We stayed ot the Island House the week of July 16-22. The hotel is in a great location and the beaches were absolutely great. and not croweded at all. We did have a few Jelly fish move in by weeks end but all in all the water was blue , clean and warm. The kids really had a great time. The hotel was very clean and well priced compared to many of the others along the beach. The rooms are not fancy and I would compare them to a Hampton or Holiday inn Express. The view is absolutely awesome. All the rooms face the beach and the balcony is spacious enough to seat 2-3 people. The pool was large and very clean with an abudent of lounge chairs and tables w/ umbrellas. It's a short walk to the beach and the sands are sugar white and very clean. The Cafe' inside the Hotel is very convenient and the food was very good for a quick bite or breakfast in the morning. The staff was very friendly and accomodating. It closes at 3pm and room service is not offered afterwards. The Coke machines in the hotel are not kept up very well and it's essentially "luck" if you receive the correct selection. There are a lot of family activities in the area besides the beach. Waterville is a large water park located on Hwy 59 approx 9 miles from the Hotel. The kids really enjoyed the slides but get there early otherwise the crowds show up and the wait times increase. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the Dolphin Express Cruises. Capt Ritchie runs a top notch operation and the cruise was AWESOME. If you want to see dolphins up close and experience a very relaxing boat ride this is absolutely the one to choose. The whole family had a really good time. The cruise takes about 90 mins. Resturants in the area I recommed: Cottens Resturant (only 2 miles from the Hotel on 182) was some of the best food we ate. Great staff and even better food. Get there early (4:30 pm) to avoid the crowds otherwise expect to wait for 45 mins + after 6 pm. All in all the experience at the Island House was very good. I would recommend to anyone looking for a resonably priced Family hotel

This was our first time in Orange Beach, and we were EXTREMELY happy with our hotel. For the (very reasonable) price we paid, I was a bit nervous about the accomodations, but they were wonderful.

We chose a KING room and I am very glad we did. We received a room on the corner of the building, near the top. It was HUGE, with lots of windows, and a lovely view from the side. Large, nice bed - average bedding and pillows - nice size bathroom. Dining table and chairs, as well as a desk with more plush chairs. Lots of closet space. Definitely room for a cot or four. Would have preferred a couch and coffee table, but we didn't spend much time in the room except for sleeping, so it didn't really matter.

Hotel staff was EXTREMELY accomodating and quick to respond to all questions/issues. Every part of the hotel was extremely clean except the outdoor women's bathroom - which was remedied immediately. Pool and surrounding area was very nice as well. Great Location. Swank looking from street or beach. Not too overcrowded. FAST elevators. Would absolutely return.

Yes, this is an excellent hotel and we stayed there from June 22 - June 25, 2007. The beach was great except for the jellyfish. We have stayed at this hotel for the last 4 years and have been repeat customers and enjoyed the stay. For the recent stay in June, I also booked a reservation there for July 12 - July 16, just in case the June 22 - June 25 date did not work out. Today, is July 13, and I got a call this morning that reminded me that I forgot about the reservation. The call @ 7 AM was wanting to know if we were coming...(Don't know why in the world the hotel could not have contacted us via cell, email, home phone, etc. prior to this morning) Yes!! I forgot to cancel. It is now 12:30 PM on July 13 and this hotel will be charging 1 full nights stay plus tax ($209). I asked for a reduced amount; however, I am told the General Manager of this hotel is strict and makes no exceptions and that is the policy-$$$$$$$. In today's era, I guess customer loyalty is no longer considered to be important when running a business. Hey, it was my oversite, I admit, but two $100 bills with no value to me is hard to swallow. So, please cancel your reservation if you are not planning to be at this hotel @ the requested time. As other reviews on TripAdvisor and on Yahoo have indicated, the management of this hotel is not customer oriented and are not willing to make exceptions out of the norm if things do not go right for you.

Just returned from a weeks stay at the Island House hotel.
I booked this hotel because of it's ratings on tripadvisor.com.
The staff was very friendly and booking was simple over the
phone but this hotel needs some serious updating. Everything
was fairly clean but very OLD and outdated. Our kids found it
funny that this hotel has actual KEYS; not the key cards that
have been around for many years. The beach and views are
absolutely beautiful; the main reason we travel to the beach
every year. The maid service is TERRIBLE. I book a hotel instead of a condo because I want someone to change my
sheets and bring fresh towels every day. We waited around
every day for clean towels and didn't get our bedding changed
until I finally after three days pulled everything off the bed and put it in a pile by the door. The maid actually asked me if they
were dirty!!! If I wouldn't have been there she probably would have put them back on the bed! We never once got new soap
or shampoo; I had to go to Winn Dixie and purchase a bar of
soap myself. I had to hunt down towels on a daily basis. I even
asked at the front desk and they said they would have to call
housekeeping. After waiting another hour I had to go find housekeeping myself and she only had three towels and no
washcloths.....how many rooms are in this hotel???????????

The area is very nice. Highway 59 out of Gulf Shores has
about everything. Tanger Outlet (nicer than Myrtle Beach's),
Outback Steakhouse, Waterville USA, The Track (very
overpriced; $5-$7.50 per ride) etc. You have to eat at Lambert's;
it's a hilarious interactive eating experience and tons of food.
It has a two hour wait at all times but well worth it.

Overall, a very nice area to visit but we will not be staying at
the Island House again. For $219 a night I expect my room
to be cleaned up daily without ME asking!