The Island Resort at Fort Walton Beach

Location of The Island is fantastic! We also really love the pool areas when we’re needing a break from the beach!

I was quite disappointed to see that they now allow the private company who rents chairs to take up the ENTIRE ocean front!!! They are packed in so closely that you have to shimmy sideways to get up to the water. When we traveled 3 years ago to The Island, the chairs were on one half and you could do a private setup on the other. I spoke with the manager regarding this disappointment and she was unaware the rental chairs now go across their whole property and said she would discuss with the GM. If the chairs are taking up the whole ocean front, they should be included in the price of the stay or only on half of the beach.

This was our 4th time staying at The Island. We love how kid friendly it is. You don’t have to leave the resort at all if you don’t want to, which is always nice, especially if you have kiddos! The itinerary and daily activities given to you at check-in is always the kids favorite!

I wish housekeeping would clean the rooms a little bit better (or have a broom in every room) because the sand that gets tracked in is really annoying and uncomfortable, especially if it gets on the bed/sheets. Also, we noticed this stay that locals would come to swim at the pools (we only know they were locals because we overheard conversations). Which is fine, but to my understanding it is not a public pool, so when they take up chairs/play loud music and leave it messy, it isn’t fun for those who have paid money for their vacation. That being said, I think the gates to the pool area and other areas for guests, need to be reinvented to be accessed with the room keys (bracelets) to keep folks who are using the resort for free, out.

The property is great! Beautifully laid out. Loved the amenities and atmosphere! The decorations were beautiful! Loved that it was on the beach, had an adult only grotto, hot tub and multiple pools. The staff was friendly and offered great customer service.

The breakfast buffet is ridiculously priced for the amount of food they offer. They offered a simple continental style breakfast for $21. Most hotels, which cost half the price to stay, offer the same food which is included in the price. Compared to the last resort I stayed at, Kalahari (much larger resort) they had 10x the food, every option imaginable for breakfast and it cost the same $21. Either include the small buffet breakfast with the room rate or if it’s a different company that owns the restaurant, give a breakfast voucher.

The breakfast was not good at all, and the prices are terrible. The bread they used for toast was as hard as a rock. One piece of toast was 4.00 with a tiny pat of butter. Waitress never did bring the strawberry jam we asked for.

Fresh bread for a start would have been appreciated. And we didn't appreciate the fact that we had to pay 10.00 a day for parking. That is crazy for the price you pay to stay there.

Excellent location which is close to everything, the beach was awesome. My children loved the pools and the waterfalls. The entrance was beautiful.

The rooms are definitely outdated and in need of some repairs as is the pool area. The room service absolutely is terrible. I called multiple times to get an iron but was never able to get one. we also ran out of toiletries and had to get them ourselves.

This was our third year to stay at the Island, the first two years a single mom with my son, and then this year with my new husband and my son!! My husband had never been to the Emerald Coast and he loved The Island as much as we do. While we loved the location, and the staff was helpful and kind, I would love to see some things included, such as beach chair rental or breakfast, for the price that we paid to stay here for 5 nights ($3,000). I am hoping, however, to catch a deal for next summer, since prices have increased every year we have been

See above!! (sorry I included it there)

The resort overall was beautiful. The grounds were gorgeous. The front desk staff was able to get us into our room early, which was appreciated. The rooms were clean and updated, and very comfortable. There was a large variety of food and drink options, and while it was a little pricey, I did not think it was out of line for being 'resort' food. And the convenience of having food available when you wanted it that could be charged to your room was a huge benefit, especially when without your wallet while swimming. Location was great, and the beaches were fabulous. And the live entertainment was beyond amazing!!

The hot tub was only hot the first night, after that it was warm at best. Which was a bummer. The heated pool was MUCH warmer than the hot tub was. The main Grotto pool water was freezing. We never even got in or experienced the swim up bar because it was SO cold. The biggest downfall though was when it rained. Water puddled up on all of the walkways (even the covered ones) in some places up to 6"+. Unfortunately, this occurred when we were set to check out, and by the time we made it from our room to the lobby our shoes and bags were completely soaked. As were we, even though we took "covered" paths the entire time.

We loved the location of the property. It is in the middle of the bridge between Destin and Fort Walton. Publix was only a 4 minute drive, which was perfect. The pool and outside bars were great! I will definitely be coming back in the future.

The only thing we were disappointed in was the room. In the pictures online it looked much larger and updated. The room we stayed in was not terrible, but it wasn’t impressive. Also, we paid extra for a private patio on the courtyard. It wasn’t private because we were right next to the pool and it wasn’t really worth the extra money. If you want something very nice you need to go with the gulf view.

We had a gulf-view room and it was wonderful. We loved sitting on our patio at night, listening to the entertainment. The room was quiet even in the evening when trying to sleep. The food at the resort was good (bar food style). Drinks made by Mike were superb. The beds were very comfortable. We brought our own hangers after reading reviews about no closet and it worked out fine. The pizza was awesome. We loved the pool area (cold at first but not too bad). The cleaning staff was friendly and worked very hard. Our room was well attended.

The resort should provide hangers. The food truck never opened on time. Steve was a horrible unfriendly bartender who made horrible drinks and was rude. I don't feel like we should have been charged a daily parking fee when paying resort fees.

The location on the beach was perfect! the warm pool was amazing! The food was very good- and there are numerous nearby restaurants. the staff was very friendly and courteous!

the music that is played all around the property tends to be loud- especially on the weekend when there is a DJ at the pool! There was a very strong smell of a chemical upon entering the first floor of our hotel section called the beach house. I think it might have been some type of insect repellent. I kind of got used to it- and it didn’t seem to bother others as much as it did me.