Crystal River Inn, San Marcos

Beautiful old house in a popular area just a little way from campus. Our room was on the street side so we did hear a little traffic noise but I slept just fine. If you were concerned about the road noise just as for a room on the back side of the house. Nice gardens on property too. You could walk to restraunts if wanted. Our room was clean, the a/c worked great and the staff was great. I enjoyed our time and stay.

What a complete disappointment! If I could give this NO Stars, I would! This was meant to be a special mother-daughter get-away. For years I’ve been raving about different bed and breakfast stops that my husband and I have stayed in and enjoyed so much we’ve become return guests. Let me tell you, that I will NOT be a return guest here. We never met the owner, which seemed odd. Every B&B we’ve ever stayed in we’ve been welcomed kindly by the owner and told about the town and the history off the inn. Not here. We were just asked to sign in...that is it; I’ve had a friendlier welcome at a low budget hotel. When entering (THE FRIO) we clicked on the light and the fan, dust flew off of the fan blades and got us both sneezing! The mirrors all around the room were smudged and dirty, caught your eye immediately! Not classy! A B&B being old is quaint and part of the charm. But dirty and unclean there is no charm in that! The white on the bedspread and canopy looked a grayish tint from years of dust? We pulled back the bed and were shocked to see the wrinkled pillow cases and sheets, it seemed like someone had slept there the night before and just pulled the comforter back up, or that the sheets were pulled out of the dryer in a wad. The wicker bedroom furniture cushions were dirty, looked like yard furniture brought inside! After a long hot day at the outlet center (we were SO tired) we were both ready to come and relax and use our bath goodies for a nice tub. Uh, no. There was no way I wanted to even step foot in that tub! With the black mold around it, and the dingy rubber mat in the tub neither one of us wanted to brave sitting in it! We went to the dollar store and bought a small bath mat to sit on, but still we were both out of the bathroom in less than a few minutes because we did not want to be in that tub! The toilet was temperamental and would not flush twice! The room was SO hot we were sweating! With no way to control the temperature from our room we were uncomfortably hot all night long! We were surprised to read on one of the laminated sheets in the bedroom to "not put up with the parting neighbors any time past 11pm to call the police or the staff". Sure enough soon after 9pm we heard the party getting started who knows what time that racket ended. The street noise from that front bedroom is horrible! You’re constantly hearing cars, and loud motorbikes! And the train! Oh, the train whistles that really added to the “peaceful rest” that neither one of us could see coming! In our room you could hear every word said in the hallway and the kitchen! I guess the kitchen is employee hang out area, because we heard talking and clanging for hours! The bedroom door has a window opening that lets in the hallway light, that shines in your face while your sitting in bed in what you’d hope would be a nice quite dark room. We finally got to sleep right about the time it was time to wake up and walk to breakfast. No coffee pot in our room, No hairdryer. Only one shampoo packet, and a used bottle of lotion and Mr. Bubble! One pack of cranberry snacks. And an open tampon packet in the bathroom basket. Iron but no ironing board. We walk into the dinning room and hear a lady on the phone; we are left sitting there for a good while, until a shy teenage looking girl asks if we would like coffee. Our entire stay we were never spoken to by an adult who worked there! Not once! Our breakfast was a cold keish, which gave us both upset stomachs soon after we ate it! After our one night experience we’d both had enough and left the room neatly and decided that another night would be more than we could take! I’d be embarrassed of the cleanliness and friendliness of this B&B, if I was the owner! From small details to the droopy flowers in the room, to big ones like the lack of cleanliness and making your guest feel welcome.

The owner is very rude! We asked about getting low fat food for breakfast as my daughter was staying at the Wellness Camp and need to stay on her diet - he literally laughed in our face. What I did eat was not good. On top of that a $100 VISA gift card was stolen out of our room. I sent an email to the owner asking for some compensation. Never got a reply. Would not recommend or stay there again.

I could endure the location but the overall experience was bad. From the first moment most of the staff was unfriendly (they actually seemed put out that I would have the audacity to stay at the Crystal River Inn) The rooms were not maintained that well. I.E. Drafty doors, faulty plumbing and questionable security. In my point of view the owners and staff seem weary and burned out on the B & B idea. (Perhaps they should retire?) Prospective patrons, take my advice go to the other B&Bs! There are several within the San Marcos area.

I went last yr with a couple of girlfriends for a girls get away and it was fantastic. We stayed in the San marcos suite and it was nice! The food was yumm-o!!!! The location was nice, we could walk to the bars and downtown and the outlet malls were only a couple of minutes away. I can not wait to go again!!!