Peninsula Island Resort & Spa

It’s probably on its way to being a great resort but it’s currently facing some challenges. Rather than be just critical I’d like to leave some recommendations as I think it is mid — improvement and maybe needs objective opinion–
1. All shades are dry-​rotted, frayed and should be replaced. Sliding doors all should be routinely lubricated as they are difficult to open and enjoy your amazing view.
2. Umbrella guy needs to be more hospitable– especially if people have already rented seating. He pounced us for not stopping my 8yr old from sitting on an empty seat that wasn’t the pair we rented. It was an honest mistake and they were vacant. He gave the impression that he was there to patrol rather than serve.
3. Replace the cabinets in the kitchen. The granite looks awesome but the water-​swollen cheap cabinets are what leave the impression and it’s not good. Also kitchen needs a few more basics — including: salt/​pepper, cookie sheets, mixing spoons, sauce pan. Easy fixes
4. All plumbing should be in good repair. Faucets are jiggly and poorly installed in what look like nice updated bathrooms.
5. Run golf carts 24 – 7 to bus people to the satellite lot while your property is under construction. It’s s far walk but the golf cart makes all the difference– when it’s running
6. Improve your cocktail and happy hour snack line up to draw people to the deck. It’s currently pretty weak. A server should check in on and wait on your guests. Currently guests must go into the restaurant and serve themselves on the deck. It has potential to be better as it is a lovely atmosphere with nice lounge seating. Maybe you just need a couple more staff members.
7. Hire a lifeguard for the pool. It’s seems crazy the massive pool has no supervision for safety. Parents could relax a little more if there was this extra measure. There is no desire to relax, eat, and drink because adults must be on lifeguard duty at all times for the safety of their family.
8. Entire staff needs to improve in customer service «the-​customer-​is-​always-​right» mentality. The vibe you get is that you are the annoying guests that they have to clean up after. There is definitely no one checking to make sure you are enjoying your stay. There is a disconnect and it could be re-​vamped with good management
9. Maid service comes too late. Each day they came after we returned from the beach and were in the middle of showers/​naps (3pm). They don’t seem to pay attn to the time guests are out of the room. They aren’t checking on your towel situation etc.
10. Room needs to be stocked with a broom/​dustpan. When cooking there are inevitable spills and no way for the guests to to do light cleaning between the sparse maid service. We nearly bought our own to keep on top of the sand and spills. Also a laundry basket in each room would help.
11. Lobby needs a complete make-​over. Way too small and gives a bad first impression. I think the construction plans probably include this and it will be a big improvement.
12. Mainly, peninsula should up the service and this could be a really great resort.
PROS–
1. 3-​bedroom suites are plenty spacious and every room had its own attached bathroom/​shower
2. Nice long dining table for big family– furniture in general is pretty fitting
3. Pool area is awesome and new patio furniture on deck area is pleasant
4. Walk to private beach is perfect. Super close and clean
5. Layout of rooms is functional and furniture is adequate. Plenty of space. We were comfortable and we had a group of 3 adults, 8 kids.
6. Key system is wonderful. Bracelets seem unnecessary. They aren’t used for anything.
7. Price was right
8. Tv projection on the building at night is nice (although electric cords seem a little dangerous next to the pool). Family movies would be a nice feature instead of the basketball games the staff seemed to enjoy watching. Felt like it was the staff’s nightly enjoyment rather than something planned for the guests.
9. Shower off areas after the beach exit were nice although water should stay on a tad longer before automatically shutting off.
10. Bel hops did a great job getting us settled. They provided the best service of all the staff we encountered

This is the worse resort I have ever stayed in Sink in kitchen leaked water, blinds to go out on patio wouldn’t raise, patio door wouldn’t lock, shower curtain rod fell off, AC didn’t work, walls were in bad shape, cock roach in room, door hard to open and close. Service in restaurant was terrible. No lining for ice bucket. Ice machine open to everyone — very unhealthy. Pool lounging chairs uncomfortable. Long walk to limited parking from resort to parking lot. Everything is broken here. Please do not choose this resort of you want to enjoy your stay at SPI.

I wonder what happened to the other persons reviewing this place. from my experience it was great! I’ve stayed on quite a few hotels on the island and this is the best one so far. Reasonably priced for what you get. their rooms are huge and with great views! We stayed in a three bedroom suite. Beds were comfy and the place was clean. The location of the hotel and beach are as good as it gets on the island too. Great experience, we’ll be back next year!

