The Village of South Walton Beach — Hotel in Alys Beach

This is our 4th stay at Villages, might be our last. Apparently there is some separation now between the homeowners of the homes in Seacrest Beach and the Villages at Seacrest Beach (the condos). Condo guests can no longer use the lagoon pool. In the past the lagoon was a YUGE draw for me and my family. Sometimes the beach water is just too nasty with seaweed to enjoy, or too rough, like it was this weekend with rip tides. So you need another option. In addition the tram service is now by request only (take your phone if you go to the beach and expect to get retrieved, because you'll need to request a pickup) and you are NOT welcome to ride the red trams which come much more frequently. However, the Villages have built a lagoon pool of their own. It's basically a baby pool, being only 12" deep at the deepest part, and maybe 40' long entirely, rising from "12 to 0" at the 0-entry end. It looks pretty, and it was being enjoyed greatly by the baby and pre-schoolers. Totally unsuitable for anyone older than 4. But if you have small kids, it's better than the lagoon pool, there being much less stress of tweens and teens.||For the unit we occupied, Pros: it was clean, and more roomy than a hotel, while reasonably priced. There is a small balcony near the room. Cons: However, it was at the opposite end of the building from the elevator. The Wi-Fi advertised on VRBO did not actually work. There were no packets uploading or downloading. I rebooted the router 4 times to no effect. I complained to management and they thought perhaps the owner didn't pay their bill??? The TV is actually quite small for a large room. Not easy to watch from across the room. Although the unit has Comcast cable, there were only about 10-13 channels, 4 of which were Beach TV 24-7 advertising and home shopping channels, a C-Span3, and one ESPN. So all that was left was broadcast. So ordinarily I would take that in stride and watch Netflix at night. But guess what...no internet! :\ Owners: fix one or the other or both. You advertise features that you do not deliver. Then, there was a dangling door lock that was attached to nothing. Was that to make me feel ore secure? Added to that, the bed was like a softer version of a plywood deck. Given the hassles at this unit, plus a unit I stayed in last year (TV in bedroom never worked for entire length of stay - simply had NO signal at all; and no wristbands to access anything were ever provided by the management, they pretty much told us to figure it out for ourselves) I probably won't stay at Villages again. If all you care about is the beach, this place is pretty nice, with none of the eastern PCB shenanigans, none of the all-night drunken college kids & older stumbling around, etc. For a beach resort, it is quiet and very family friendly in general. We, however, like amenities too, and the Villages are failing to deliver. One more note: because this unit was opposite end from the elevator, I parked my car at the elevator end the final night, planning to be close to take suitcases & etc down. There were no other cars on the curbside parking within 3 blocks. Yet at 2:30 am someone was patrolling and left me a parking violation. So, no one else is using any of the available spaces, but somehow a citation is necessary? At 2:30 am? This is the first time in my life I was actually glad to be going home and not wondering how I could extend my stay. I will definitely consider very carefully before I book...

I rented my unit from Southern Vacation Rentals and the listing did this property no justice because it's even better in person. I got a 3 bedroom, 2 full bathroom, 7 person condo, fully equipped with washer, dryer, dishwasher, fully stocked kitchen (minus grocery), hot tub, TV in every room, balcony over looking 30A, beach chairs, luggage caddies, beach umbrellas etc... all you need to bring is your clothes! All of this for just under 3k for 5 days. Keep in mind that pricing varies depending on the unit. There's a jacuzzi, 6 ft pool on one side and adjacent to that is a large kiddie pool, fountain, outdoor dining area with gas bbq grills for use by owners and guests. Tons of space to lounge, tan, socialize with family etc. I never felt over crowded and the other guests were very kind and social. Rosemary beach is not a place to drive a car but directly beneath our unit is a mini shopping center with bike rentals, pizzeria, clothes shops, bars, restaurants (Italian, American, Hispanic, crepes, vegan pizza etc) and STARBUCKS! The closest supermarket is about 2 miles from the unit and you can order instacart or just go right down to Seacrest sundries, which is what we did. They have a little of everything. In 5 days I was able to make a nice pork and beef baked ziti, vegan baked ziti, pancakes, eggs and bacon, roasted veggies, burgers, sausage and hot dogs on the grill, stuffed peppers, cold cut sandwiches for lunch etc... just to give you an idea of what you're able to work with. I thought I would be stuck without grocery because I didn't have a car but sundries had very useful/practical items. Bottom line, if you don't have a car, there's no need to worry because the village has you covered. Right down the block is the beach but you can't actually get onto the beach from that entrance. In front of the pool area is a tram that will take you there for free in less than 5 minutes and the ride is gorgeous! Everything about rosemary is gorgeous! The Havana beach bar located in the pearl, crema, summer grill, pizza by the sea, amavida, hidden lantern, hissy fits, patchouli are just a few of my favorite stops. All are located along 30A, just 2 blocks across from the village. I would recommend "The Village" to anyone in every age group.... Very family...

Loved the condo and everything about Seacrest Beach!!

If you've never been to Rosemary Beach or 30A, you need to know that this community was built for pedestrians. That means that you can walk or ride a bike pretty much everywhere. I did not know that before arriving and it was a nice surprise. You also get free shuttle service to the beach and lots of other places if you need it. Sheila the tram driver was super friendly and went out of her way to serve us!

This location is amazing! You can do everything in Seacrest Beach without ever having to leave. There are restaurants, stores, grocery, and a lot more just below the condo. We walked down for breakfast one day, Charlie's Donuts are great and available by 7am. We had lunch at Pizza By the Sea, it was really good and fairly inexpensive. Walk to the pool, walk to the beach, ride bikes anywhere and everywhere. Alys Beach (West) and Rosemary (East) are within walking distance.

You can take the tram to the beach but it's almost easier to walk. From this unit you can get across the street and through the Seacrest beach access in less than 10 minutes. They want you to wear your bracelet at all times, for the tram, the gates, and the pool--we weren't given any until day 3 but the Resortquest office has them if they're not in your room.

They were remodeling the balcony so we didn't get to use that at all. We were told they wouldn't be working on it while we were there but they did, almost every day. Drills and hammers at 7:30am, 2ft from our bedroom, was not the best part of our vacation. They were also working on the restaurant below us, so the stairway to our room was surrounded by chairs, tables, and random food service equipment. The pool was also closed all week, and nobody bothered telling us that until our last day. We kept seeing the closed sign and just figured it was temporary, but we were finally told it was down for maintenance purposes. That would have been nice to know, if not up front, when...