Great Place... Worth the Money!
by A TripAdvisor Member
We have stayed at the Ramada Plaza Beach Resort 2 times, and we loved every minute of it! We are in fact going next mont to stay for a week. Everything from the courtyard to the beach is wonderful, but the pool tops it off. We stay there mainly for the pool, it is the best I've ever seen. The hotel is right on the beach and has a nice entry to the beach. The service is ok, but we have so much fun that we don't notice it. I would recommend this hotel to everyone, but be prepare to pay for the fun! The Ramada Resort is the only hotel that we will stay in at Fort Walton Beach now.
Loved it and would go again tomorrow!
by A TripAdvisor Member
My husband and I stayed there for our anniversary and couldn't have been more pleased. We booked a room in the back tower with a private balcony and ocean view. How wonderful to sit out there in the mornings and evenings and watch the dolpins and the birds coming in to feed. The hotel and grounds are beautiful, and the staff could not have been more professional or polite. The room was clean and we never had any problems with room stewards or personnel. The atrium was lovely with all the tropical plants, and the on-site restraurant was very nice, but limited in it's menu. But there are plenty of places to eat and sight-see.
Hope to return!
by A TripAdvisor Member
We have stayed at the Ramada twice and loved it both times. In fact, we had so much fun the first time we brought our adult daughters along the second time. The price is a little high, but you cannot beat the beach location. I don't know what the one reviewer was complained about steps to the beach for...there are steps and easy access to the beach. I wonder how much damage the area received from the hurricanes this fall. Hope it is okay, and hope I can get back there soon.
nice hotel
by A TripAdvisor Member
I have stayed at the Ramada every week of the 4th of July for the last 16 years. I always loved the hotel but I will admit for the cost of the room you will not get a 5 star room. Now that there is a new condo coplex next door I will stay there. The pool area is beautiful and the beaches are the best.
Great Escape
by A TripAdvisor Member
My mother and I stayed 2 nights during the week. The hotel was very nice. The rooms were clean and the staff was friendly. Business seemed slow, but I think we were there just before the Summer crowd. I learned that the hotel had re-opened only six weeks prior due to hurricane damage. If there hadn't been signs of damage on other properties in the area, you would never have known there had been a hurricane. The grounds were gorgeous and the pools were immaculate. I enjoyed the sandy white beach just steps away. We rented an umbrella and chairs and spent the morning watching the dolphins. My only regret was that I didn't get to stay longer. I will definitely return if I can get a good rate.
Ramada great ammenities!!!
by TripAdvisor Member lid535
Well, after researching for weeks and reading all the reviews on Ft. Walton Beach, we decided to try the Ramada. I had us booked at the Sheraton as well, because hurricane Dennis came thru a month before we got there, then came Katrina, and Rita made landfall the day we flew in, we were a bit worried not know what we would find. We wound up cancelling with the Sheraton because they got so much damage, and once we got there and saw the Sheraton vs. Ramada, I knew we made the right choice. The Sheraton had nothing beach side, and the sand was so piled up to the back of the hotel. It just didn't look as good from the beach side. They are also right next to the Gulfarium, and although we went to the Gulfarium, it is old
and kind of unsightly. I don't think I would want to look at it for 7 days. They do have very large corner balconies though.
We were there for 7 days, 3 adults and one 3yr. old. We splurged and got the beach front balcony, which I highly recommend, and spent ALOT of time out there, all hours of the day. When my son was tired, we could sit out there and enjoy the incredible view, we saw dolphins, boats, unreal clouds, sunrises, sunsets, people on the beach....it was wonderful.
There was a great bar area in a gazebo on the beach, so you could get a drink (pop/water too) without having to walk all the way back to your room, or hotel. This is the ONLY hotel on Ft. Walton that has this.
There was a beautiful HUGE inlaid stone patio that goes the whole length of the hotel on the back between the hotel and the beach. I saw a party of people that bought stuff and had a cookout out there, which was nice, if you want to use the grill.
There was a very cool 'splash garden' for kids. What this is, is a large area with water features spraying water, shooting water, dumping water from different areas that kids can play in. It is alot bigger then I thought, about 12-15 different things kids can play in. It sits right next to the beach too.
The pool, wow. Very cool. It has a huge giant story and a half rock in the middle with waterfalls, and you can swim or wade inside of it and get a yummy frozen drink or a beer. Kids love the water fall too. The pool is all the way around the rock waterfall, kind of like a big moat. It isn't heated and was pretty cold.
