Upon arriving at Hammock Beach Resort, you will notice it's a beautiful Florida location; streets lined with palm trees, a golf course, and wonderfully architectural hotel.

Entrance to resort

Before your arrival, you have most likely reserved a room. There are many different areas of the resort to stay. Some are off the main property and some are not beach views, so you may want to call to make your reservation to verify you are getting exactly what you want. We have stayed in the Main Tower, Ocean Tower, and condos at Cinnamon Beach. The Main Tower is older and many of the rooms are in need of renovations. When we stayed in March 2015, we were told that the Main Tower rooms were about to begin renovation. (These rooms are actually owned by individuals. The resort indicated to me that these owners were asked to start renovations). The Ocean Tower rooms are larger and have nicer features. The condos at Cinnamon Beach were off of the hotel's main property. Yet, we still had access to the hotel's amenities, because we had booked through the hotel. All of the rooms (except the studio rooms) are oversized. Think condo or apartment more than a hotel room.

The pool complex on the property is great. The resort offers a pool for families (with a slide), a lazy river, a beach entry pool, an adult only pool, and even an indoor pool. The family and indoor pools are heated.

M & B with their friend in the family pool playing SHARK BOP

The beach is nice and includes chair and towel service. Yet, be careful as there are rocks in the ocean. If you aren't aware of this, you could easily get hurt. In all of our years in Florida, we have never experienced a beach with these rocks. It would be an interesting science lesson for us. (Ha!)

The golf course is beautiful and well kept. The fitness center and spa are also nice. However, I will say that I have had several spa services there. Sometimes the service was good. Other times, it was average – as if the person giving the service knew you were on vacation and may never come back to use them, so they didn't give their best effort. That was disappointing. The women's locker room is outstanding. It is well kept, has lockers, and is a great place to get ready after a long day at the pool if you have already been required to checkout of your room.

The food and drinks are a bit expensive; yet, there is a grocery store (Publix) less than 1 mile from the resort. The pool does not allow outside food in the area. I saw some people being turned away with food and other families (sitting right next to me) with a huge bag of Doritos on their lap. I couldn't tell how this policy was being enforced. The hotel is a bit isolated, so if you want to eat off property, you need to go a little while to find something. The main things to do during the day at the property are go to the beach, go to the pool, or golf. Therefore, if it rains, there isn't much to do on property or in the surrounding area. It did rain for two days while we were there, so this became problematic as we don't want to be on vacation and sit in our hotel room watching movies.

We have visited this property for years. In fact, we used to visit it when it operated as a Ginn property. Over the years, I believe the staff has become less attentive. Now, they seem to have an attitude of, “We are great, and we know it, so you get what you get.” It's disheartening. We've been going for years and the attitude has changed (but the workers are the same people). Yet, in their defense, a little over a year ago, we had to cancel our stay on the day of our arrival due to our son being admitted to the hospital. Hammock Beach did refund our entire visit, even though we were within the cancelation period. You can read more about it {HERE}. I do appreciate they did this. We will keep visiting. I just wish there were a better feel towards the guests like there was eight years ago. I've just seen it evolve to something less than desirable.

TRAVEL TIP: If you are a returning guest, you should call to make your reservation. Let me know you are a returning guest, and they will give you a “return guest rate.” This rate has been lower than the AAA or Florida Resident rate for us.

TravelLady Rating: As a family, we enjoy this property. It is also a great girls' trip getaway. There are some cons but the location outweighs them for us.

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