Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, Destin

Too many people for accommodations. Go east. I tried to contact Jason, Director of Activities three times, hours apart. never picked up his phone. The operator could not help find another person to help as she tells me there have been changes. On the rental side, the owner was completely unresponsive when I called due to the deplorable state of a mattress. We ended up buying a air mattress and due to the terrible congestion at the resort's beach, sitting by the ocean at the state park. Do not go to destin for vacation.

I THINK THEIR WAS A THOUSAND PEOPLE ON THE BEACH. THEY HAD 6 ROWS OF BEACH CHAIRS SET UP ON THE BEACH ALL THE WAY TO THE WATER LINE. YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE THE WATER MUCH LESS GET TO IT. THE NEW OWNER OF THE RESORT IS REALY MESSING THINGS UP. IT HAS GOTEN WORSE EVERY YEAR. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.

We really enjoyed our stay at Beachside Towers of Sandestin. We chose to rent through a private owner, Marcella, instead of going directly through the resort and had a huge savings. We tend to travel in the off peak times and we find that private owners can give a much better deal than the resort can. Sandestin is wonderful in the Spring and fall times, a word of caution though that in the Spring the water will be cold! If you want warm water go in the fall, but check for hurricanes in the gulf before you go! We had several nice days sitting by the pool and strolling down the empty beach. I know that with the arrival of March Spring Break will start and the beach will be full but at then end of Feb the beach was absolutely deserted. We only saw a few people on a several hundred yard walk up and down the beach when the sun was shining and it was mid 70's a great beach day. At Sandestin our favorite breakfast place is the Donut Hole located about 5 minutes east of the resort on hwy 98. For lunch we enjoy Grand Blvd with several options including Mitchell's Fish Market. For a nice dinner the Ocean Club just outside Sandestin's gate can't be beat. If you go early they have a 2 for 1 that is fabulous almost all year I think. We avoid the Trams and most of what is at Sandestin, although if you want a good place within walking distance Barefoots at the Hilton is great for a beach bar and also Seagar's is fine dining $$$$ at its best. All in all, going to Sandestin doesn't have to be as expensive as some of the other posters have said, going with a private owner like Marcella or one of the other owners saves a bunch and going off the resort saves a bunch on meals. You probably will have a car, I know that there is so much traffic everyone else does, so use it!

We thought by staying at the "Luau" it would be somewhat nicer than the "Hilton"...NOT!!!! It was VERY overcrowded!!! If you don't plan on renting a chair at the crack of dawn, you can forget about getting a good spot on the beach. Looked like a bunch of skittle colored umberallas everywhere all the way up to the water. When I went on this vacation I wanted it to be relaxing and somewhat PRIVATE....it was by far that. On top of everything, at our arrival our room was not ready by 4 pm. Their was "kids" waving us down on the side of the road inside the resort to take them to Baytowne....really?!?!?!?! Do yourself a favor....unless you want to stay out and drink or party with an overcrowded beach, don't go here!!!! The only plus was the pool and our meal at Seagars.

Beautiful property and beach, but had several problems. I was surprised because I've stayed here many times for an annual conference, including at Bayside, and there have been changes for the worse. I often choose Bayside, even though there is no room service or nearby place to eat after breakfast hours, because the bay is lovely and the rates are more reasonable. In the past, I was always able to either call a tram or get one conveniently in time for our meetings that start around 8 am. Now they have changed the hours-- doesn't start until 10 am and no more trams on call. I flew in, so I didn't have a car but didn't expect difficulties. Wound up having to ask friends to get up early and come pick me up. Not only that, but the new open-air trams that replaced the buses have no shock absorbers, to the point of being painful going over the many bumps. My teeth literally rattled-- I had neck pain afterwards. They also don't have signs on the trams to tell guests the route, and they all look alike but have different routes. If I took a few seconds to go to the front and ask if they were going to my hotel, there was often such a rush for seats that I lost my chance to get on and had to wait 30 to 40 more minutes. Basically I just had to get on and hope for the best-- which meant a couple of wasted 40 minute trips. Several other guests on board were having the same problem, which could have been solved with a simple inexpensive sign! It is unfortunate that they've made these changes. If I had known, I could have rented a car. Next year, I'll do that and also stay outside of the resort at a hotel with room service-- without the convenience of resort transportation, there's not much point in staying at Bayside.

