Well my husband is in the military and he had a few days off and we were going to go for our anniversary this past weekend. Well i was told if i canceled after 72 hrs prior then i would be charged a fee.. I said okay thinking it was like $50 or something. Well my husband got called into work yesterday.. so I called to cancel my reservation and that is when i was informed that they were going to charge the room's rate plus tax. I told her that i was not informed of this and told them not to touch my account. I get called my bank today that not only did they charge the full room's rate.. they also charged $50 more for a damage deposit? I didn't even go or stay. So i called and spoke to the manager and i was informed that I should have been told.. and even though i wasn't they are keeping the money. We are going to my husbands commanding officer tomorrow and the JAG lawyer!

So make sure if you reserve.. you know for sure that you can go!

Stayed there for my birthday and the place was horrible. Filty carpet, sheets do not stay on the bed, did not make up room until almost 5 every day, we left early. Horrible experience and restaurant on premises is mediocre at best and that is being kind. Poolside service is non-existent and they lied to us when reservations were made.

We went here on our honeymoon and had a wonderfull stay. The hotel has rooms with jacuzzies in them. Our room we reserved had a water problem so they upgraded us for free. I was amazed at this hotels beauty. The staff was very friendly and the pool

Well where do I start? We decided to stay at this hotel for our honeymoon! Now I didn't have a problem with our room, but it wasn't quite on the ocean like it said! But guess what? It get's worse! We check out, and they use our Visa/Debit card to our checking account! Well of course their was another couple that had the same last name as us! We got charged for two rooms which in turn over drafted our account. Now that I am in a different state I have to take care of this mess. Castillo Real says it sounds like a bank error! How is it the banks fault that you charged me for two rooms? Its been a week since we stayed there, and my account is still overdrawn and occuring fees! They say it's all taken care of, and to wait and see the credit come to my account! I am glad I didn't have outstanding checks or debits out there or I would be in a lot more trouble than I already am in! And for some reason today they keep telling me that there was not a manager in sight until friday! Some how after I got angry, a manager appears on the phone! So I guess my suggestion would be if you stay there, pay cash!

My wife and I have been coming to St. Augustine for the last eight years to relax and enjoy the warm sun in March and get away from the snow of Minnesota. We came across the across the recently opened Castillo a couple years ago and gave it a gty for a week. We loved everything about our stay. Beautfful stone parking lot, Lobby and jacuzzi suite. It was very clean, large and had a great ocean view. We were in a higher room. The lower rooms may be blocked to the view of the ocean as there are buildings behind, but still the view is not objectionable. The staff and management have all been very accommodating and would highly recommend to friends. (And I have)

I wish I had read the reviews before.

This place is NOT on the beach as inferred by their advertising.

It is a rather annoying walk on hot pavement to access the beach.

The place looked real swanky with the rates to boot (over $175.00/night).

But don't let the charade fool you.

The hotel's restaurant has been cited numerous times in violation of several serious health department violations this year.

The bed was extremely uncomfortable and the fitted sheets are just too small for the matress.

The water pressure is almost Third-World!

The receptionist was a foreign girl with a curt and rather disregarding demeanor whose personality might lend her talents to responsibilities other than those dealing directly with the public (i.e: folding laundry, performing bookeeping behind closed doors).

Just awful. Never again.

The beds are too high and fitted bed sheets consistently pulled from bed, I awoke every morning with the fixed sheets competing with my husband! Water pressure from all fixtures was so low, you had to:

(1) shower for an hour

(2) hold your cup under the faucet for 15 minutes, and

(3) re-flush and re-hold the toilet for at least three times before you waste products finally turned an eye away from you.

The pool was freezing cold in dead of summer!

Years ago, there were only four hotels on this beach. Today, there are dozens of respites. Take it from a long-time St. Augie vacationer, don't let the fancy marble and faux-wood finishes fool you. This place is $50 more than the best beach-front accommodations one can find on the beach!

Front desk personnel were apathetic and disinterested. Our room had urine on the toilet when we arrived. The hotel was not on the ocean as perceived by the website. The side door to walk to the ocean, where the outside rinse off shower was, had a bench where all the workers hung out on break and smoked. Not fun rinsing off from the ocean sand with workers staring at you! The maid did not check to make sure the door was shut when she left the room; we came back from being out all day to find the door unlocked. The front desk attendant just stared at me when I went to tell her the problem, like she didn't know what to say, and there were no apologies. We never saw a manager the whole time we were there, just young college age kids. Of all the hotels we have stayed in, this was the worst experience. I'd try the Hampton Inn down the street.

We were traveling for a few romantic days and the room was not ready at check-in time of 4:00 pm. One desk clerk said we could have a certain room and the other said we could not. It was not an ocean front as perceived when making reservations. A 4-story condo blocks the view.

The room was not cleaned the 2nd day after we had been out all day touring the city. We had to wait on the balcony while the cleaning attendant finished cleaning the room. The head of the cleaning dept. said she did not know we were returning that day so if we had not gone out then the room would not have been cleaned at all.

There were no flower arrangements all around the Jacuzzi as pictured on the internet nor were there any on the night stands. As we were ready to retire for the evening and pulled the covers down, we noticed the sheets did not fit so I had to go to the front desk to ask for the right sized sheets so they would not "pop" off as soon as we got into bed.

The hotel itself is beautiful, but I would say I was disappointed at not being directly on the beach and the missing arrangements in the room. When you complained, they were most accommodating, I was told they would give us a discount on the room for all of our troubles, it was a whopping $10.00 and we were paying $189.00 for two nights. What a deal. That goodness the city was not disappointing.

We have stayed at the Castillo Real Hotel in St. Augustine a couple of times but last two stays were just terrible.

What is going on with this hotel, new management?

1. The front desk person was not at the front desk from 7 pm until 10:30 pm, was she sleeping behind the front desk? Her apology: “I had very bad day”

2. On our last stay: Beer bottles under the bed! What about checking the rooms before a new guest arrives?

3. Our stay before: Towels with napkins and underwear?

Next time I will highly recommend the Hilton Inn or the Hampton Inn close to Beach or any other.