Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa

This was our second time to stay there (June 2016, October 2014). This time, there were issues with our room. We were supposed to have a deluxe suite with bunkbeds, and when we called on our way, we’re told we had a single king bed — we had kids with us so that wouldn’t work. We ended up in a room with 2 double beds — which 2 adults can not comfortably sleep in — they should change them out to queens. On the positive, our refrigerator wasn’t cooling and they brought us a new one.
This is a very pricey stay: hot breakfast $ 20, cold $ 12, umbrella & chairs is $ 49 for a 9am-​5pm set up, and bring your own Advil because gift shop sells it for $ 13.

First time to this hotel but not the first time to Destin. I am a Diamond for Hilton which might tell you how often I visit their properties.
This hotel is great! Beds are comfy, rooms are spacious, and the staff is awesome
My only complaint is you have to pay to «upgrade» to a full breakfast. The coupons should cover breakfast, no questions asked.
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My family comes here every summer and it’s a great hotel but let’s just get to the point, the housekeeping stinks!! The floor has crumbs all over it. One night the housekeeping came at 6 at night. When we checked in there was hair in the bathtub.
Love the pools and the beautiful beach. It’s also very cozy because it’s not in the busy part of Destin.

Stayed 3 nights here. Room was amazing. Full view of the gulf. Beautiful water. Staff was very friendly. This was sort of a plan B for my wife and I but we had fun nonetheless. My wife and I generally enjoy a more quiet atmosphere for our vacations. Only downside was how crowded the beaches are all day. I understand that this isn’t the resorts fault but just an FYI to future guest, if you don’t like crowded beaches then do not come to Destin. My last day here, I went to the beach at 5:30 am and had a very calm relaxing experience with very few beach goers around. If you come to the Hilton Sandestin I recommend an early morning swim to start the day before it gets hectic around the resort. I don’t know if I will return as, like I said earlier, it’s not really our scene but I would recommend it to families wanting a fun beach vacation. Fun place for kids and family! 3 stars!

Gorgeous view, great room, horrible housekeeping service, very nice desk staff, slow-​like-​molasses elevators, outrageous prices in every shop, snack bar, restaurant…
Really clean fitness center, huge cockroaches by the pools, clean beach area, immaculately clean bathrooms…
While we won’t stay here again, we don’t hate it or anything… Probably wouldn’t recommend it, but I wouldn’t discourage anyone from visiting.
Ultimately, I think that management could do a much better job — an exponentially better job — in literally all areas of hotel/​resort operations

Beautiful beach! Nice hotel, everyone is friendly. Sandcastles was great for breakfast. Rooms are comfortable for a family of four. You won’t feel crowed. Highly recommend!

It’s a good Hilton property, nothing amazing, but good. Built in 1984, the depressing 70s and early 80s exterior is evident. Cheap, plain and heavy. On the interior, they’ve done some phenomenal renovations, so make sure to ask for one of the recently renovated rooms. The shorter building is the one that has those. So, it’s kind of that mix, you look at this disturbing design from outside, yet the rooms are nice. That being said, it’s probably the nicest hotel overall on this side of Florida coast and north of Tampa, it just seems like nobody is building good things here with a design investment.
I thought the resort fee was a bit out of place given how little it includes, but manager handled it well when I inquired about what it actually covers. Keep in mind, you have to pay for umbrellas if you want them. The beach chairs are also really nice, wooden ones, not some plastic junk, so that’s awesome. I wish they had some fresh fruit and used those to make drinks, the bar is stocked with generic cheap Walmart grade mixers that are sure to give you a hangover you won’t forget.
Checkin was bearable, the room wasn’t ready by checkin time… and they didn’t let us extend checkout by more than an hour with Hilton status, so that made me wonder how efficient their housekeeping component is. You can’t get a room cleaned in 3 hours? Wow. There was also a very long checkin line on the day when we were leaving, that made me reminisce of the Hilton in Gatlinburg where I had to wait an hour in line to check in and was a subtle reminder of why I stopped staying with the Hilton chain and switched to the much superior Starwood. To sum things up, given how many things you experience in a hotel, it’s hard to get things perfect and I understand that. This is a good hotel and I’d consider coming back here, but probably more due to the lack of better options and not because they shined in a certain area.

Clean, nice rooms, prompt service and beach front. Great for families. Room service for breakfast was so nice. Enjoyed. Will definitely stay there again.

«Partial view» was basically a full view of the beach! Regular room was huge, modern, fresh, and extremely clean. Balcony was very large. Excellent service all around. Beach access was quick and easy. Pools and hot tubs were great. Free parking was close by. Did not use the spa, fitness center, or bars. Only ate at one restaurant «Barefoot café» near the pool And it was good quality and great service, but overpriced for the size of meals at lunch.
Only bad thing was $ 45 to rent chairs and beach umbrella for the day. Some places offer them for free. Oh, and the regular $ 25/​day resort fee was uncalled for, but typical.