The other pool, the heated one, they had drained for repairs, so we didn't get to get in it. There was a kiddie pool next to that one.
The grounds were nice, lots of foliage, 3 restraunts on site. We chose the bed and breakfast package, and booked this through Hotels and got the best rate. $163.00/nite. We came at a slow time after all the rush.
It was nice to just walk to the restraunt and eat from the buffet. Eggs, Bacon, cereal, biscuits and gravy, fruit, hash, bagels, toast, that kind of thing. We ate dinner there one night, and it was 'ok'. The wait staff was very nice.
The boardwalk is a quick walk down the beach, or next door if you want to walk on the sidewalk street-side. There are places to eat there. We ate at The Black Pearl, kind pricy, but great views. My husband said it was the best steak he has ever eaten.
The fishing pier was right next door too, pay the buck and walk out on the end of the pier, it was beautiful. I saw a manta-ray and a barracuda and loads of dolphins. The food and Anglers ( at the beginning of the pier) was great!! Neat place.
The Old Bay Steamer was a great place to eat and was 2 blks from the hotel. GO EARLY! We saved it for the night before we left.
We also used AAA Annies Shuttle from the airport and got our car 2 days later. They were RIGHT THERE with their sign to pick us up, and it was $24.00 for all four of us from the airport to the hotel. They we nice and accomodating.
The beach is nothing less then gorgeous!! I have been to the carribbean, and the water is very clear, and green and blue. The first day was rough seas because of hurricane Rita, gradually day by day the water calmed.
The sand was like powder, white, rock, shell and trash free. It is so nice.
We went to Destin one night for dinner and a couple of times for various shopping. I don't think there is a comparison. Destin is more commercial, loads of shopping, LOTS of hotels, condo's ,I wasn't really impressed. Fun to visit, but I am so glad we stayed in Ft. Walton, more relaxed. We also go to experience the "Red Tide" that was in Destin, and Ft. Walton didn't have it. We all were coughing uncontrollably....it really effects your breathing, etc.
People in the restraunt were all coughing too. As soon as we got back to Ft. Walton, we were fine.
Now for the rooms, they were "ok". I think I expected more. There were 2 double beds, 2 end tables, one little round table in the corner, a coffee table, entertainment center w/t.v. and microwave cart and coffee maker, and a desk. This was too much furniture for this little room. 3 adults and one kid, we were bumping into each other, thank goodness we got the balcony!!!
The bathroom, was 'ok'. I wish they would put the sink outside of the shower area, so one person could shower while one person was drying their hair. Water pressure could peel the skin from an apple!! Great! Leave the hairdryer at home, they have a great one, again, inside the bathroom.
Not alot of hanging room for clothes, but they have 3 drawers in the t.v. entertainment center which we used all.
Noise level.....we were on the 5th floor. Just a minor warning.......They had a wedding while we were there. The whole 6th floor has 2 party rooms. You can hear the music through the floor. We also had some very noisy neighbors that were banging on the walls, and our door at one point at 3:00am.
Overall.....you cannot beat the location of this hotel and the ammenities. We even had someone from a hotel in the beach come ask us how much our rate was because they wanted to move to our hotel because there is nothing to walk to or do where they were. There was a live band on friday night at the Boardwalk that you could go watch and walk back to your hotel. No drinking and driving. Nice feature. The Ramada has a little live music on the beachfront cabana too on the weekends.
We also had to use the washer and dryer on site 3 times, so that was a nice feature.
My only real complaint was that the rooms are small, at least for 4 people, and there is a lack of chairs anywhere except by the pool. None on the back patio, and none in the splash garden area. There were two small table's so if they were taken, you had to stand. You can rent chairs on the beach, but we didn't. Bring or buy a beach towel, dont bother with the tiny bath towels, they are too small. You need them with no chairs to sit in.
If you are going for the beach and somewhere to walk to and eat, and have a relaxing time, great. For the kids....beach and pool and splash garden, great. If you wanted a romatic time, great.
We will be back. A condo would be nice for the space, but the ammenities here can't be beat. It's not fancy, but they have everything.
There were quite a few Katrina evacuee's staying at the hotel when we were there. We felt really guilty being there on vacation when they have lost so much. They were very nice and their stories were heartbreaking. God Bless.
One side-note. Don't bother taking your camcorder, because of the humidity, it won't work. Someone told me that, I lugged it there anyway, and guess what...it didn't work!
Hope this helps, if you have questions, you can e-mail me. thesunflower@planetkc.com
Sign in with Facebook
