Galveston Beach House rental questions (West, Moody: condos, hotel, lease)

[Kandy]

We wanted to look into renting a beach house in Galveston for a weekend, but we have never been there, so I am confused as to where the best area would be. We want something near shopping and restaurants, but also either on the beach or overlooking the beach. Are there areas to stay away from and others you would recommend? Please let me know. Also, if someone knows of a great rental or good rental company to go throu, please PM me. I might add that we have young ones. Thanks for your help.

[momster49]

Galveston beach would be closer to other attractions (Schlitterbaun, etc). Personally I like Crystal Beach better; less traffic and congestion than Galveston proper, although the water may be a bit rougher in some areas.

You can do a search for Beach rentals (specify either Galveston or Crystal or whatever) and you should get a bunch of hits, many with pictures. Be sure to look at Beach front or Front row in the description if you want to be right on the beach.

FYI, the sand and water in the Galveston area are pretty dark. Many folks think it is due to the oil derrecks and/or pollution, but it is actually primarily due to the tremendous wash from the Mississippi into the gulf (in LA). The farther away from the Mississippi you go (south towards Padre Island) the clearer the water and beach will be.

Happy humting!

[Mom2Feebs]

We use Sand-n-Sea rentals. They deal with the nicer parts of west beach, specifically Pirates Beach, Pirates Beach West (where we always rent, the house is called Beach Bliss ) and Kahala Beach. Good luck!

[DoplerFamily]

We just got back from 7 days at Galveston Island. There is nothing in Galveston close to the shopping as it is all located downtown in the Strand District. There are two condo rental places on the Beach close to the city limits. (Escapes & Seascape) We rented a beach house in Sea Isle which is about 20 miles from Galveston, but ON THE BEACH--which is mostly what we wanted to do anyway. We loaded up on groceries for the week and stayed at the house. Sand N Sea rentals have a lot of places and you can check out which area you would rather stay. Kahala Beach is VERY NICE, but expensive if you are on a small budget. ($4800 rental for a week that is beach front. $ 3000 for BeachView)

Jamaica Beach is a good area too. Anything WEST Galveston is good. Pirates Beach etc...

All the Galveston City Condos are ACROSS Seawall Blvd (4 lanes of traffic to cross to get to the beach) East End of Galveston is mostly young adults

Moody Gardens has a really nice hotel, but not within walking distance of beach as well as the Palms Resort.

We did drive into Galveston to do the Strand one day and Schlitterbahn one afternoon, but the TRAFFIC on Seawall Blvd drove me NUTS, but I am from a very small community, so maybe it was only me

Good Luck!! Let me know if I can help you with any more info. I wish I had known more before we went, but we had a great time and the house was a great little beach rental (we have 3 kids)