Crystal Palace Resort — Hotel in Galveston

We needed a cheap place to stay while we were trying to see the bioluminescent dinoflagellates along the beach. It was a short drive to the beach. For the age of the 1950 motel it was well maintained. You have to be understanding to the hot water taking forever to reach the shower. They had refurbished the flooring, curtains, walls, and furniture. I loved their choice in the vintage looking refrigerator in the room. Not just for its look but it has a freezer to freeze water bottles to keep things in my ice chest cold the next day. It looks like they may be replacing things in steps because the bedspread was old and worn and needed to be replaced. They only had 2 small pillows on a king size bed. Most hotels have 4. I am most comfortable hugging a pillow with another under my head. The other downfall on the room was the cleaner smell was extremely strong. I had to keep the door open for a long time and still could smell it. The mounted in the room helped. If I would have had more options for the night I would have left just due to the overwhelming smell of the cleaner. People need to learn that a quarter of a cup or less (a cap full is best due to chemical poisoning.) in a mop bucket will do all the disinfecting that a room needs. Lastly, the electric, very few outlets. It's a 1950s motel so it's understandable. One outlet just had a cover over it. I'm sure it was an outlet at one time but an electrician didn't want to rewire it. The A/C outlet was pulled out of the wall too. This is an incompetent electrician again. Being a small town I bet it is not easy to find a good electrician. Now the service was great and friendly. I had to call a number to reach them when we checked in. She recommended a place to eat down the road. She had heard of the bioluminescent dinoflagellates but was not sure where to see them. She said she heard they move a lot and it is random when and where you can see them. I would stay here again only if I have plenty of time to air out the room or they have a less...

Overall if you want to stay in a super cheap place where there are almost zero accommodations and zero concern for customer satisfaction, or you just want to ruin at least 1 day of your vacation, this is your place! We were very very disappointed. We arrived late in evening to start the 1st day of our 2 day fishing trip. Room was terribly HOT, refrigerator was turned down all the way and melted water inside and on the floor around refrigerator. Could not use the refrigerator which we needed. A/C was also left OFF. Even though we turned it on right away, it never cooled down. Owners must now their A/C unit is defective because they have a fan next to it. My wife and I spent all night sweating and unable to get any sleep at all. She has blood pressure issues and this did not help. Went to office at 3:30 am to discuss a room switch and office locked. Rang night bell, no response. Called from room phone, nothing. Came back at 5 am still closed. Came back at 6:15 still closed. Unable to access ice machine (locked inside office), no coffee maker in the room and unable to get to coffee locked in office. Room smelled of fresh kills paint that was very strong. Could see fresh paint runs on floor, light fixtures etc. Had to leave before office opened and unable to address grievances. Was going to let it be. They sent me an email soliciting reviews. I sent them an email explaining our experience requesting some communication and after 3 days, no response. Terrible business.

Update - owners reply stating their team made multiple attempts to address this issue is a completely fabricated statement. Simply unbelievable. They do not deserve to be in control of a business that serves the general...

This is far from a report stay. Avoid this hotel at all cost. It is way overpriced. The employees at the front desk knew very little about the surrounding area, but were friendly at least. As far as the rooms, they were almost comically basic. There is no phone to reach the front desk. There was a single charging outlet in the room. The towels were dirty and folded up as if they were ready for a new guest. The TV had three channels TOTAL. There was no clock of any kind in the room. Once I had checked out and had left the hotel, a few days later, I noticed a change to my Credit Card for $250. I attempted to contact the hotel to understand this ridiculous charge that ended up being more expensive than the actual stay, but was unable to reach someone after 5-6 calls during different hours of the day. I eventually reached someone and spoke to a “manager” which was unable to resolve the issue saying the the charge was for “damages to the room.” The said, “damages” were claimed to be a significantly large hole in the back of the bathroom door puncturing all the way through to the other side of the door. I asked if this was before or after the maids had come in to clean the room and I was told it was before they had cleaned. Yet the picture that was sent to me that the manager claimed to have taken himself, had fresh toiletries and towels on the counter. He then informed me that he would have to contact the manager and send an email to ask about dropping the charge. Again, I thought I was speaking to the manager. Hmmmmm. I would recommend that anyone looking to stay here find another hotel. Oh my goodness. This place was a...