Silver Beach Towers West — Hotel in Destin

Silver Beach W1704 is a great family home base on the Emerald Coast. 4.5 stars, could be improved another half-star if Compass Resort after-hours support was improved. Would return. You would be very happy here. ||||Penthouse is exactly as pictured on Compass Resort's website. Views, are, of course, fantastic. Pools are clean and large and well-maintained (the east one appears to be heated). Two fenced-in lawns are great for ball games. At least 3 gas grills are available at the west end (and perhaps at the east end, too). Convenient access right on the beach, great beach service (penthouse comes with 1 set of 2 beach chairs and 1 umbrella; beach service also offers many activities and a snack bar). Note the sun sets on the north side of the building at the time of our visit. ||||Very convenient to everything. We love Merlin's Pizza, Starbucks (at Matthews Drive), Publix at Paradise Key, Marina Cafe, The Back Porch (can walk to it on the beach), Lousianna Lagnaippe. Only Vue on 30a was a longer drive, but well worth it. Lots of shopping around. Consider the rather constant and busy traffic flow when traveling (for example, it took us 25-35 minutes to get to the Baytowne Wharf shopping district). ||||We've stayed at two other beach resorts in the area, and found this penthouse to be the most well-stocked (especially important to us in the kitchen). We loved the glass coffee cups and crystal beverage glasses in particular. The functioning ice machine was awesome. The kitchen had every item we needed to make meals, including more than enough dinnerware, 3 coffee machines (one is a Keurig), casserole dishes, utensils, two 4-slot toasters, barware including multiple wine openers, toaster oven, electric can opener, etc. Furnishings are alignment with the capacity -- the dining room table seats 10 or 12, as does the living room. Spacious pantry, largest refrigerator to accomodate perishable food for 10. The only thing we (always) bring with us is a knife sharpener. Washer and dryer are in the utility room located at the end of the 2nd-floor hallway and worked well.||||Parking is clearly numbered/reserved (big bonus), adequate and spacious -- no near misses with lots of cement columns and enough room to back out and make turns with SUVs. Minus a half-star for missing instructions in the after-hours packet: our parking tags were for spaces 26 and 27...which are not marked. Our penthouse came with a two-car garage in the parking structure (very nice!), so look for "W1704" way on top of the garage door instead. There is an external garage door key pad (code is not provided in instructions) and one garage door opener (which is not for the parking structure door, which was randomly closed on 2 of our 7-day stay--use your key fob and not your garage door code for that). ||||Three key fobs were provided, so we coordinated (family of 10). Key fobs are needed for all doors (parking structure, door to elevators from garage, lobby, beach-side entrances) except the entrance to the penthouse, where the physical key is required and does not open the deadbolt lock (we found out the hard way). Again, minus a bit on the rating for absent instructions. Would be much more convenient if after-hours key drop were located at the garage level (it is outside the lobby doors) and instructions addressed what to do with the garage door opener. Rubber bracelets are provided; we didn't notice anyone checking for them at the entrances to the beach or pool area. ||||The penthouse provides generous "starter" items (minus a tiny bit on the rating for an inaccurate and much shorter list provided via phone call by Compass Resorts). 2 rolls of single-ply toilet paper, 2 facial soaps and 2 bath soaps in each bathroom. 2-ounce bottle of dish soap, scrubbie, 3 dishwasher detergent tabs and 3 trash can liners in the kitchen. I think there may have been 1-2 rolls of paper towel as well. We missed a broom, and found the vacuum cleaner to be on its way out. We did find dirty dinner plates half-way through the stack; in the dishwasher they went.||||5 bedrooms are all very clean and comfy and well-appointed. Linens are white and clean (although we found one used towel in one bathroom). Only the master suite is on the beach side. 2 kings, 1 queen and 1 two twins are on the north side; one king and the two twins is upstairs. The kings have en-suite bathrooms. Each floor has one bathroom not in a bedroom. Kings also have balconies (I didn't check the other two rooms). The downstairs king shares a wall with the kitchen; I didn't notice any noise. Road noise was not disturbing unless a particularly loud car or semi drove by. ||||Air conditioning functioned very well, with a control on each level.||||Rating would be 5 stars if after-hours support were improved. Compass Resorts provides and encourages use of its "Guest Portal", where we found little useful information (we already know our reservation number). "After-hours" instructions would be significantly improved IMHO: in addition to the content about rules and fines for unreturned key fobs, content about how to use what is provided in the packet would be fantastic, especially for customers that are travel-weary arriving after dark. In particular: penthouses have garages inside the parking structure and are NOT labeled with the parking space numbers on the provided car door tags (ours were 26 and 27 for W1704; I reluctantly had to call the emergency number to figure it out). Garage door opener is for this garage and not for the gate at the entrance to the parking structure, which opens via key fob and not the garage door opener code). This gate was randomly closed 2 of the 7 days of our stay. Provide the garage door key pad code in the packet, especially since only one garage door opener is provided. Key fobs work all over EXCEPT for the door to the penthouse, where the physical key works EXCEPT for the deadbolt lock. It would even be helpful to note that the "CheckIn" option in the Guest Portal doesn't appear until (xx?) hours before the 4-6pm checkin window....and I'm not sure what I did to get the "Check In" to change to "Check Out".||||Great instructions on where the after-hours key drop was located. Key drop would be even more conveniently located if it were on the garage level instead of the lobby level. Instructions for the garage door opener would have been very helpful. We left ours inside the garage because we didn't know if it would fit in the key drop (seems like it would, in hindsight) and how you would know it was for this unit even if we did. I left messages via the Guest Portal in at least two places (check-out notes, Guest Services request) and still received a call from the lobby asking where...

