Castle Hotel — Hotel in Saint Pete Beach

Several months ago, we made a reservation at the Castle Hotel in Pass-a-grille, near St Pete Beach Florida. We had friends renting a house with their family and essentially were looking for a place to shower and sleep. I saw the reviews for this hotel and it sounded like this would be a perfect spot. A few blocks from where our friends were and the price was right. I called and left a message with no response twice. On the third try, I reached the owner Robert. We had a great conversation, I explained our need for a room on the first floor(there was no elevator) with a king size bed or 2 beds due to medical reasons and he advised he had just the room we needed. We provided a credit card number and counted the days for our trip. ||We arrived about 5PM to the hotel. We expected an older place so were not really surprised on how old the building actually is. The soft and squeaky floors in the entry and up the stairs seemed charming although the area was warm with no central AC. There was no one at the front desk so we rang a bell on the desk and a manager arrived. He directed us to parking on the street, provided a permit for the car window and advised that after 9AM on the weekend it would be hard to get a spot if we moved our car. He then showed us to our room. It was on the 2nd floor and the one bed in the room looked small, but we had dinner plans and just wanted to drop our things to go out again. Nothing was said to us at the time about the change in room type and I did not have anything in writing about our request for king or a room with 2 beds on the 1st floor so thought my memory was off and this is the room I requested. You live and learn. ||Upon our return later that evening, we prepared for bed. There is no TV, phone or even a box of tissues in the room. The light in the bathroom was out making it difficult to take care of our evening routine plus the bathroom is tiny. Towels were left on top of the toilet tank. On the plus side, there was a cold mini fridge. Anyway, we still were looking at the bed thinking that it was too small and of course it was. Not a king but a queen. Not only was it small, but the mattress was awful. Needless to say we did not have a good night of sleep. Not sure which was worse, the bed or the noisy wall AC that blasted in the room all night to keep the room cool. ||The following morning we had early plans so left without speaking to anyone about the room. I called and left a message with no response. We returned to the hotel later in the morning and the manager from the day before was there. We advised that the bathroom light was out and asked why we were in a queen room on the 2nd floor when we reserved a king or twin beds on the first floor. He stated "we have not had a king room available for months" My response to that was that we had reserved a king many months ago. I was getting upset and he asked if I wanted to speak to the owner which of course I requested. Still there was no explanation for the room change. The owner arrived and I attempted to ask why we were not in the room we had reserved. He did not even give me a chance, he immediately told me it was the only room he had available and if we did not like it we could leave. I persisted in asking for an explanation(and yes, I had an attitude about it), he became more agitated and blurted out that it was the only room he had as the CEILING HAD COME DOWN in the room reserved for us the day prior to our arrival. I asked why no one called to let us know the day before and why we were not told at check in so we could have adjusted our plans. He admitted he should have called but stated that he was caring for an ill relative and spent that night at the hospital. This still did not explain why we were not told at check in. He then told us to leave, it was no longer an option and that he would refund our money for the night. So here we are in a busy resort area with no reservation. ||To end a very long story, my suggestion is to choose another hotel. We could have been under that fallen ceiling!! ||We did end up enjoying the rest of our trip at an...

