South Beach Inn — Hotel in South Padre Island

If you want puddles of brown water leaking from plumbing onto floors, & overpriced moldy rooms, this is the place for you. I stayed here many times thru the years til summer 2015, because it was reasonably priced, clean, had a kitchen, & less than a block from the beach. So even tho prices had VASTLY increased suddenly in 2 years (2015 high season: Queen w/ full kitchen @ $89; 2017 same room/time of year @ $139) I booked again. I was told that the prices had changed because the rooms had been completely remodeled & updated under new ownership. I didn't want to pay $139 so we settled on the King room (not full kitchen) for $119, & was told it was a "special deal." We arrived with the plan to unload our things & get to beach asap. I immediately noticed the smell of mold when I walked in. I told mgmt & suggested that perhaps it was the filter on the wall AC unit. Although it wasn't dirty she washed it. We returned from the beach at 6pm & the odor was as strong as ever. The office was closed. I called the after hours emergency number but it forwarded to the answering machine. (Shouldn't emergency lines be answered at all times)? I ran into people on the property that had been painting the exterior that day, & to whom I'd told about the mold smell when we first checked in. They'd explained that the AC was dripping into the wall & was likely the cause. Upon looking closer, we could see that the vents themselves were black inside. I told them I was highly allergic & would not be able to sleep there, as my lungs would close up & I'd end up in the hospital. They were able to contact the owner, who called me from out of state. She had the mgr call. The mgr returned to the property, upon which she disclosed that she frequently gets sick from the mold at SBI because the king room was next to the ofc, that the rooms get flooded when it rains, & she is constantly having asthma attacks at work. *If she knew this, why is that room still being booked, esp when I noticed it? She put us in another room & said that the floors might be partially wet from the exterior walls being power washed. I said that was fine, so we packed up all of our stuff, moved, & unpacked again. But after she'd left, I found a puddle of brown water on the bathroom floor. I called her back, & she simply told me where the mop was kept on the property if I wanted to address it. Really? I get to mop my own room? Not just the clear puddles from power washing near window & door, but the brown water puddle that kept accumulating in the bath. I looked under the sink to find wet wood below the pipes. The next day we checked out. I called the owner & kindly told her that it wasn't right for me to pay for a room that I couldn't even sleep in, & then one in which I couldn't use the plumbing, & she refused to give me a refund. She said that the people that told me about the mold weren't her employees, but were paint contractors, implying that their take on the mold was therefore invalid. I told her that her mgr had also told me about the mold, but only after we'd already requested another room. She said it was the previous owner's fault for installing the AC incorrectly, that water doesn't drain out, causing mold to grow. So she ADMITTED TO KNOW about the mold. She then blamed her staff, apologizing for their carelessness, but she wouldn't take responsibility for 'their actions' & said I still had to pay!! I still have the texts she sent me if anyone wants proof. Then she tried to turn it around on me like I was just being negative by saying, "Isn't there ANYTHING you enjoyed about your stay?" Our STAY??? Our 'stay' was: unpack, be exposed to health hazard, pack, move, unpack again, AND mop up 2nd health hazard to get to sink, sleep. Luckily we found a modern, clean, beautiful suite ON the beach at the Palms Hotel for only $80! With free coffee & a kitchen (except stove)! They let us check in 4 hours early!! One of their staff had worked at SBI & had quit because of the exact issues we'd...

After all the excellent reviews I saw on this site, I thought “this place must be great.” Now I wonder how many of their “reviews” were bought and paid for. It may just be we had a very rare bad experience, but from the attitude of the management, it seems like this might be the norm. Below, I’ve got our story and an overall pros/cons list so you can make a good informed decision with your money and vacation time. Overall experience – cockroach infestation, broken/dirty bathroom, thin walls with loud neighbors, and management that says “There’s nothing I can do – this is really your fault.”

Upon arrival, we noticed a couple small bugs on the counter. We’re not unreasonable people, we understand it is Texas and it is humid – there will be a few critters. We’re not going to demand a new room because there was a bug. Our third night, however, returning around midnight, we found small cockroaches all over our table, sink, and bathroom, including a larger 2-inch cockroach above the showerhead. One even fell out from our bedside table drawer. I’m not an expert on the technical definition of “cockroach infestation,” but this was enough to pack up and leave immediately.

Upon notifying management we were told “Well, there’s nothing we can do, you really should have said something earlier.” I understand they are a small business, but proceeding to blame the customer for unsanitary living conditions is, in my view, unacceptable. I would be completely willing to pay for the two nights we stayed, but they insisted on charging us the full price for all four nights– when we were being forced to pay for another room in another hotel. Not a good way to run a business, and a wholly unacceptable attitude to have towards others – “It’s your fault.” We will not be returning, and I strongly caution anyone who wishes to stay here in the future.

Cons: Very dirty bathroom (sink grimy with no stopper, bathtub stained with broken faucet and broken shower head, broken window in bathroom, floor stained, dirty) Kitchen unusable/unsanitary (cockroaches crawling out of sink area, clearly rotten under-sink area) Very concerned about food safety, kept all food sealed and stored in fridge (everything, including cereal, bread, chips, etc.) Very worn/dirty beds (headboards sticky for some reason, pillows very thin from overuse) Walls/doors very, very thin (could clearly hear normal conversation volume from neighbors, sneezes, everything) Not too much of a problem until neighbors decided to throw a party until 4AM, which is “absolutely not allowed” according to management)

Pros: Sheets clean, fresh towels every morning, fresh sheets every few days Parking immediately outside room, Pool area very nice, location excellent – less than 1 minute walk to the beach Management very hospitable upon arrival (allowed very...

WARNING: VETERANS DO NOT BOOK THIS HOTEL!

I booked a room on 08/09/2020 to visit the beach for the weekend. In the reservation notes I mentioned to the hotel that I have two service dogs as a courtesy (they are each trained to do different tasks and my husband is also a disabled veteran- we both are). Later that day I received a message from the hotel stating I needed to show her a service dog ID, to which I responded there is not an official service dog registry and she can't legally require me to provide that in accordance with the American with disabilities act. She insisted if I couldn't show her paperwork that she would not accommodate my service dogs and we would have to pay an extra fee per dog, per night. I sited the ADA and told her that was illegal. She then asked me what my disability even was, to which I also responded that's illegal. I informed her of the questions she WAS allowed to ask and provided answers to those questions which included what tasks the dogs are trained to do. After all this, she continued to argue with me and refused to accommodate us. I was forced to cancel the reservation (the same day I had made it). She is now trying to keep $250 of my money, siting the cancellation policy (which was no cancellations allowed). I have tried to dispute it through my bank TWICE but they are saying the hotels cancellation policy protects them. I don't understand how this is okay because what she did was clearly illegal and she discriminated against me, even going as far to ask me what my disability was. I might be wrong, but I feel like the discrimination should override any type of cancellation policy she had. She refused to accommodate us and follow the law.

I have screenshots of the entire conversation on my phone. All messaging was done through the booking.com app on my phone directly with the hotel.

I have consulted with a lawyer (Free for disabled vets- yay!) & filed a discrimination report with the civil rights division of the department of justice. You should have just given me my money back. Shame on you not only discriminating against me but also STEALING money from a...