Hotel Galvez & Spa | Historic Hotel on the Beach: Family Hotel Review in Galveston, Texas

When we see the name Wyndham slapped on a hotel, we are slightly weary of what will be waiting for us on the other end. Ages ago, we attended a Wyndham timeshare presentation, sucked in by the promise of a free stay. Nothing in life is free, and we paid a dear price for that presentation. The sales person was so incredibly pushy and wouldn’t accept no for an answer, so we got stuck there for four full hours! At the end of it we promised to try out two of their resorts in exchange for $100. One of the resorts in Port Townsend, Washington actually ended up being one of our most favorite trips, so it wasn’t entirely a lose-lose situation. At the end of both stays we had to promise to meet up again with another sales representative. We thought we had a surefire excuse when we said we couldn’t buy in because of their no pet policy, and our precious dog was like a child to us, but he refuted that with the notion that his horse was like a child to him and he wouldn’t expect to bring a horse to a hotel; that was too much.

The Hotel Galvez & Spa in Galveston, Texas doesn’t act, feel or smell like a timeshare. We had a lovely two night stay with beautiful views and a comfortable bed with enough pillows that we didn’t even have to request more.

Hotel Galvez & Spa
2024 Seawall Blvd
Galveston, TX 77550
Phone: (409) 765-7721

Ultimately, we settled on Hotel Galvez & Spa because it was ranked as one of the best hotels in Galveston. Not to mention, it had a much more reasonable price tag than the other options on the island and the combination of both those reasons make this a perfect family stay. The hotel is beautiful both inside and out. It has a grand facade that towers into the sky, and the exterior is a beautiful shade of ivory with symmetrical windows running horizontally and vertically across the face of the building providing a stunning, unobstructed ocean view for guests. The front of the hotel is covered in Christmas lights and a large tree stands in the courtyard shimmering brilliantly with a large star adoring the top branches.

Inside the lobby is a gingerbread replica of the hotel that looks yummy enough to eat. It is a true work of art. An open air restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner alongside the beautiful and inviting grand foyer in the center of the ground level.

The spa and gym are located in the basement and although we didn’t make our way to the spa – the gym has a set of eight weightlifting machines and six cardio machines along with a full array of hand weights. A large saltwater heated outdoor pool with hot tub makes up the grounds outside with a swim up bar. Our children loved swimming in the large pool and playing with the rocks in the hot tub. 

Over a century ago, Hotel Galvez & Spa was known as the “Queen of the Gulf.” Rooms cost $2 a night in 1911. The rich history of this hotel includes a short stint as a temporary white house for Franklin D Roosevelt, along with serving many presidential and famous guests, a WWII Coast Guard facility, headquarters for Pageants of Pulchritude, and once housed a barbershop and tailor. The hotel offers free downloadable historic tours of the hotel and the surrounding area. 

Our room wasn’t large, but it wasn’t tiny. There is enough room for three large suitcases, two double beds with a shared nightstand between them, a sitting chair and TV sitting on a desk. There is a nook with coffee maker behind the door and the bathroom is a decent size with tub/shower combo, sink and toilet though the water pressure is non-existent. There is a closet, but no dresser, which is disappointing. We didn’t stay long enough to unpack, but it does make it difficult to not have a place to stow smaller items that you need to stash somewhere.

The best thing about our stay at Hotel Galvez & Spa are the beds. They are soft, comfortable, warm and the pillows are full and supportive. After a long, long, long day of traveling anything would have felt like a cloud, but these beds are the real deal. Our family doesn’t tend to spend a lot of time in hotel rooms, so the most important thing to us are the beds. When we eventually get tired of being on a trip, after traipsing around a foreign country for a month, it has everything to do with how much we miss our bed back at home. We’re not saying the beds at Hotel Galvez are that worthy, but when it comes to hotel beds, these are some of the best for a standard offering.

Have you stayed in Galveston? Which was your hotel of choice? What made it great for your family? 

Book Your Stay at Hotel Galvez

Of course, we recommend staying at Hotel Galvez. If you use the above link to book your stay, we may receive a commission for purchases made through this link.

During our short stay in Galveston preceding our Disney cruise (coming soon), we enjoyed touring the historic portion of the city and dining at Miller’s Seawall Grill and Fish Tales.