Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort and Spa, Destin

Our family drove 21 hrs to enjoy the Hilton for 2 days and received the worst hotel experience ever. We paid for a junior suite 35 days prior to arrival and found out on the day we arrived, the Hilton had given our rooms away. Their explanation was they had overbooked and had to give our room to someone else. Other guest during our arrival had the same terrible experience of the Hilton "giving away rooms" already paid for. It's a shame to see have a five star hotel acting like an airline company, overbooking and under-delivering on services. After a 1 hour debate with the hotel, they provided us a handicap room that was smaller and did not have enough sleeping space. So for my Day 1 experience, I spent the night sleeping partially on a foot stool and a chair. In summary we spent our 1st night at the Hilton sleeping like we were living in a poverty 3rd country environment. Sleeping on what I could find, no extra pillows (I asked and they never delivered). The blankets provided were a mess. On our Day 2 experience the hotel moved us to a Junior Suite room (similar to what we had paid for originally). It was nice to finally get beds for our family. The problem with this room was the TV never worked (maintenance said they couldn't fix it until after we left), and we never received towels and pillows (we called twice). Also one of the pillows had blood on it. It was gross. Overall this was a terrible hotel experience. It’s unfortunate a world class hotel can't take care of their guest. It you want to find a hotel that can provide a 1st class luxury experience I would recommend not looking at the Hilton Sandestine Resort. I have had better experiences at the holiday Inn express, where I only payed $77 per night vs paying $270 a night at the Hilton. Joe Swanton

We Loved The Location, Very Beautiful Resort! Loved The Ocean, Pools, Views! But..... it was a Horrible Experience with the Guest that was staying in the Adjoining Room of ours. We Were Told this is NON-SMOKING Rooms. We woke up to the Smell of Smoke in our Room, was obviously very worried about a Fire! Come to find out , it was coming from the Guest Next Door, so we called down to the Front Desk, and they said they would send up SECURITY! Well, they told my Husband to try putting a Towel under the Door, to see if that helped!!!! Later that day, Several other Guests on the same floor, said they smelled Smoke , halfway up the Hall. So, you could only imagine what our Room smelled like! We went to the Front Desk.... Once Again!!! They said , absolutely NO Smoking is allowed in Rooms, only on Balcony! So, once again, they said they would send up Security! Well, Needless to say, We couldnt Sleep at Night... Worried about a Fire, and the Smell! So, Kids had to try to sleep in Living Area with us. On our Checkout Day, the Smoking Guest Next Door , had just checked out also, and their Door was Wide -Open, and The Smell That Came From that Room, could have Knocked a Cow Over!!! A Fan was sitting on the Floor, I guess to Circulate their Smoking in the Room., bad news it was Circulation over to Us!!!! If Security went to their room, they would have Definately Smelled the Smoke. If Hilton is going to Advertise as a NON-Smoking Rooms, then they should stand behing that. I was told to talk to a Manager from another Guest, she gave me the name of Gary, but when I asked to speak to him, the Front Desk , said he wasnt available. We did write up a Review at the Hilton. Hopefully, this helps other Guests, that dont like to Smell Smoke, and I feel Very Sorry for the Next Guest that Had to Stay in that Room, if they thought it was a non - Smoking Room ! The Front - Desk Employees are NOT Very Friendly or Helpful! They are Very Professional, but almost Robotic. We didnt have a Blow- Dryer in our room, when we arrived, and the bell boy called down right away, because I asked him about it, because I forgot ours. We never did get a Blow -Dryer sent up, we asked the Front -Desk 3 Times about it. They kept saying someone will bring it Right up.... we just finally bought one , at Walmart. Small things like this , can ruin some peoples Vacation, but this was minor to the Smoking Issue! The Bell - Boys were Awesome., The Cleaning Ladies are Wonderful, Very Friendly, and do a Great Job, ( at least the ones that did our room did) Overall, it is a Very Nice Place to stay, The Elevators are Very Slow, but that is almost Everywhere! We would have went back to this Location , if not for the Terrible Experience with the Smoking! Not willing to in-hale Smoke for 5 Days on Vacation Ever -Again!!!