We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard b/c we didn't really know the area and that turned out to be a great decision. The Courtyard has all the amenities offered by the Sandestin Golf and Beach resort and is only one mile from the Village. The shuttle runs every 30 min. until 3am and if you have a car, drive around and get familiar with the Sandestin area. Besides the great restaurants in the Village, go to Tommy Bahama at Grand Blvd. and sit outdoors in the back. We loved walking to the Marina for lunch and enjoyed the walking paths every day. We we there on Memorial weekend and loved all the activity. They brought in some special things for the kids so it was very family oriented. Rum Runners and Hammerhead's is a must for fun! Sit upstairs at Poppy's and watch the sunset. Take a day and drive to Grayton Beach and Seaside--lots of great stops in between too. If you go to Destin, eat at Harry's and watch the boats come into the harbor. We rented a wave runner and went to Crab Island--so fun We will go back with another "must do" list.

After reading some negative reviews on various websites I was a bit concerned - but decided to visit anyway. We were assigned a 1 br condo in harbor point - very large and nice with a full kitchen. Everything was clean (dh says it was like visiting the 1970's though) The hotel tram service was wonderful, there was only one time we had to really wait for a tram to drive us somewhere. Many restaraunts to try ($$$$) The beach was OK, was not paying $35 for chairs though. The website boasts that the resort has 19 pools - true but you are NOT allowed to use them all. Only if you are staying at the same hotel as the pool. We had no access to a heated pool and the weather was quite cool the week we were there. We did sneak into the Luau pool and they let us stay and swim. Never "rented" the free bikes because they closed at 5pm and it never fit into our plans. Too cold to rent a canoe also. We did a lot of walking around this beautiful resort. We had a problem with our door lock one day and had a repair man out within 20 minutes. Out tram drivers were great, offering us advice on where to eat. We loved the greek restaraunt which offered great salads and reasonably priced wine. We also loved the dueling piano bar. We left the resort a few times to eat as it cost much less. AJ's was great, sat up on the dock overlooking the bay and had amazing calamari and boiled shrimp. Went to steakhouse in destin (think it ws called lonestar or something) and had amazing steak/lobster dinner one night. All in all was a nice trip (would have been amazing if it was 80 degrees instead of 50 outside.) WARNING - you will spend A LOT of money on this trip. $50 for breakfast and lunch, and at least $80 for dinner. We tend to drink wine on vacation and at about $8-10 a glass it runs the bill up a bit. There is a great boardwalk between the village and the marina with treehouses, DH and I climbed up into one one night and made out like teenagers ;) There seemed to be a lot of smaller children there but everything for them was so expensive. We will definantly go back to the destin area but will probably not stay at this resort. A little too expensive for us. Also it is a LONG trip into destin because the traffic was HORRIBLE. Took us 45 minutes to drive 8 miles one night.

The review I intended to write for the resort somehow was posted to the Hilton. I never stayed there and couldn't write a review for it but have stayed at Sandestin many times and love everything about it. The most recent trip was for the wine festival last year and we thoroughly enjoyed it. This place is hard to beat for location, surf, sand, golf and seafood. The Village has a lot to offer, especially night life, which is great for not having to leave the resort but there are great restaurants and golf courses all over Destin. Super place!

people say hawaii is great people say california is great people even say new york city and alaska is great well they have not been to sandestin then this placed rock we were treated with some the best recpet ive ever seen are air did go out but we only had 2 more days there so that was not a big deal we stayed 7days here great place food to die for shoping to die for i was useing a walker wheelchair at the time only got in the water oce me and my family will go back there we would live there if we had the money people were so nice anf friendly it was great i will be going bakc so fun

Sandestin Resort was a great family destination. Very nice grounds. We stayed in the Windward tower in a 1 bedroom condo that was very nice. Loved, loved, loved the beach view from the very oversized balcony. Beach was very nice and most importantly my 3 year old loved the kiddie pool as well as the beach. We will definitely come back to Sandestin. Wish we had more time to use the free bicycle rental.