The 1^st two says of our stay were a regularly priced studio suite. The next 7 were a condo exchange. When we arrived we were surprised at the size of unit. Stayed in several studio but never this small and the only wall was the bathroom. When we arrived we had 4 towels, 2 face cloths, 1 hand towel, 1 kitchen towel, bath mat, 1 box tissues, 1 roll bath tissue, shampoo, hair rinse, hand soap. It was loaded with liquor and snacks for purchase. 2 double beds and 8 pillows. Various kitchen pots, pans, toaster, plates, coffee pot. Let’s talk first about the coffee pot. The basket where you put coffee was the wrong size, so my genious husband rigged it with a spoon so it would brew coffee.
So, we had to be checked out by 11:00 am and were. When we came back same day to recheck in at 4:00 pm for our condo exchange, we had the same room (were supposed to have a king room per our reservation confirmation).
We had a bath mat, period. So we unpacked our suitcases and left. Came back around 8:00 pm and now had 2 face cloths and a bath mat. Went to office and they told us there «probably weren’t enough towels washed yet to give us towels.» Around 9 a guy showed up with 3 bath towels, roll of bath tissue, roll of paper towels. Never got anther kitchen towel even though requested. Needed iron as ours didn’t work. They weren’t sure they had any. The chairs around the eating table had mold on them. We aren’t bug specialists, but the last night there were 2 large brown bugs that came out when lights on. Where we are from there is an unkind name for then.
One has to wonder, if we hadn’t stayed there 1^st two nights as paying guests and then arrived Sunday afternoon with condo exchange, would we still only had a bath mat when we checked in?
GOOD LUCK WITH WIFI !!!

Hey! I think we are in Ariel’s room! And I didn’t book on Groupon, but I apparently could have for $ 100+ a night cheaper there…
Here are the positives about the Peninsula, as it is now my sixth day here…
— The beach access is good, though they have locked up all of their damaged beach chairs and there are old towels and trash at the beach entry.
— The room’s kitchen area is clean and well-​stocked with a brand new blender, toaster and coffee maker. There is a new microwave and good size mini fridge. (However, you can’t bring food or drinks to pool according to the two waivers you sign…)
— Interior of room is modern and clean upon check in.
— Julian at front office is cordial.
— Projected basketball, football (American and soccer) games on wall by pool at night is a cool touch.
— Hot tub within semi-​heated pool is great!
The negatives…
— The other waivers I signed about kids under 18 are not followed by the other guests and management doesn’t care… The last two times I have been in the hot tub, two or more kids, under five years of age, have been in as well. One was a baby without a swim diaper… YIKES!!!
–Upon check in, the smoke detectors in our room were missing. (Later installed by maintenance.)
— There were gang tags written on a kitchen chair.
— Twice ALL of the towels were removed by housekeeping, though only once was our room actually cleaned in the past six days.
— Calls to the main office about missing towels go unanswered, so we go in person to pick up towels.
— Walk to rooms is long; not too bad with luggage on roller wheels or on nice weather days. In rain, wind or cold; not so nice.
In all, this could be a SUPERB condo/​hotel/​resort, if the owners and management actually cared.

I wish I could give this place zero stars. Holy cow it was by far the worst experience I’ve ever had at a hotel. Ever.
For starters we pull up and have no idea where we are going there are no signs to where the front desk is we even went the wrong way in front of some men who worked there and the didn’t tell us we were going the wrong way the just looked at us like idiots.
Then we finally get up to our rooms at first glance it’s okay. The walls are dirty and a things look a bit worn but fine. Then we went in the bathroom and the bath tubs whole base was completely rusted out on top of being dirty. It was completely disgusting.
We were tired so ordered over priced (not good) room service and went to sleep.
When we woke up in the morning we went to the beach and couldn’t get to the beach chairs which were cheap crappy pieces of plastic; because they had been locked up at 10:00 am so we went and asked the front desk he said they’re available all day until 6:00.
We found some someone left behind and enjoyed the beach.
Every time you need a towel you had to ask the surly front desk guy and hand him your wet ones. Not fun.
Another wonderful thing about this place is they don’t clean your room unless you ask them to. What kind of crap is that!!! Then when you do call to ask why your room is still sandy they immediately tell you if you are a groupon customer you don’t get it cleaned. We weren’t groupon customers. We paid full price for the crappest hotel ever.
We checked out and explained all these things to the front desk guy and he just argued with me the whole time. Oh my god! I was ready to pull my hair out. And we learned you have to pay to sit in a 20 year old beach chair that’s falling apart at the beach. Not okay.
I will NEVER stay there again or recommend this place to anyone looking for a clean and updated hotel like we were. It’s overpriced and there are nicer motel 6’s that I’ve been to.

There are several reasons I give Peninsula 5 stars. For one they have a swim up bar in area of pool that is heated. 2.) They have room service as restaurant onsite 3.) The gym is actually useable and good AC inside. 4.) While the parking lot is a tad of a walk all you have to do is call front desk and they send a golf cart for you free and finally, the fact the 3 bedroom presidentials have washers and dryers in them really helps when you have a family down on vacation

Here in June for our honeymoon. SPI is a little more expensive but you can still find deals. Room was an efficiency. Bed and bath was nice, kitchenette worked. Didn’t use the pool but a lot of others did. It seemed clean and taken care of. WiFi is pretty much dead. You can connect to it but no internet most of the time. I stayed on my 4G phone for that. Staff was friendly enough. Didn’t try the restaurant and didn’t see anyone else in there either. Local places like Gabriella’s are good choices. Beach access was easy but went barefoot once and at the height of the day the sand and walkway burned my feet. Overall it was a good experience.

