Galveston · Hotel shortlist
The best hotels near Kemah Boardwalk
Rosa Iglesias The American south
These are my five favourites in Galveston, out of the 14 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.4 down to 4.2.
All five are inside 1.4 km of Kemah Boardwalk, so you can walk it.
Highest rated of the five
Boardwalk Inn
★★★★★4.4 from 1,093 reviews
Boardwalk Inn comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.4 from 1,093 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.
It is a 3 star property, found under poi and around $105 a night on the dates we checked.
14 hotels in Galveston qualified for this list and five made it. Courtyard by Marriott Houston Kemah is the one I would book if the first is full.
All five, ranked
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1
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2Courtyard by Marriott Houston Kemah
★★★★★4.3 from 765 reviews
700 m from Kemah Boardwalk, about a 9 minute walk
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3Welcome to Bayfront Bliss!
★★★★★4.8 from 52 reviews
1.3 km from Kemah Boardwalk, about a 16 minute walk
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4Seaside Inn
★★★★★4.2 from 44 reviews
500 m from Kemah Boardwalk, about a 6 minute walk
- Parking
- Air conditioning
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5USA RV Resorts Marina Bay
★★★★★4.3 from 598 reviews
1.4 km from Kemah Boardwalk, about a 18 minute walk
- Pool
- Gym
- Parking
- Pet friendly
- Kid friendly
How this list was put together
14 Galveston hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to Kemah Boardwalk second, then took the top five.
Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.
The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.
What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.
Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.
Rosa Iglesias The American south
Teaches in term time and plays weddings in summer, which pays for the travel. Goes where the music is, usually festivals in small unrecommended towns. Owns three unnecessary accordions.
Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.