Water Street Hotel & Marina, Ascend Hotel Collection - Apalachicola, Florida

selena

Hotel was beautiful and clean. Sean was awesome and showed us all the amenities. We will definitely stay again in the future. It was perfect! We enjoyed watching the boats come in from the balcony. It was so good visiting home. -Selena G

Swampscott C.

It took us 12 hours to drive to Apalachicola from SW Florida for the Hurricane Milton evacuation. When we arrived, it was late, and we were absolutely frazzled. Night shift employee Amanda came to our immediate aid and we were quickly given our room key. What a blessing she was that night. We originally booked two nights but soon realized we needed a third. Although we didn’t mind, they originally told us we would have to move rooms for that final night. The day of the move, Leigh Coble let us know we were staying put. They had worked things out for us even though we didn’t ask. Wow! We were very impressed with our experience here.

Kira R.

0 Stars.
Years ago, I stayed at this beautiful hotel for my birthday. We watched dolphins from the balcony over the bay, it was incredible! Locally owned businesses will always have my heart, especially when they represent what southern hospitality is all about.
Today’s experience changed my entire perspective on this business, how it’s run, who it employs, & how much they genuinely care about their community. As someone who grew up in Apalach & Wakulla in general, I’m used to community being a solid backbone.
Today, my underage sister & her boyfriend were headed back from mexico beach in their electric car which shows them places to charge, the Water Street Marina came up as the first recommended place. They went there, & were told they would have to pay to rent a room to use the charger. Fair. They left & went to FOUR other charging stations, however none of them had the adapter that was needed. They now have 16 miles left. I called Water Street Hotel & BEGGED them to let them charge, they said no. My 16 year old sister & her boyfriend went back to the hotel, reluctantly agreeing to pay for a room even though they could not stay. They wouldn’t let them reserve for a future date that they could actually stay to use the charger, AGAIN, so they wouldn’t be stranded 2.5 hours from home. So, they agreed to pay for tonight bc now we are out of options. She takes his card, his drivers license, goes to the back, & processes a payment. He receives a receipt to his email, 148$ has been put for a processing hold. She comes from the back, and promptly tells him to “unplug and head on down the road.” Stranding these kids 2.5 hours from home. She admitted to me that it was a SWITCH she could flip. They were willing to PAY. I am utterly disgusted with the level of “hospitality” shown to my baby sister. Water Street Hotel, my family & I, as well as our friends, will NEVER be back. You are not apart of the community the way you think you are. I hope the owners have children, & think about the kindness you hope to be shown to them.
Ms. Madonna, you are unprofessional & should not be working in hospitality. Ms. Leigh, you were not even there, & to make that call to send away these kids on the word of a lady who was obviously discriminating against my sisters lovely boyfriend is crude & unsympathetic. Ms. Madonna went to the back when she called Ms. Leigh, so I could not hear the information being shared.
Be aware if you’re wanting to stay at this establishment as a person of color, or a young woman, bc that is who was asking & begging for help.
Disgusting. We will be disputing the charges of course, and as I read in another review, unauthorized charges are common with this hotel.
0/10.

adoptee S.

