Hilton Garden Inn Ft. Walton Beach

The beds were comfortable, the hotel was clean, and the indoor pool was nice. The outdoor lazy river was heated, though the outside pool closed at dusk, so the kids didn't get much swimming in since we were only at the hotel in the evenings. There were games by the pool, but some were missing parts, like the ping pong table with only one paddle and no balls, and the giant Connect Four with no bottom piece. Construction went on during the day and stopped at dusk. There weren't any outdoor showers to rinse off beach sand. I hadn't checked about breakfast, so the lack of a continental breakfast was on me. The Wi-Fi kept disconnecting, and the TV froze during shows. It's a nice place, but I don't think it's worth the price.

We've stayed here for years and usually had good experiences, but our February 6-9 visit was terrible. The indoor pool was cold, the beds were uncomfortable, and the front desk got the payment wrong even though I twice confirmed I would pay for the whole stay. They charged only the first night to my card and put the rest on my daughter's card on file. The staff were incompetent, especially the 11 pm to 7 am shift. We arrived around 11:30 pm the first night. The toilet overflowed the first time we flushed it. The front desk said the engineer and housekeeping had gone for the night and told us to come get a plunger and handle it ourselves. My daughter did, but it still didn't work, so we had to go from the third floor down to the lobby to use a bathroom. We spent the whole night without a working toilet. When I called about the TVs not working, they said they didn't know and told us to play with the remote. I spoke to the manager, Pebbles, in the morning. They removed the parking fees, but I think more should have been done. We won't be back.

The location was perfect, and an older man with a cane gave me really good service when our room ran out of toilet paper. He always had a smile. The front desk later moved my husband and me to a somewhat better room, but the staff there were condescending and didn't seem to understand why I was frustrated. We'd booked a double queen with a balcony and oceanfront view, but were first given a room facing a building with no balcony or ocean view. When I brought it up, I was told that was the room on my booking and it wasn't their fault. We'd paid around $700 for three days, so I wanted what we'd paid for. At check-in, Pebble was really nice, but that didn't make the room mix-up any less frustrating. The beds were very uncomfortable, the pillows flat, and the comforters felt like sheets, so I'd bring a thicker blanket. My husband and I also got sick during the stay, and I felt the rooms could have been cleaner. The shower curtains had holes and didn't cover the shower. Honestly, I think you'd be treated with more respect if you went a little farther into Destin. I've usually had great service at Hiltons, which makes this disappointing.

The night staff did what they could, but the day staff weren't very friendly. For over $200 a day, this wasn't the fun, relaxing vacation I expected. The Wi-Fi was very bad, and the pool, lazy river, and hot tub were all out of service. We were told to use the facilities at the sister hotel next door, which meant walking outside across the parking lot. Construction began in the room above us at 8 a.m. with drilling and hammering. They said it wouldn't stop until 6 p.m., so there was no resting at the hotel. I had reserved the room on 12/17/25 for a three-day stay starting 02/17/26, and nobody mentioned room renovations. Ice machines were working only on the fifth floor or down by the bar; the others were out of service. The shower water came out so forcefully that it hurt. We also had to remove the toilet cover and hold the handle down to get it to flush properly. The water level seemed set very low, I imagine to save money. I'll tell everyone I know never to use a Hilton hotel. This is the only sign on their site as of today.