Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa

We and many of our guests stayed at this hotel. The hotel service was wonderful! We also held our welcome party for our guests here. The bonfire we had through the recreation department was amazing. The contract was clear and the value good. We also reserved a small deck for drinks and snacks. This was reserved through a different department and the contract was very confusing and left open many opportunities to charge us additional money. We also received incorrect invoices along the way. We chose a deck that a direct view of the activities on the beach, but without notice this was moved on the evening of the event and our guests had difficulty getting back and forth between the beach and the deck. Eventually, most people gave up and stayed on the beach. We were told the event had to be moved because the other deck was unavailable, but there was no other event occurring on that deck that evening. The bonfire was a lot of fun and I would recommend. Working with special events for the deckside part of the party was difficult however.

Overall, my husband and I were very pleased with our destination wedding and reception at the Hilton Sandestin. Our beach-side ceremony was beautiful and our reception in the Coral Ballroom was also very nice. The vendors hired by the Hilton were top notch. However, we were very disappointed with some things that happened “behind the scenes” which caused some unnecessary stress for myself (the bride), my husband (the groom) and our families: - We found out AFTER we signed the contract that none of the Hilton wedding packages include many standard wedding services such as decorations, full coverage by the photographer (package only included 2 hours of photography), lighting/AV equipment, the groom’s cake, or the bridal suite. We were quoted $3-4k for these items. So much for an all-inclusive package! - Weeks after we signed the Hilton event contract, friends and family who called the Hilton to get the wedding hotel rate were told there was no bride/groom by my name or my husband’s name in the booking system--- so no special rate was given until I emailed and asked for the glitch to be fixed. - Three days before final payment was due, the contract arrived via email with the wrong wedding date and needing changes to number of guests. We did not receive the updated invoice until the afternoon before the day before the deadline for final payment. - Two months before my wedding, I found out that the Hilton Wedding Coordinator (Carolyn Northcott) was no longer with the Hilton, which probably explains why I didn't hear from her very much. However, I had a similar experience with the new Hilton Wedding Coordinator (Kristi Purvis). In general, Kristi was very polite and professional the times I did speak with her, but she was definitely not detail-oriented and not always quick to respond. For example, when I tried to schedule a time to meet with her in-person at the Hilton a few days prior to my wedding to go over some final details, she never responded. She finally sent me an email the morning of my wedding, but did not ask to meet or speak to me in person. She finally showed up sometime after noon. My husband told me that she helped a little bit with the wedding set up, but that’s about it. I completely agree with the other reviewer – if you don’t have a planner and/or someone to coordinate your rehearsal/ceremony/reception, you’d better get one! (Fortunately for me, I did!). - The reception room was supposed to be available for decorating at 3pm the day of the wedding (3 hours prior to my wedding), however upon bringing the decorations down to the room at 3, we were told the room was not going to be available until 4pm because the people who were using it were running late. To Hilton's credit, they started setting up tables in the hallway so the tables could quickly be placed in the room once the room was vacated. Then a mad rush ensued with 6 members of the wedding party getting the tables decorated. Very stressful! - The Hilton incorrectly charged my husband’s credit card for use of the bridal suite for the night of our wedding even though the bridal suite was included in our wedding package. The charge was eventually credited back to my husband’s credit card after he called to complain. Overall, I would still recommend this venue but would caution any bride and groom considering the Hilton to be aware of the additional hidden costs and expect issues with some of the finer details.

The Hilton did a wonderful job of organizing our wedding. We were able to plan a wedding with 30 guests in 6 weeks. Our wedding coordinator, Carolyn Northcott, was very responsive to questions and always answered everything in a timely manner. They also provide a back-up location in case of bad weather which is something not always provided by the beach packages that you see on the internet. This gave me some peace of mind since it rained for 2 days straight prior to our wedding. However, no rain on our wedding day and beautiful weather. Our package included, the beach service with officiant, flowers, music, 2hours of photography on a CD, champagne toast for all our guests, $75 spa credit and complimentary room for the wedding night. The Hilton upgraded our room to an ocean view suite where I was able to check in by 10am and watch the set-up of the wedding as well as all of the guests arrive, it was wonderful. We also ordered our cake and grooms cake through the Hilton for and additional charge which was a bit pricey, but they did exactly as we requested and it was delicious. They also did not have a cake stand to fit the type of cake we had requested so went out and bought one to make sure our presentation was exactly how we requested. There were other venues that we could have reserved for cheaper, but I was very happy with the Hilton and the vendors they provided. The musician that we chose through the Hilton was a classical guitarist, Jim Armstrong. He learned a song that was not on his play list specifically for our wedding. My bouquet looked exactly like the picture I sent to the florist as did my fiance's boutonniere. The arbor was decorated nicely, but I was hoping for a little bit more there. I'm guessing that if I would have provided arbor pictures it would have been as requested. However, they did take it down after the ceremony and take the floral arrangement over to the restaurant and used it as the centerpiece for our head table at dinner and it looked beautiful. The extra flowers we ordered were very pricey so beware of that. There is also a set-up fee for the florist that is not included in the package and is paid out of pocket that is not mentioned. Overall I would recommend the Hilton for a destination wedding and was very happy with the services they provided.

Yascha Becker, the pastry chef, at Hilton Sandestin made my wedding cake and surprise groom's cake. The cake was beautiful and absolutely delicious! Prices were very reasonable. Even though we had to communicate everything long distance, as I live in Missouri, Yascha was great and got every detail that I asked for. I was particularly happy with the groom's cake which was a beach garden gnome! It was great! Also offers a great variety of flavors.

The Hilton Sandestin was top notch! Carolyn Northcott at the Hilton is the lady to see! She was so nice and made planning easy and fun! I had the perfect beach wedding and could not have asked for anything better!!!

A bit pricey, but the beach is beautiful, and security makes sure it's only your wedding in the area. The Hilton takes care of most of the work for you, so you can relax, and focus on other important details.

My guest and I stayed here for a long weekend (married memorial day weekend). The grounds are great and plenty to do but highly disappointed with the staff. Nobody seemed to know anything about the resort, where anything was, services provided,etc. with the price of the rooms, I was expecting more guidance/information since the resort is so large. We stayed at the village and everything about it was great but they do not offer room sèrvice and it takes forever to get served at the busier restaurants

We loved this venue for its beautiful beach decks and views. The food was good but a bit pricey, and if you don't have a planner, you'd better get one. The "coordinators" here are sweet and will do what you want eventually, but are not detail oriented and not always quick to respond.

On Sunday, October 3rd, a fire roared through the deck and restaurant outside the Sandestin Hilton. It burned down the entire restaurant and the deck where our cocktail hour was planned to be. The Hilton had the mess managed and most of the debris cleaned up by our wedding date 11/13/2010. They did a wonderful job giving us the other deck that hadn't been damaged and lead guests through the pool deck and lobby to the ballroom where the reception was held.

Everything went smoothly from planning to the wedding itself. Blair was a great help and had everything exactly as I requested. PERFECT!

It is right on the beach with a lot of opportunities for pictures. The resort is big but not so large you get lost.