If you are planning a beach resort vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida, and seeking a hotel catering to both adult and kids' activities, choose hotels that offer kids' programs on-site. By planning ahead you will have the option of enrolling your child in a hotel-sponsored kids' activity or planning destination activities off-site. The following three resort properties feature a host of children's games, sports and activities while still offering luxury accommodations and adult fun.
Holiday Inn Sun Spree Resort
www.hipcbeach.com
(800) 633-0266
The Holiday Inn Sun Spree Resort in Panama Beach City, Florida, is a super vacation hotel for adults and kids alike. The city's premier family resort destination has 340 ocean-front guest rooms with private balconies, adult and children's activity programs, a children's water playground, Gulf World, Aqualand, a tropical pool and two on-site restaurants. Below are some of the children's activities.
Upon arrival at the Holiday Inn Sun Spree Resort, check out the user-friendly activity book with 25 pages of activities for children (or look it up online before arrival). Parents can enroll their kids in activities by filling out an enrollment form and handing it in to the activity staff. The schedule even includes a special rainy-day activity list. The activities are geared toward children ages 5 to 12, and include such things as Gulf World games, pizza and movie nights, children's bingo, Rock N' Roll Musical Squares, face-painting on the pool deck, Pirates Playtime in Aqualand and silly story time. Unless otherwise stated (as in pizza night, which is $10 per child), the activities are free. The resort has also have added touches like "Splash" tuck in. Sign up for this option and your child will be visited at bed time by the dolphin mascot, who brings milk and cookies, poses for a Polaroid picture and tucks the child in for the night.
Bay Point Marriott Golf Resort & Spa
http://marriottbaypoint.com/
4200 Marriott Dr.
Panama City Beach, FL 32408
(800) 874-7105, (850) 236-6000
Overlooking the beautiful St. Andrew's Bay, Bay Point Marriott Resort is a luxurious resort that is very kid-friendly. Bay Point features 316 guest rooms, including 60 golf villas, restaurants, several outdoor pools, and a spa and fitness center. For kids, the resort offers Kids' Camp seasonally from April 11 to Labor Day.
The Kids' Camp offers activities for children ages 5 to 12, once-weekly tiny-tot activities and some teen activities like sporting tournaments. After arrival, parents are directed to the Kids' Camp corner where they can view the activity schedule. Activities are free unless otherwise stated and usually run about an hour or two. Some past activities included Tie-Dye T-Shirt making, Safari Hide and Seek, arts and crafts hour, Fishing Frenzy at Limes Dock, Jungle Olympics and a Dive-In Movie night (swimming to a PG-rated movie at dusk). The Kids' Camp also offers the Zoo-Mobile--where children get to see animals brought from the local zoo. Tiny Tots activities include sidewalk chalk drawing and bubble mania. For more information on the Kids' Camp, contact activity director Teresa Lynn at (850) 236-6063.
The Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort
17403 Front Beach Rd., Panama City Beach, FL 32413
http://www.sandpiperbeacon.com/index.htm
Advertised as much more of an all-around family-friendly hotel, The Sandpiper is right on the beach and even offers discount specials catered around school breaks. The property has standard rooms with microwaves and refrigerators in each unit (up to four people), as well as villa units with a kitchen, separate bedrooms and living area (up to six guests). There is also a Tiki Bar with entertainment, a deli and restaurant, a beachside playground, a video game room and two outdoor pools. For convenience, there are also a grocery store and gift shop at the resort.
Kids' activities at The Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort include movie nights with free popcorn, a video game room, an inflatable water slide, on-site miniature golf, a lazy-river water ride, and a DJ on the beach who hosts all kinds of kid-friendly events and contests, including a sand-castle contest in which the children can win prizes.
