Crystal River Inn

My stay at the Crystal River Inn was a miserable experience. The windows to my room (described on their website as "serene") were about 30 feet away from a bar that played VERY LOUD LIVE music until 10:30 pm. There was no way the supplied foam ear plugs, noise machine or box fan could come close to drawing out the 80 decibels of noise. I had to cut short my intended stay by one day or I'd go bonkers. No consideration or refund on the charge. Beware.

Ear plugs/noise machine tells it all. Outdoor bar/live music next door. Old building/furnishings, complete with box fan. You must ask for room turnover/cleaning or they avoid you, including not replacing the towels, bed making or emptying trash. Limited/small somewhat precarious parking. Walking distance to downtown the only plus. Geared to millennials who don’t care about accommodations.

We love staying here at the Crystal River Inn San Marcos. The owners always go above and beyond our expectations with their warm welcome and hospitality. This was our second trip staying at this beautiful home. We celebrated our anniversary and my birthday here. Our room was very comfortable, we thoroughly enjoyed the library in our room and the big king bed was very comfortable. This particular weekend was the fun, very suspenseful murder mystery weekend. We met new friends, ate scrumptious food and the entertainment was amazing! Owners Cathy and Mike Dillon made sure my birthday was memorable with a surprise birthday cake. We highly recommend staying at The Crystal River Inn for your be ext Bed and Breakfast stay and especially for the Murder Mystery weekend filled with laughter, making memories and great tasting food.

The Crystal River Inn has been hosting Murder Mystery Weekends since the 1980's. My husband an I have been to THREE of these weekends over the past 20 years. We learned this weekend, while participating in number 3, that the Inn has been sold! They are unsure if the new owners will continue to run the Murder Mystery Weekends going forward OR if they will turn it into a typical Airbnb? Therefore, this MAY have been the last of these awesome eventful experiences! It would be very sad to see this happen, after all, they have a great reputation to uphold...Even if they did it quarterly and hired a company to facilitate the event, that would keep the fun alive! I hope the new owners read this review and consider continuing with the Crystal River Inn's classic Murder Mystery Weekends for future generations to enjoy.

My 2 sisters, one brother in law and myself spent the night at Crystal River Inn October4, 2022. We found each member of the staff we encountered to be very courteous, as well as very helpful. However the cleanliness and maintenance, or actually lack thereof was very disappointing. The exterior and exterior of the building and grounds was absolutely just dirty and uncared for. We rented the two bedrooms downstairs. The carpet in the bedrooms was very stained and the smaller bedroom had not been even vacuumed. lint, small pieces of trash, dirt literally everywhere. The closet was piled with boxes, shoes , hats, leaving nowhere for a guest to hang clothes. The light fixture above the bed had many spider webs and the air conditioning vent grill was black it was so dirty. The bedspread was stained and just dirty. The woodwork like baseboards and doors were in need of paint and a good deep clean. The larger bedroom was better. Stained carpet but at least had been vacuumed and the closet was empty. The bathroom floor was in need of cleaning. We sat in the library to visit where the ceiling fan was covered in black dirt and again the floor was very dirty. The photos on the website appeared to have been from many years ago. My guess is there will not be many return visitors.

We can only echo what others have said. We stayed in the Blanco Room and found it lovely. The room and, in fact, the entire house is filled with lovely antiques that fit in nicely in the 1883 mansion. Just a few steps from our room was the second floor veranda where we found comfy rocking chairs for watching the San Marcos world go by. We also loved the location just a few blocks from the restaurants and stores of downtown. Our preferences lean toward good locations and small B&Bs over big name hotels by the interstate. If we looked hard we could see a few signs of the building's 140 years but it didn't take anything away from this lovely establishment. Whenever we're in San Marcos, we hope they'll have a room for us.

It made our weekend trip memorable. So many nice touches and we want to return to our "getaway". Location is ideal. Stayed at the Blanco Room. When we checked in, our room keys were in the kitchen with a welcoming note from Cathy Dillon, the owner. I had previously spoke to her to make the reservations. The next morning Regina fixed us a tasty breakfast and we found her to be welcoming. It was the atmosphere in which the owners Mike and Cathy Dillon created that brings back repeat customers.

Very disappointed in our stay at this B&B. This inn has seen better days, the building and in particular the room we stayed in, was dated, in poor repair, in need of a total renovation. Describing the room as “designer “ is a gross over statement. The air conditioning was controlled by a thermostat in the hallway, it was either too warm or too cool. The room was very damp and musty, towels never dried. The electrical outlets were in short supply, the best option for charging devices was in the bathroom, not convenient. The luxurious tub had peeling paint and cheap plastic shower curtains. If you do choose to stay here, be aware that there are multiple buildings, make sure you know where your room will be. Parking is very limited. I felt that the website was a bit misleading, pictures of swimming, references to playing bocce ball and spending time in the garden gave me an expectation that was far different from the reality of being in the middle of traffic and next door to a frat house. We were in the Thomas House, which has retail space on the first level, which equates to strangers coming and going during the day. Our room had a lock and key, but all you had to do was give the door a good shove and it would open, even locked, the door didn’t latch properly. Breakfast was definitely not as described on the website, it was adequate but certainly not gourmet. Maybe the Crystal River Inn was as described in older reviews, but be assured it was not what we expected from reading those reviews.

My stay was decent. The frat boys at the bar next door were loud well into the night, the power went out anytime you used a hairdryer, the shower didn’t work, and breakfast at 9 isn’t very convenient if you have a morning meeting like I did. But big issue was after my stay. The Inn sent an email with a 10% off code for my next stay. When I attempted to use the code the next month it didn’t work. I forwarded their own email to the management and the response was that they didn’t know what code I meant, even though it was in the same email. So I responded with the code and pointing to the email text therein, and the staff ignored that email completely. When I called later the same day, I was told that room price was raised that same day and it was no longer available, but I could have another room for the original rate, but they wouldn’t honor the discount. Then when I said I would take it but didn’t think it was fair to send a discount then refuse it, they said I couldn’t have the room anymore. Just very deceptive and unprofessional management, and it was the owner’s decision not to honor the discount (that was supposed to be good all year). Lots of nicer hotels in San Marcos who don’t deceive guests.