Beachfront for Two?

[mickeys_princess_mom]

Can anyone recommend a beachfront condo/hotel in Pensacola or Destin? Looking for reasonable, not GF prices! Would like to be in the heart of things, maybe able to walk to restaurants, shopping. I appreciate your opinions! :wave:

[buzznwoodysmom]

Last year we stayed at the Pelican Beach Resort. It's an older resort, but it was clean, in good condition, and in the perfect location. We had a one bedroom unit, facing the beach directly. There was a king bed in the bedroom, bunk beds in hall, and a queen sofa bed in the living room. The resort has two pools (one pool is an indoor/outdoor pool), a hot tub, outdoor tiki bar, a small restaurant (fast food and snack items-not a nice sit down), and a small store.

It's located in the heart of Destin. It's across the street from the water park, and in walking distance to many shops and restaurants. This was our first time staying at Pelican Beach Resort, but my SIL has stayed there for the past 3 or 4 years and they don't even bother looking for other places anymore.

I think the rates are typically around $300 a night during the summer. We rented ours through VRBO. SIL rented their's through a different site, Resort Quest maybe?

Hope you find something that works for you and enjoy that beautiful Destin water. We hope to find a weekend to get ourselves back there this summer!!

[buzznwoodysmom]

Just wanted to add something incase you don't want a full condo. There is a Holiday Inn, I think it's called Holiday Inn on the Beach. We had looked into that as an option and it was more affordable than Pelican. We just decided we wanted a full condo. From everything I saw the Holiday Inn looked very nice.

[mickeys_princess_mom]

I thank you much. Still hoping for something a little more reasonable. I may be dreaming. I am soooo ready for a little beach time!

[buzznwoodysmom]

I thank you much. Still hoping for something a little more reasonable. I may be dreaming. I am soooo ready for a little beach time!

It'll be tough to find anything less than what we paid per night to for a beach front property in Destin in the summer. Our rate was actually $250 per night, but then with added tax, cleaning fees and whatnot we were right at $300 a night. The newer resorts were a decent amount more.

There is a nice, clean little condo complex that is across the street from the beach. This is where we used to stay before we were married, before we had kids, and when our kids were little and our budget was a bit tighter. Check out Grand Caribbean East and West. Those condos have the exact floor plan of Pelican Beach, but they are not on the main strip and they are not directly on the beach. The area the Grand Caribbean is located used to be very quiet and never crowded, which is why we loved it when our kids were babies. However, that area has really grown over the years. I would think it's probably still a bit quieter than the main drag. I looked into it last year and it was definitely cheaper than Pelican Beach, but we wanted to be directly on the beach.

Check out Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO). You should be able to get a good idea of what's available at your price point. Destin is wildly popular in the summer so it can be tough to find a deal. You could research beaches near Destin for a better deal. I think I've heard of people staying at Navarre Beach and saying it was cheaper and quieter than Destin. Good luck.

I wanted to add, you should also look into Pensacola. It may be cheaper than Destin. We've never stayed in Pensacola, but I think it might be a bit more affordable.

[JanetMegan]

Any thoughts on hitting Panama City Beach instead? We had an amazing condo (it was enormous even though there were only two of us.) It included chairs and umbrella on the beach and within walking distance to Pier Park, which has about 15 places to eat and shopping. What time of the year were you looking? We loved it because we could have adult beverages all day and not drive to dinner =) We went in the Fall and the guy gave us an amazing deal.