The hotel is gorgeous. I used to come here often with my German Shepherds Roxie, then Olive because of it being German Shepherd-friendly (thank you thank you) Also, I loved the fact that it has washers and dryers IN the rooms - how 'bout that, full kitchen with dishes and utensils, gorgeous screen porch on the Apalachicola River. These are really apartments - good ones. I'd own one if I could. I loved coming here. But then it seemed like the prices doubled and tripled and they would not take big dogs anymore. So it had been at least 5-6 years since I'd been. So here come the Hurricanes. First, here comes Helene - I went way up to Birmingham to a dog-friendly hotel I'd been to and liked but not enough to drive 7-8 hours in dark rain, scared, tired, swore next time I would hunker down like I did for Debby. Then on the heels of Helene comes Milton, I'm tired, I don't really think we're going to have the damage we had with Helene, I do not want to leave, no I don't, but they say mandatory go go go, looks like the panhandle will be OK, so I call to make sure they take my German Shepherd Sugar. Yes, they do - thank you thank you. The hotel is still beautiful so I hate to quibble. But these quibbles have to be fixed or noted. The porch screens on some of the units need repair - I'm sure the storms only recently did that so they'll get to that. The elevator was not working early Friday morning. I'm not a young muscle man; making a dozen trips with my luggage up several flights of stairs is the last thing I needed with all the other stress the hurricanes were putting on me and everybody - I take more with me for an evacuation trip than I normally would. The loading zone was packed so I had to go all the way out to the parking lot which is far away. And I don't like not being able to see my truck out my window. But the loading zone is usually empty and very good that they have those temporary parking spaces. I slept with my dog on the sofa bed because I like having the TV above me and the river to look out to my left when I am lying in bed so I did not use the grand master bedroom The sofa bed was very uncomfortable but I was doing laundry so I wasn't getting much sleep anyway. Thank you so much for that washer and dryer. I've been without water for a month. I always bring my own comforters so my dog doesn't get hair on the bed - big comforters won't fit in the washing machine. The big bedroom is very elegant with a TV but right up against the busy, noisy walkway. The 2nd bedroom is a closet - ok, it is not that small but it is small: twin bed, end table, NO tv, no wiggle room. I've stayed in other apartments here and they have different layouts. 202 is one of those that sticks out over the water, so your porch does not have any real privacy. My dog loved her porch. But I had to put chairs up against the rail where the screen was gone because I was afraid she might climb over it. The pet fees are $35 per night which is not fair, but the other hotel in Birmingham - Drury - charged $50 a night. In the old days you were charged a one time pet fee. The internet was not very good. But it may have been the weather. But overall superb. Even though I quibble, the good is so good and the bad is not that bad. Certainly one of the top 3 hotels I've ever stayed in.....ever - and I've stayed in many.

Jamie W.

I am not happy with our visit. I’ll start with things I found enjoyable… the view from our balcony was beautiful! The balcony was screened in so you could sit outside without getting eaten by mosquitos. The room had plenty of space for my family of 4. There was a full kitchen which we did use. 2 bathrooms in the room. The boat slips were spacious and sturdy and had fresh water to rinse the boat. Within walking distance of restaurants and bars. Moving on to things that basically ruined our time… I got locked out on the balcony for some time while my family had left to explore because if the doors are shut all the way you can’t get back in from the outside. They were unlocked but the door handles wouldn’t push down on the inside to open the doors. We had to leave them open the whole time. The shower curtain rod was a piece of crap in the shower and fell and hit my daughter on the head while she was taking a shower. It left a mark on her forehead. The kitchen sink over flowed and would not drain and stunk. The pool was closed basically the entire time we were there (they opened at 5pm the night before we had to leave) which is the only thing my kids wanted to do. After we left they charged me $75 for a pet fee when we didn’t have any pets with us. Then they started randomly putting money back in and pulling money from my account without any authorization! I am in the process of fighting the charges with my bank. I will never be back and hopefully this doesn’t happen to anyone else. I was checking out of a grocery store preparing for a Major hurricane to hit when I realized they took an unauthorized amount and was unable to make my purchase. This place is a freaking joke! And needs some major upgrading to the rooms!

Nancy B.

The BEST in Apalachicola. You get it all; the river, walking distance to all , short drive to beach, all the great recreation and food while the staff and rooms are do big and no amenity is needed it is all here.

ENJOY your next stay!!
Nsnc

Cindy C.

Great stay! This is a condo for the price of a hotel room. Right on the river with a screened balcony overlooking the river. We were in 302 which had a king bedroom a tiny half bedroom, 2 full baths, a full kitchen and small washer dryer. It was large and comfortable. I see other reviews about dilapidated warehouses next door and there is a business next door with some old warehouses but we walked back and forth to town every day and did not feel unsafe at all. There are restaurants and bars all along the way. This is an old waterfront town and some of the buildings along the riverfront need some love but it is a cool downtown and we really enjoyed our stay. We’re retired and travel a good bit and did not feel unsafe walking anywhere here. If we come back we will definitely stay here again.

Christine C.

I use to love this hotel and stayed there frequently. Although, it was a little expensive it was on the canal, close to town, and had a pool. However, my most recent booking they are refusing to refund even though the entire county is under mandatory evacuation orders and will likely have close to a direct hit from a category 4 hurricane, Helene.