The three-story “pink palace,” as regulars call it because of its pink stucco exterior, sits a block from the Gulf of Mexico, but it’s very much worth the short walk to stay in a highly affordable room (starting at $80) festooned with fake safari trophies or Asian tapestries. Besides, at the Port Aransas Inn, you enjoy extras such as summer night poolside concerts and a pink basketball hoop. If you love to revel in weirdness and a beach-bum vibe, stay here when you visit the fishing mecca of Port Aransas.
Seven of the recently renovated inn’s 34 rooms carry themes of faraway places—Safari, Oriental, Country French, Southern Magnolia, Victorian, New York New York, and Santa Fe—all decorated down to the last detail. In the Safari Room, for example, you’ll sleep beneath mosquito netting in a dimly lighted room with plastic rhino and elephant heads mounted on black and brown walls. A yellow boa constrictor carved from a single piece of wood pokes its head out of a synthetic banana plant next to the bed. On the other side of the room, you’ll find a teak screen painted with exotic birds. A bamboo curtain leads to the closet, and in the bathroom, a painted hippo grins from the toilet seat. Funky enough for you?
If you want laid-back without a theme, choose one of the other 27 contemporary hotel rooms, some of which have full kitchens and all of which—like the themed rooms—include fridges and microwaves, along with free Wi-Fi. Double-queen rooms are perfect for families, and a studio queen includes a futon as well as a queen bed.
Poolside concerts, mostly country and classic rock, complete the summer on Saturday nights. Relax and enjoy.
