The Inn at Crystal Beach by Salt Water Vacations — Hotel in Destin

The Inn at Crystal Beach is very interesting and has a lot of good qualities and a few bad qualities. Let's start with the good.

Location in Destin is perfect. Right in the middle of everything and a fairly short drive to any lace you want to go in Destin - that is if you can fight the traffic that is always in Destin. Our room(s), 203a and 203b were on the ground level right off the lobby area which made unloading and loading our vehicles very nice and easy. The rooms were nice and open, but somewhat aged. They need a little touch up on paint, etc. Furniture was old and not very comfortable. The couch in 203b definitely needs replaced. Beds seemed to be in good shape. The washer/dryer combo in 203a broke 2 days into our stay. The dryer just quit working. The front desk said it was an extremely old unit and needs replaced, and now that it is broke, they were going to request the owner to replace it. It wasn't replaced during our stay.

The Weird: the balcony's were on the 2nd floor of the property - even though the rooms were street level, the balconies overlooked the outside restaurant on-site. So basically any time you sat on the balcony, you could see and hear people dining at the restaurant. You are close enough to hear every word they are saying.

Beach access is very strange. The only access is through the lobby, down the stairs, and through the bar and restaurant. So basically, all your beach gear had to be hauled down through the restaurant and bar entrance. Very strange indeed. You can take an elevator to the bottom level, but you still have to go through the bar and restaurant.

Miscellaneous: the beach as always is nice with beautiful water. Not much seaweed which was nice. Very crowded in June especially with more people out since Covid has passed. The front desk gave us wristbands to wear on the beach because it "is a private beach and we monitor it closely". Not once in 7 days did I see anyone wearing wristbands and nobody ever checked ours. We noticed several people from other properties setting up on the beach. Not a huge deal, but with the amount of people there it would have been nice to have only guests...

Reviewing Codo’s 108 A and B||Salt Water Vacations is a great company to book through. They were easy to get a hold of on the phone and emailed me quotes. They were professional from start to finish. We would stay here again to enjoy beautiful Destin. ||This review is for future renters of these 2 #108 units to help pack for your stay. The unique thing about The Inn at Crystal Beach is that the condo are owned by individuals. Each condo will be stocked differently because of this. It was challenging to know what would be in our condos 108 A and B. We had a very large group flying in from Nebraska. Packing space in luggage is limited and it can be exhausting and time consuming to constantly run around to stock the condo. Most rentals often have items that other renters have left behind. This is not the case for 108, it is stripped bare. No salt and pepper shakers, tin foil, zero condiments, all paper goods removed and not one extra kitchen towel or dish rag. Not a beach towel in the closet! There was not even a hot pad to remove items from the oven! All kitchen dinnerware is glass or ceramic. Pack plastic cups, bowls and plates especially if you have children. I understand this is all stated in the contracts but if you travel often, many units have these items left behind as a gift to the next travelers. My hand soap, Lysol wipes, cooking spray and trash bags do not need to be trashed or removed. |You will have a wonderful stay here and we would come back a bit more prepared with household items. ||If you rent both units there is a shared door between the units. |You will need a rental car to get around Destin. |It is a beautiful beach with...

This was one of the best vacation stays I've ever had! The staff was great, and the private beach was kept beautifully clean. John (photo), the beach staff member, was conscientious about where he put families with children for safety. He checked on my all adult party several times to make sure we were comfortable and picked a perfect spot for us each day. Owen, from the Soleil restaurant, was on the beach every day, making sure we had food and drinks if we wanted to purchase them. (Heads up: Automatic 20% gratuity, which is well deserved. Plus, there is an $8 fee for beach service)

Ethan, the beach lifeguard, probably saved my life by educating me about riptides and how to look for them. It was a double red flag the first 2 days of vacation, and the flag pole near us wasn't operational the first day. So I didn't know that we weren't allowed in the water when Ethan called me over and educated me. The beautiful beach photo below was taken on a day with strong riptides. I am very thankful for people who care about others and care about doing well in...