I wind up in the Panhandle once a quarter, and have stayed at the Pensacola SHS the last few times. It is a pretty standard SHS - as the other poster noted it's not a resort - but it's very well run and clean. The breakfast area is quite large and includes some food not usually found at a SHS breakfast. It's got a good size pool, although it's not huge. They always upgrade me to an oceanfront room. Last time, the room had a separate bedroom area and a smaller bed between the bedroom area and the living area, which has a sofa bed. It also had a balcony directly on the beach. Five people could easily sleep in the room comfortably.

The beach behind the hotel is pretty awesome in terms of family style Panhandle beach. If you're looking for that type of experience, this hotel is perfect. If you're looking for massages, spa treatments and gourmet meals, stay elsewhere.

Because of the location and the fact it attracts people who might not be used to staying in a hotel, you will be asked to sign some oddly specific disclosures at check-in. The first time it made me wonder what to expect in the hotel, but despite this strangeness, it's a pretty standard SHS.

If you do stay there, a couple notes... You have to pay to enter Pensacola Beach. If you want to save a couple bucks, stop at the grocery store and get what you want before driving over the bridge, or you'll wind up paying the toll twice. Also, the bridge is a speed trap. It's short, so sticking to the speed limit won't really add time to your trip, but going a few mph over the limit will slow you down the thirty minutes it takes to get the ticket, and be very expensive. Finally, if you turn right leaving the hotel parking lot and drive a few miles, you wind up in miles of unpopulated, undeveloped beach.