Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort

It’s a well worn dump. Came for bike week and fell for web lies. It’s in desperate need of remodel. Bed mattress had to be twenty plus years old. The musty smell of old overwhelms you. The concept of efficiencys is from the past but a good idea. Just update and remodel.

This is my second night at Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort and I have several issues…
1.) When I moved into my first room, it smelled musty and damp. The top of the refrigerator and the bottom of the stove was badly rusted. I didn’t think too much about it. I had been traveling with friends and wanted to move to a room that was closer to them.
When I moved, I was moved into a room that didn’t have a full kitchen. It only had a mini-​fridge and a microwave oven. I asked the guy at the front desk if I would be charged less since there are less amenities and was told, «NO».
2.) Cosmetically (and perhaps structurally) this place seems to be on its last legs. Everywhere you look, you see that part of the stucco has fallen away from the face of the building. You see rust. You see chipping paint.
I realize the place is located right on the Gulf, so saltwater probably does a real number on a wooden structure, but surely the owners could do something to make the place look better – especially at these prices.
3.) I came down here with 3 friends. Originally, we had planned to go to Daytona, but after repeatedly checking the weather in Daytona and finding that there was significant rain forecast, we decided at the last minute to book at Sandpiper Beacon. I’m traveling with my little, 6lb Chihuahua as well, so I needed a place that takes dogs. They do accept small pets under 10lbs for $ 20 a night ($ 100 a week max.) for a pet. But I digress…
My point is this… I have set it up so that two of my friends are staying with me in two other rooms. I am embarrassed and a little ashamed that I got them mixed up in all of this. This is their vacation too. They want a nice facility to stay in, but instead they got this place.
We had planned to stay at the Marriott Residence Inn in Daytona. It was built just last year. The price of their hotel included a full breakfast every morning, three activities a week, and large suites for guests. Each room is furnished with a living room, bedroom, and full kitchen. If we’d been able to go to Daytona Beach as we’d planned; we would have actually paid less there than we have paid Sandpiper Beacon.
4.) Guests are told that they have WiFi. WiFi was awful in the room. My signal was weak to non-​existent. There was no way to watch Netflix. When I called the front desk to complain, I was told that there were no problems at all with WiFi – that no other guests had complained about the signal. Yet when I read other reviews, I found that lack of WiFi was one of the more common complaints.
I stayed at «the resort» for 7 days. About day 5 I found out that I could only get clear WiFi signal while sitting on the balcony.
Seems to me if a guest is charged for a variety of services – including WiFi – they should have access to them.
Because I didn’t have access to WiFi and I wanted to watch movies, I went to Target and bought an external DVD drive and some movies. I ended up spending about $ 130 because of the limited WiFi (not to mention to poor reception on the television).
5.) I had a dog with me. When I fed her, I had to watch her dish or roaches would scurry out from under the furniture and immediately get in her food. I would lay in my bed at night watching DVDs on my computer and see roaches crawl on the bed. I even saw a small roach crawl out of the mini-​fridge.
Now for the positives…
1.) The views from the ocean front rooms are exquisite. Sitting on the structurally questionable patio is worth the risk (when I talk about the structural integrity of the patio, I’m talking about the very large cracks in the concrete floor). I’ve seen dolphin, pelicans, tons of dragon flies, and even one or two actual Sandpipers.
2.) Parking is fairly easy.
3.) There seems to be plenty to do here.
4.) They take dogs
At the end of my stay at Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort, this is what I can say… The place is old. It’s quirky. It’s loud. Nevertheless, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Panama City Beach. It’s a beautiful place with lots to do. I can’t wait to go back to PCB. However, I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t stay at Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort. I’ll find another place to stay – even if I have to pay more money.

Worst place to stay on Panama city beach. I am thinking the jail may be more luxurious, and definitely more spacious. We chose to abandon our room early, and go home because the lodgings were such a joke. Of course, there are no refunds possible… The room was 1960’s with a fresh coat of paint somewhere in 1982. This place might be more impressive if we had never stayed at a Super 8. Dirty, cheap resort for cigarette smoking, uneducated, pond flotsam. When the waves rise on the beach, cigarette butts float out of the sand, and cover everything. It is impossible to get away from the cigarettes in this place.

