Surf Motel

Stay away from this place. The only thing that they have going for them is that they are on the beach. My husband, son, and I checked in Monday July 2 knowing that the motel was old so were not expecting a fancy place, just a clean secure room. Well lt was absolutely awful to say the very least. The door lock was broken, the telephone had some kind of brown liquid leaking from it. There was a thick layer of grime on the bedside table and the kitchen was filthy, it looked like it had not been cleaned in quite some time. I walked into the bathroom and that had a thick layer of dust and grime as well. The shower stall appeared to have been painted several times with pain flaking and pealing off. As I was walking out of the bathroom, I noticed a painting that had several small dead bugs on it. My husband also pulled back the bed sheets on both queen sized beds only to find what looked like dark brown stains on the mattresses. They had put a mattress pad and foam cover over this disgusting thing. When I went to get the young lady behind the check in desk to show her the horrible state of our room she showed no emotion and did not apologize at all. She offered to switch our room, so with my stomach very queasy I agreed to look at another room. After looking at two more that almost as disgusting I said no and got a full refund to move onto another hotel. This all right before the 4th of July.

Unique Quality: The pool was dirty, not just from the sand from the beach and the bar was falling apart.

Budget accommodations. We're an "older" couple visiting SPI during off season Oct. 26 & 27. Call Mike the manager before you go to check on island activities during your stay (you may or may not want to be there during bikers weekend for example), he's very nice and helpful. The Bar & Grille were closed (no problemo), and it was quiet (what we wanted). Pets are allowed along with grilling on the wooden deck = potential for problems but not our experience. Walk down the back steps and you're RIGHT ON THE BEACH.

Room had a very strong musty/moldy smell and the a/c couldn't handle the humidity, other than that the room was amazingly adequate. Tile floors (no carpet was probably a good decision) for sand clean up.

I'd recommend the motel with the above reservations. Please don't go expecting the Hyatt.

Unique Quality: RIGHT ON THE BEACH! Gulf side of the Island. We visited SPI to walk the beach at sunrise & didn't have to drive or walk a boardwalk to get there - I'm not sure how many hotel/motel/condo locations can say the same at even double or triple the price. It's right there - on the beach! Bar, grille, and pool were all closed for the season which was okay since I brought cold beer and enjoyed it on the bar's deck where I couldn't if it was open. Room rates were adjusted accordingly. Almost straight across the island (the short way) is Amberjack's Restaurant and Tequila Sunset bar, either very nice for watching the sunset over Laguna Madre Bay.

Directions: Lower 1/4 of island. Vy convenient. Off 100, turn L on Padre Blvd. Turn R at light on Amberjack. You'll see the motel from the next stopsign on Gulf Blvd. Get a map at SPI Visitor's Ctr., 600 Padre Blvd.