We decided to head down from Austin to Galveston for a couple days to enjoy New Years Eve with two small girls ( 6 and 4 ) for some fun at Schlitterbahn, Moody Gardens and so on. I researched a lot of lesser hotels and I kept seeing people complain about mold and smells so I was concerned. Perhaps it's just too much to ask for a nice clean hotel in an area that constantly battles with humidity and hurricanes. Well, never fear, after scoring a great deal on the Tremont House, I can tell you it's possible to stay in a very classy, well maintained hotel for a moderate price. My little girls thought they were living the Fancy Nancy lifestyle. At one point my eldest asked how a hotel so old ( 130+ years ) can look so new and I explained to her that if you take care of things, they will last for ever.

Here are a few random observations:

1) Valet was painless, and $17 a day including tax although they don't actually tell you that until you check out. Wasn't a suprise to me from reading trip reviews.

2) In general, you really don't know what anything will cost, if anything at all. I couldn't locate an information book in my room so I don't know if the bottles of water or room safe actually cost anything or not. I don't mind incidentals, but it would be nice to know what's available at what cost.

3) We had a queen bed and the room was small but not uncomfortable. Mostly I'm just used to my 3000 sq/ft house. The really high ceilings and decor gave it a really classy feel though. More like I was staying at a relatives house then a hotel. High speed internet is provided via ethernet cable or Wifi. It's branded as WayPort but now owned by AT&T and was no charge. There was a room service card provided but we didn't order anything.

4) The TV simply has to go. A nice 32" or even 40" inch HDTV would hit in the beautiful armoire nicely. I know, who needs T.V. in this type of hotel but there were some nice bowl games on.

5) We had french doors in our room that opened up to a faux patio that overlooked the attrium. There was new years eve music playing from down below and it didn't bother us at all. In fact my eldest daughter loved it saying it helped her go to sleep. I would have loved being at the bar for midnight but alas I just don't feel right leaving my kids alone. Looked fun though.

6) The cafe downstairs was decent Sure, your going to pay $2.50 for a milk but otherwise their prices weren't really crazy for an on property service. I also got a Starbucks Venti Caramel Macchiato for $4. My wife really liked the breakfast pizza dish and I had the croissant with potatoes. The sandwhich did crumble but otherwise was tasty. The potatoes were a bit of the soft side but tasty. My 6 year old however disagreed with me and said they were perfect. The desserts on the other hand were tasty but small. I was really hoping for a big slice of cake not a "mini". I guess not everything in Texas is bigger. One last thought here, the Sony Vaio interenet stations were cool. My girls got a kick out of my wife taking care of her FarmVille ( Facebook ) which eating dessert. I'm not sure if that's cute or embarrassing but we did it!

7) I observed that the valet kept my car in a secured parking lot across the street. Good to know since parts of Galveston aren't all that great.

8) The towel warmer did not work. Would have been interesting but I was fine without it.

9) I'm 6'0" and the shower head was mounted at about 5'8". Also the showe head was loose and couldn't support it's own weight which meant I was bending over to rinse. Oh well, it was still a very nice and clean bathroom, just not luxurious at all IMHO.

10) I was prepaid through Priceline but gave my card for incidentals. They didn't mention they would put a $100 hold on the card. Not a big deal for me, and I'm assuming the vast majority of their customers, but still it would have been good to know.

So all in all, I can give The Tremont House a big thumbs up as a nice classy place to stay when in Galveston. There's no pool and your not near the beach but that's not their target market anyways I suspect.

Mrs. and I stayed 3 nights the weekend before Christmas. We really liked the hotel and atmosphere of it. The hardwood floors were great and the rooms were beautiful and clean. Only complaint---the TV was old style, no flat screen HD.

The staff was great...we asked for an upgrade and got a king bed. Our rate was fantastic, must have been off season rates. Did not try the in-house restaurant but plenty of restaurants within walking distance. We recommend breakfast at Star Drug Store nearby.

We were offered valet parking at a reasonable rate but opted for free parking on the street. We believe we made a good decision.

We will surely stay there again!

We received a great holiday discount for our first stay at the Tremont and thought the hotel was beautiful and conveniently located for The Strand St. We had no clue that the hotel had a history of being haunted on the third and fourth floor. My husband and sixteen year old daughter were assigned to room 344. When my daughter initially entered the room she stated that it gave her an eery feeling. When we retired to bed around 10pm about twenty minutes later the ceiling fan turned on full blast. My husband got up and turned it off, just thinking it odd. Around 2 am, a thunderstorm rolled in and my daughter woke up hearing knocking sounds at the outside window and footsteps. She was hot so she got up and turned on the fan for air, and while we laying there listening to the storm the fan clicked off by itself. That freaked us out then! Over by the window where her father was sleeping we saw a darkness pass the crack of light that was shining in from the curtain and less than a minute later we heard three low deep moans in our room very close to our faces, male, and not my sleeping husband. Unlike any noise we had ever heard and each time it increased in volume. We were very scared. Then my daughter and I were basically hanging on to each other, facing each other lying on our sides, and i felt an unusual pain like a knife stabbed into my ribcage so I rolled over and it remained there and felt very real for at least 5 minutes. If I had been alone in that room I would have left it at that point, but thought we were safe with my husband there! I have never been a believer in paranormal activity until now! We reported to front desk next morning, and they said they had reports of 3rd floor hauntings before. So we googled the history of The Tremont when we got home and found that others had experienced the same haunting that we had. So, if you wan a REAL paranormal experience, stay in room 344! Especially if there's a storm brewing! Good Luck!

The hotel was beautiful and very comfortable, however, the cafe for breakfast was a bit over priced. A glass of tropicana orange juice was $3. The breakfast pizza was delicious, but the breakfast burrito wasn't worth it.