Destin West RV Resort — Hotel in Santa Rosa Island

What could have been a 5-star experience, ended in a 1-star review due to the absolutely ridiculous and unprofessional attitude of the employee running it. When we first checked in, we called to note we would be later than the office was open. That was no issue, and he said we could come in the next day to finalize. The next morning, we went in and had some questions. He was abrupt and demanded he could only do one thing at a time, and he would answer questions later. We let it go, figuring he was just flustered. Today, we started packing up early, cleaning our RV inside before pulling slides in, making sure everyone’s had a shower, etc. We have a pretty normal routine when we leave any RV park, and know our timeline. Our check out time, that is the time we paid for, was 11AM. As I was getting out of the shower at 10AM, there was a knock on the door. My kids answered it, and the front desk guy demanded our check out time was 11AM and he had someone else waiting for the site. The kids noted we were already packing up, but his response was “doesn’t look like you’ve moved yet.” What? Wait, we didn’t get any preferential early check in, and I’ve paid my entire bill to check out at 11AM. Okay, now I’m not happy, but our inside was clean, we’d already pulled in one of our slides, and all I had left was to pull in the awning and disconnect. Which I had done by 10:30AM. As my wife and I were getting ready to backup, the guy rolled back by again at 10:45AM, and was smug and said “Everything good?”. I explained I wasn’t really appreciative that he came knocking at 10AM demanding things, when our check out is at 11AM. He said “well, you wouldn’t be the first to forget about the check out time.” I said “Sir, we didn’t forget. As you can see, we’re packed and ready.” That’s when my wife asked why he was being so pushy to get us out. He said he had someone else coming into the spot. She asked what was check in time, and he said 1PM. Again, it’s 10:45AM. She said we paid for our spot through 11AM, and she also didn’t appreciate how he talked to our kids, when we had literally done nothing wrong. The guy then started SHOUTING at her yelling “JESUS CHRIST, DON’T EVER COME BACK HERE AGAIN!” and flew off on his golf cart. Seriously? What is up with this guy?

The sad part is we really loved the location. We loved the amenities across the street at The Island. We had an amazing time, outside of the interaction of the guy who was working there. He should immediately be removed from any customer service position. If they put someone who actually treated people with respect in, this place would exceed 5-stars. Instead, just on the demeanor of this guy, we’re forced to leave a negative review. Hopefully the owner(s) will resolve this issue moving forward.

Side note, water pressure here was very low: approximately 10-12 PSI. The free WiFi would constantly disconnect after an hour. Otherwise it was...

Let me start by saying, if you had a bad experience here, you had to have been looking for a reason to be upset! We read reviews before we booked this location and we choose to ignore some of the negative feedback, and I'm a billion percent glad we did!!! I mean, seriously, who can be mad when you're literally staying in paradise?

My first point of contact was with Barry on the phone and he made me laugh. You could take his personality any way you want, but I choose to take it lightly and I booked right after we spoke. Thanks Barry for a good laugh.

On our date of arrival, we were running late so I contacted the office and was greated with a big "just peachy" from Joe. I could hear Joe's smile through the phone. Joe was able to give me very accurate details of how our after hours check in would be and to meet him up at the office in the a.m. When we arrived Joe had everything waiting for us and we set up our RV for the night with no issues. Our first impression of the park was how well maintained and how perfect the lights were for the evenings. Our lot was lot 42 and it has the perfect amount of privacy but also a gorgeous view of the bay. We were within a few minutes walking distance from the heated pool too!!!

Meeting Joe was exactly how I imagined it would be!!! We walked up and were greated again with a "just peachy" and his big smile!!! He quickly and promptly explained everything to us and gave us some dining pointers for the area.

We were able to take advantage of everything the Island Resort across the road had to offer. It was beautiful and perfect for our family.

I will say this beautiful little RV resort was a little piece of paradise. We met some of the loveliest guests who all had been returning guests! I think that says alot about how wonderful the resort is. The park was peaceful at all times, especially during the night, so our sleeps were amazing!!

Before I finish up, I just want to say 2 things... firstly, the wifi seems to have been brought up a few times in reviews. Half my family had zero issues with the wifi and the other half did have issues. We realized that the older devices didn't work with wifi but our newer devices didn't have any issues. On overcast days, the wifi didn't work as well... but on the sunniest days it was fine. Wifi is wifi... if you're on holidays to work maybe you need a hotel with a more secure wifi and not an rv resort. For us, wifi wasn't our priority and we made due.

Secondly, after meeting Joe and speaking with Barry... if you've had an altercation with one of these two men, I think you've violated one of the rules of the park... because these two men were so incredibly kind hearted that I cannot fathom them being mean or hostile unless they were doing their jobs to enforce those rules.

We loved our time here... and we will be coming back in the future....

Won’t be back. We have stayed at this resort literally since it opened. I think owners changed along the way because it used to have a luxury feel with the price tag and interaction with staff was pleasant. In 2022 I noticed that so many people quit picking up dog poop and it was everywhere, the men in the office were rude, unfriendly, unhelpful, snappy and some of the employees and campers were a bit sketchy. Our neighbor in a camper beside us said they had been disappointed the last few years and weren’t coming back. We no longer felt safe walking our dogs late at night and it seemed a bit rowdy at times. But for 2023 we decided to book our favorite spot on the bay, give it another chance. About 10 days before our upcoming trip my father in law got put on hospice and there is just no way we could go. I called and explained the situation, said we could have a doctor’s note or letter from hospice that might would allow us to use our $300 deposit for another time….any help would have been appreciated. I understand the 30 day no return deposit policy but I also know in very unique situations locations will let you use that deposit one more time for a different booking. He told me quickly that wasn’t an option, and honestly that is okay. I understand that. They probably get 22 calls a day that would love that spot and NO WAY it won’t be booked. At this point I had given him my full name and check in date 3 times. He barked at me that he needed our site number…really dude you have less than 50 spots. Well, I’m fighting back tears and I didn’t know the number so I said “it’s the best one up front on the bay, we booked it a year ago” (There is basically one primo site on the bay) He barked at me again that “that’s not a number”. By this time I had had enough of his crass and rudeness and quipped and told him not to worry that I would look it up for him by going through my emails so he could just sit tight and not worry. I finally find my reservation email, found the site number and his response “yeah that is the primo site”, yeah buddy, that’s what I said. If you’ve been here in the past it’s not what it used to be. If you are looking for luxury, keep going. Be prepared for a fire pit that never works, some loud drunk people, stepping in dog crap EVERYWHERE and not being comfortable walking your dog alone at night and the rude men who work in the office were just too much. It was the last straw and not because of the 30 day policy and losing $300. I’m not staying somewhere that ppl are rude to me when my family is dying plus you just don’t get what you pay for anymore. I’m done and we used to send 8-10 ppl a year on recommendations. Most came back with less that stellar experiences. Why one star: it’s a beautiful spot on the bay, close to restaurants and easy access across the street...