Club Destin — Hotel in Destin

I traded my 2BR w/loft Orlando unit for a 1BR at Club Destin for 1 week. As a 25 year timeshare owner, I didn’t expect this unrated property to be fancy, but I can only describe our stay as good, bad and ugly.||||First, the good: the staff were always friendly and promptly helpful. Taylor in maintenance was outstanding. He cleaned several filthy air vents after he came to our unit for another issue. A young lady at the front desk, was also exceptional-wish I remembered her name. She even printed out tickets for Big Kahuna’s that I purchased online, saving me $45+. I didn’t receive any pressure to attend any sales presentations. The location is great, close to everything without being on the beach. The Atrium, containing an indoor pool, ping pong, corn hole, mini putting green, shuffleboard and a Jacuzzi is well maintained and wonderful on a rainy day. They also have an outdoor pool, laundry room, game room, hospitality room and fitness center. Our unit was not renovated, but the bedroom was nice & clean, and the floors throughout were fairly new. We were pleased to have a small, complete kitchen.||||The bad: Upon arrival, the air vents were full of major dust bunnies; Taylor cleaned those our first day, going above & beyond. He had been called to the unit to plunge a toilet by my grandsons. The kitchen was dirty, with old, greasy cabinets; stove burners were dirty & only half worked; the oven didn’t seem to heat as set; the fridge handle was dirty; the bathrooms had almost no mold, but one had water stains in the ceiling and the other toilet had flushing problems. The dining and living area furniture was old. Laundry room required an “app” (PayRange), which was rather cumbersome, but ultimately ok, since it enabled me to report non-functioning dryers. All 4 washers worked well; however, 1 dryer had an “out of order” sign posted. Upon use, 2 of the remaining 3 dryers did not get hot. We originally had to leave a day early for my grandson to report to work, but on the morning of what was to be our last day, we suddenly had no running water. I tried to call the front desk for information, but got cut off 2X. I called via my cell phone and was told the entire building had the water shut off for an undetermined amount of time for repairs to another unit. I was asked if I wanted a new phone brought to the unit; I declined, but within 5 minutes, Taylor was back with a new phone. He thought the water would be off for another hour or so.||||The ugly: As stated, 1 toilet was extremely slow to flush. The second time it happened, the toilet overflowed, spewing excrement all over the outside toilet and floor. I called the front desk and while waiting for maintenance, the toilet flushed, but the toilet and floor were a mess. Taylor came with his gloves on, plunged the toilet and (understandably) high-tailed it out of there. Rather than calling housekeeping, I used paper bags as gloves, wiped everything up and threw the towel in their dumpster. I then found a cleaning cart with disinfecting cleaner, returned to the bathroom and cleaned/disinfected the toilet and floor. Told the grandsons NOT to use that toilet any more for #2.||||I was hoping to spend the last day taking my grandsons out for entertainment & dinner, but we decided to leave when the boys woke up to no running water. I wondered what else could/would go wrong in another day. Public records show the building was built in 1960, and unfortunately, it needs major plumbing updates, and probably electrical as well. There was not a single USB outlet in the entire unit. If it weren’t for the nice common areas and outstanding staff, this place would not merit any more...

Update: Just returned from Club Destin. As noted in my initial review three years ago (see below) the facility and rooms still need a makeover. The pillows and mattress (old and lumpy) are the absolute worst....management really needs to address this issue (especially since they gave us a flyer at check-in promoting time share opportunities). There is still beach access, however, it will cost you $45 because it is now mandatory to rent beach chairs (no more free beach access). They no longer do a variety of kids activities during the week which is a real bummer (no more face painting and balloon animals for the kids). They did add a ping pong table and corn hole game in the atrium which is a positive. The "game room" on premises is small and a complete joke (3 older games and one was out of order). The indoor pool here is still really nice, however, there were a lot of kids in the pool with NO adult supervision acting like fools! Kids were running back and forth from the pool to the hot tub, doing back flips into the pool, jumping over little kids heads, using giant squirt guns in the pool (and hitting random people sitting outside the pool). It was so bad that parents with younger ones and older patrons exited the pool and went back to their rooms. Still give this resort 3 out of 5 stars but I feel it is going downhill! This place has so much potential! MANAGEMENT, if you are reading this: On the second floor there is a 1500 sq. ft. room that has remained empty for years. Put a good variety of NEW arcade games in that room and charge $.50 a play (or charge for a pre-loaded game card that you can swipe to play). As a parent I can tell you, you will make money! There is also a really nice gazebo in the atrium that has remained empty for years. Offer and charge for slushies, soda, bottled water and simple food at the this gazebo. You will make money!

