Bahia Mar Suites - North Padre Island, Corpus Christi

The staff are very nice at all times; the couple that live on-site even offered us home-cooked tortillas! The rooms are gorgeous, with marble countertops and dark cherry wood everywhere. The hotel is in a very convenient location, just 15 minutes from downtown Corpus Christi, a couple miles from Mustang Island State Park and only a short walk across the street to the beautiful beach! We will definitely stay here gain!

Rooms are OLD and musty. Everything in the place is overpriced but they are still pretty much the only game in town. Lucky for them or nobody would go to this place. Restaurant is horrible, there are so many little ones in the pool without proper diapering that it concerns me. If you are looking for a place like this I would suggest looking in Port A or S. Padre Island. There are a few nice condo corporations on North Padre that might work.

Hotel is pretty outdated, rooms are clean - what you would expect from an older hotel that has people running all over in wet swimsuits and covered in sand. Staff was pleasant, helpful, service overall was good, but not exceptional. This is NOT a resort if you are expecting the kind of resort you see in the Caribbean or Mexico! If you want to bring your family someplace within a day's drive to stay on the beach without the hassle of driving to the beach once you get there, if you want an on-site restaurant, pool and bar, then this is the place. If you are looking for a luxury resort, go to Cancun or Cabo. We stayed during the week so it was pretty low key and quiet. I heard from a few regular visitors that it can get pretty loud on the weekends! The pools are nice to have when you are tired of the waves. The restaurant is so-so but edible and not terribly over-priced. Corpus and Padre in general has very few nice restaurants. We ate at Snoopys nearby and the food was fresh, tasty and affordable - although fried. We were told by a local friend there is a nice sushi place on SPID just around the corner from the hotel but didn't get to try it. The building itself needs a bit of an overhaul (AC vents in common areas leak condensation - this happens in a lot of buildings in that area) - but for a place to take the kids to play the beach for a couple of days this was reasonable, fun and affordable. We'll go back.

The service at this hotel is dismal. Rude and argumentative staff, and basic guest services (housekeeping in particular) were severely lacking. Our family of three stayed in the hotel for four nights. After the second night, our room had not been touched by anyone in housekeeping. The beds were left unmade, the trashcans were overflowing, and the one very tiny bar of soap and one miniscule bottle of shampoo were almost depleted. We called the front desk and asked the clerk to please send someone from housekeeping to our room to tidy up and replenish supplies. The teenage front desk person then proceeded to ARGUE with us instead of simply stating that she would take care of the request. Someone from housekeeping eventually stopped by our room that evening when we left for dinner, however, they did a very sloppy job, and didn't even glance at the bathroom. We were completely out of toilet paper and facial tissue in our bathroom on the third morning of our stay, so we called the front desk again and asked them to please send someone from housekeeping to our room to replenish supplies (we were now out of everything -- soap, shampoo, toilet paper, and facial tissues). The entire hotel appeared shabby and unkempt. The elevators were a nightmare (tiny and slow), and the lobby was a soggy mess. Our guest room was small and none too clean, and the bathroom was an absolute nightmare consisting of a bizarre kindergarten sized toilet (the toilet was so low that the bowl was literally sitting directly on the floor); a countertop that was strangely mounted at a lofty height that was uncomfortable and impractical for use by anyone; and the bathroom sink was positioned so far away from the edge of the too-high countertop that it was almost impossible to use. The shower in our room never seemed to work properly (note: the hot/cold water controls were installed backwards, but we quickly figured that out) . . . it took a lot of coaxing and fiddling with the shower faucet to produce barely a dribble of water. We were very disappointed with this hotel (definitely not a "resort" by any stretch of the imagination). I would not recommend this place to anyone!

My complements to the photographer whose portrayal of the "resort" on Holiday Inn's website is nothing short of miraculous. How he made those two tiny pools appear so big is amazing. If the windows in our room had been clean enough to see through, the view would have been spectacular. The two elevators there were VERY slow and hardly big enough for a luggage cart. No free breakfast is a definite minus. The hotel's only redeeming quality is its access to the beach. That is worth the extra money charged for an otherwise mediocre hotel.

This is a party hotel... we love it. It is on the beach...has a nice pool and hot tub and an outside bar. It is a pirates dream... hot, musty, and sandy. There is live music every weekend outside by the pool... wow- music, water, beer, and a hot tub.oh did I mention Beer?.. nice. We use this place every year for our reunions. The rooms are Ok, but we are drunk at bedtime anyway, and we are prior Marines and anything besides a tent is an upgrade. A good point is you can be at the beach and then walk right to the pool/bar area and have a ball. We have been using this place for years and love it, but I must warn you if you are looking for a four star hotel on the beach this is NOT the place.... but if you are looking to have a good time then this IS the place. The BIG downside to this hotel is the price... WOW way over priced for what you get.... but again we're Marines... so this is a Resort. Semper Fi...... we'll see in July........

