Chateau Beachfront Hotel, A By The Sea Resort — Hotel in Panama City Beach

Awful. We will never stay at this hotel again. My mom & booked dates in March because we’re deciding which dates to come here on. May my mom called to cancel the reservation I made & to confirm the room SHE reserved accommodated 6 people. The lady on the phone said yes we get 2 queen beds with a pull out couch. She said can she get a confirmation but the lady on the phone said it’s a recorded line. Okay, we didn’t bother calling back or anything because she took care of it in May. They called the night before we were coming they called my cell at 11PM at night to confirm we were still coming. I said yes we are still coming tomorrow. She said no we have your reservation for today. I said no it was for tomorrow. I seen a charge on my card for $240 I thought they had my card on file for mom’s account. Whatever. The day we were coming they charge my card $748. Again, I thought it was for moms room so whatever. Well mom seen her card was charged too. I called the lady when were on our way and she said I thought you were here? I said no I just told you we were coming today last night. She said well someone has been in your room for 2 days now. She went to go look and was suppose to call me back but never did. So when we got there I talked to the staff. They had no idea what was going on. Denise the manager came out there and finally after 30 minutes of going back and forth we got it settled and she did refund me. Well I am currently waiting on my refund now. Well the room MOM paid for was not what we got. We paid for 2 queen beds, a pull out couch, and kitchen. We got 2 queen beds and a mini fridge which btw was leaking in the floor. The beds had a couple of stains on them. The TV glitched while you’re watching it. It would freeze and have green lines across it. The hotel all together had a weird smell to it. The pool was a foggy greenish blue color. A 90 year old could blow air in a hot air balloon stronger than those pumps were working on the pool. Never once did we see them clean around it or clean the water. Not even an ounce of chlorine or pool shock. My sister asked for fresh towels around 4-5 and they told her that it was past the time of getting that. Thank goodness we didn’t need toilet paper. We specifically asked the maids to not clean our room because we don’t like people in our room on vacations but still went in there. The sink is in a weird position. I’m 5’5 and if I spread my arms out my wingspan could touch wall to wall in the bathroom. The bathroom was small, hot, not fan, shower head coming off the wall, and the window is where people could walk by to see in. The window had that stain glass where you couldn’t see exactly who you are but they could see you. people had pillows in the windows so nobody could see them shower. Awful. We had someone above us drop a beer can off the top floor almost hit me in the head while I was sitting it there and almost hit the maid. First night we stayed there the fire alarm went off and everyone was sitting on the sidewalk waiting to get back in the room. Don’t know if that was a glitch or someone pulled it. Either way I wouldn’t be surprised. The stairs down to the beach you have to walk 2 flights of stairs to the beach and when you finally touch the sand you have to walk through a safari of high grass to get to the beach. Bring water shoes or flip flops because my niece stepped on glass at the pool. There was beer cans in the bush around the pool from night before. Oh. Let’s not forget the mold. The ceiling had spots of little black dots of mold. Looks like they tried painting over it to cover up but mold eats through paint and you could see tiny spots. You can see it around the pool too. I had such a bad headache the second day we stayed and we were all just kind of nauseous. The day it was time to leave we packed our vehicles up and got out of there. It was possibly the worst hotel we have ever stayed at. The only positives is being close to the beach and the ac...

I am going to start with the pros. The only two pros of this place are the location and the views. That's it.

There are so many bad things about this place that the owner has not taken care of that it is not understandable. The first one, and the disgusting one, has to do with roaches. It jeopardizes the health of the guests. There are too many roaches in the room everywhere. You can find them crawling on the bathroom floor, bathroom door, bathroom wall, ceiling, microwave area, sleeping area, the wall above the headboard; walking on the dining table; walking on the floor in the sleeping area; and crawling on the wall where the entrance door is. There was one big one inside the bathtub. One more crawling on the wall where the chest of drawers is. Another one on the edge of the balcony door. You mention it; the roaches are everywhere. The owner of this place has to invest some money in getting rid of the roaches. It is a health issue, but it looks like they don't care about it. One more roach crawling on the window curtain. Another one below the pictured frame in the sleeping area. One night, I turned the light on in the bathroom, and there were three roaches (on the floor and wall). During my stay there, I killed a lot of roaches. I spent part of my time killing roaches. I will never go back to this place. The view from the room does not make up for the health issue, which is the roaches—too many of them. By the way, the bathroom not only had a dusty smell, but also a roach smell. So, believe all the reviews about this place that mention roaches in the room, because all of them are true.

