dmarge18

Stayed here over the long weekend on a really nice off-season rate. Mrs. dmarge and I like to check out many of the local-ish beach properties during off-season, and needless to say this one is now by far our favorite. It's still new enough (and designed well enough) to not smell like families have dumped wet bathing suits on the floor (i.e., the classic beach hotel mildew smell), which even the wonderful Hilton Sandestin has acquired in places. The restaurant was good, and the breakfast (full hot buffet for Gold/Diamond) was fantastic. I was able to snag an upgrade to a balcony/beach-front room, which certainly helped since the rain kept us from doing as many outdoor activities. One side of the hotel faces the gulf, has the beach/infinity edge pool and pier, and the other side faces the state park with miles and miles of trails (you can rent bikes or kayaks or bring your own, which I will do next time when it's not raining). There's a small parking charge which they said was basically because it's in a state park, but as of now they still don't have a resort fee. One neat thing was that it's basically advertised as the park's lodge, with VERY minimal (hard to notice) Hilton branding. I wonder if the state park influence will keep out/down the resort fee for a while. As long as they remain without one, we'll certainly be frequent guests.

Edit: One thing to note is that while there are places to eat either in Gulf Shores or Orange Beach, it is not walk-able. There were certainly less food options than we were used to in the Destin/Sandestin area, but that's also part of the appeal since you're staying in a state park.

neuro0

Any recent stay during the pandemic period? How the service changed?

aww3583

I'll have an update by the end of the week.

I do know most restaurants are open, with limited service. Last I'd heard, breakfast is served from the pool deck cafe.

Pool deck chair capacity is cut in half and chairs must be reserved in 2-hour increments. You can reserve chairs same day for free. If you wish to reserve a chair a day in advance, it's $15 per chair.

Schwann

Only in America!

neuro0

Any beach service?

aww3583

Diamond members get $10 credit toward breakfast service at the pool-side cafe AND free continental breakfast. The continental breakfast is a selection of coffee and pre-packaged muffins. Poolside cafe breakfast was impressive.

Food quantity and quality at Foodcraft (main restaurant, 1st floor) is superb. Upstairs casual dining/bar "Perch" is closed.

Pool chairs must be reserved in 2-hour blocks and you're asked to leave when your block is up if guests are waiting. If no one is waiting, you're welcome to stay. To reserve a chair a day in advance is a $15 fee. There is a sign limiting pool occupancy to 10 guests, but there is no enforcement.

Beach chairs are $30/day or $170/wk if I remember correctly. No beach service.

We had a 1K bunk bed room on the 1st floor facing the park. The room was nice, but HVAC was non-existent. Set the unit to 65 and the cool breath that it puts out doesn't keep up with 85 degree temps with 85% humidity. Woke up in a pool of sweat.

Parking is $5 per day. Our room was 1/4-mile from the parking lot. Most of the walk is covered/indoors.

I believe bike rental is free. This is a great benefit and allows you to explore Gulf State Park. Would highly recommend!

neuro0

Thanks for the update!

aww3583

Review from September 2021:

Had an overall great stay here.

This is an "eco friendly" hotel, which means some of their amenities may be a bit limited/different compared to a normal property.
-- The lighting around the property is extremely limited in an effort to minimize the impact on sea turtles, mice, and crabs. This makes for great wildlife viewing, but almost all guests walk around at night with the cell-phone flashlights out.
-- The TVs are "power savers" which means every time the TV turns off, it loses all programming and connection to content networks. No exaggeration, every time you turn the TV on, there is a 5+ minute delay while the TV scans itself for new connections. Nothing can be done other than leave the TV on all the time, which consumes more power.
-- Our room did not have a house phone. Not sure if this is a COVID change, a "green" initiative, or a housekeeping oversight.
-- Bottled water is served in cardboard cartons. Diamond members get 2 complementary cartons per day, but there is no stay-over housekeeping, so water is obtained at the front desk.

Room:
-- Booked a 1K w/ Bunk Beds room. Room faced north, away from the beach. No balcony. Window opened about 6". Room was very clean. Great lighting and ceiling height. Great water pressure.
-- First room we've had in several stays here with the HVAC was powerful enough to cool the room. The cooler fall temps may have had something to do with this.
-- No phone, borderline-unresponsive TV.
-- No microwave (green initiative).
-- Liquid toiletry dispensers mounted to shower wall to reduce plastic packaging.
-- Ample closet and storage space.

Dining:
-- Pool-side cafe puts out impressive cocktails. The snack offerings were underwhelming. The hummus plate comes with 2-oz scoop of hummus, a bag of potato chips, and a 2 slices of carrots, celery, and peppers.
-- Breakfast was quite good. Prices are a bit steep, but the food quality was above average. Avacado & toast was my favorite dish.
-- Woodside is a café in the state park about 1 mile from the hotel. This was, by far, our favorite dining spot. Reasonably priced, great portions, excellent outdoor seating and activities, live music, etc. The hotel runs a shuttle bus to the restaurant on a regular schedule.

