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Surrender your footprints to the sugar white sand of Panama City Beach. Are you searching for that perfect blend of charm and seclusion? Search no more, Sugar Sands offer spacious floor plans, comfortable queen bedding and kitchenettes to brew that cup of coffee as you watch the breathtaking sunrise from your private balcony. Guests can spend the day swimming in the gulf, reading a book on the pristine beach and relaxing in our pool. Have your camera ready as you sit at one of our gazebos to watch the shimmer of a Florida sunsets and listen to the gulf waves roll in.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Ocean View
Great View
Languages Spoken
English
Location
20723 Front Beach Rd, Panama City Beach, FL 32413-3625
Sugar Sands Beachfront Hotel - a By The Sea Resort
I think it's important to first note that this is definitely a budget hotel. You get what you pay for; however, it is in an excellent location. I loved that we had a kitchenette (make sure to get some dish soap at the store!) and the beach just a few steps from the hotel. Publix was just a couple of miles down the road for any food needs and it took no time to drive to Rosemary, Inlet or Alys Beach areas for a nice dinner or shopping. The staff were very nice and we were always able to get extra towels as needed. Cleaning services do not seem to happen as I saw mentioned in other reviews but as mentioned, we were always to get anything we needed and could set our trash in the mornings if needed. It seemed they really spent their time cleaning rooms of those people that checked out. This is an older hotel that desperately needs some TLC on the outside which makes you wonder what the resort fee is paying for. The slats on the roof of our balcony were missing (see pic) so pigeons were in there and left a mess on the balcony. The elevator also went out one evening but was luckily up and running the next day. The floors of the room are also hard to keep clean due to the sand so bring some flip flops to wear only in the room. The parking lot is small. We never had to park across the street but if you come in too late in the evening, that is a risk. On the beach, there are chairs you can rent from a separate company and the guy running it, Rob, was great! He had our chairs set up each day and will even move the umbrella around the chairs at different times of the day to maintain shade on you if desired. Overall, it's a family friendly, budget hotel but I wouldn't stay here again unless they put some money into updating things. For a little more money, there are much nicer places around.
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Date of stay: June 2024Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sugar Sands is an older property that has been remodeled. This is a budget friendly property at the quiet, western end of 98 in PCB. Beach front with ample parking, two private walkways to the beach, jet skis and beach chairs available for rent, a beach front pool with play area for the kiddos, and a free beach bonfire on Friday and Saturday night hosted by the hotel and including all the fixings to make smores. All of the rooms have a view of the gulf, include a kitchenette with a fridge, stovetop and range, equipped with pots and pans, dishes, utensils, and a private bathroom. The property is no frills, but has everything you need, is pretty clean (the wood laminate floors were kind of sticky, but you're at the beach, the sheets, towels, and kitchen area were clean), and the staff were all courteous and helpful. This isn't a four star resort, but for a budget friendly option, it was very good, we enjoyed our stay, and would definitely come back. The property is minutes from Winn Dixie, Publix, Thomas' Donut & Snack Stand, and other food and dining options.
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Date of stay: April 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:There were never any pool towels available, so make sure you bring extra beach towels.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
It was not a terrible experience but I do wish I had known some things before I booked. There is no hot tub as advertised. They actually filled the hot tub with bricks. That was a bummer. We still had the heated pool. Laundry is not on facility it is across the road. Where the actual hotel was washing the hotel laundry. It does take coins and cards through an app. A q r code. The lack of customer service surprised me. They didnt even ask us if we needed trash toilet paper or towels or washcloths daily. When we went to get towels, they were always out and still in the wash. They didn't offer them up so we had to keep asking. There was no extra toilet paper left so we had to ask for that also. When you ask for something they are literal. So we asked for towels they gave us towels no wash clothes nothing else. Also the bathroom holds moisture and in my opinion has way more black mold than anyone should be exposed to.
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Date of stay: March 2025Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What an amazing getaway! We wanted to avoid the the hustle and bustle of large all inclusive hotels so we stayed at Silver Sands Villas, Jamaica, in a large Villa called Arawak By the Sea. And really, you can’t get much closer to the sea, which is just steps from the front door! The 4 bedroom home has a lovely tropical feel and is well appointed, as each bedroom has its own bathroom. Everything is clean and comfortable so that you can just relax and enjoy your stay. Carol is so helpful and a magician in the kitchen, cooking up authentic and favourful Jamaican dishes for breakfast and dinner. I’ve never eaten so much or so well!! Wifi allowed me to get my work done in the mornings, relaxing by a beautiful white sand beach in the day and eating dinner on the veranda overlooking the beach at night! The beach is pristine and you can always find a beach chair at any time of the day as the beach is not over crowded with throngs of people although it is lively. The ladies in the beach club helped us to book excursions to Martha Brae and Dunns River Falls. Overall we really enjoyed our stay at Arawak By the Sea! It was an excellent getaway that was much needed! Book it! You won’t regret it! I
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Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Allison P, Marketing at Sugar Sands Beachfront Hotel - a By The Sea Resort
Responded 27 Oct 2022
Thank you so much for your kind comments. We hope you will return soon!
