Hampton Inn Ft. Walton Beach

After a six-hour drive, I arrived to find that the hotel couldn’t locate my reservation from booking.com. I was kept waiting while guests who arrived after me checked in, even though I asked for the on-call manager. I’d already spoken with her twice before the trip to make sure everything was ready. The front desk gave me the main hotel number instead of hers, then said her number was in a book she’d have to find. While I was still waiting, the desk finally called the manager without looking for that book. As soon as she heard my name, she said she’d spoken with me the other day and everything should be set for that guest. It wasn’t. She didn’t come in, but told the desk to upgrade me to a beach-view room with easy beach access at no charge and reimburse one night. They both apologized, and I thought the problem was mostly resolved. Then I couldn’t get into the upgraded room, even with my key card. The battery was dead. I told the same front desk woman, who said she’d send someone right away to replace it, but nobody came. I had to walk all the way around from the hotel’s side door to reach the beach for the rest of my stay. Normally that might not be a big deal, but this was supposed to fix an already bad situation, so I expected better and hold them accountable. The rest of the stay was decent and breakfast was good. At checkout I asked how I’d get the reimbursement since I’d paid through booking.com. They said it could take two weeks or more and that booking.com would refund me directly. After two weeks, nothing had reached my bank; after three weeks, still nothing. The hotel told me to call booking.com. Booking.com said they had sent the hotel an electronic form to authorize the refund, but the hotel never completed it. I explained to Booking.Com what had happened on both sides. They apologized and said it was unacceptable, but did nothing else. I finally got the reimbursement, but the whole ordeal left me disappointed and frustrated. It was my first impression of both Hampton inn and Booking.com, and it was a horrible one.

The location is obviously great, but the cleaning service was awful. Whenever they did clean, I had to call the front desk every other day for something they’d missed: towels one day, cups another. If three cups are missing, how hard is it to leave three? And why not replace all the towels? The worst issue was the water pressure. The video I posted was from day 4, but the pressure was just as bad for all nine days, and nobody even tried to fix it. The carpet felt wet or sticky, and the shower curtain had black spots. There was grime in the tub corners. It was pretty gross, though I expected that from a beach hotel. I also need to correct what I read in the posted save comment about breakfast. It wasn’t varied at all except on Saturday and Sunday. The other days it was burnt sausage and eggs, that’s it. You could make your own waffles, I guess that’s a plus.

For a short visit, I think this place works well. I stayed about four days and appreciated breakfast starting at 6 am. It was free and a bit different from day to day, with things like scrambled eggs, cheese omelets, and western omelets. That can save about $15 to $20 a day if you’re careful about eating out. I’d call it a good choice for stays up to about 10 days, especially if you don’t need to do laundry. For a business trip lasting months, I wouldn’t recommend it. There’s no on-site laundry, and the laundry service they offer costs too much. Parking is also $15 a day, I think, though you probably won’t find a better hotel in this area. I hope they add on-site laundry someday, since it would save money in any situation.

Booked at the last minute, and I wouldn’t stay more than two nights. The heated pool is a nice feature, but it’s right by the parking lot. The beach is close, though the bridge has steps, which is a problem if you’re disabled or bringing a wagon. There’s breakfast and a paid snack bar.