Gulf of Mexico. Pool is incredible as are the restaurants. Come hungry treat you like a star. Room service is great.

Poor staff and reception. Extremely unaccommodating. Rooms look way bigger in the website than they really are.
We did not get the rooms we were promised. Internet doesn’t work and they seem to do nothing abt it. Rooms are neat ish but non cooperating staff makes the stay unpleasant. Wouldn’t recommend.

WOW! The other two reviews are pretty unfair. I’m a pretty harsh critic and our experience here was NOTHING like theirs. List:
1. Location. It’s so easy to get to. The grounds are nice and very resort like. Having the beach access was a blessing and their board walk was in great condition. The elevator is, as Sara T. said, VERY, VERY, VERY SLOW. It also has no air-​conditioning and when it’s 94% humidity outside and 92 degrees, it makes for a looong hot ride.
2. Our suite was really nice and modern! It was super big and clean. The bed was reeaally comfortable but their pillows were rock solid and had us tossing and turning our first night there. After that we just got our own from a store. Shower worked fine and the air conditioning in the rooms worked just as we hoped. The kitchen counters and the counter in the bathroom are granite and all with stainless steel appliances. The balcony was a decent size for two people and we had beautiful views of the ocean and pool. The walls aren’t paper thin. I’m a light sleeper and I didn’t hear anything upstairs or next to us. In the morning I could hear kids out by the pool but it wasn’t terrible. We left the fan on in the bathroom all night to give us some ambient noise so that helped. One tip, bring your own towels. Theirs are pretty rough and I’m just glad I had ones from home to rub on my body/​face.
3. Wifi wasn’t the strongest. They should do something about that.
4. The pool was the perfect temperature and it was CLEAN!
5. Yes, it is a long way to walk if you park and don’t wait for the guys with the golf carts. It’s a nice walk nothing crazy and when we first arrived with all of our belongings they were there to get us and bring us to the resort. You can use them whenever you want (well 8AM-​10PM), you just have to call.
6. The gym was actually pretty decent for being in a resort hotel and all.
I don’t know if we’ll stay here when we come back in a few months but I wouldn’t rule it out. We just like to see what our options are :) We really enjoyed ourselves and are overall, pleased with our stay at this resort.

My husband and I stayed here for our honeymoon. The hotel itself was nice, nothing fancy, but good for the rate we paid for it. They offer free wifi which was a deciding factor for us, but the wifi was absolutely terrible! We couldn’t connect half the time, and when we did the connection was so terrible it would kick us off within minutes. The walls are paper thin, there were not many guests staying in the hotel due to us going during the off season, but of course the family immediately next to us had a small child who screamed and hollered at all hours of the day and night. The staff was friendly for the most part, except one guy, who we encountered a few times. Every time we asked him a question he looked at us like we were asking him the most insane questions. The access to the beach was nice and they offer towels for guests to use at the beach and pool. The pool was nice to de-​sand and kinda relax after getting the crap knocked out of you from the waves in the beach. They have a bar and spa for guests. You can only drink beverages from the bar at the pool, nothing of your own. The elevator was slow as Christmas and HOT, and of course we were on the 6^th floor. We wanted a king bed since we were on our honeymoon, we got two full size or small queen beds. It was late when we got in the room, we should have asked to be moved but we had been in the car all day and were tired and at that point we didn’t care. The parking lot for the hotel is seriously a football field away, which doesn’t make sense due to there being an empty field in between the hotel and parking lot. They have a place to pull up to and unload on a cart and the staff will help you if you need it. But we had to walk the long distance to move the car by the hotel in the rain when we were packing to go. The wind was blowing like crazy when we were there and during the middle of the night it was really loud! Overall, it was a nice stay. We had a great honeymoon and we got a good rate. But I don’t see us staying here again, due to there being so many other resorts and hotels in the area that looked to be a lot nicer with closer parking lots.

We chose Peninsula Island for our anniversary because we redeemed a voucher on Travelzoo for a good deal. First the pros: the room size, bed, kitchen, location, view, and pool (though it was too cold for us) are all great. We went when it wasn’t peak season for South Padre, and now we know why we received a deal to stay here… there was no service. First, with our voucher we received a $ 50 credit to their restaurant and to their spa. Neither was even open during our two day stay. When we discovered they were never going to open, the front desk said we could use the restaurant voucher for room service. And after waiting 30 minutes for a menu, we managed to get one meal before room service closed at NOON! Also, the walls are paper thin. The resort had only a few guests, but we were lucky enough to have a loud family next to us to keep us up at night. I can only imagine what it is like when this place is busy. I will give the three people credit that we saw working there as they were nice, although twice they said they would get somebody to help us with our luggage and that never happened. They gave us their wifi password as well, but guess what… that wasn’t working either! And I’m still trying to figure out why they put their parking lot over 100 yards away from the building, with an empty field separating it. The island and finally being able to go on vacation as a family made us not focus on the negative too much, but we unfortunately won’t be staying here again.