Embassy Suites by Hilton St Augustine Beach Oceanfront Resort — Hotel in Saint Augustine Beach

If you want your vacation ruined and to be treated like dirt, stay here!

Our room flooded due to the room above us and two staff members told us it was toilet water. Our belongings had been soaked, we ended up throwing things away due to bacteria and mold concerns, we kept telling the staff that we had damages and didn't think we could salvage things with toilet water on them, and, other than changing our room, we just kept being told "someone will reach out." No one did, so I sent an email about our stuff being covered in toilet water. Three days after the incident, after our stuff was already thrown out, Christopher Browning emails me back saying it wasn't toilet water after all, it was from a leaking water line (why would the staff holding a giant, metal plunger during the flooding lie to us though?), but he didn't want to address our damages, so I brought the subject up again and got ignored for a month and a half. When I finally heard back from the Assistsnt General Manager Matt Paula, he told me it was "shower" water that flooded our room, so he wanted proof of damages, including incident reports, pictures, the physical items in his hand, receipts, etc. I sent receipts, descriptions, a detailed accounting of events, but explained that we were never told to file a report, or asked for photos, or for the wet items to be turned over to the hotel. Paula said we had no proof and he wouldn't cover ANY of our damaged items.

I asked Mr. Paula multiple questions about why the source of the flood water had changed three times now, why their staff who entered both rooms would lie and tell us it was toilet water the night flooding happened, why no one ever told us to make an incident report or to turn in our damaged items, why the staff seeing the damages wasn't enough proof, why my receipts weren't being accepted as valid, why did Paula only ask for picture evidence about ~45 days after we had put into writing that we threw the contaminated things away, why we were lied to about getting a refund for our room, and why would he expect us to keep items that we were told were soaked in toilet water when we still had five days of vacation left.

Not to mention, how do I photographically prove that items are wet with toilet water? Wet things eventually dry, so how do you "inspect" that to assess the damages? There were no rips or tears to show, and I don't carry around a travel microscope to look for fecal matter from toilet water. We acted based on what the staff told us. With multiple staff members seeing our wet belongings and not telling us to get photos or to turn the items over, how would I guess what Paula would want from us a month and a half later? And why would we keep biohazard covered items or be able to drive 12 hours to the hotel to deliver ruined items for his inspection? That's an extremely unreasonable request when you know the flooding happened and we've been complaining about damages the entire time! I've never had property damage like this before, if the hotel had specific requirements for reimbursement, the hotel should have told us that the day of the crisis, not a month and a half later when they knew the items were long gone! The hotel has a Duty of Care that they severely neglected with us!

Mr. Paula refused to answer any of my questions and said if I didn't have photos and couldn't give him the physical items to inspect then he wasn't bothering with us any further. So, this is the hotel to go to if you want your items and vacation destroyed while the management treats you like dirt, ignores you, and then blames you for their lack of action or direction. Seriously, stay ANYWHERE else, this hotel is a nightmare to deal with!

Update: The manager is so desperate to silence me, he's disputing my reviews and photos everywhere he can. That's okay, the full story is going up on my TikTok (14k followers) and YouTube (150k subscribers) with screen shots of emails! Maybe if Hilton was as concerned with customer care as they are with truthful reviews they wouldn't need to...

Embassy Suites St. Augustine FL. I booked this hotel in advance to ensure we received a special room for this trip. My husband and I had not been on a “he and I only” trip for a while so I wanted full ocean view at a time of year that would offer good weather. Of course, full ocean view in FL in April comes with a price, but I was willing to splurge. We planned a Tuesday arrival and Saturday departure with the average room-per-night-rate being about $500. Don’t forget that there is also a mandatory use of valet for $35/day; a $22/day resort fee; and taxes, etc. Plan for tips to the valet each time they retrieve your vehicle, as well as tips for beach chairs, the breakfast personnel, and bar keep during happy hour….have those small bills ready.

The day before arrival, as a Hilton Honors member, we were offered the opportunity to choose our room - like choosing a seat on an airplane. When I looked at the 3 room options, I noticed that they seemed to be partial ocean view. So I proceeded to call the hotel directly and inquire. I was advised that I was in the proper room type so I chose room 341.

We arrived on the Tuesday as planned and I noticed that the valet was to park the car in the hotel garage. I am used to valet when a car must be fetched from a different location, but I was not too thrilled that I could not park my own car; however, I was aware of the valet requirement so I moved on to the lobby to check in. Let me state, the staff were all exceptional - friendly, professional, and efficient. When we arrived to room 341, I was not exactly happy as it was not a full ocean view (see photo). If you look straight, the ocean is there, but look left or right and you see other rooms. My husband was happy so I did not re-raise the issue, but truly I feel like I paid for something more than I received.

