My husband and I visited the HI on the Beach in Destin for my niece's wedding at the end of June 2008. We were told it was one of the nicest properties on the beach. When we arrived, they sent us to a double room. They claimed they had no record of our king-size bed request nor did they have any rooms available. After speaking with the manager and showing them the Priority Club reservation with the confirmed rate for a king-size room, they magically "found" a room on the first floor. No one apologized for the error.

There were several other small problems, including an error on our bill, issues with catering for the wedding reception I paid for and at no time did anyone ever apologize or voluntarily go out of their way to address the issue.

The picture of the pool on the website is a bit misleading. It's fairly small for a hotel of that size. The hotel does offer direct access to the gorgeous Destin beach which is, I would think, the main reason anyone would want to visit. If you want a basic room and amenities with super access to the beach and close-by restaurants/
attractions, then the hotel would probably work for you. However, for $189/night, I could have a much nicer experience elsewhere. This is a budget hotel without the budget price tag.

The hotel is definitely kid-friendly and caters to families. My husband and I don't frequent those types of resorts and probably would have enjoyed our visit more if we stayed elsewhere.

The beach is beautiful and the hotel was great! The kids loved all of the kids' programs. Free ice cream and popcorn in the lobby every day was a hit. The room and hotel was super clean! We would definitely visit again.

We LOVE the Holiday Inn Destin. It is a Spectacular Example of "HOW to WIN Consistent Guests". The Kids expect we will come here as they have been coming to the Holiday Inn Destin since they were young. They know they will expect the Free Popcorn and Icecream at 2pm. They know they will enjoy the Foosball, Pool Tables, Arcade, and Billiard Tables, they know the Pool is HUGE and the Beach has a hundred options for fun. If your child is under 13...the Holiday Inn Destin is your BEST option.

After agonizing for 2 months over where to stay and even if we wanted to go to Destin at all, my husband made the decision for me by booking at this hotel. He wanted our 5 year old to enjoy the kids suites and the programs for children that this place offered. plus it was right on the beach. I was a bit apprehensive as I wanted an ocean view, and the room we had was "inside" the section overlooking the main area of the hotel.
Well, this place was beyond my expectations- from the moment we arrived and were helped out by a gentleman who was there to assist us with anything we needed, to the front desk who referred us to the best restaurant, the Back Porch, just down the road, we were just in heaven.
We checked into our room and we found that Jack had his own little area, complete with bunkbeds with pirate themed sheets, to his own table and chairs and his own DVD player, tv and gaming equipment! We were afrarid he would never leave the room.
Free DVD and game rentals were available at a machine in the lobby, along with free popcorn and icecream every day starting at 2:00.
The glorious beach was choppy so we spent a lot of time at the two outdoor pools - one small childrens pool and one large pool.
We immediately became friends with a wonderful family with three little ones who played became istant best friends with our son.
All the familys became friendly and the children shared pool floaties, toys and and just had the best time you could ever hope for.
I wanted to write this review mainly because of the wonderful Mr. Jay who along with his menagerie of animals and his various assistants, put on spectactular childrens programs thru out the week. Each day at 2 and 6, a variety of events are planned and everyone attends and gets involved in the show. On animal day, Mr. Jay brought a variety of his "pets" and we especially loved the trurtles and prarie dog. The children are allowed to play with the animals after the show- (with the exception of the prarie dog who was kept in his cage after Mr. Jay determined he was becoming a bit snippy around people)
We decided to stay an extra day as did several other guests as noone wanted to miss the treasure hunt on Friday. Luckily the hotel accomidated all of our requests. Mr. Jay is head of marketing as well, and he is able to sometimes ensure there are enough rooms as familys hate to leave this place and often delay their stay.
The Little Buccaneers club is part of the childrens programs and it offers a room on the second level that is filled with toys, games, art supplies,books and puzzles. There is also a small arcade, pool table and various other games . Our child got his Little Buccaneers t-shirt when he went up on our first day, and we met the wonderful gentleman in charge of this area who told us about the two parent night out programs and assured us they had many experienced staff memebers and loads of fun planned for the kids should we decide to have a night out on our own.
Mr. Jay also brouhgt his dog Chloe on the day of the treasure hunt, and she was involved with the game as well. We all fell in love with chloe who looked to be a small sweet sheepdog of some kind.
Chloe has been a regular for ten years along with Mr. Jay and his friend the Pirate who performs magic tricks for one of the events.
Familys go back each year to see these wonderful people and we will too!
Mr. Jay makes sure everyone is included in the various shows and makes each child and his family feel special and welcome.
Every staff member went out of their way for us- we felt like royality.
From the gentleman who cleaned our room, who was so accomidating when Jack was in bed sick with a tiny bug one day, and tidied up around us, to Janet, the lovely new employee from the Phillipeans who sat with Jack as he eagerly awaitied the carnival on our last night, and entranced him with stories of her country, every member was smiling and happy and gracious.
Coming thru the lobby and passing the restaurant one day, I remarked that I needed to go get a bottle of water. One of the gentleman in the restaurant said "do not go all the way up to your room" he then rushed to get me a glass of ice water - actually insisted that I let him get this for me!
We were bowled over at this service as so many places we have encountered have never even come close to this level of customer service!
I cried upon leaving as I looked out our room window- I forgot to mention that it actually had a great view of the activitiy area below and around us, but also the ocean! I could see it to the left of our window thru the glass enclosed atrium we were in and it was spectacular!
The restaurant has a wonderful breakfast buffet. They also serve dinner I believe but we ate out every night. Kids do eat free with a parent who eats with them so the buffet it marvelous. So is the coffee cart set up all day for the guests which is complementary, and much needed after a long day.
We brought some cheese, turkey and fruit at the Fresh Market down the road, along with juice and milk for Jack and picked up a few microwave breakfasts for him to eat while he watched Alvin and the Chipmunks in his private quarters to allow him time out of the sun.
Each room has refridge and microwave and room safe.
Hotel is immaculate and child friendly in the atrium entertainment area. Tons of sand, popcorn and wet towls dissapear after each afternoon show.
A bit limited with storage. I brought a few plastic totes for makeup, hair products etc. to keep under sink in bathroom.
Also, best tip I can share is to pick up sunscrean with 70SPH for all! Along with "surfer shirts" which offer 50 SPH protection usually for the boys. I found three at Target in the area with swim fins and goggles, but they have them in the boys dept as well. This protected him our boy wonderfully as did a big floppy hat and visor he wore every minute he was in the water and a pair or two of sunglasses. The sun is fierce with the white sand acting as a huge magnifying glass!
To Mr. Jay and all the rest of the staff , we thank you for a trip we will never forget and will see you all next year!!!