My Sapphire Luxury Beachfront Rentals — Hotel in South Padre Island

If you want to pay to stay in a prison – this is the place for you If I could post a ZERO rating, I would . I rented a condo at the Sapphire Condominium at South Padre for my family and I to enjoy a much-needed break. I didn’t realize that the owner was going to interrogate me, and the condo had more rules than a prison. As soon as I made the first installment of a very expensive condo in January, the owner contacts me and asks me personal questions about my children. As a parent, I was very wary of this and did not answer these questions. Why would she need to know a little something about my kids – we are renting a condo from her – not going on a date. In February, I emailed the owner back to let her know that I was going to be bringing 2 nieces and 2 nephews as I was taking care of them as their parents were out of town (BTW- this brought the count to 8 and that is what is allowed in the condo). Suddenly, the world exploded. The owner told me I could only bring family. I explained as they are part of my family and in my care, I am not certain what the issue was. She proceeded to tell me that the Condominium only allows birth children. Yes, you read that right. Only children that are LEGALLY mine. So, for all of those out there with blended families, or you take care of your nieces, nephews etc. this hotel is NOT for you. They do not want you there and will make NO exceptions. I know this because I called the front desk and spoke to an employee there and she told me that yes as they are staying me my nieces and nephews were welcome to be with us for our vacation. I was elated. I emailed the owner this wonderful news and she emailed back that she called the office manager and my nieces and nephews were NOT allowed but I could certainly call and speak to Alfonso if I wanted. Of course, I call Alfonso to explain the situation and he absolutely did not care. He also let me know that he believed South Padre was too wild at Spring Break for families and was surprised I was going to be there with my family at this time. I said I don’t know what to do. DO you think the owner will refund my money? He said, it doesn’t hurt to ask and if she won’t, you can always call the credit card company and dispute it. Yes, you read that right as well – the manager of the condo encouraged me to dispute the charge if the owner would not refund my money. I called the owner to ask her if she could refund the money and explain the situation and she of course never returned my call, but she emailed me to let me know there was no way she would refund my money as we had missed the window. After a few more messages with this same tone, I stopped emailing her and realized I had to come up with a new plan. The owner then continued emailing me to ensure I was ONLY bringing myself, my husband and my 2 children to the condo. Safe to say, renting from this owner has been one of the worst experiences of my life. While I view renting through VRBO as a place to conduct business transaction, this owner seems to use is as a place to bully and harass people. If you want to control what the people who rent your place do, you really should pull it off VRBO. And the condo, though right on the beach and had a beautiful pool, did not have the amenities the website promised. There were no umbrellas on the beach as they are only seasonal, and you must pay more for the pool cabanas. I also witnessed an owner of one of the condos being harassed by a maintenance man as he was not wearing his green armband. Lastly, both the owner and the condo touted what a family friendly place this was and that is why they are so cautious with people staying at the condo. The condo is right next door to The Pearl which had numerous spring breakers there, with a DJ playing explicit music at the swim up bar and drinks all over. I would NEVER recommend renting from this owner nor staying at this place. And to top it off, the cable in the condo that we rented would not work for most of the time we stayed there. What a waste of...

PLEASE HELP ME FORWARD TO HELP OTHERS WHO ARE LOOKING TO HAVE A GOOD TIME AT SPI. Do Not Waste Your Money: Horrifying Experience at Sapphire Condominiums, South Padre Island, TX Our stay at Sapphire Condominiums was nothing short of a nightmare. While views may look great online, the reality is far from luxurious & NOT family friendly. We paid $1,835 for a 3-night stay and were treated with complete disrespect and humiliation. We came to relax and celebrate a birthday, especially meaningful after recently losing my father just four weeks ago. Instead, we were met with rude staff, false promises, and a shocking lack of professionalism. At midnight, security followed us to our room and entered without permission to count the number of people inside. They claimed the presence of my 8-month-old grandbaby was a violation and used that to evict us at 12:30 AM, giving us only 20 minutes to vacate the property. It was humiliating, degrading, and deeply unsettling—especially after paying nearly $1,900. To this day, the general manager has not contacted us. All communication has been filtered through a rude receptionist and security guard who treated us with zero empathy. We are hardworking professionals and a respectful family of six who wanted to unwind and celebrate. Instead, we were treated like criminals. Do yourself a favor—stay anywhere else. We’ve stayed in properties like Saida Towers, Margaritaville, Courtyard, Isla Grand, and Sea Breeze. (Unfortunately, this was a last-minute booking, and I couldn't find the availability I needed) But you will experience better service, more convenient amenities, and far more respectful treatment based on my experience. Thank you for taking the time to read my post. Here are other unpleasant issues with the property: • EVICTION IS THEIR MIDDLE NAME; THEY WILL THREATEN & EVICT RIGHT AWAY WITHOUT A WARNING! (20 mins even if you’re all in bed already) • You are being watched 24/7 & particular staff members oversee counting how many people are in your group. • Guests are not allowed to use the gym. (OWNERS ONLY) • The theater has never had a showing. • The game room is nearly empty, with some non-functional machines, a strong, musty odor, and inadequate air conditioning. • PARKING is free for guests; however, please note that the walk is quite a distance. • The outdoor bar is just for show—it’s never open. Instead, workers sit under it watching female guests sunbathe, which made many of us uncomfortable. • My room had stained pillows and an unwashed comforter. • You must take out your trash even though you pay over $120 for the cleaning fee. • If you’re a coffee or adult beverage drinker, good luck or walk to Margaritaville; they have a super-friendly staff and a gorgeous, clean facility with great music, ambiance, and some...

UPDATE: I had the Sapphire respond to my posting after 4 months about the poorly maintained Bungalow that we rented, and asked for me to change my complaint to the Pearl. While we were there I had spoken to the manager for both properties and was told that the Pearl and Sapphire are owned by the same Company, but all all of the Maintenance for Properties is managed by the Pearl. When we went on line to rent the Bungalow, it says Sapphire Bungalow, not Pearl. It's also located on the Sapphire side and all access and amenities are on the Sapphire property. And the checkin is done in the Sapphire lobby with the Sapphire staff. During our stay we never once went to the Pearl. If you go online right now and check out the bungalows for rent they all say Sapphire Bungalows. Our complaint will not be changed and stands as follows:

We arrived on Friday May 8th and check out on Monday the 11th. Had to return to the front desk because they didn't give us the code to get into the garage or the key to the front door. The front door was inoperable. We contacted the front front desk staff and they didn't know what to do so they redirected us to the Pearl front desk. They finally sent someone over that said they had fixed it, but we later tried it and it didn't work again. They finally said that they needed to order a part. We had to leave the front door unlocked the entire time so that we could access it. The patio around the HotTub had weeds about a foot tall and trash all over it. I called the Manager of the Pearl twice on Friday evening and twice on Saturday, each time they said that they'd send someone to take care of it. When we left on Monday the weeds and trash were still there, never touched by staff. The bunk beds were loose and wobbly and had to be re-secured. The A/C was not working for the first 2 days. They said it was a broken water pipe which they had guys working on the first day until they got off work and they didn't start working on it again until the next day. It seems that they would have had the repair people work around the clock to ensure that their tenants were taken care of, but of course they didn't. The bungalow was 85 degrees inside with the doors open and fans blowing. Furniture on all three decks were dirty. I reported this once, but it was never taken care of either. Over all, very poor service and very dirty place. We have gone to this place in the years past and we returned because of how well it was taken care of....