Gulf State Park — Attraction in Gulf Shores

We booked thru Hilton.com about 5pm while on our way, having read all the reviews and what to expect. After we booked, we called and asked about room location, Teela put us in a perfect room close to an elevator (one of us is recovering from knee surgery). We were warmly greeted by Sarai (pronounced Sara) who told us some unique aspects of the property - 9 different ecosystems, all building materials were sourced from a 100 mile radius, the property's construction was funded by the BP oil spill, how eco-friendly and eco-conscious the property is, and how all ingredients in the 3 restaurants Perch, Foodcraft and Woodside, the coffee and pastry shop The Roasted Oak, are locally sourced and harvest. We unloaded right in front of the lobby and then came back down and parked. Yes the parking lot is offset from the main building and rooms, but this is intentional, it is so no room is overlooking a parking lot. The state park has so much gulf frontage, the Lodge is built wide (east to west) instead of deep (north and south) for unobstructed views of the gulf, to maximize the breeze from the ocean and natural light. Low wattage amber colored lights are used to encourage the sea turtles (an endangered species) to help procreate and their survival. There are no microwaves in the rooms to prevent RF radiation and energy efficient lighting is used thru out the whole property. We parked in the lot late on a very foggy night, I never felt unsafe. One of the best features is the system in the app to use your phone as a digital key, access your booking and detailed information about the hotel and the area. This hotel also uses a text feature to check in on you, see if your stay is going well and for us to request anything we need or answer any questions. Their response time is faster than a teen on Snapchat!!! Today Mike gave us excellent recommendations on local eateries. Mike is the kindest man I've met working at ANY hotel property and I've hotel'd it across the whole gulf coast all of my life. Any request made, if he can, he will accommodate. He is quick with a smile and a warm hello. Everyone at this property is wearing masks. Every time we were coming and going there was someone cleaning the common areas, I saw someone sanitizing twice in the elevators. Mark and Kris at the front desk are professional and courteous. Kris gave us some great recommendations on scenic areas. In my opinion, the best sunset view is out at Ft. Morgan. It was closed due to repairs from Hurricane Sally, so the next best place is definitely the Lodge. Kris let us know about the best places on the property to watch the sunset. We love it so much here, we extended our stay an additional night. The sound of the surf from our balcony door has lulled us to sleep and the beach is unspoiled, it runs the entire length of the state parks property. It feels like your own private, pristine beach. The state park is gorgeous, the hotel amazing from super comfy beds to the most clean rooms and common spaces I've ever come across. Our room door had it's seal on it to let us know it had been sanitized and even the remote is sanitized and in its own bag!!! The day we checked out we met Dave who has lived in the area for 22 years and worked at the property since it was being built. He thanked us for visiting, asked how our stay was and hoped we come back soon. I mention these people because every single one of them are warm, friendly, care about your stay, want you to enjoy the Lodge and make your time there as pleasurable as possible. Every. Single. One. In the fast paced travel industry, with lots of people checking in and out, each one makes you feel important and valued. Upon our returns from being out during the day, even the valet guys (who also open the doors for self parkers) ask how your day out was? This place has thought of everything, the staff the kindest I've come across and I can't wait to stay again soon. Bill Bennett, the general manager is to be commended!!! Don't pass up on staying here, it's truly THE BEST on the...

BRING YOUR BIKES! There are miles of bike trails here. You can get around the whole park on bike! It's very convenient!

They have bikes you can borrow for free via Bloom app, they're not the greatest, but they're free. You can also rent bikes for $25/day or $30/day at the campground.

There are places to eat in the park. Woodside is great! The nearest Walmart is about 4 miles away (supercenter 6 miles away) and a Publix grocery store nearby as well. They had great subs!

The campground has tennis courts and pickleball courts that are taped with painters tape. There aren't nice nets for pickleball. There were only 2 permanent tennis nets available. Most of the pickleballers had left to return home by 4/1. ☹️

There are 500 sites at the campground that are roomy and not too crowded. There's plenty of space between sites.

The bathrooms are nice ,but it would be even nicer if they mopped the floors in them once in a while and cleaned off the bathroom doors with some Mr Clean sponges. They're kinda gross.

The laundry facilities are nice. Plenty of washers and dryers! There's a nice pavilion nearby so you can relax while you do your laundry.

The pool is nice. It's 4.5' deep at the deepest. There are nice chairs for sunbathing and relaxing. There are steps that you can use to enter the pool.

The dumpster is located on the way to the campground entrance. There's only 1. Make a routine of emptying your trash each day with a walk or on your way to the beach.

The beach and pavilion were very nice. Campers get a free parking pass to use at the beach parking. Load up your car and drive it over. There are spigots to wash your feet. The sand is very soft. As you can see from the photos some days were crowded (during...

Absolutely amazing! My fiance and I just visited gulf shores and it was definitely a trip of a lifetime! The beaches were clean, the sand is like sugar, the water is absolutely beautifuland the memories made were priceless! A few things I recommend if you're going here for vacation is going to Perdido Beach! So amazingly wonderful and beautiful! This was the best place to find shells! Most of the shells are broken up if your looking right out from your condo, and picked through....but at Perdido Beach, it was basically secluded and maybe even were lucky, but we had the beach to ourselves all morning, and only a few families were there later on in the day. So relaxing and private! Also, I highly recommend going to see the dolphins on the Dolphin Cruise (very affordable)! The best place to do that is at Bearpoint, next to the OSO bar and grill. While there we rented jet skis at the extreme watersports also located there! Absolutely the best fun I've had in a long time! The Hangout was also a favorite of ours.... great food and entertainment! There pinã colodas are amazing! I must say though.... just relaxing at the beach was a treat..... the gulf state park is amazing for that..... very family oriented, clean, beautiful beaches! If your still waiting on a reason to go.... don't! It's worth it! So worth it, my fiance and I are planning our move there! That's how great...