Courtyard Galveston Island

Had a great time here during spring break week with the family. Surprisingly we were able to book a few rooms here last minute. Great location across the street from the beach and best of all not in the hustle and bustle area of the seawall. The hotel itself I believe is fairly new, it was very clean, excellent pool plus it was heated, friendly staff. Starbucks on site. I will definitely return here in the future.

In the middle of January, My wife and I started planning some time away for the middle of March. We were going to spend 3 nights in Galveston so I was checking the Marriott properties along the beach. The Courtyard was listed as a «Waterfront» property but when I went to book the room there was no indication as to whether it was an ocean view or not. After looking at the listing for a while, I engaged the chat feature and Ethyl Joy ask how she could help. I ask her how to tell which of the rooms were ocean view. She responded that none of the rooms were ocean view. I responded that since it was a waterfront property that I found it strange that none of the rooms had an ocean view. Ethyl Joy responded that they only had «Gulf» views. Me (rolling eyes) let me rephrase my question, which of the rooms have gulf views, Ethyl Joy, «All of them» Well, that made it easy. I booked the room.
(I looked at the reservation page tonight and the rooms are now listed as pool view and OCEAN view. Maybe Ethyl joy suggested they change that?)
Fast forward 2 months. We arrive Monday afternoon and are prechecked so we stopped at desk for key. As I was walking off the wife ask, «this is a king with a gulf view?» Uh no, came the response. It is a king but it is a pool view. I froze. I explained that we had booked an ocean view, went thru the whole Ethyl Joy thing. He apologized but said they were full and no changes could be made. Me and the very upset wife made our way to room. Room is small and pool view is a stretch. (and there was a big crack in the ceiling and the room was on 2^nd floor of the 4 and we had requested top floor and there were kids that stomped around all night and I tripped every time I went out on patio because of poor design and the air conditioner smelled moldy and these are all the little things I would have left out if they would have just done the right thing and taken care of us) After calmly discussing the matter we went back down and ask for a manager. Lia came over and validated that she too was sorry but could do nothing more than to offer us a free breakfast. Wow. She did say if we did not want the room that we could walk without being penalized. (it is spring break and they can sell the room for much more than we booked it for and there are no other rooms around).
So that is my story. Marriott failed big time. I would have thought that comping one night would have been a standard offer. I’ve had Marriotts and other brands not charge a night’s stay over far less than that. I’ve moved my Hilton rewards card to the front of my wallet. I realize that won’t break Marriott, but it will cost them far more than the one nights charge.

Nice room with a nice view for a relaxing weekend with the one you love. What more could you ask for? Parking garage entrance on south side with plenty of parking close to the elevator. Hardworking staff from front desk to room maids. We’ll be back.

The hotel was nice and the staff was friendly. The shuttle was out of operation the first night we were there, but back up the rest of the time. Lloyd, the shuttle driver was very friendly and knew about the area. He was quick to pick us up and give us pointers. The room was clean and the décor was also very nice in the room. I expected a bar in the hotel, but got a small café/​starbucks/​bar area in the middle of the lobby that was a bit overpriced. The poolside bar doesn’t open till noon either, so don’t plan on any mimosas by the pool. The pool itself was very nice and the little fire pit was a nice touch as well. The biggest downside to this hotel is that it is the farthest on the strip so you either have to take the shuttle or drive to get to the main area with restaurants and attractions or to find any sand to play in.

The ABSOLUTE best hotel! What makes a fantastic experience? A combination of AWESOME service, great people, beautiful views, nice room and of course, a cozy bed dressed in clean, crisp white linens. Before I continue to tell you about the wonderful people at this hotel, let me just mention that a hotel has to be extremely confident to have ALL white linen.
Came to this hotel last minute after booking at another hotel on the island and being extremely disappointed. Cody, who checked us in, and quickly became a friend, was AMAZING! He was so helpful and friendly and genuine and never once did he become impatient or annoyed. He did everything with a smile and a welcoming demeanor.
We decided not to drive so the complimentary shuttle was a great addition. Well, we were in for a pleasant surprise with the expected service. Bill, who was our driver for 2 of the 3 days we were there was the most down to earth and free spirited person I have met in a long time. It was a pleasure to ride with him, to take his suggestions on things to do and places to eat and it was our ultimate pleasure to attend his church on Sunday.
This place became a home to us and I can’t wait to plan my next trip. See you soon Courtyard!

Came here for a seminar, so this is for the conference room and staff only.
When I got ready to head down here for the seminar I realized I had no clue where this place was. I assumed it was in the middle of all the other hotels on the seawall but I was wrong. It’s further down away from all the touristy stuff (as many have mentioned) and that was kinda nice. It’s still close enough to restaurants and fun stuff.
The parking was great, plenty of close parking right up front; I didn’t even see the parking garage until we left for lunch, but I didn’t need it.
It advertises a restaurant but all I saw was the «Bistro» which is basically a mini Starbucks in the lobby that serves sandwiches and breakfast, and yes, of course, coffee. But again, it’s close enough to food that you won’t starve, plus they have a fresh food and snack section where they have fruit, and drinks and snacks as well.
The people are super friendly, and I loved that they had huge containers of cucumber water all around, and not just the jugs of water at the tables, which I always seem to knock over, since I am a total klutz.
I would definitely think about staying here if needed a place to stay in Galveston, although I did experience the lack of wifi someone else mentioned. I couldn’t get internet or cell service in the conference room which was a little irritating.

