Anyone ever stay at the Hilton Galveston Island Resort before cruising?

[stephic411]

We are sailing out of Galveston on Jan 9th with Carnival and we are staying at the Hilton Galveston Island Resort the day before. We are only staying 1 day but I was still curious if anyone else has stayed and what it was like. Has anyone used the shuttle they have to the port? Any info you have would be great! Thanks!:)

[firefly333]

If you go to gulf port cruises threads, probably a lot more information. Some of the Crazies stayed at the Hilton, but I think another one, but they share the same shuttle and none had any complaints. I saw that hotel on one of the sites and it looks good.

 

I think you will be happy with your choice. tripadvisor site will have hotel reviews as well. I think Crazies had about 30 or more rooms at the Hilton and 275 onboard, it was a CC sponsered cruise on Conquest last Sept.

[lady_cruiser]

We are leaving on January 10th out of Galveston and will be driving in on the 9th. My sister and I are staying at The Harbor House so we will wave to you from the Pier as you are leaving.

 

This is our first time at The Harbor House but I understand for a small weekly fee you can leave your car there and walk to the cruise port. That depends I guess on how much luggage you have.

 

I am not sure how much it costs a night because my sister is paying for it. It is considered a 1-star hotel :eek: so I am a little leary about staying there since we usually stay in 4-star (Hilton, etc) hotels. But I was told the reason why it is rated so low is that it is a very old, historical building with no swimming pool, laundry service or restaurant on site. I guess I will find out how nice it is when I check in.

[texgen]

We are sailing out of Galveston on Jan 9th with Carnival and we are staying at the Hilton Galveston Island Resort the day before. We are only staying 1 day but I was still curious if anyone else has stayed and what it was like. Has anyone used the shuttle they have to the port? Any info you have would be great! Thanks!:)

 

Hi Steph !

We stayed at the Hilton in September before our cruise and it's a lovely place !! There are plenty of resturants up and down the seawall !! We used the shuttle.....let the bellman at the door know you want on the list. We had to be downstairs with our luggage before 10:30 but be down early because once it fills up...you have to wait for the next one.....one at 10:30 and one at 11:30. You will line up your cars behind the shuttle and once they load the luggage... everyone.... except one driver for each car....... gets on and the shuttle leads a car caravan to the parking lot and picks up the drivers. The parking lot is behind the San Luis Resort !!

Coming back he told us to wait under the red flag for the shuttle......well....it was packed and a very long wait. So we ended up just getting a cab back to the parking lot. So you might just plan on taking a cab back to the parking lot because the wait is really long !!

Hope this helps.

Ginnie

[firefly333]

We are leaving on January 10th out of Galveston and will be driving in on the 9th. My sister and I are staying at The Harbor House so we will wave to you from the Pier as you are leaving.

 

This is our first time at The Harbor House but I understand for a small weekly fee you can leave your car there and walk to the cruise port. That depends I guess on how much luggage you have.

 

I am not sure how much it costs a night because my sister is paying for it. It is considered a 1-star hotel :eek: so I am a little leary about staying there since we usually stay in 4-star (Hilton, etc) hotels. But I was told the reason why it is rated so low is that it is a very old, historical building with no swimming pool, laundry service or restaurant on site. I guess I will find out how nice it is when I check in.

 

I thought Harbor House is 2 star, which means it doesnt have a restaurant on the premisis, doesnt mean its not one of the most special hotels in Galveston. Its very historic, and right next to the port, yes you can walk over.

 

Its a small hotel and most think its very special. Usually they require a minimum of 2 nights to stay there. You should really thank your sister for such a great hotel. Anyone going out of Galveston would give their eyeteeth to stay there, one of the top picks.

 

The harbor cam is from Harbor House where you watch the ships come in ...thats how far the hotel is from the port. The strand is walking distance with all the historic buildings, even though Im sure they had to be renovated because Ike put them underwater. What a great hotel. Id sure stay there. Dont worry, its way better than most of the chains.

[lady_cruiser]

I thought Harbor House is 2 star, which means it doesnt have a restaurant on the premisis, doesnt mean its not one of the most special hotels in Galveston. Its very historic, and right next to the port, yes you can walk over.

 

Its a small hotel and most think its very special. Usually they require a minimum of 2 nights to stay there. You should really thank your sister for such a great hotel. Anyone going out of Galveston would give their eyeteeth to stay there, one of the top picks.

 

The harbor cam is from Harbor House where you watch the ships come in ...thats how far the hotel is from the port. The strand is walking distance with all the historic buildings, even though Im sure they had to be renovated because Ike put them underwater. What a great hotel. Id sure stay there. Dont worry, its way better than most of the chains.

 

Thanks FireFly. Now I feel better about staying at the Habor House. And I liked your answer on the post regarding last minute cruising. Very good and informative information.

[lady_cruiser]

I notice that you have 333 in your user name, does this mean you are only half evil :p.

[stephic411]

thanks guys for the info!:o

[Galveston Cruiser]

The Harbor house and buildng is not an oldproperty. Very upscale with a fabulous Greek restaurant on the 1st floor, Olympia at Pier 21. They are open for lunch and dinner and brunch on Sunday.

Music on Friday and Saturday nights. They have the best view of the entire harbor.

 

Yes, downtown had to be renovated with 14 feet of water going through everything, as did the entire island. Some, like us only had 4-1/2 ft. As you get closer to the seawall, the less flooding.

When the seawall was constructed after the Great Storm of 1900 the island was raised 17 ft. The grade drops on foot every 1200 feet going north to the port side.

[lady_cruiser]

Galveston Cruiser - BOY DID I GET IT WRONG about the Harbor House. Thank you for letting me know the true facts. I read a review, a very bad review, on another website (it might have been Trip Advisor ??) that said the Harbor House was old, with no restaurant on-site, elevators not working BLAH BLAH BLAH. I guess I just assumed :eek: it was old and out-dated. And I just proved what they do say about the word assume is rightbecause I did make an A$$ of myself. HEE HAW!

 

Thanks for the correction.