Super expensive, under maintained, tiny rooms. Supposed double beds are just larger than twins. No even a coffee maker in the room and you have to pay a quarter to get a tiny bucket of ice (no even a cheap shampoo either). Nothing is included in the **** rate you’ll need to pay. My worst experience this summer. Will never use again and won’t recommend it.

A lot of negative reviews, and most of them coming from people who need to be pampered and are allergic to kids having fun.
Panama City has spring breakers. Deal with it. The beach here is beautiful, the water is so clear, and on July 4^th everyone was out shooting fireworks and having a grand old time.
Yes, the wi-​fi is shoddy, if it even works.
Yes, you can hear people having fun outside of your room.
Yes, you are going to see some «kids misbehaving».
Yes, the pools and other amenities are minimal.
But isn’t it friendly people and the BEACH itself that you care about when you vacation? If that’s you, don’t hesitate to book a stay here, as you are literally about ten footsteps from a delightful private beach and there is even a large «Tiki» bar to get drinks and stay out late being your bad self.
I may or may not have skinny dipped at 2 in the morning and lived to tell about it. Jaws ain’t got nothin’ on me!
Oh, and family man? Yeah, I’m talking to you. This is a good option for you too. I went ten years ago with the fam as a kid and enjoyed it. Just don’t expect their virgin ears and eyes to be untainted when spring break hits. July 4^th might be a better time for your vacation here.

Pictures on website is really misleading. Rooms are like a motel. I do not suggest for families especially with a baby. The air conditioning exhaust is facing the hallways therefore the hallways are extremely hot and basically a health hazard. And I haven’t even been here for a day.
Overall, I don’t recommend this and I won’t be coming back.

We were really looking forward to our stay at the Sandpiper Beacon, but what a disappointment it was!
First of all, I would like to thank you for only billing me 3 of the minimum 4 days, as my father in law died just a couple of days before our stay at the Sandpiper Beach Resort. This was a real nice gesture from your side.
The check-​in procedure was unfriendly and almost rude. We were told to wear these plastic bracelets but it never got clear why we had to wear them (we saw many people walking around on the premises without the bracelet, using the «facilities»).
When we got to our room it was a huge disappointment. There was a strange smell in the room, the kitchen was old (stove was from the eighties and dirty, the cupboards were almost falling apart and even though we booked a 6-​person room it only had cutlery, plates and cups for 4 persons and there was only place for two on the balcony). Then our eye fell on the most disgusting thing in the room: «The Couch». The couch had the weirdest spots on it (must have been used for many other purposes then only sitting on it), smelled and looked disgusting. Most likely the couch was really great when it was brand new in the 70’s, but as it was made of same kind of fabric that cannot be cleaned, which made it really disgusting in 2014.
We arrived with two children (4 and 6 year old) in our party and as the Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort does not have the «cheap motel rates», but ask over 250 USD per night, we had the highest expectations of our stay (especially since the Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort advertises with beautiful pictures on their website as try to be a real family hotel). The kids amused themselves on the beach, until the other guests in the Sandpiper Beach Resort woke up around 13.30. The Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort is mostly used by teenagers, who drink tequila in broad daylight, play loud music and misbehave. All of this is fine and I even used to do that myself as well (light years ago…), but then you should not advertise your resort as a family friendly hotel.
We decided to leave the beach for what it was and our kids used «the facilities» (two old pools with some slides). Even though they only used the pool for a maximum of 30 minutes, both my daughters had an eye infection the day after they used the pool.
That is when we decided to leave the Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort after only 2 of the original 4 nights. At check-​out, the guy at the reception noticed we were leaving a day early and said he could not refund our money for the 3’th night but could give a «credit» for our next stay. When I kindly refused he was not surprised and did not even ask why we were leaving a day early (they must be used that people leave a night early…).
Overall this hotel is only recommendable to teenagers who want to party and if you are looking for a nice family style vacation, please do not even consider staying at the Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort.

Do not stay here if you want to sleep!
These walls are paper thin, I honestly don’t know how the place is still standing with such thin walls. Ever car that went by, every person that walked by was as if it was in stereo! The beds were so uncomfortable, we didn’t get any sleep during our stay! There are activities for children and great access to the beach but as for a place to sleep this is not it! Very unimpressed and a very tired person!!!