Likes: Rooms were well furnished, comfortable and had the amenities we were looking for. Bed/Bunkbed suite is a great touch for families and we took advantage. Seagars restaurant was an experience to remember. They had excellent wines and the food was spectacular, but expect to pay for the privelege of finally finding top flite service at this property. Recommendation of Sail Away Destin for a sailing cruise on the gulf was a great call. We thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the captain. Dislikes: Food at the resort was poor quality overall - snack food at Picnix was old, nearly stale. Depending on the bartender the drinks were OK to awful. Menu was limited and expensive (not unexpected at a resort). Inexplicably the pool area ran out of towels 2 days of 4 we visited - it's a beach resort! Check in took a while and reservations the concierge "made" didn't always materialize. In fact they recommended we do most things ourselves. Not the full service I expected from a Hilton Hotel. Another disappointment was the resort's (not the Hilton's) decision to severely limit shuttle availability pretty much trapping us at the resort. There is plenty to do on site, but we were looking forward to exploring a little more. Cabs are non-existent and the shuttles are very undependable as they focus on the airport. In the end the cons probably outweigh the pros here. The rooms are exactly what we'd like, but the service levels are so poor that you quckly forget the things that go right. Too bad becuase the beach is pretty wonderful at this resort. Next time we'll probably take the flight to Naples from WI rather than to Ft Walton...

Service was ok, they couldn't guarantee a late checkout until the day of. Food was outragous! $50 for 2 simple buffets. Pool was crowded but beach was nice. Chairs at beach were expensive to rent so we just laid on towels. Bed was comfortable and room was clean. We booked a full beach view but only got a partial one. People there were kind of rude. The tram was nice though. We stayed at hilton in pensacola 2 years ago and will go back there but won't be visiting the destin hilton again. It's just as nice and less expensive.

The food was too expensive and it wasn't as good as they said it would be. Drinks were not good and over priced. Cleanliness in the room was not good. I would not recommend this hotel for the money.

Super resort and most beautiful sand and surf anywhere. Huge variety of lodging options and great restaurants and golf courses abound. This location is hard to beat for golf, beaches and seafood. We go as often as possible. Went for the wine festival this time and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rooms are very noisy. No sound proofing. Mold was growing in the shower. Housekeeping arrives late in the day and does little to clean. Place nickels and dimes you every chance. Pool was very crowded. If you don't reserve a chair the day before there is no where to lay out. Beach area while nice is very small since the condos on each side keep you out of "their" beach area.

Husband, myself and two teens ages 15 &16 stayed over the springbreak weekend. We liked the room (#906). The balcony view was partial beach-partial parking area. We didn't mind long as we had the partial beach view. Check-in was fine and relatively quick. I had almost changed reservation after all the negative post on here but we didn't have any major complaints. It was cool the entire weekend so we didn't enjoy the pool. We only saw one outdoor hot-tub and it was usually full and had lot's of kids. Watched at least 5 weddings over the weekend on the beach. Security would try to keep kids from playing or people walking in the backdrop as the weddings were being held and I completely understood this. A couple of the receptions were held on the different pool decks which meant they did close those areas. Those receptions would of been better IMHO due to the cool temps. We grealy enjoyed the shuttle to Baytowne Wharf. The two girls could adventure out and shop and site see without us to atg along. Gave them some independence and I felt they were safe. We could ride later to the clubs on the shuttle and enjoy drinks without having to worry about parking or a DUI. Idid not like the resorts 10.00 per night parking fee and my husband parked so as not to have to pay even more for the valet service. One night the girls enjoyed the nice large-heated in-door pool. On one night we heard a lot of banging overhead. Concerned that somone was fighting and thrashing the furniture about we called the front desk. Shortly thereafter it stopped and a security guard knocked at out door. He stated that it was maids storing away some items and apologized for the noise. We didn't hear any further noise. Check out was a itemized slip quitely placed under our door. No problem. We would go back again. Oh, yes, lovely grounds. Just next trip we will go in the warmer months.

The front desk and back end office where rude and not helpful at all. Rent a by owner rental like a condo or home and you can save money and not have to deal with rude people or long lines. or high prices on food.

We received a special reduced rate through the internet, but we were still treated like royalty. They even let us stay an additional night for the reduced rate! All our requests were met and more. We didn't have to move our car because the tram took us everywhere we wanted to go. Beach chairs and parking were a little pricey, but hey, it's a very nice resort. It was a great vacation, and we look forward to going back. I highly recommend it!