TOPS'L Beach and Racquet Resort
Back in March, Melody and I went to the beach with my best friend Emily and her daughter Lydia. We stayed at TOPS'L Beach and Racquet Resort. It is located in Miramar Beach, FL. I have stayed here many times over the last 7-8 years. Brad's parents used to actually own a condo there, so we traveled there often during those years. Brad proposed to me there, and we got married there too. It has a truly special place in our hearts for sure.
Now when it came time to plan our trip in March, we went back and forth on where to go and what condo to rent. I looked at a few places, but I found the best price at TOPS'L. On occasion you will find discount codes that you can use at various ResortQuest resorts. We found a 20% off code that we were able to use on top of the already great prices. I will forewarn you, not all condos accept discount codes. This can be a little frustrating if you are particular about the condo you rent, but we really were not. Our only request was to be on the bottom floor.
Check in time for the resort was 4 pm. We did arrive at 3, and they were able to go ahead and check us in. We have visited in the past where they would not let us check in early. I think it just depends on the season you are traveling in. The busier they are, they more unlikely it is your room will be ready early. When checking in, the employee did tell me that even though check in isn't until 4, you can use resort amenities all day on check in and check out days. They have various public restrooms where you can change when needed out of your wet or sweaty clothes.
We were given a booklet with maps of the areas, some resort information, an amenities card, and our door code. A tip I have when using door codes: take a picture of it with your phone; then make it your background image on your phone. You likely have your phone on you all the time. You don't have to search through your photos to find it, or hope you don't lose the piece of paper.
We stayed at The Summit. There are three towers at TOPS'L. This is the only one not directly on the beach. This means a few things. One, not all rooms have a beach/water view. Staying on the ground floor, we had a pool view (really more like woods and grass directly from our patio). Two, there is a walk to the beach and other amenities (except the pool). They do have an internal bus system. They run throughout the day, but you can call them and they will come pick you up anywhere you are. The walk isn't actually that bad unless you are carrying a lot of stuff. This trip we carried the bare minimum. In the past when we took chairs and umbrellas, we had a rolling cart we used. As I mentioned above, there is a pool directly located at The Summit. Each area of the resort has its own pool. There is also a "main" pool by the beach that has a bar and restaurant attached to it.
We stayed in Summit 108. It is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit on the ground floor. It is right across from the elevators and also fairly close to parking. If you look in the picture above, our room was the room directly underneath the awning when you walked up. You can barely make out the door. We had a pool/woods view from our patio.
Just an FYI...Based on my experience, most 2 bedroom units are fairly similar to this one. They are not all identical, but very similar.
When you first walk in, there is a small entrance hall. It leads to pretty much the entire condo. We stored our beach stuff here to avoid getting sand all throughout the condo.
On the left was our kitchen. It was very basic, but that is all we needed. The appliances were fairly updated and everything worked perfectly that we used. The kitchen contained an opening that overlooked the dining room table and living room.
Also inside of the kitchen was a door that contained a washer and dryer. We did use it a few times. Or rather Emily did. The first time she went to use it, there was water in the bottom of the washer. It was a front loading washer. Maintenance was easy to contact and seemed to fix the issue.
We had a good sized dining room table, and I was happy it wasn't glass that our girls could break or leave little fingerprints all over! We had breakfast and lunch here each day. The living room offered plenty of space and seating. We had one large couch and 3 chairs. My only complaint was that they did not have Disney Jr. It was considered a premium channel, so we had to go get some of our Mickey Mouse DVDs from the car to help with that issue.
As I mentioned before, we had a patio that overlooked the pool/woods. It also contained a grassy area the girls were able to play in. We had a table with 4 chairs outside too.
The bedroom closest to the entrance contained 2 full size beds it appeared. They could have been queens though. It was a fairly tight fit, but it worked for what we needed.
There was also a main restroom between the two bedrooms.
The master bedroom contained a king size bed along with a chair and access to the patio. It also had its own basic restroom. Both bedrooms had TVs in them too. The master had plenty of room for Melody's pack and play which was useful.
As you may have gathered from my opening paragraph, we love TOPS'L, and this trip did not disappoint. The room was great, and I would stay in it again without a doubt. The location was perfect for the girls. The resort itself is large and has plenty to offer, but it doesn't feel super crowded. And the location within Destin is perfect. I highly recommend it!