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Pretty disappointed in the overall stay here. 1st with the Covid-19 protocols they have in place. I firmly appreciate what they are doing by not having their staff enter the rooms during a stay but just dropping off towels when requested. The problem I have is still charging the "resort" fee but not getting the services for it. We had to take out our own trash and deal with sand in our room everyday since they didn't sweep and there were no brooms provided. I believe the price should have reflected the lack of service provided with the protocols. Next, this is suppose to be a non-smoking resort and there were people smoking on balconies next to me and NOT JUST cigarettes! Very annoying and could not sit on our balcony very long or at all due to that! Don't think we will recommend here or be back!
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Date of stay: April 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Parking wasn't bad but the parking lot is TINY
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Allison P, Marketing at Sugar Sands Beachfront Hotel - a By The Sea Resort
Responded 20 Apr 2022
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are working on these concerns internally.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
The room was clean and it was in a good location, I'll give it that. On the day of our arrival, my wife and I attempted to call the hotel numerous times for hours prior to getting on the road and while we were traveling to ensure everything with our reservation was good to go. The phone rang and rang but no one ever answered after Lord knows how many calls over a span of several hours. Upon arrival and check-in, I mentioned to the front desk clerk that their phone must be out. She said it had been so busy that she hadn't been answering the phone.
After check-in, we discovered the phone in our room did not work and the wifi signal was practically non-existent. The TV was dependent on wifi and struggled tremendously just to get it to connect. On the rare occasion it connected to wifi, it would disconnect with a matter of minutes. It was impossible to watch TV. Since the phone in the room doesn't work and the desk clerk doesn't answer the phone anyway, I had to go back downstairs to the lobby to ask about the phone and the TV/wifi issues. The desk clerk just informed me that the phones in some of the rooms don't work. That's it, as if having a working phone in the room is just left up to chance. Regarding the wifi/TV issues, she said that when the hotel has a lot of guests the wifi doesn't work well. She did tell me that she'd put in a work order to have somebody come check out the TV the next day, but I imagined this was her way of blowing me off to get me out of her hair. Spoiler alert: nobody ever came to check on the TV. Our kids moaned about not being able to watch TV or play their games all weekend, so that was fun.
My wife later went down to ask if we could get some extra linens. You guessed it - they said they don't have any more linens.
It's 2025 and a working phone in the room, TV, and sufficient Wi-Fi are absolute basics in any hotel in any industrialized nation in the world. "The phones don't work in some rooms" and "the wi-fi doesn't work when we have a lot of guests" is unacceptable.
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Date of stay: February 2025
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I booked this through Expedia for $137 a night. This is an average hotel located on an amazing beach. The place needs a serious remodel and upgrade, but with a beautiful beach steps away from your room the price is reasonable. The room I had was clean with a kitchen and two queens. Balcony overlooking the beach and ocean. They also have a pool. My big negative was I was there on business and had to add Wednesday night due an appointment on Thursday. I was shocked to be hit with a $240 quote for the extra night. You can book a nice resort room closer to the action for $200-225, with newer facilities and the same beach access. It was a rip off in my opinion, the rooms there are just not worth it. Not wanting to move everything I had for one night at the Holiday Inn Resort or the Hilton. I bit the bullet. If you can stay there for a reasonable $150 it works. If they ask you for more you can get a resort room on the beach for the ridiculous $250 they wanted closer to all the action for Wednesday night. It’s basically a Motel 6 on the beach.
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Date of stay: June 2024Trip type: Travelled on business
Room Tip:Make sure you shop around
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I've stayed at few places on the west end in the last 1-2 years. This was my first stay here and I have to say that Sugar Sands gets the Blue Ribbon. When you first check in you begin to realize the staff takes customer service seriously. They were eager to show me where things were like the ice machine and elevators. When I got to the room I was surprised to find how clean it was but the reality is you really don't know until you walk around on the hardwood floor for 2 days and your white socks are still white on the bottoms. The thing that really cleaned my clock was the hot water. The water here is actually HOT! So when you take a shower the water is hot enough to melt the shampoo in your hair and the soap film off of your body. I'm in love with the hot water! A GREAT TRIP! I know where I'm staying next time.
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Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Beds are soft, the rooms are more like little apartments. AC cold, hot water for showers. Balcony is superb. Quiet when you close the doors so it seals well. Elevator is slow like people say and one of the stairs is out but there is another set of stairs you can use on the other side. Yes it’s an old building and will have some wear on it but nothing too crazy. Staff is really nice, front desk people are the best. There is a coffee shop to the right, a 7 minute walk from the hotel. There isn’t breakfast because you have everything you need to cook yourself if you want. Bringing a little bit of groceries is a smart idea plus you’ll save money on eating out. But the coffee shop is there (7 min walk) and They have really nice pastries and stay open a little late. Once you park if you want to get a snacky snack and don’t want to lose your parking space you can walk to the coffee shop. The beach is really great. The drive into town is very quick. Panama City beach is a nice town to stay in. We actually went to Saint Augustine and decided we had a better time here so we are turning back to hopefully rent the same room we had again.
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Date of stay: February 2025
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Coffee shop to the right- 7 minute walk walk
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
That do not clean your room and take money from your creditcard.
In a few days booking they cleaned only once and for all the stuff toiletpaper, coffee etc you have to get it yourself. Bad service. Still no money back. They locked the door after one day and asked for money. All our things were in the room. Never again.
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Date of stay: October 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Panama City Beach area.
PRICE RANGE
RM 378 - RM 885 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
sugar sands hotel panama city beach, sugar sands motel
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
Sugar Sands Motel
LOCATION
United StatesFloridaFlorida PanhandlePanama City Beach
NUMBER OF ROOMS
70
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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