Family of 5 stayed in the 1905E penthouse expecting a penthouse worthy experience. We got much less than bargained for from Holiday Isle Properties, Inc. and their broken down excuse of a luxury rental. The rooms and living spaces are beautiful, just as in the pictures. What the pictures don't show is the damage that has been done to the place and not fixed. Here is the list: In the upstairs bedroom, one of the four wooden posts on the 4 post bed has broken off at mattress level and lying on the floor. Same bedroom has a closet door with a 5" hole in it. There was spackle and tape on the door and floor where some nitwit tried to hastily patch it and left a mess. Same bedroom, the armoire door wont stay open. There is scotch tape all over the wall where previous tenants have worked out their own fix. (bring a wedge to shove in there if you want to watch TV). Same bedroom, the cable box is blinking and non functional. The Master on the Main was slightly less gruesome with only 3 broken items; Bedside table door is hanging off the hinges, the screen door to the balcony is jammed and will not close and a decorative wooden clock that was once very pretty sits forlorn with the main finial broken off and lying loose. The light over the toilet is non-functional also. The table lamp in the main living room is non functional as well as the light in the vent hood over the stove. Bring your own lightbulbs if you want enlightenment at this place. The kitchen is stocked with the bare minimum so bring your own shrimp deveiners and corn scrubbers if you want to cook your own shrimp boil. Coffee maker gives a nice dose of coffee grounds in your cup, needs to be replaced. The kitchen sink spigot is missing the hand knob. Be careful as you grab the metal threaded stump to access the water, its sharp! And guess what, all of that is not even the worst part!. || Do not expect beach service from Holiday Isle Properties, Inc. The room is rented by Holiday Isle Properties, Inc and they actually have no idea how the beach service at Silver Beach Towers works. We called them from the third tier beach chairs for an explanation and they stammered and replied "I don't know!". Let me explain because this is EXACTLY why you cant rent this place or rent from Holiday Isle Properties, Inc. The actual beach service is run by the SBT beach service subcontractor. You need to get information about reservations from them. The 'third tier' is the third row of beach chairs away from the water. There is no breeze there, there is no view there, there is sand and heat there. So we go from the penthouse to the back row at the beach everyday because we were not informed by Holiday Isle Properties, Inc. They will tell you to check with the beach service when you arrive. Don't listen to them. I've been coming to Destin for years now and this is the absolute worse experience I have had. Be warned, Holiday Isle Properties, Inc...

Family of 5 had a wonderful, warm, sun-filled week at Silver Beach Towers. We were on the 14th floor in a 3 bedroom/3 bathroom condo. It was gorgeous! All the modern furniture was comfortable, and the kitchen very well stocked with all the cabinets and drawers labeled so no searching for the big bowls or skillets, etc. It was not very crowded so we were able to grab a table with umbrella and chairs at the pool every day. (though more tables with umbrellas would have been nice, there is room) The Tiki Bar was cute and nice for a drink but pricey!|You need your key fob to open all doors plus the gate to the beach. Good security, but a bit tiring to keep track of the fobs. You also needed to wear a bracelet at the pool, but no one was checking on that. Surprisingly, no fitness room, but a $10 deal at a local gym down the road. |We got beach chairs and umbrellas two days. $65 for 2 chairs and one umbrella per day. They put them up very early in the morning and take them down at 5:00 unless no one is using them so they do take them down sooner but they patiently wait until 5 for those that are still in use. They put out extra chairs in case people want them at the last minute. Not sure what the reviewer before me was complaining about. It was great and the guys putting them out were very nice. They are close to the water so you have a very good view. |On the last morning we were there a very loud alarm went off and we finally found it in the laundry room floor as the washing machine was leaking. It was a water alarm. The front desk called us within a few minutes as they were automatically alerted to the alarm. Maintenance guys were up in a few minutes to fix it. Have to say the young lady at the front desk when we first checked in was not super pleasant. We had never been there before and had a lot of questions about the resort and our condo (things that she really should have told us anyway) and she acted like we should have known all this. Everyone else we encountered that week was very nice and helpful. |We would definitely stay here again and hopefully in the same condo. Shopping and restaurants are just down the street in both directions....