How we research

Where our facts come from

We ask whoever is in charge. Beach rules, flags, lifeguards and parking come from the City of Gulf Shores, the City of Orange Beach and their codes of ordinances. Gulf State Park comes from Alabama State Parks, fishing licenses and seasons from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (Outdoor Alabama), and weather from NOAA. Prices and policies come from each hotel's, tour operator's, attraction's or event organizer's own website. Some pages also show prices, ratings or booking terms from Expedia or Viator. Those pages say so and give the date we looked.

Each page gives the date we checked it and lists its sources in a short note at the end. Prices and opening times change, so confirm them with the business before you book.

When we can't confirm something

• If no source gives a fact, we leave it out rather than guess.
• If two sources disagree, we go with the one closest to the decision: the operator over the tourism office, the law over a summary of it, and for hotels the Expedia listing, because that's where you book. The page's source box names what we used.
• Distances and walking times are estimates from OpenStreetMap routing, without traffic.
• Review scores and other people's reviews never count as facts here. Where we show an Expedia or Viator rating, it is their number with the date we saw it, not our own verdict.

How we choose hotels and condos

We list hotels we can book through Expedia that are rated at least 8.5 out of 10 there, from at least 20 reviews. Four lower-rated hotels are on the list too, because so many visitors search for them by name: Best Western On The Beach, Phoenix All Suites and Staybridge Suites (8.4) and Hilton Garden Inn Orange Beach (7.8). Their rating is shown like every other. The score only decides whether a place appears; what we say about it comes from its own pages. Condo complexes are rented unit by unit, so we describe the complex from its own or its manager's pages and link to a Vrbo search instead of a single unit.

How we make money

Some links go to Expedia Group sites such as Expedia and Vrbo, or to Viator, as affiliate links. Book through one and we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. In the page code, every link that can pay us is marked as sponsored.

No hotel, condo manager, tour operator or attraction pays to be listed, and commissions have no say in the order we show them. Places with no booking link, such as public beach accesses, parks and the ferry, are covered the same way.

Photos

Place and landscape photos come from Wikimedia Commons. Each photo is credited where it appears, and the image credits page lists every one with its author and license. Hotel and tour photos are the businesses' own images from Expedia or Viator, and we use them only next to links to that hotel or tour.

Corrections

If something is wrong or out of date, email [email protected] with the page and what has changed. We check it against the source, update the page and give it a new date.

Independence

This guide is independent. It is not run by the City of Gulf Shores, the City of Orange Beach, Alabama State Parks or Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism, and no hotel or tour operator has a say in it. Our only business ties are the affiliate links described above. Privacy · Contact