Love love this place!!! The service and amenities are over and above!!! The only downfall was the fact that we came in the off season… and tried to order a drink from the main bar… Kyle put us on hold and said he was busy with lunch orders we have always had wonderful Service here aside from this!!!

A beautifull hotel/​resort at an amazing location. If your are in doubt about a beachview or not, take the beachview! It is so romantic to see the sunrise/​sunset and dolphins from your room.
For breakfast we had the parfait with fresh fruit and a croissant. Those were the best croissants we found in the US this year.
Just go.

We enjoyed our stay here. It’s a very nice resort. Originally booked an executive room with 2 beds & was upgraded at check-​in to a Deluxe Junior Suite — 1 King w/​bunk beds. The front desk said it overlooked the pool w/​partial beach view but once we got in the room, we noticed our «beach view» was obstructed by palm trees. We were on the 3^rd floor. Boo!
We did our research before going so we already knew the cost of the umbrella/​chairs each day ($ 45/​full day, $ 26/​half day) & was aware of the high cost of food/​drinks. So we bought our own umbrella & we got snacks/​drinks from the store & ate out elsewhere for dinner. As far as the beach chair/​umbrella service, this SHOULD be included in the resort fee ($ 25 per night). I’m still trying to figure out what the resort fee paid for besides parking *scratching my head on that one* I did splurge on Starbucks coffee every morning because it was maybe $ 0.25 cents more than what I would normally pay, not a big deal to me for convenience.
Housekeeping was a complete MISS! They come super late in the day — sometimes they left clean towels, sometimes not. One particular day I had to call down for tissue & the next day I had to call THREE times for wash cloths!
Pool chairs!!! Lord, where do I begin? In order to get pool chairs (not to mention one with an umbrella), you need to set your alarm for 6:30am or 7:00am (I’m not exaggerating). Guests get up super early to put towels on the chairs to «claim» them for the entire day, most guests claiming 4 chairs each. We learned the hard way on day 1 when we couldn’t find a single chair after we came back from the beach. There were plenty of chairs, but they all had towels on them — guests no where to be found for hours. On Day 2, I was ready. I woke up at 7:00am & claimed my 2 chairs with towels. However, I feel like that should be against the rules because it’s not fair at all.
The room was very comfortable, the grounds are well-​kept, and the front desk & baggage people are very friendly & helpful. Besides the gripe about housekeeping & pool chairs, we were impressed by how nice it was. And everyone can agree that if you’re comfortable & relaxed, you can deal with a few mishaps. Next time, I’ll be more vocal about the housekeeping, but we’ll stay here again.

The natural setting is stunning with white sand, clear water, and sunsets that will make you weep. The resort itself let us down, as it did not feel worthy of the almost $ 500 per day we spent.
As I’ve stewed over our vacation, I’m disappointed by the nickel and diming we experienced along with some spotty service.
The Bad:
Those darn $ 45 beach setups rankle a bit, especially considering I was already paying a daily resort fee. With all beach setups deployed, the short stretch of beach in front of the Hilton got pretty crowded.
Housekeeping was lousy. Our room was serviced (poorly) around 5:30– 6:00 pm daily. That timing sucked ass, and it was not convenient for us. Overflowing trash cans were ignored, and the room was barely touched. For $ 500 a night, you would expect a little more. Common areas on our floor were neglected, with overflowing trash in the vending area and room service dishes sitting untouched for 24 hours.
Drinks and food onsite were not competitively priced. There are much better options off-​campus. Let the convention people on expense account get gouged.
The Good:
Mother nature did a good job on the beaches. The pools were fun for my kids, although the «chair saving» with towels is completely absurd. Bellmen were great. Parking was ample and close, which was pleasantly-​surprising for a large resort like this.
Location overall was good, with an easterly location outside of the worst of the horrific traffic on US98. We had easy access to the Baytowne Wharf and the crucial Public grocery.
Overall, we had a good visit, but it should have been spectacular for spending about 2 grand on a 3-​day stay.

This property did not live up to our expectations. On the positive side, the checkin staff was incredible and the parking was easy and there was no charge for self parking. The rooms were spacious, but a bit outdated. The beach is beautiful and water is amazing, however it is crowded and be prepared to pay for beach chairs and an umbrella. The two pools were our biggest disappointment. They both seemed overly crowded and had no ambiance. I could have been sitting at a pool in any apartment complex across America.
The best part of the hotel was the shuttle that ran every half an hour to the Baytowne Village across the road. There were tons of restaurants and shops and entertainment nightly, that you could enjoy with the kids. We will probably go back, because we enjoyed that part so much.

