South Texas Lodging

[jimjonas]

there are rv parks in palacias(17 mi.),wadsworth (12 mi.), Matagorda (18 mi.), and bay city (22 mi.). palacias has one on palacias bay that is nice if you like fishing. there is one at the beach in matagorda, but it has no trees and the draw bridge on the intracoastal canal can cause trouble getting to work and back.

[Rennhack]

Bay City Texas Information

http://www.visitbaycity.org/

http://www.visitbaycity.org/hotelmotel/hotelmotels.htm

http://www.cityofbaycity.org/index.asp

(Note new area code is 979)


Apartments:

Riverway Apartments 979-244-2821
Nichols Square 979-244-4011
Baywood Square Apartments 979-245-2002
Meadow Chase Apartments 979-245-8616  
Meadow Chase/Nichols Square/Riverway are the closest clean places to stay. They're really about 18 minutes from the plant, in Bay City.  A good thing about Meadow Chase Apts. is that they will work with you on shorter term leases.

Do yourself a favor and call NOW and make a reservation at the Luther Hotel in Palacios. Its cheap, they have weekly rates, cable, etc. Its right on the Matagorda Bay and you can see the water from the front rooms. They also have whole 1 bedroom cottages there too (for more money). Also, its closer to work than Bay City. If its still there there's a small gym around the corner from the Luther Hotel you can join temporarily while you're in the area. The Luther is also on the National Registry of Historical Places, and is kept up real nice.

[Camella Black]

Any updated comments would be great. Please note the change to the area code, it is now (979). I provided a link above to the area and to the area hotels/motels.

[nuke_girl]

Camella

When i am at STP i stay at the Best Western in Bay City..its clean..its clean..its clean ..and safe and the manager BJ gives me a break for nuke workers...granted its not as inexpensive as some other Inns in Bay City but as a woman traveling alone..im selective about security..and being clean... enough said.

Kath

[Raze]

I stayed at the Serendity RV Park for the Spring 2008 outage.  The pizza place next to Subway was decent, as well as the Subway and Sonic.  Lots of Mexican places to eat there as well, though I'd say Los Cucos wasn't well seasoned.

There's a grocery store there, a small thing that's nothing like HEB and the like, but it's local.  However, it's also quite expensive, because the nearest competition is 20 minutes or so northwest to Port Lavaca.  I tended to go there once a week to do my grocery shopping at the Super Wal-Mart there, also since it was the only real entertainment there was outside of the little Hollywood Video in Palacios.  Buying a DVD in Lavaca, and snagging a pizza in Palacios all to myself, were a basic "day off" pattern.

Serendipity cost me 225 a month + electricity, which was about $60, and included internet (though slow).  Unfortunately, my experience of the place was poor, though I gather it was also unusual.  The part of their property towards the street is inadvisable as a spot, because there's a Mexican family there that's always playing music or doing something.  Additionally, I kept kicking the breaker.  This meant I'd get home from work, flick the A/C on, and flop into bed, only to have the breaker OUTSIDE kick.  This meant getting back up, going outside, and resetting it, then trying to get back to sleep.  They claimed there was nothing wrong with it, but alas, there clearly was.

For the Fall '08 outage, I endeavored to do much better.  Amid all the pipeline workers annoyingly taking up all the RV spots within miles, I eventually got in at Bert's RV, just outside of Bay City and across the river.  I opted for Bay City because it's superior to Palacios in every way, if you don't care to drive a couple more miles, and because I like to go to the occasional breakfast diner after a shift.  In effect, you have most of your needs and wants available without driving for it (like Port Lavaca from Palacios).  The rent I paid at Bert's RV included utilities, water, cable, and internet (unmetered spot): $365 a month.  I had no issues there, aside from the presence of only two laundry machines, and they don't like checks or debit.  A mile or two down the road from Bert's RV is the turn that takes you straight to STP.  You make that one turn the entire way, it's that easy.

As it turns out, the breakfast diner, "Gem's," was closed down by the feds over a tax issue (so I was told).  At last glance, it's an empty rundown building still on the market (a real waste.  I imagine it would do a better job of paying its taxes had it been left open, imbeciles).  There are a fair number of Mexican places to eat, a couple chinese, Wendy's, a pizza hut, dominoes, little Caesar's, a Chile's, a couple Subways, and a few other things like McDonalds and Sonic.  Bay City also has about 3-4 good BBQ and seafood joints.  Just thinking about them makes my mouth water.  There's a large HEB there, a Super Wal Mart, a Blockbuster, and another video rental store (was being renovated, don't know what it'll come back as).  There is also a bar there, where people would meet after work most of the time.

Hope all that helps .

9/1/09 Update: Okay, some more info that I've discovered since returning.  Bert's RV's metered spots are $290 + electricity, and they now take checks as well for payment.  It's a month from the actual outage and this place is filling up fast, so reserving here should probably take place at least before that.

And for those of you who haven't made it to this particular STP outage yet but will, the contractor entrance is not at the main gate anymore.  They've blocked off the usual parking lot at the NSC, and diverted contractors to the outage parking entrance itself where they look at your drivers license and wave you in.  They shuttle us from the parking lot to the NSC - you'll know the spot when you see it, just turn right at the end of the entrance road.  I'm sure you can imagine our confusion when we weren't advised of all this.  Another change is that the badging process has been "stunning."  It's the 2nd day of training and nearly all of us are badged already - I and some others had badges waiting for us this very morning when we came in.

[Mike McFarlin]

I'm at the Studio 6 in Bay City, and the rate is  427 per week for a room with a kitchenette. Phone # is 979-244-2400.

[stonebridge]

Stonebridge RV Park & Resort (www.stonebridgervpark.com) between Bay City and West Columbia.
Beautiful, tree-shaded RV Park with swimming pool, hot-tub, two stocked fishing ponds, NEW laundromat, open-air pavilion with flat-screen TV and gas grills, community lodge, RV & CABIN RENTALS and friendly, helpful staff.
All concrete sites with full hook-ups.
We offer monthly, weekly or nightly rates.  CALL 979-245-1200