Several months ago, we made a reservation at the Castle Hotel in Pass-a-grille, near St Pete Beach Florida. I saw the reviews for this hotel and it sounded like this would be a perfect spot. Had a great conversation with the owner Robert. We had a great conversation, I explained our need for a room on the first floor with a king size bed or 2 beds due to medical reasons. He confirmed he had just the room we needed. . We arrived about 5PM to the hotel. We expected an older place so were not really surprised on how old the building actually is. The soft and squeaky floors in the entry and up the stairs seemed charming although the area was warm with no central AC. There was no one at the front desk so we rang a bell on the desk and a manager arrived. He directed us to parking on the street, provided a permit for the car window and advised that after 9AM on the weekend it would be hard to get a spot if we moved our car. He then showed us to our room. It was on the 2nd floor and the one bed in the room looked small, but we had dinner plans and just wanted to drop our things to go out again. Nothing was said to us at the time about the change in room type and I did not have anything in writing about our request for king or a room with 2 beds on the 1st floor so thought my memory was off and this is the room I requested. You live and learn. Upon our return later that evening, we prepared for bed. There is no TV, phone or even a box of tissues in the room. The light in the bathroom was out making it difficult to take care of our evening routine plus the bathroom is tiny. Towels were left on top of the toilet tank. On the plus side, there was a cold mini fridge. Anyway, we still were looking at the bed thinking that it was too small and of course it was. Not a king but a queen. Not only was it small, but the mattress was awful. Needless to say we did not have a good night of sleep. Not sure which was worse, the bed or the noisy wall AC that blasted in the room all night to keep the room cool. The following morning we had early plans so left without speaking to anyone about the room. I called and left a message with no response. We returned to the hotel later in the morning and the manager from the day before was there. We advised that the bathroom light was out and asked why we were in a queen room on the 2nd floor when we reserved a king or twin beds on the first floor. He stated "we have not had a king room available for months" My response to that was that we had reserved a king many months ago. I was getting upset and he asked if I wanted to speak to the owner which of course I requested. Still there was no explanation for the room change. The owner arrived and I attempted to ask why we were not in the room we had reserved. He did not even give me a chance, he immediately told me it was the only room he had available and if we did not like it we could leave. I persisted in asking for an explanation(and yes, I had an attitude about it), he became more agitated and blurted out that it was the only room he had as the CEILING HAD COME DOWN in the room reserved for us the day prior to our arrival. I asked why no one called to let us know the day before and why we were not told at check in so we could have adjusted our plans. He admitted he should have called but stated that he was caring for an ill relative and spent that night at the hospital. This still did not explain why we were not told at check in. He then told us to leave, it was no longer an option and that he would refund our money for the night. So here we are in a busy resort area with no reservation. To end a very long story, my suggestion is to choose another hotel. We could have been under that fallen ceiling!! We did end up enjoying the rest of our trip at an...

We first heard of The Castle Hotel during our last visit from one of the bartenders at Hurricane so we decided we’d check it out one day. Well that was in September 2018 and we decided on a last-minute trip to stay here for the last weekend of March 2019. First off, Bob, the owner is such a nice guy. Genuinely warm and friendly, not cold or rehearsed like some folks one might encounter at large, high-priced hotels. He was more like that uncle you really liked as a kid. He shared a couple of stories with us about some of the paintings along the staircase, to include his mother, a former Miss America. Too cool! Now, I will say that if you’re really into luxurious, modern, hip places, don’t stay here. However, if you’re into historical, old, eclectic comfy places with really old furniture and fixtures tied with a room that has no microwave or TV, then this is it! Oh, and did I mention that the hotel is allegedly haunted? Yes, haunted! We stayed in room 13 and I will admit, we heard creaking footsteps above the room (I assume the attic since the entry to get up there is blocked off) during our stay but it wasn’t threatening… More like someone’s spirit just walking. The story in the link below speaks on who the ‘guest(s)’ may actually be. Wicked awesome! The room was nice. It had everything we needed and nothing we didn’t (although my wife did wish there was a coffee maker). Old wood floors, distressed antique furniture, mini-fridge, clean bathroom and a very comfortable bed. Like I said before, no TV and no microwave which was perfect for unplugging for a weekend. I think what struck me as odd is the size of the building from the outside, versus the size from inside. It looked really small outside but once you hit the top of the steps to the upstairs hall, it suddenly appeared to be the size of the hall where those creepy little girls from ‘The Shining’ were standing in. It just seemed so long and it seemed like it got longer with every step. I guess the punchline for us is that we really, really enjoyed our stay here. It’s in a super-quiet area and it situated near the end of Pass-A-Grill but still offered the beach across the street and a short walk to shops and restaurants so you don’t even need a car; but if you do, you can always use the free taxi service that’s available, while at the same time allowing the free taxi drivers to learn that this hotel exists (we had 2 different drivers that had no idea the Castle Hotel was there!) We had an awesome time and can’t wait to get back...