EXTREMELY OVERPRICED!!! Also, there was a HUGE Advocare convention so hundreds of pyramid schemers and their families with tons of small kids invaded the hotel and it stayed packed. The pools were pretty much unusable. The halls and lobby were always packed and loud. It was super annoying. Wi-​Fi and parking are extra and so are chairs and umbrellas so after you spend $ 250 a night you spend hundreds more just to enjoy yourself. Save your money and stay at the actual Sandestin resort and not the Hilton.

Beautiful well kept property on the beach. Pretty much say no more…
We have had excellent service from the moment we arrived. Our valet and bellman were very helpful as he helped us get the layout of the hotel.
The big fight was this weekend… The cool thing was the Hilton roped off the bar and you could make reservations to watch the fight. There was a $ 50 minimum… Like that’s hard to spend at a hotel bar LOL! Regardless it was such a bonus to be able to watch it!
The rooms are huge! They would be perfect for the family as there are bunk beds in the front of the jr. suite. The bathrooms have 2 sinks, so it is easy for a few people to get ready. The room has a fridge, coffee maker, and microwave in the bar area. I always love a balcony to enjoy some wine and watch the sun go down.
The pool and beach area are great! Extremely guest friendly… There is a bar right by the beach and a restaurant by the pool. The food and drinks were both great.
The coffee shop is always a plus! I can’t tell you about the gym as I was relaxing this trip. The spa sounded nice too!
You won’t be disappointed with this property! I would love to come back and visit again!

This was our second spring break to Destin, last year having stayed in a condo in Destin proper. With so many of our friends staying in Sandestin, we opted to stay there as well this year and I selected the Hilton because of its location, full amenities, and outstanding pool. The price was steep but we splurged on a beachview Jr Suite to accommodate my hub and myself and our two teenagers.
After booking, when daydreaming about our coming vacation, I would peruse review boards to see what others said and showed about this property. Yikes. I was surprised at some of the negativity and my inner miser questioned my choice of this way-​north-​of-​$ 300/​night location. But seeing all the photos of this stunning place quieted the doubts and here we stayed.
And I’m so glad we did. We had exceptional customer service and every employee we came across said hello and was pleasant. Housekeeping service arrived daily without issue, the room was beautiful, the view excellent and the pool area as good as it looked in pictures. I love a big pool with beach bar and restaurant right there. The provided beach towels was a real plus.
One bit of info I couldn’t find in advance so I’ll share here is the laundry facilities details. I’m a frugal packer and don’t mind doing a load or two of laundry to reduce overall luggage count. Here, there is a facility on the lower level with four washers and four dryers. EACH requires $ 2.50 for a cycle (change machines and a detergent vending machine is available). A wash took about 30 minutes and the dryer’s $ 2.50 earned you a whopping 99 minutes of dryer time. Way more than necessary but there was no option to spend less and get less.
The breakfast buffet was good. I was disappointed that Gold members only received vouchers for the continental options on the buffet but happy to find that the voucher at least discounted the full buffet to a very reasonable $ 7.50/person. Lots of options here and we enjoyed every bite.
The parking is steeply priced but it’s not like that’s completely foreign to Hilton or other high end properties. We never had a problem finding a space to self-​park and went that route vs valet.
The dorm sized frig was way too small for us folks used to staying in condos with full kitchens. But when we arrived to find ours was missing the door brackets which removed even more of the available space, we called maintenance and it was replaced completely within hours. Great service.
TIP: our particular balcony had a solid wall vs railing. So when seated, you couldn’t see the beach. They aren’t all like that so ask about yours when checking in and request a balcony with railing to really enjoy the view. Also take advantage of Hilton’s online advance check in to personally select your exact room.
All in all, the Hilton delivered on our high expectations.

The best thing in the hotel are:
1– away from the public area. also, view in the beach and back side in the garden.
2– room size is a great.
3– they renew every thing in the hotel except the room itself.
Bad things are:
1– no bath slippers.
2– no compliment water «free water» like once a day.
2– no free wifi in the rooms unless you have the gold card.
3– no bathrobes.
4– took long time to check in.

Overall the hotel is nice with a beautiful setting on the water.
Pros– only resort in Destin that is right on the beach. Spa rates are very reasonable. Seagars restaurant was very good and the staff was extremely friendly. Close to many of the great restaurants and shops.
Cons– Beds are not comfortable at all. Starbucks in hotel closes at 3:00.
I would definitely come back here ad the setting and location make for a nice relaxing getaway.

Amazing service, beautiful property and right on the beach!
This Hilton will always be my first choice when we come back to Sandestin Beach. We will be back!