Sandestin Investments, LLC (SDI) has received a development order from the Walton County Board of County Commissioners to proceed with the building of a new 250-room full-service hotel and conference centre. The Sandestin Hotel and Conference Center will be located adjacent to the Baytowne Conference Center at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. This four-star hotel is the first new development within Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in over 4 years. Construction will commence in August 2018 with completion projected for April 2020.
“To remain competitive, locally, regionally and nationally, we identified the need to provide new product, new services and new amenities,” stated Sara Becnel, Executive Director, Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. “We are excited to bring this full-service hotel and conference center to Sandestin’s myriad of offerings.”
The new full-service hotel will include a three-meal restaurant, a lobby bar, room service, a luxury spa, a fitness facility, a signature rooftop pool and bar allowing Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort to better meet the needs of our leisure traveler as well as expand our group business. “This hotel will bring a fresh new guest experience and offer something to the resort that is not currently available,” added Becnel.
Where hotels of this size would normally have 8,000 to 10,000 square feet of meeting space, Sandestin’s new hotel will include 20,000+ square feet of meeting space and feature a 13,000-square foot ballroom. This meeting space, contiguous to the 30,000+ square feet of existing meeting space at Baytowne Conference Center, will allow Sandestin to book much larger groups, upwards of 800 participants or multiple group configurations simultaneously.
“Since the hotel has 250 keys, we anticipate group overflow in the adjacent condominiums on the Sandestin Rental Program,” Becnel added. “This increase will be beneficial as they will see more and consistent occupancy year-round.” The Baytowne Conference Center will be fully renovated as part of the new hotel project with consistent finishes throughout.
Additionally, guests of the hotel will have access to the many amenities offered by Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort including more than seven miles of beaches and pristine bayfront, four championship golf courses, 15 world-class tennis courts, a 113-slip marina. Due to its prime location near The Village of Baytowne Wharf, hotel guests will also have access to and enjoy this charming pedestrian village filled with events, shopping, dining and nightlife.
About Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort: Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort is a major destination for all seasons and all ages, and was named the #1 Resort on Florida’s Emerald Coast. The resort invites guests to a world of 2,400 acres and 30 charming neighborhoods featuring 1,300 vacation rentals, condominiums, villas, town homes and the best in hotel accommodations. As a member of Visit South Walton and Visit Florida, the resort features more than seven miles of beaches and pristine bay front, four championship golf courses, 15 world-class tennis courts, 19 swimming pools, a 113-slip marina, a fitness center and spa, meeting space and The Village of Baytowne Wharf, a charming pedestrian village with events, shopping, dining and nightlife.
Sandestin offers 65,000 square feet of function space from the gulf to the bay. The resort features the 32,000-square-foot Baytowne Conference Center, the largest ballroom on Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast and the most sophisticated meeting facility in the region. In addition to its 13,500-square-foot ballroom, the Baytowne Conference Center offers boardrooms, break-out rooms and functional meeting space on the Grand Lawn.
Sandestin also features more than 25 break-out rooms for meetings of virtually all sizes, a 12,600-square-foot exhibit hall, two bayside conference rooms and four boardrooms, all supported by Sandestin’s on-site team of award-winning professional sales, conference services and culinary staff experts.