Travels: Review of Hotel Effie in Destin, Florida

If you’re someone like me who lives in the Southeast US and loves the Gulf Coast AND keeps regular tabs on travel deals you may have seen one of Destin’s Hotel Effie pop up in your searches. One of the newest hotel in the area, Hotel Effie is a boutique hotel located within the Sandestin area. We booked a night away last weekend for our anniversary and were so delighted with our stay.

One of the best parts of living where I do is the quick and easy access to the beautiful Alabama/Florida beaches so I am trying to make the most of our time here by making frequent beach trips. I am the world’s biggest fan of the beaches in this area and have sent so many of our friends and family here. They don’t understand until they see the sugar sand and aqua blue, swimming pool water and it feels like you’re in the Caribbean except it was easily accessible and there’s no hassle with customs!

Any hotel that has warm cookies at check-in is fine by me. We checked in around 5pm and headed to the rooftop pool for some truffle fries, diet coke and a dip in the heated pool. It was chilly as we watched the sun set over the gulf, but the pool was warm and it was so beautiful to just be surrounded by golden sky while floating around.

I made reservations for our anniversary dinner at Ovide, the restaurant led by a multiple James Beard award winner Hugh Acheson. Everyone we interacted with were warm and welcoming, they paid very close attention to Josh’s food allergies which I find to be so rare. I ordered a half dozen of oysters and a virgin mojito and was pretty much in heaven. I did force Josh to eat one (he’s not a fan), but the rest were mine. He ordered the filet, I had the fish, both were amazing. We shared a key lime pie which was definitely not gluten free or dairy free and both of our waiters came over to let us know. Does anyone else keep it strict throughout the meal and then throw caution out the window when the dessert menu comes?!?

We had planned on ordering room service the next morning, but there was a glitch on in-room ipad ordering. Since we were hungry we just popped down to the restaurant again for breakfast. Once again the service was great and they even brought out a treat to celebrate our anniversary.

Hotel Effie is not on the beach but it is part of the Sandestin Resort. You are able to drive over or take the shuttle to their own part of the beach and they have chair service as well as restaurants right by the beach.

What we loved about Hotel Effie

• Very quiet, especially during spring break. I love children and traveling with my child, but our anniversary falls during spring break and there have been a few times where our getaways were pure chaos. Hotel Effie was luxurious and had very quiet, respectful guests during our stay.
• You are able to use the Sandestin Resort amenities (golf, pools, restaurants, etc.)
• Bathrobes!
• In-room Lavazza espresso machine
• Coffee shop in lobby
• Each floor has a filtered water station and there is a glass carafe in your room for refilling. Such a nice touch!

Cons:

• Not on the beach. It is a little drive to get over there, it is not a beachfront hotel, but I will say that the sand and water is easy to get to.
• In-room ordering was not working, we discovered that an hour after I thought I’d placed an order.
• Not going to the spa! This was my own fault, next time I will book an appointment but we ran out of time.

This is not a sponsored post, I’m just a girl who loves to travel and had a great time. As I was booking our travel, I had a hard time finding reviews of what to expect of Hotel Effie. I’m sure this is due to the fact it is a new hotel. These are my pure and unbiased thoughts (although I am pretty easy to please when it comes to travel.)