Islander East Resort — Local services in Galveston

My family and I stayed here for 3 nights in late July 2011, and it was just what we needed. I had read some so-so reviews for this place so I was a little hesitant at first. When we arrived we were greeted by a very friendly and helpful staff. They gave me a mini tour of the facilities and everything looked new, clean and well maintained. When we opened the door to our room (#306) we were pleasantly surprised. We had two separate balconies and it was furnished quite nicely, up to date fixtures, comfortable furniture and granite countertops. I had my two youngest boys 6 and 10 and they were welcomed by the staff and the homeowners of the building. Definitely “kid friendly”. The beach is directly behind the condo, with nothing between you and the water. All the places in town are across a very busy road from the beach. The view is awesome (watched dolphins from our balcony) and it is so very quiet. In town you could never hear the waves over the traffic. The pool was nice and they had vending machines, a washer and dryer, tennis courts, 2 gas grills, shuffle board and outdoor showers. I was able to use the free internet access from my room. The beach is a short walk down a private boardwalk. It is almost like having a private beach. Although it is open to the public there were very few people other than those from the condo. (I don’t think that most people even realize that the beach is accessible to the public). There were 2 weddings on the beach on our last Saturday and that was a testament to how nice it is on their beach. They come through early every morning and clean the beach of all the trash and dried seaweed. My wife and I sat on the beach and drank cocktails and watched our boys have a blast. Unless you are expecting a world class 5 star resort then you will enjoy the Islander East. My family and I will definitely stay...

Great location, terrible hospitality. They have an extremely rude front desk attendee named Howard. We've traveled to we'll over 30 destinations and stayed in multiple owner rental units and have never felt so unwelcomed as this facility. The building itself is ok, but aged. They have very secure parking. However, when you spend significant funds to travel somewhere away from home; you should never be treated as an inferior resident, harassed for small things you aren't aware of, and simply made to feel like you never want to return. Howard has that affect on people; not just us either; we rode the elevator with at least 5 other groups who were belittled by this jerk. We did not experience any feelings like this from any other staff at #Islandereast just Howie. Great benefits is the easy walk across a well kept bridge/walkway to the Gulf and beach, close proximity to downtown, a nice heated pool, beautiful views, and well maintained tennis courts. FYI we were a family traveling with a grandmother, 2 kids 11 & 16, and my wife and I. We live in the Midwest and consider ourselves down to earth middle class Americans. I hope our review helps you make an educated decision on either buying or...

My family has stayed here a few times in the last 3 years. We really enjoy East beach and have had good rooms in the past which is why we kept going back. This last visit 3 days ago was a different experience in room 702. When we checked in we were told that they A/C in the living area had been worked on earlier in the day and the reception was not clear if it was fixed. It was not. When we opened the 2 bedroom place which we payed a lot of money for per night, it was hot! We open the bedroom doors and turned on the fan. This helped somewhat but it is August in Galveston so not what we expected. There were broken lamps and the kitchen table leg was broken, the sliding door from the living room to the balcony was almost impossible to open, among a few other things. We were disappointed to say the least of our planned family weekend and asked for the receptionist to contact the owners of the room to see if they would refund any of the amount but never heard from...