Scenery 10, Accommodations 4
Written: Jul 19 '01
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Pros: wildlife, beautiful view, low room rate
Cons: restaurant could be better, rooms need redecorating, JELLYFISH
The Bottom Line: Gulf Shores state park is great for an economical beach vacation if you're not too picky about your room.
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| linda41971's Full Review: Gulf State Park |
We just returned from our second stay at the Lodge at Gulf Shores State Park. Although most of Gulf Shores is high-rise condos and hotels, the lodge is a two story building set off on a quiet beach. All the rooms have balconies overlooking the ocean. If you can climb stairs, I'd definitely recommend the upstairs rooms, as the view is breathtaking. We spent one afternoon watching dolphins play in the waves. Its a perfect place to stay if you just want to spend time relaxing, reading and splashing around.
The beach is VERY quiet, and you'll have plenty of space to yourself. The water is clear when the waves are low. On two days, we were able to see the fish swimming around our feet. There were several kinds of fish, up to 10 inches long, and lots of skates (they look like sting rays), and jelly fish (more on those later), which are quite beautiful if you keep your distance. On the shore there were crabs and seabirds including pelicans.
There were a few drawbacks to the lodge. First, the food at the lodge restaurant was just OK, not great. We ended up going into town every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is a breakfast buffet for about $6 a person. The items on the buffet do not change from day to day. There are French Toast sticks, scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, bacon, fried potatoes, and toast along with juices, coffee and milk. The gravy was not as good as the gravy at Cracker Barrel; definitely not as good as homemade. For lunch, there is a fair assortment of seafood such as boiled shrimp, crab cakes, etc. None of these were that great. Basically, all the food tasted like they had bought it in the frozen food section of Sam's Club and heated it up for us. A better choice for seafood is the Original Oyster House.
The rooms are adequate, but not high quality. The beds are comfortable and the place is clean. They are also only $107 plus tax for an ocean view room with a balcony, which is very cheap for the area (a neighboring hotel was 4200+per night). They are also shabby looking. Our room had a large water spot on the ceiling, and the wallpaper was peeling on one wall. I think this is leftover damage from a hurricane they had in the fall of 98. The hotel is made of reinforced concrete, so it won't blow away, but the high water does do damage. The air conditioner worked great, which is very necessary for Alabama in August. They are repairing the place constantly, but they are just keeping up with the damage from the sea air.
The final drawbacks are the jellyfish and sharks. They don't tell you when you check in, but they're out there! Buy a bottle of jellyfish sting remover before you go to the beach and have a local explain how to use it. You WILL need it at some point. My whole family got stung at one time or another. For most of us, this was just an annoying little sting, like saltwater in a cut. My son got it bad. He came out of the water screaming. Not knowing what to do, I took him back to our room and washed it under cold water. This is the WORST thing you can do. He started to get huge welts around his ankle and his wrist. I called the front desk, and they confirmed jellyfish and suggested a store to buy the sting remover. My poor son spent almost an hour in agony because we weren't prepared ahead of time. The day before we arrived there was a tragic shark attack, and then the day after we left there was another attack. Shark attacks don't occur often; the amount of media attention it received demonstrates this. We decided to take our chances, judging that the car ride down was probably more risky. There are no lifeguards on the beach though, so you do swim at your own risk.
Gulf Shores state park is a good economical place to go for a family beach vacation if you're not too picky about the accommodations. My family will be going again next summer. Just remember the Jellyfish sting remover, and you'll have a great time.
Recommended:
Yes
Best time to go: June-August
Recommended for: Couples
Review Topic: Campgrounds & Lodging
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Epinions.com ID:
linda41971
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Member: Linda
Location: IL
Reviews written: 72
Trusted by: 75 members
About Me:
I spend my time gardening, volunteering and chauffeuring my kids around.
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