We read all the reviews and had some concerns regarding the negative comments. But we wanted a hotel at the beach, and this was the only one in the area. We were pleasantly surprised. Just driving up was an experience - the bright colors of the outside, the dunes, the water, the waves. The staff were extremely pleasant throughout the six days we were there. We arrived on a Saturday, and the place was completely booked with one-night guests. The front desk staff got us checked in (we had reservations) and in no time we were in our room. The housekeeping staff were very nice and friendly, and did a great job getting the room ready. Not just cleaning up, but adding a little touch; with a goodie basket halfway through our stay, the way the beds were turned down, etc. Any request was taken care of promptly, and then followed up with a phone call. We had an ocean view room with balcony. Great view, good size room with large windows on the side even (facing east). While the ocean view rooms cost a little more, we found it absolutely worth the extra money. We sit on the balcony for breakfast, and relax there in the afternoons and before bedtime. The beach is just a few feet away across a pedestrian promenade. The pools were clean, and the warm pool was just right after coming back from the beach. We have two boys under ten, and the beach and waves were great. It was a blessing not to have to drive to get to the ocean. The hotel provides plenty of towels one can take to the beach and pools. Some observations regarding the negative comments: The musty smell in the hallways was there; but since many people come in with swim suits dripping on the hallways, it's not a surprise. It wasn't a musty basement-type odor, just a dampness. The room did not smell at all. The lobby had several dehumidifiers that kept it very dry and not smelly. We arrived on a Saturday, and a band started playing in the cabana at six p.m. That's not quite what a family resort should have; but we expected it from the hotel Internet info, and we headed in for dinner. However, in the summer a band plays every night, and I would not stay there during the main season. We had dinner in the restaurant the first night. The waiter was friendly, but the food was so-so; just about what we expected. But then again, we didn't pick the Sunspree for the food. I can definitely recommend the hotel, at least for the off-season when we were there. We had the beach almost to ourselves. The staff were great. Water temperature was still 80 to 81 degrees, and the sun was still hot. Just the right temperatures for a family from Michigan!

I really wish my family and I had read all the reviews about the broken elevator, mold and mildew, small rooms, and unfriendly service BEFORE we spent two nights here! I took pictures of all the black mold in the bathroom before demanding a new room. The new room did not have a TV that worked. The overall experience of our stay was terrible. We ended up staying at a Hampton Inn a few blocks away that was clean, friendly and new although not right on the beach (which was covered with seaweed anyway). I am fairly shocked this place has any positive ratings at all!

We had a great time!!! I absolutely recommend staying here. It is right on the beach! The staff was extremely helpful and nice. There are not many places to eat nearby, but other than that we had a wonderful time and will go back again.

We were at this hotel this past weekend, 8-3-08, and found it to be very plesent. So, just a few tips. 1) if you are expecting a "resort" this is not for you, nor is the texas gulf coast. 2) if you are expecting a 5 star expirence for this price, you will be dis-satisfied So, we found that the rooms did not smell musty, and that it has in fact been recently updated, granite in the bathroom, large tub/shower combo with a nice tile surround. The linens were like any other holiday inn, not great but predictable and clean. The bed was comfortable, the pillows seemed new. The carpet was clean, and the overall apprence of the room in my opinion exceeded my expectations for a hotel right on the beach. Yes, there are kids in the lobby in dripping wet suits, when I read that review I knew this was the one for us, with three kids, 2 big nice pools, and a beach right behind, I knew we would be dripping we in the lobby as well, and we were not uncomfortable doing so. Live music playing by the pool all weekend gave the feel of a beach party atmosphere which I don't like, but it wasn't too much that I disliked it. The kids thought they were really at a party, and that was fun. With the pool open until 12a, it gives you something to do with the kids to help them sleep late in the am. Great location, no the beach is not free of seaweed, but that is the texas gulf coast for you. So, I won't say the beach was "clean" but it had no trash, at all, no trash in the water, the only thing on the shore was your typical texas beach seaweed. But, plenty of room beyond that to play at the shoreline, and not even think about the small amount of stuff you had to step over higher up on the beach. This is a much better location than any in corpus christi because the water is just more fun, yet not too rough, as compare to corpus christi beach, where there are almost no waves. Also, in corpus, looking down from the lexington into the water there at corpus christi beach, there is just a sea of jelly fish, which makes me not want to swim there at all. So, if you don't go there expecting a resort, I think you will be satisfied. We went expecting a typical texas gulf coast hotel, and honesly we got more than what we expected. I really don't know of any hotels in this area that are any nicer, even the ones on shoreline are no more than typical beach hotels. I guess when you add in the beach element, you end up with hotels that are better suited for that. You can't exactly put a dress code for the lobby when the hotel is on the beach, and 200 a night. If that is the trip you want, I don't think you will find it in corpus or surrounding areas, maybe florida would be better??? Well, we go several times a year to mustang / padre island, and I think this hotel is our new favorite, what used to be the radison corpus christi beach. We will be back often!!!!! Oh, also the second night our ac didn't seem to cool as well as it had been, the management was quick to appoligize and offer a discount. Of course, the ac could go out at any hotel, so we won't let that keep us from going back. We did not eat in the restaurant, too many other good choices on the Island to waste our time in a hotel restaurant. So, Snoopy's on the intercoastal turnaround, the best seafood on the island, but Doc's right next too it was too pricey for not great food.