Other:
-- Parking is up to $10/day self-park and $20/day valet. Valet service was prompt, but they would not let guests use luggage carts without assistance.
-- Beach chairs are up to $40/day.
-- Saw lots of housekeepers and staff every day. The hotel really was in pristine condition.
-- New F&B credit was applied incorrectly on final day, resulting in several messages back and forth with the front desk.

rcmiller

I had a stay here a few weeks ago. I agree with the above post that the food and drink selection was pretty impressive, albeit expensive. The TV thing was a little annoying but it usually found a connection after 2-3 minutes for me. I was in town for a conference at a different property but this looks like a great place to host one. Being the only property on the beach inside the state park means that there are acres of space to explore. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to avoid the typical gulf coast hi-rise condo.

dmarge18

Thanks for the update. I'd been here pre-Covid and loved it. The restaurant was great then, glad to see it's still good, though it does look like prices have gone up (as well as for parking). Looking at a birthday getaway weekend in December, and the rates were cheap. Is it worth the risk of booking a State Park/no balcony view and hoping for an upgrade for a December weekend, or just paying the difference (I ask since you seem to have just gotten the room you booked)?

aww3583

Book what you need. The "state park view" is not stellar. If you're on the first floor, you're eye level with traffic. As you said, no rooms facing north have balconies, either.

I've been about 50/50 on upgrades here. Upgrades are more plentiful during low season, and by using the messaging functionality in the app before check-in.

Be patient at the on-site restaurants. Staffing was very limited last time we were there and everyone was working extra hard, but the pacing was slow.

dmarge18

Completed another weekend getaway stay here this past weekend, and felt compelled to write another good review for this place:

Pros:
- Really peaceful getaway this time of year with no crowds. I know people want the beach in the summer, but this time of year has no crowds, better prices, and just quite at the beach (and on the trails in the park). On second thought, please keep visiting in summer and not this time of year .
- Pre-upgraded to Gulf View with a balcony (had booked Park view)
- Great buffet breakfast and really good dinner menu. Even in slow season the bar at Perch had some live music and stayed open until 11, while the coffee shop with wine/beer/spiked drinks in the lobby was open until 8.
- Service was friendly and responsive; any issues/questions we had were addressed pretty quickly (and really, the only issue we had was needing a pack n play for our daughter and when it wasn't in the room they brought it right away. Also great communication in advance; they reached out via the app to see if I needed anything in advance as well.
- Beautiful lobby, lots of public areas for sitting/congregating/looking at the beach.
- It really is a great setting with the beach on one side (simple, unadulterated beach, not touristy) and the state park on the other (trails, lake, dog park, playground)
- No resort fees (which of course, it shouldn't have, but these days you never know with places)
- Free bike rentals for up to 3 hours for the trails in the park

Cons:
- My Asiago Crusted grouper was a bit salty? I mean I can't not put a con, so I'm guessing that's something. It was still good though.
- No outside food/drink in the public areas, which really isn't a problem. There aren't any places (non-hotel restaurants) within walking distance, so be forewarned if you want to go somewhere else. It's in a state park (which is part of the lure).

Tip:
- The breakfast buffet is fantastic, but certainly costs more than the allotted F&B credit (because, of course...thanks Hilton). The Honors Breakfast rate was about $4-5 less than breakfast cash rate would have cost, and then we put the F&B credit toward dinner/drinks. As much as I'd prefer the option of credit or breakfast, use it to your advantage when you can.

aww3583

Looking at a 1-night or 2-night stay in April at a specific resort-style property.

Searching 2-night stay (Friday night and Saturday night) returns full availability... reasonable cash rates, reasonable point redemption rates, standard rooms, premium rooms, suites, etc.

Searching for a 1-night stay (Saturday night only) returns 1 room type only, Diamond Guarantee only, astronomical cash rate, and no points redemption availability. The website says "We're sold out, but not for you!" and includes all the normal language about rate is pre-paid and non-refundable.

In fact, the room we'd prefer goes from $340/night for a 2-night reservation to $546 for a 1-night reservation.

I called the hotel and they said they have put in place minimum stay length requirements due to staffing issues. They said they have 350 rooms and only 7 housekeepers, so they force longer stays to minimize housekeeping workload.

JJeffrey

Minimum stay requirements, hotels have been doing this since the beginning of time. Not uncommon at all especially at a resort property on a weekend.

While housekeeping/staffing is a convenient excuse for the property it's really just about the hotel maximizing revenue. Two paid nights are better than one.

At my preferred beach destination there's a trio of Hampton, HGI, Homewood properties I typically stay at, during the summer they've required a 2-night minimum on the weekends since way before covid or staffing issues, etc.

Super Mario

From what I've been seeing, resorts haven't had a problem with selling out. They also can't get enough help. I wouldn't doubt this.