Wyndham Garden Fort Walton Beach Destin

Katherine Heaberlin2 years ago

4/5

Family of 3, adults age 48, teenager age 15. We arrived a couple of hours early so we walked around for a bit to kill time but they did let us check in approx 1 hr early. TIKI BAR: We ordered two regular sized strawberry daiquiris and a lemonade, roughly $20 w/tip. Super weak drinks. BYOB to save money! We hit up a Publix nearby and got a few groceries for breakfast/lunch and plenty of booze to last the trip. BEACH: We brought a canopy for shade. They have chairs and umbrellas all along the edge of the beach to rent but the rates were crazy. They start putting them up around 7 I believe so stake your claim early! There was a lot of seaweed when we went, but there were some areas that were clearer. Hell yea we still swam in it though, I mean we were at the beach after all. Nothing against the beach, mother nature is going to do what she does. Our favorite part about the beach was going out there at night to look for crabs. We just took our cell phones out there (copying everyone else.. lol) and walked along the beach. They are white, almost translucent so you can see them like shadow going across the sand, very cool! The hotel had plenty of wash points to wash your body/feet off coming back in. HOTEL: The rooms were a little on the small side, no mirror or sink in the bathroom, they are just outside of the bathroom. The air conditioner was loud and rattled but it did stay a comfortable temperature. The doors to the room and balcony stuck pretty bad, had to give them a little kick to get them open. Understandable though, humidity will do that. So keep in mind we heard the rattle of the air conditioner and doors being open/closed when we were trying to nap/sleep for the night. There are pull down shades over the windows that block out about 98% of the sun. Spring for the balcony view, waking up to that magnificence every morning was worth the $50 extra a day! Don’t expect anything fancy from the hotel, it is a hotel in a highly travel spot, it is going to have its flaws. The rooms are not carpeted so despite our best efforts there was still bits of sand in our sheets. They do have a broom/dustpan in the room that we utilized quite a bit. They have a little arcade in the hotel that takes quarters which I was able to acquire from the front desk. They have a small arcade, games being a quarter each, pretty cool, dvd rentals (not sure if they are free or not), a pretty nice gym, a traditional pool with a jacuzzi and a bigger more shallow pool with a small slide, and an overpriced selection of snacks and basics. The restaurant was pricey but they had a bar with nice happy hour specials (half off margaritas, $5 whiskey sours, etc.) which were WAY better than the tiki bar. Everyone was absolutely friendly and accommodating, great staff. Breakfast was too pricy so we didn’t try that out but they do put out free coffee around 7 near the arcade. CONCLUSION: My 3.8 rating was based off of the noise while trying to sleep and the tiki bar. Book late May/Early June for the best vacation rates. BYOB, do not waste your money on the Tiki bar!!! Do treat yourself and hit up the happy hour. Bring your own breakfast/lunch. Bring LOTS of water to stay hydrated and plenty of sun screen, maybe even a kite. Do bring your own shade and set up early. Definitely visit the beach at night to check out the cool crabs! Do try venturing out more than we did, take advantage of those free bicycle rentals and check out the boardwalk. Don’t spend 7 hours on the beach.. lol.. it will wear you out and you will be too tired to do anything for a couple of days. Do have an amazing time, don’t nitpick, go with the flow. Don’t worry about spending money, that will just put a damper on your vacation, worry about that when you get back home, it will be ok.