Initial Review: My family and I are time share owners here, so I want to give a full review of both the good and bad Club Destin has to offer. First of all, please know that this resort is an older establishment. If you want a top of the line condo/ resort with everything new and high end (5 star resort), this is not the place for you. With that said, every time we stay here, the rooms are clean and the indoor pool well maintained. Club Destin needs to start dumping some money into upgrades, including a fresh coat of paint to the facilities exterior. A full time maintenance person is also needed to keep the grounds clear of debris. We noticed a lot of trash and cigarette butts in the grass/ shrubs/ parking lot. Positives: *Affordable rates *Clean rooms with amenities (fridge, diswasher, internet, etc.) *Nice lobby and indoor pool *Located in the heart of Destin, Fl (many activities close by) *Good activities for the kids on Wednesday nights (face painting, magic show, balloon animals). *Overall, staff is friendly.

Negatives: *Aging facility that needs some upgrades and a new coat of paint. *The beach access is a joke (go to Henderson State Park down the road). *Exterior grounds and parking lot needs to be cleaned of trash on a more regular basis. *Some of the clientele were a little "sketchy" during our last stay here; Smoking and drinking beer in the parking lot and around the exterior rooms. *Bed comfort is not the best and pillows provided...

PROS: The location is great (even though there's no public beach access close enough to walk to with little kids). Easy on/off of 98. A mile away from Henderson Beach State Park. Close to several restaurants. 10-15 minutes away from everything in the Destin area. The price is decent. The room space is adequate. The fridge, freezer, and ice machine worked very well and were clean. The employees were nice. The sheets and bedding were clean. They were very upfront about the remodeling construction. They allowed an earlier check in time, which was very helpful. I'm not sure that could logistically happen if they had more visitors. When placed in an outdoor room, parking is close to your door and getting things in and out when coming and going is easy. The hot tub was large and hot. When walking by rooms with blinds open, we could see that several rooms have been updated and look very nice. (Ours was a bit outdated but I was expecting that based on the website pictures and price)

CONS: No blackout curtains. No curtains at all. Just basic blinds that let in light in the mornings. We used a bungee cord to hold a blanket over the window and this made our sleep experience better. The smell was pretty bad. Like a moist, moldy smell. We bought a glade plug-in ($12 that I wish we could bill to Club Destin) and left it there for the future visitors of room 312. You're welcome. The indoor heated pool was not heated. There was no notice about it being broken or a deduction in price due to the amenity not being usable. It was ice cold. I got my toddlers ready and to the pool with the expectation we would have a good day at the warm indoor pool (since it was raining) but it was way too cold. Tried the outdoor pool, which was warmer, but who wants to play in an outdoor pool in the rain? The floor was dirty. At any rental near a beach, I would expect sandy floors, and that was true here, which is ok. However, before we unpacked in the room, I swept up dead bugs, other people's hair, of course sand, and pieces of broken plastic bits and then used wet paper towels to clean up gross sticky spots near the couch and bed. Went through half a paper towel roll bc they were gray/black after a few wipes on the floor. Ew. I wonder when the last time they did more than sweep after a guest left. There's one full body mirror and it's 12-18 inches away from the side of the bed so it's pretty useless other than being the sliding door for the closet. The AC unit is pretty loud. I'm glad we brought a sound machine to use at night and that helped blend the sound of the AC kicking on and off at night. The toilet was dirty. Like the inside had not been cleaned in a while. Ew. There were several dark hairs stuck to the walls in the bathroom. Of course, I was able to wipe them off with a towel but it's still gross that stuff like that wasn't seen and cleaned by the cleaning staff before the room was considered available for new guests. The bathroom was the only space with adequate lighting (even with a broken bulb). The lamp by the bed was brighter than the kitchen light and the light over the little table. You have to open the blinds to get good lighting in the room during the day, but then anyone walking by can see you...