We flew in for one nights. It is a value hotel but were shocked when we came a little early and the hotel refused to at least let us leave our bags. The restaurant next door was at least nice enough for us to come in with our luggage. The occupancy is low and the office lady seemed miffed we wanted to sit in the lobby since our rooms were not ready while we waited for our rooms. I would never consider booking here again.

I wanted to stay in Galveston for a few nights either side of a cruise, and wanted to be close to the beach, downtown area, cruise terminal, places of interest and restaurants. The Mariner's location on the seafront near the pier is great. The swimming pool is a good bonus as the sea is often rather rough for swimming. It's a motel-style property with large comfortable rooms with TV, microwave, en-suite bathroom with shower, USB charging sockets and fridge. A basic complimentary breakfast of coffee and blueberry muffins is included. A few soft drinks and candy bars are on sale in the reception area. There is an ice machine. Pool is unsupervised and strangely is open from 11.00 to 23.00 daily. Property is clean and reasonably quiet despite location on main seafront road. If you don't have a car, the seafront trolley (bus) stops almost right outside and it's a short walk of about two blocks to the downtown trolley (proper streetcar on rails). The pier is a little further. Location is ideal. Don't expect too much in the way of frills: public rooms are limited to the reception/breakfast room and there is often only one member of staff on duty, who can be overworked if lots of people are waiting to be served.

We stayed here at the beginning of spring break. My family had never been to an ocean or beach before, so this was a first for them. We stayed at the Mariner because we had seen it on Expedia and it seemed reasonably priced.We did not get to Galveston until around 4:00AM Friday morning, and were going to call around and see what was available. Called here first, and the rates were $49 for the night (even though it was nearly over), $99 for the next, and then $139 because it was a weekend. They pointed out the beds were full beds, not queens, and showed us a room before we paid. Not a problem. We paid, got a second-floor room, and went to bed.Rooms were clean, beds were plenty comfy, and everyone slept well on the trip. Shower had plenty of hot water. Was the room huge? No. Was it fancy? No. Was it new? No. But it was kept, everything worked fine, A/C worked great, and we had a great stay. Enjoyed it so much we tacked on an extra night. We paid cash for the first three nights, and I logged onto Expedia, the rate was more than fair, and I could use some of my Expedia cash. About 30 minutes later, the front desk called to make sure it was me and to tell me I was good to go and we could keep the same room. Front desk was very friendly and helpful the entire stay.Now my family is already talking about wanting to go back this summer and stay there again. We could walk across to the beach in a place where it wasn't crowded and enjoy ourselves. Down the street is Miller's Seawall. I honestly think we could have stayed here and not had to drive anywhere and been perfectly content.This place will never be confused for the Galvez or San Luis, but we also stayed four nights for less than what one night at the Galvez, which was showing $452 on Expedia. If there wasn't a huge price difference, I might shell out for one of those two. I've stayed in both, and they are definitely the standard all others are measured by. But for those of us on a budget, a cheaper option means a longer stay and more money to spend on entertainment.My kids loved it, we all had fun, and everyone wants to go back. Thus, when considering the price, I think the Mariner definitely deserves a rating of Excellent, which is why I gave it all five stars.

The Mariner Inn was situated in a good location in Galveston. Across from the beach and within walking distance to some very good restaurants. The building itself is very old and desperately in need of restoration. It’s a very noisy location with people coming and going into the early morning. A $100.00 refundable deposit is required but buyer beware. I noticed on my bank account statement that they indeed refunded my $100.00 but later that month once again charged me the $100. If you want coffee the only coffee around is in the lobby which doesn’t open until 7am.and it’s almost not drinkable. Just a note, there are several nicer hotels in the vicinity

The rooms in the hotel are of questionable cleanliness. The mattresses and pillows are rock hard. The air conditioning is loud and periodically sounds as if a wet, spewing miniature train is driving through. It took multiple trips to the manager to get a key that worked properly and for some reason a $100 cash deposit was required to be left with the front desk overnight. Only one wash cloth was provided for a two queen bed room. The stairs to the second floor are steep and there is no other access. On the upside, the door lock actually did lock. It is directly across the street from the beach, which is nice.