We just returned from a 4-night stay at Port Royal and we had a great time! After booking our 2-bedroom condo, I read some of the negative reviews here and was a bit worried! But all turned out well. First of all, the staff was very friendly and informative when we booked our condo. They answered all my questions completely. Then, the day before we were to arrive, something came up and we needed to change our arrival and departure dates. I called and they were able to change our dates, with no added charges or penalties. Again the staff was very friendly and helpful.

Our condo was very nice. Sure, the decor was a little dated, but so what?! The condo was large and completely furnished. All the appliances were quite new, clean, and worked great. The kitchen was completely furnished with pots and pans, dishes, coffee maker (and complimentary coffee), toaster, dishwasher....everything! There is daily housekeeping service, and they were very thorough and efficient. (They even loaded the dishwasher for us when we left dirty dishes in the sink!) The only negatives about the condo were the outside (could use a little sprucing up, a fresh coat of paint), and the balcony. We had one of the "partial gulf view" 2-bedroom condos. (The other choice for the 2-bedrooms is the pool-side view.) The condos are set off the beach and at an angle, so there isn't too much of a gulf view, more a view of grass. We probably would have preferred the pool side view. (Or a 3-bedroom condo with a full gulf view.)

The pool is great!! It is very large, clean, with lots of pool chairs and tables. Also, there are 4 large hot tubs, and 2 swim-up bars, one of which also served food. We loved the pool!!

There is a long boardwalk leading to the beach. It's a good walk but not too far. There are showers to clean off the sand when you get back. The beach was nice. One day is was extremely calm, hardly any waves, then another, it was extremely rough, lots of big waves. Just depends on the weather!

We ate one dinner at the hotel restaurant, which provides a great view of the pool and the gulf. It was good and not too expensive. Service was good. We also got pizza at the on-site pizzeria. It was very good and again, not too expensive. We also purchased several items at the store. It was nice having some forgotten essentials (and late-night snacks!) readily available. Again, they could have really over-charged, but they didn't.

The location of Port Royal is nice, as it is between Port Aransas and Corpus Christi. It was just short drive to either. We ate several dinners in Port Aransas, and they have a nice selection of restaurants, from pizza to seafood. There are also many gift shops, fishing excursions, etc. We also drove the other way down the beach towards Corpus Christi for some fun miniature golfing. If you want to go all the way to downtown Corpus, it's about a 30 minute drive. There's plenty to do in Corpus (Aquarium, USS Lexington, fishing, shopping, etc.)

A couple of things to note. First of all, we stayed Monday through Friday, at the end of July. It was not too crowded, and was very family-friendly. I have a feeling that the weekend would be much busier and maybe a little younger crowd. (We noticed a lot of folks checking in on Thursday, and Thursday night the hot-tubs were packed with twenty-somethings.) So if you are looking for a family vacation, I would definitely recommend going early in the week as opposed to the weekend.

Second, consider the location. This is the Texas gulf coast, not Cancun or Hawaii! If you are looking for large, soft white sandy beaches and clear blue water, this probably isn't the place for you. The beach is nice, though. It is a drive-on beach all along Mustang Island, but it's not dangerous, the cars drive very slowly and folks are just looking for a place to park and get out. We saw very few cars actually driving along the beach - it's really not anything to be concerned about. Just don't expect the beach to be something it's not. (If you want Hawaii, you'll have to go to Hawaii!)

All in all, we were very happy with our stay at Port Royal!! We would definitely go again!

Thinking we were staying at a 5 star resort with nice updated furnishings,
We were sadly mistaken, For spending over 1000.00 for 3 nights in a condo that looks like it was furnished by garage sale finds from the 80's.
Hasnt been updated in proably 20 years, walls could use painting,
furniture was minimal and the whole condo was very cheaply furnished. Bed spread was paper thin and the ceramic floors needed a good bleaching very dirty,
Upon reaching the room as you stand outside the door the door was very dirty with mildew and paint peeling off and looks like the whole outside need a good power washing even the stairwell was grungy

I was disappointed, I have never spent 292.00 a night a it looked like a college kids apt with old furniture

I wish I would have checked into this more. But all our friends say this place was great,

Maybe not all the condos were like ours but
ours was a 1 bedroom king and it was terrible.
We had to park very far from our room as well


Pools were gourgous long walk to beach but maintained nicely


I wish I could get some kind of refund because I feel ripped off

We left after 2 days even though we paid for 3

We stayed during Spring Break and the hotel did a great job of the wild Spring Break crowd at bay. The only down side was that the beach was a drive on beach, not too great for young kids. They have a little store on site that stocks the regular beach essentials. The pizza shop is located downstairs and it's not so great, but it's not horrible...convience is key.

We had the absolute worst service I have ever experienced at Port Royal. I had heard from several sources how poor the banquet management was but I couldn't believe it until it happened to us. The facilities were run down, the front staff was half asleep when we went in (they were not happy to be there), and the security was so rude. We used to come here 20 years ago when it was a lot newer, and Port Royal was such a great place. But I guess they haven't updated it since then. Not only are we never going to stay here again, but we are contacting as many people as possible to let them know how terrible it is. I know they are hurting for business, especially after having a drowning, but the service was horrible. Never again!!!