Emerald Beach Hotel

The Emerald Beach is a tired, two-story hotel off Corpus Christi Bay. The blue and purple chairs in the lobby and the adjacent small SandBar lounge are attempts to liven up the space, but at this point, the furniture is weathered and worn. Even the beach, to which the property has direct access, is dirty compared to some of others in the area.

The hotel has a business center in addition to eleven rooms for conferences and banquets, but overall the Emerald Beach draws more families and travelers on a budget.

The hotel is located right off the bay, so for beachgoers it’s extremely convenient. The Emerald Beach is near downtown Corpus Christi, but getting to some of the more popular attractions, such as the Texas State Aquarium, Water Street Market, and the USS Lexington, requires a car or public transport. Off Shoreline Boulevard, there are a number of restaurant options in the immediate area.

Rooms at the Emerald Beach are sizable, with two queen beds, a desk or table, and a small reading chair. The general decor is bland -- think white bedspreads with beige bed scarves and framed prints of ocean scenes. The condition of the furnishings ranges from good to worn. Bathrooms are reasonably sized and come with Bath & Body Works products. Every room has a 32-inch flat-screen TV, free Wi-Fi, and a coffeemaker. Some guests have complained about cleanliness in the past. Renovated Cabana rooms are a bit nicer, with wood floors, nautical wall hangings, marble-topped TV and bedside stands, white-painted headboards, and Adirondack chairs on the balconies.

Many rooms look out on the pool with floor-to-ceiling windows. From the vantage point of a guest in a ground-floor poolside room, this can feel invasive, like half the hotel can peer into one’s bedroom as they pass. From either floor, rooms off the pool are dark and dank.

The diner-like Sandpiper restaurant is open for three meals a day and provides room service to guests, while the SandBar offers guests cocktails right off the lobby. The food at the Sandpiper is generally underwhelming, and the SandBar is cramped and unexciting. Far more inviting is Kokomo’s Bar on the Bay, where you can sip drinks while looking out at the ocean. The Emerald Beach has a moderately sized fitness center with weight and cardio machines.

The pool area can be a lot of fun, but less so for anyone staying in an adjacent room. It has a large, hexagonal pool, a hot tub, a children’s play area with a ball pit, and a number of rec games including shuffleboard, table tennis, billiards, and air hockey. While certainly still functional, those games are looking worse for wear, a number of the tables worn down to the wood in places.