Super 8 by Wyndham South Padre Island — Hotel in South Padre Island

Stayed here 6/2022 Whoever rated this a 5-star hotel is either crazy or lying. As soon as I entered the room I knew I had made a big mistake booking this place.

-They were quick to take my payment, but then had to call 6 different times throughout the day to get someone at the hotel to answer the phone to confirm my reservation. -The room had a terrible moldy kind of smell that hits you like a brick wall every time you enter. -The room was moist and stayed that way. Dry clothes I brought in became soaked overnight and stayed wet the entire time, despite blasting AC constantly. Everything inside the room became damp. Towels would not dry whatsoever inside the room. Sleeping in moist, sticky bed sheets was uncomfortable. -The tap water smelled moldy and gross also. My partner says "I haven't encountered water that smells that bad since being in Eastern Europe in the 90's" -Rust and/or moldy residue was around the shower, the lamp, the kitchen fan. The paint and wood on the bathroom door was completely peeling off due to constant humidity in the room. -Shower water was very slow to warm up, and never got hot. -Curtains would not close entirely, so had to jerry rig it so people couldn't see into our room from outside. -Kitchenette stove "hot" light stayed on permanently even when stove was off (and never used). -The fridge was cold but leaked water and had a constant puddle growing underneath it that needed to be cleaned up. -Hard to find a parking space. The receptionists in the lobby would just park their own cars under the lobby overhang while working, so as to keep an eye on their own cars for break-ins all day. -Trash cans around the property were completely full and overflowing for days on end. -Walkways around the hotel were disgusting and needed power washing badly. Lots of gross-looking "puke" or spill stains all over the walkways. -The "designated smoking area" was right outside our room, right next to the lobby, and is hilariously located about 20 feet from the "100% smoke free environment" sign at the lobby.

Only pros: -Convenience to beach (Neptune). About a 5 minute walk. -Convenience to a view of the bay (1 minute walk). But keep in mind that basically every place at SPI is within 5 minutes walk of both the beach and bay, so that isn't unique to this hotel whatsoever.

I did hours of research comparing hotels and Airbnb's before booking, and thought this place would be a deal at "only" $180/night because the overall ratings looked good and every other decently-rated place was $230/night or more, but it absolutely would have been worth it to pay more for a nicer place. I would definitely not stay here again. Next time I'd pay the extra for an actual beachfront place like Suntide II or even Padre...

Update: I checked out Saturday morning after staying one night but they didn’t actually check me out until Monday morning. They refused to refund the two nights I didn’t stay and Expedia said they couldn’t refund either. The hotel management refuses to call me back and is ignoring emails. STAY AWAY FROM THIS HOTEL.

The location is pretty much the only thing this place has going for it. My wife and I had to switch rooms already because the first one had so many issues. The lamp shades were all rusted and hadn’t been cleaned for who knows how long. One looks like it had mold on it too. The hair dryer was full of lint and was also rusted so it was also rust covered lint. The knobs on the stove didn’t work but I wouldn’t want them to work anyway since the burners were also incredibly rusted. The tub faucet was very hard to turn on and when I pulled the knob on the spout to start the shower the faucet handle started leaking water. It’s not supposed to do that. The microwave was disgusting and most of the electrical outlets were loose. The power button on the coffee maker was coming off and when I turned it on I couldn’t actually turn it off so I had to unplug it. When I did that I damn near pulled the outlet out of the wall because it was not secured properly. Next to that outlet is a light switch that seemingly goes to nothing. There was also a smell in the room causing my wife and I to have headaches. I’d leave the room and my head would stop hurting but when I came back in my head would start hurting again from the smell. Maybe that’s because the AC also hadn’t been cleaned in who knows how long and only had one filter in it. We got moved to another room and I’m waiting to hear back from Expedia as to what I can do about getting a refund and going to another hotel. The room we moved to doesn’t have the smell but it’s not much better. A couple of the lamp shades are also rusted, the coating inside the microwave is flaking off and is rusted (won’t be using that), there’s a hole in the inner lining of the microwave door, there was a roach in the cabinet, in the sink, and inside the mini fridge that barely works too. The girl working the desk was really nice and helpful though. She let me look at the new room before we switched (didn’t see the roaches when I looked at it though before switching). I really just wanted something for the night that didn’t have a smell giving me a a headache and wasn’t an electrical safety hazard. After reading reviews I’m worried about...

This hotel, like pretty much every other hotel I’m familiar with, writes down your drivers license number, license plate number, vehicle description, and issues you a room number when you check in. What makes this hotel different from most others when you check in is that they give you a flimsy piece of paper and tell you to keep it visible inside your windshield. (Be sure to bring your own tape, so it will stay put when you’re driving around with your windows down. Don’t rely on the hotel staff to be helpful or courteous in any way, shape, or form. Lesson learned!)

After spending a few days at this hotel and exploring all South Padre Island has to offer, the last thing on my mind when I returned back to my hotel room at around 10:30 PM on the last night of my stay was that flimsy little piece of paper that I received the day I checked in. When I went to start loading my bags into my truck so I could go home early in the morning, I soon realized my truck was gone! Long story short, this hotel has a “contract” with a very sketchy towing company.(Seems legit, right?) Locals have told me this is some kind of racketeering scam. Based upon my experiences, that seems plausible.

As I was inquiring about the location of my truck, a member of the hotel staff proceeded to belittle me and call me childish names because I forgot to put the flimsy little piece of paper inside my windshield when I returned to the hotel at 10:30 PM. (again, I remind you, the hotel has my license plate number, vehicle description, security cameras, and room number information. They knew I was staying there!) I was very upset, at this point, about facing an unexpected $300 charge for towing, and an untold delay before my 10-hour drive home, but at least I didn’t resort to childish name-calling.

I took an Uber to get my truck in the next town, the people in the sketchy-looking tow yard didn’t speak a word of English! They were very dirty and scroungy-looking, looked like they had been drinking all night, and looked like they hadn’t taken a bath for quite some time. I pointed out to them that that flimsy piece of paper the hotel gave me was visible, it just wasn’t in the windshield because it kept trying to blow out the window while I was driving around, enjoying the salty sea breeze, so I put it on the center console.

Needless to say, after this experience, with the kind of people working at the Super 8 hotel in South Padre Island, I won’t be staying...