There are other issues, like the room smells bad, like dust; the bathroom is tiny and very, very outdated; there is no closet, no ironing board, and no complimentary breakfast; the mattress is hard, the pillows are not comfortable, the water pressure in the bathtub is very weak, and the bathtub clogs very easily. I removed some hair from it, but then it was clogged again. In addition, the only ice machine they have will cost you $6.00 a bag. No machine with free ice like all the other hotels. Also, housekeeping does not have space to put the towels other than on top of the little chest of drawers where I found roaches. The TV is stuck on the wall; it can’t be turned, and it is located on one side of the room. Also, the room is dark. Everything is very outdated. The luggage cart is in bad shape. One section came off when pulling it toward the room. There is some rust inside the microwave. There was mold in the room and also on the shower curtain. Another health issue. The A/C sounded like an airplane sometimes. Also, for those of you who don’t like places where they charge a deposit, I need to tell you that there is a deposit of $50.00, but they will refund it if everything is OK with the room after you leave. Additionally, the name of the motel is impressive, but not the building or the room. It is more a motel type than a hotel type. They charge $14.00 daily for a resort fee, but the place is not a resort, not even close. Also, there is...

My recent stay at The Chateau at Panama City Beach was, to put it mildly, a profound disappointment. I had gone into it with genuinely high hopes of a classic 60's beach style hotel. What I encountered, however, was a property that was not only caught in an endless, baffling remodel, but one that showed a stunning disregard for guest experience, safety, and basic common sense.

The "remodeling" that has apparently been underway for over two years felt less like an improvement and more like a series of questionable choices. It's difficult to reconcile the decision to install granite countertops over a brand-new tub or an odd, unused astroturf game in a common space when basic safety features like secure stairs appear to have been overlooked.

This strange sense of priority extended to the hotel staff. We observed different workers casually parking in the handicapped parking spots on the west end of the building, a sign of disrespect that was unfortunately just a taste of things to come.

The property is only accessible on the parking level. There is no elevator unlike stated in the website's accessibility section, and the only path to the rooms is via a very steep ramp or a very steep set of stairs. When booking, we requested a room on the 1st floor, thinking it would be more accessible. The man at check-in, who was quick, impersonal, and completely devoid of friendliness, did not ask if we needed any accommodations or warn us that the "1st floor" was only reachable by a steep descent. This complete lack of concern for guest needs was staggering.

Beyond the structural issues, the property feels completely unmanaged. Despite signage, the pervasive smell of marijuana smoke was noticeable across the entire property. It was clear that no one from management was bothering to enforce the rules, creating an uncomfortable and disrespectful environment for guests.

While I can thankfully confirm the sheets were clean, and the common surfaces in the bathroom were passable, I still felt compelled to give them a thorough wipe-down with Clorox. The real horror, however, began in the kitchen. Every single surface, every utensil, and even the utensil housing required a deep clean before anything felt usable. The pots stored under the sink were not just dirty; they were disgusting, visibly cheap, and frankly, unsafe to cook with even after a valiant cleaning attempt. The lack of a dish rack meant an immediate, inconvenient scramble to dry everything by hand. We eventually located the hot water on the improper side of the faucet, but after the hassle of having to clean everything ourselves, this felt like an afterthought.

The Chateau at Panama City Beach failed to deliver on its promise of a classic beach experience. Instead, it offered a stay marked by perplexing remodeling choices, a complete lack of regard for guest safety and accessibility, an unprofessional and unhelpful staff, and an unmanaged environment. Save your money and your sanity; look elsewhere for your Panama City...