my husband. I called her afterwards to ask to speak to her whomever was her manager (I asked 3-4 times) and was told that there was no one else that could help me and if I try to call anyone else that they will just call her and she will tell them not to help us. How can a hotel have such bad customer service? it seems like others are also complaining about the staff rudeness... corporate needs to do something.

UPDATE: I have spoken with corporate and they assured me that Theresa does have a General Manager who could have helped us if she let us speak with him/her. They are putting me in contact with them. We were also assured that the situations we encountered are absolutely not acceptable, nor is charging us $200 for towels and accusing us of stealing. No resolution yet, however I appreciate corporate's assistance and certainly hope they do something about...

I’ve stayed twice in the past month and there are some issues that could be easily addressed by management but aren’t for unknown reasons. The Pros. The views from the balcony, and I understand all rooms have balconies , are lovely. Water Front views of the Gulf and swimming pool views are a bonus with the added benefit of night views of the Amusement Pier. Beds and linens were clean and comfortable. Staff was friendly. Cons- The Bathroom needed some attention. Two burned out light bulbs and dirty chalking surrounding the bathtub/shower which could easily be corrected but isn’t. There is only one working elevator and the wait times are excessive. We came during the week, can’t imagine the wait on a busy weekend. The other elevator is out of order and has been for quite awhile. The breakfast buffet left something to be desired . Eggs bland (plain scrambled eggs), food not kept to proper temperature, toaster doesn’t toast and they are aware of this but it doesn’t get repaired. Buffet was expensive for the quality and selection ($17.32 per person) but plentiful since it was self serve. They DO have a menu but you have to ask for it as obviously they want you to buy the buffet breakfast. The swimming pool has fabulous potential but is in need of surface refinishing with excessive amounts of rust on the plaster, the sofa and lounge cushions are very soiled and virtually no service for drinks poolside. The swim-up bar is poorly managed. The server was not attentive to the needs of the customers and each time I looked over there were 3-5 people sitting around it with empty glasses, no food, and no server. Also no customer coolers or outside drinks or food allowed in. Such a missed opportunity in so many These issues are easily remedied with proper inspection, management & follow up but I don’t see this happening at this location. Sadly, because the potential for a perfect holiday is there. Lastly we’re in our 70’s. I asked upon checkin to be located close to the elevator. As a Diamond member an upgrade could have easily been made to accommodate my request but wasn’t and indeed the room farthest away from the one working elevator was assigned to us We expect a certain quality from Hilton that we’ve become accustomed to. This property doesn’t meet those expectations. I have hopes these issues get addressed because it has potential to be our Go-to place in Galveston. Next time we will try another Hilton property on the island as there are several to...

We booked our honeymoon at the Doubletree on Galveston Island and had a less than ideal experience. The front desk staff welcomed us with the traditional cookies and welcome bag. We had two different rooms for our stay. The first room had a no operational phone, no security deadbolt for the balcony door, and severely damaged bedside lampshades. Once we brought this to the attention of the staff, they moved us into a different room.(initially, we were told that there were no other rooms. As I began using my phone to search for another hotel, the staff informed us that they had another room for us. And a breakfast voucher for our trouble) The second room door was tricky to open, as the handle was reversed, but we figured it out after a few minutes.

Both rooms had a strong mildew smell, both rooms had clean bathrooms, comfortable beds and linens, but sadly, the adjacent bedside lamps looked like they were fire damaged/ or someone urinated on them. Additionally the balcony door in both rooms was missing a deadbolt, and both phones in each room were non-operational-and only one slow elevator for the entire building. These factors made the stay very uncomfortable. Furthermore, the 24hour fitness center, located in a separate building was inaccessible with our room keys for our entire stay. We notified the staff on several occasions, but it still wasn’t rectified. The only option given was to call for maintenance and then wait for them to come each time we wanted to access the gym. With the fitness center being in a separate building, it created a grievance to have to go back and forth and then have to wait extended times just to access the fitness center. On the day of our checkout, we noticed a new poster mounted on an easel about future renovations; this would have been great to know about before booking our room or even upon check-in. We literally wasted our hard-earned honeymoon money on a hotel that desperately needed renovations. Sadly, the front desk staff looked “surprised”when we showed them pictures of the above listed substandard/unsafe room conditions. When the name “Hilton”, especially “Doubletree” is in the name, there is a standard of excellence and expectation that comes with the name and the associated cost. This hotel does not...