Newer Courtyard so it’s got the current look and feel of this Marriott property. Towards the south side of the island and action so not quite jammed with traffic like it is towards San Luis Resort. But nice to have a Marriott option other than Springhill Suites on the island for those of us Rewards members can take advantage of.

The only good thing about this place was the breakfast. We stayed in room 420. Both queen beds were extremely firm/​hard and we woke up sore each morning.
I tried to phone the manager to comment on the hard beds and even left a message to call me back. He has ignored and disregarded my calls. I am a Gold member too! Very, very unprofessional management.
I will not be returning to that location!

One of my favorite places to stay as long as I get a room facing the ocean. The beds are great, location is perfect and overall the hotel is clean. I’ve stayed multiple times and had a few service issues but they fixed it promptly. The rooms are affordable and a very good size.

Awesome hotel! Staying here for three nights for a conference at the hotel. Staff is very friendly and helpful!
Room is very clean and the view of the ocean from the second floor is very nice. The room feels a tiny bit small but it is probably because there is a couch, desk, and table. The hotel offers free ice water in the lobby and has a nice pool area. The lobby area has plenty of comfortable seats and offers lots of natural light during the day.
Paul Mitchell bath products were a pleasant surprise.
Overall a great hotel experience and I would definitely stay here again!

Decent hotel. Paid for a gulf view, got a view of the back area completely opposite the water, which looked pretty damn awful/​trashy. However, the room was nice and the workers were nice and attentive. Would have liked the view, but for one night, it’s not that big of a deal.

We stayed her for two nights in mid December.
Overall, the hotel is very nice. The staff was friendly, the lobby and rooms were clean. Modern and updated designs.
Room is a lil small — but has everything that we needed and turns out that we weren’t in our room that much anyways. The lights were in kinda weird places and there weren’t too many of them, so nice for the ambiance, but not great if you want a bit more light. Totally random, but our phone didn’t work so we had to contact the front desk through our cell phones — minor inconvenience. We called for some additional towels and coffee and they were promptly brought up.
Happy to see that there was a fridge in our room — BUT no microwave. They also provide a small coffee maker with some coffee and teas. They offer a «pantry» downstairs that you can shop from — but I’d recommend going out to eat or getting a few groceries or snacks.
Comfy bed, free wifi (which so many of us expect, but surprisingly may hotels still charge for this), and a nice television. Decent bathroom.
Our room overlooked the beach and we couldn’t have asked for a better view — we sipped coffee/​tea and enjoyed the sunrise from our room (it was way too cold and windy to do so outside).
We ended up parking in the front lot by the lobby entrance, but they do have an underground parking garage.
I’d stay here again — its comfortable and has a decent location and budget friendly.

On Wednesday October 15, 2014 I called the Courtyard to make a one night reservation for the night of Thursday October 16, 2014. While making the reservation over the phone the employee told me that I had enough Marriott rewards points for a free night’s stay. I made the reservation for the free night’s stay and started off the next day for my quick overnight beach getaway. I got to Galveston around 11am and wasted a few hours sitting on the beach (since check in at the Courtyard is at 3pm). Around 1:30pm (while sitting on the beach) I decided to call the Courtyard to see if they had a room clean so I could check into my room, take a quick shower and get some food. However, when I called the front desk I was informed that the employee who took my reservation «must have been confused» because my 14,000 accumulated rewards points were not sufficient to get a free nights stay (30,000 points are needed for that). Therefore I would have to pay for the room. I was furious! I had been completely, 100% lied to… I felt like it was a bait and switch. What if I had come in from a city or state far from Galveston and everything else had been booked up??? I would have been forced to pay for a room that was supposed to be free!!! Since I only live an hour from Galveston and could drive back home if all the decent hotels were booked, I told them to cancel my reservation, don’t even try to charge me a cancellation fee, and that they could forget about Marriott ever getting my business again! Then I asked to speak to a manager but since she «wasn’t in at the moment» (yeah right) I had to leave a message. It has been weeks later and I have yet to receive a call back from her. I guess she couldn’t care less.
While sitting on the beach I had to scramble and find an available hotel room or drive back home. Luckily the Holiday Inn On the Beach had an opening. So I did end up enjoying my little vacation… No thanks to Courtyard and their lying, cheating ways!

We’re a family of five that just stayed in this hotel for one night. The room had a double queen bed and a sleeper sofa, which was perfect for us! We had a fridge, with no microwave. The only problem was the AC unit was SO LOUD. It woke me up several times in the night sounding like pounding rain and wind. They have a gorgeous pool with changing colorful lights and a waterfall with a little cave under it. The only problem were the extreme amount of misquotes. They would swarm you the moment you stepped out of the water, or even if you have your head out of the water for a few seconds! I even inhaled one. The hotel really, really needs to spray. Overall, it was a good experience.