The “room”, not suite, was nice. A large room that had a king bed that was comfortable with a couch (if folded out would likely just about touch the bed), a chair with ottoman, and the entry had a desk and a couple chairs. The shower was a good size with good water pressure. The toilet did need a handle jiggle to avoid it running and the bar to the towel holder fell off once, but minor issues that were manageable. The balcony was substantial, but only had two small hard chairs and a mini drink table. The view over the courtyard was pretty - overseeing multiple fire pits and chairs which we enjoyed nightly. We could also hear the live music from our balcony if we chose to stay upstairs vs. join the happy hour.

The happy hour was ok. Smirnoff vodka type offerings with cheese one night, macaroni salad another, and a snack mix. We opted out of the happy hour most evenings and either went to Salt Life across the road (great joint) or made our own cocktails in our room.

We did go to the breakfast each morning and found the options as expected. Plenty available and very well maintained by the staff. A made to order egg station was available each day.

The pool was very nice - large and clean with a lot of seating. However, during our stay there were many families and mostly the pool was occupied by the families and/or kids. Instead, we took a left and used the beach access. One of the staff, Leo (nice young man), took care of our beach chairs and set us up each visit. The beach had plenty of room and one of the reasons we chose this hotel was because it offered beach access. That did not disappoint.

The hotel shop was nicely equipped and the woman managing it was lovely. The Starbucks was also nicely done.

Overall we had a good visit, but I am still somewhat disappointed in the view from the room - what I expected vs. what we received. If you are planning a trip, this is a nice hotel, but be prepared for the pricing and add-ons. While tipping is never required, the staff did a great job, so personally, we made sure they...

We just returned from a trip to SAB to visit friends and have some restorative time at a quiet, beautiful beach. We chose the Embassy Suites based on location (beachfront, beside a nature preserve) and the good reviews. We booked a king ocean-front patio suite, which is the expensive option. But this was a splurge trip to celebrate the end of a difficult work season.

The Good: Location is stellar. Gorgeous beach. Lovely resort grounds with several fire pits and comfortable seating. Beautiful pool, easy beach access. Nice places indoors and outdoors to work remotely (which I did) with strong WiFi. Most of the hotel staff were phenomenal---helpful and very friendly. The servers at the pool bar and the restaurant were knowledgeable and attentive. Some of the front desk personnel were wonderful, too. Valet guys were awesome. Starbucks was actually very good (sometimes the STBX coffee in a hotel or airport is terrible). Breakfast was well above average for a hotel (provided coffee was just so-so). We had dinner on-site one time, because it was pouring rain outside, and we were happy with the meal--reasonable prices and good quality.

The Not-So-Good: A couple of the front desk personnel seemed annoyed by small, reasonable requests. Maybe they were having a bad day. The frozen drinks at the pool bar were too syrupy sweet; we were hoping for fresh-fruity and refreshing, but couldn't finish them. The mattress in our room was worn out and not at all comfortable (we are not large people, and we are not seniors).

The Terrible: On the day we checked in, we discovered quite a lot of mold in our shower (black mildew (?) and that pink-ish mold), around the shower pan. The shower pan itself needed a good bleaching (stained). The sink rims had the same mold problem. The next morning, I approached the front desk when no one else was there and discretely requested that housekeeping take care of the problem while we were out for the day. I was assured this would happen. It did not. So, we just lived with the mold for the next three days. When I moved the tissue container on the bathroom counter, there was a dried puddle of what appeared to be coffee underneath it. The inside of the bathroom door, above and below the door handle was dirty (do they disinfect those door handles?). On the second day of our stay, the large bottle of shower gel (bolted to the shower wall) ran out, and we asked if it could be refilled. We were assured that it would be. It never was. Our mini-fridge had hair in it and a weird smell. There was popcorn on the floor in front of the sofa that remained there our entire stay. When I opened the drapes in the living area, I saw toenail clippings on the floor, next to the window frame (GROSS). If debris like this is overlooked, imagine the unseen stuff that goes without cleaning and disinfecting. There was ALWAYS minor trash on the carpet outside of our room--small plastic food wrappers, shreds of toilet paper, etc.

The Weird and Disturbing: In the hallway alcove where the door to our suite was, there was one other suite door. On the second day of our stay, we noticed that a bad smell was coming from the vicinity of that door. By the end of the thrid day, the smell was overpowering every time we stopped to unlock our door (but thankfully, the odor did not come into our room). We legitimately started to wonder what on earth was rotting in that room. In the middle of the night, we heard a few shrieks, as if a woman was angry with someone she was talking to. It sounded like furniture was being shoved around. Doors slammed. The next morning, the smell was totally gone. We almost asked the front desk what the heck went on, but figured they probably wouldn't tell us. To be sure the housekeeping staff would have known something was wrong before the...