Very nice hotel.
Located south of all the major attractions.
The staff was very friendly and kept a very clean hotel. Was not disappointed at all with the service.
Rooms are a little small but still nice.
The only downside is the beach in front of the hotel. Large rocks, no sand (see picture). You have to travel north of 61^st Street to find sand to sit on.
They do have a nice pool with waterfall and pool side bar ;o)
Overall good experience.
Almost forgot. All the beaches are covered with a brown seaweed, which they remove in the morning. The seaweed thing is unusual for the area (according to the locals).

Stayed here on a Thursday and reserved a double bed room. We were able to get a great rate through the Marriott website by being AAA members. I think our base rate was $ 89, which seemed dirt cheap considering the location.
The hotel is super easy to find and thankfully was away from the busy ‘touristy’ area. There are a few entertainment options nearby, though no crosswalks to get over to the beach. We were able to easily find parking at all times and were pleased that there was no extra cost.
Our room was on the top floor and overlooked the pool, as well as the neighboring condo’s pool. Both looked wonderful on a hot day. Our beds were exceptionally comfortable and we loved the picture of the boardwalk above them. The bathroom was also very modern and upscale.
Overall I wouldn’t hesitate to return or recommend this hotel. My only minor complaint was the lack of wifi. We couldn’t get any sort of service in our room and my phone wouldn’t even pick up a server option. There was no specification as to whether this was just available in the lobby or not.

Great for couples. I booked the king bed ocean front room. Also comes with a couch. The best deal ever, not too expensive!

As a sliver elite member of Marriott you are given an upgrade when you check into one of their properties, not here. We paid $ 50 for an upgrade, because the $ 152 Ocean View room was on the 1^st floor facing the parking lot. The staff allowed us to check in early by 1 hour. Wish we had gotten this room on Groupon or Living Social, a discount will no doubt occur in the future months.
Booked 3 weeks prior, far west end of island, no beach, but they offer a shuttle to the Strand and seawall, and a good tip is better than looking for a place to park our car, only reason this place gets 4 stars.
The Bistro, their version of a flash restaurant has coffee, not so great pastries, sandwiches, but closes at 10:00 p.m. for $ 2.31 you can buy a bag of M&M candies in their self serve corner. No free breakfast, happy hour, but pleasant surrounding with booths, no microwave in the room, but a fridge is wedged into a wall where the teeny coffee maker rests.
Allow 35 – 40 minutes with the shuttle, according to the driver they have already left someone at the cruise terminal for almost a 2 hour wait because the front desk failed to tell the shuttle driver there were patrons waiting, taxis do run on the Island.
Property is relatively new. The bathroom floor appeared not to have been mopped, large dirty footprints on the floor, modular furniture is crammed in the box of a room, approximately 12 inches from the side of the bed to the wall so let the skinny person maneuver that side of the bed. Bed comfy, but it’s new.
Highly allergic to formaldehyde and the room was swimming in it, not only does this chemical cause cancer, it makes your noise drip, drip, drip, like the leaking ceiling. Oh forgot about the balcony, no view. The little sofa was already covered in stains of the what kind?
The upgraded 4^th floor room had a large leak painted over without kilz or matching paint, I’m not an engineer but if you build a flat roof and don’t allow for drainage, the ceiling leaks and if the AC is struggling, it leaks. Note the photo.
Loved waking up to rain and thunder but not the drip, drip, drip from the ceiling. Front desk aware they had a problem when I called, I wanted to sleep past 7, an employee came up with a Styrofoam cooler to catch the water, no apology given, I inquired what about the constant drip, he then came back and threw a towel into the cooler. Room should have been comped, I did ask for that, received a $ 75 credit on check out.
Mosquitoes in the parking garage will carry you away, the property could do something about this organically. Tall people swat at the mosquitoes in the elevator with their arms and/​or luggage.
Pool was a nice area, they do provide towels, no life guard, no wait staff, there are cabanas for a fee, and a snack area, one appetizer and one beer, $ 20.00. Took about 30 minutes for the potato skins to cook. Saw no security the entire time we stayed here, that could pose a problem.

Beautiful hotel less than 10 minute drive to Moody Gardens & Schlitterbahn. Parking is free at both places, which makes it perfect.
Only downside is that the parking garage is full of mosquitos. Our 4 year old had 10+ mosquito bites before we even knew what was happening, stressful experience waiting for the elevator and trying not to get bit. There is swamp lands in the back of the hotel, so I’m sure mosquitos are hard to control. Park in front of hotel on top level to avoid them.

Not sure exactly when this place opened, but I assume it’s fairly new to the Galveston area. My girlfriend and I went for a one-​night stay and were floored by how pristine and modern everything was. This is a great hotel with a hospitable staff. Here’s a brief pros and cons list:
Cons:
It is located at the end of the Seawall (West side) so you are far from most of the nightlife as well as the Strand (about 15 miles); It is also adjacent to a cattle ranch
Pros:
Great room and comfy beds
Pool area was beautiful
Friendly staff
Directly across from the beach
Overall, this is a phenomenal value for your money. I recommend this for couples.