# Wyndham panama city beach we are here now



## dixie (Nov 3, 2014)

I am a little disappointed with this TS. Not an once of shade at the beach pool. NO tables with umbrellas. No WiFi in the rooms. Very confusing to get from your car to the walkway that goes over the street to your car. You have to go down one elevator to get off then walk down stairs to get to the enclosed cross walk or ride an escalator. The only place to get WiFi is on the crosswalk. The paint fumes are overwhelmingly strong since they are also painting on this level. Then after the cross walk you have to go to another elevator to the parking garage. It is a pretty unit but most likely not a place I would choose to come to again. They do not allow you to bring any food or snacks drinks etc to the pool.

The beach is very pretty. The resort does not provide any chairs at the beach for it's guests. Their is a vendor their. Wrist bands must be worn at all times in the hotel, pool etc. 

I would love recommendations for other TS in the area to check out. Would love to come back to this area but not here... sad to say!!


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## chapjim (Nov 8, 2014)

Is it warm enough that you need an umbrella?  I hope so!  We're going to be there Thanksgiving week.


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## Talent312 (Nov 8, 2014)

Panama City -- in the middle of the "redneck riviera" -- has a great beach.

I found your commentary slightly confusing... Where you said, "Very confusing to get from your car to the walkway that goes over the street to your car." It sounds like you are trying to go from your car to a walkway to your car.

But I suggest that you check out the "resort database" section for reviews of other TS's, and post your own review there, so others will know which resort to avoid.
.


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## Brian201 (Nov 12, 2014)

We stayed there the last week of October and I agree with everything you said. Getting from the parking garage to your room was a mess. Had to go up an elevator to the walkway then take an elevator down to the lobby, across the lobby to another bank of elevators then finally you could get up to your room. The worst thing about the stay was the constant calls about an RCI update they wanted you to attend. After saying no twice at the check in desk we received a call each of the next 3 days saying that the person who checked us in was new and may not have explained it properly to us. I would have unplugged the phone but we were expecting calls from friends. The unit we had was very nice with a terrific view of the gulf. They did have wired internet access and I had a laptop so I could use it in the room. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a lot of nicer timeshares in PCB.


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## DeniseM (Nov 12, 2014)

Why didn't you call your friends and tell them to call your cell phone number, so you could unplug the phone?


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## Brian201 (Nov 12, 2014)

At the time I only had a Canadian cell phone with me. It costs a fortune to roam in the US.


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## AllenWoodruff (Nov 13, 2014)

I have stayed there twice in the last two years.  I agree getting to the parking deck takes one more elevator than optimal.  Keep in mind that most of the high rises in PCB have a parking garage across the street, which is never as convenient as parking on the same side of the beach.   However, once we got the hang of it, we didn't let it ruin our vacation.  I do agree that they should have some umbrellas at the pools.  We were there in June and it is was very hot and an umbrella would have been nice.

As others have said, the other timeshares in PCB don't even come close to being as nice as this one.  There are very few *Gulf*-front timeshares in the panhandle that are nice (Gold Crown quality) and that are available to trade into in via RCI. 

With all that said, I just received a confirmation from RCI last night for a week there next July.


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## dixie (Nov 13, 2014)

We did look at some other places and I agree this was the nicest. They really need to figure out how to provide WiFi access in the units. And get some tables with umbrellas by the pool. The guard checking wrist bands at the gate had a big umbrella he was sitting under ! Also several times we tried to call the front desk and got no answer. So they have a few things to work on Imho to be a Gold Crown. The bedroom had no ceiling light nor did the closet. The 2 lamps in the bedroom were quite dim. So it was quite hard to see your clothes in the closet or read in the bedroom. The units have a beautiful view though.!


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## TUGBrian (Nov 14, 2014)

last review from that resort just a few months ago also had disappointing things to say about it.


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## AllenWoodruff (Nov 14, 2014)

I agree that there is no excuse for not having wifi in the rooms.  I knew beforehand that they only had wired internet so I brought a wireless router from home and had my own wifi, but I heard many people complaining about the lack of wifi.  

This resort has a ton of potential and with a few changes could really a nice resort.  I have stayed mostly at Marriott resorts recently in Orlando and Palm Beach and found myself comparing the Wyndham to Marriott and the Wyndham fell short of Marriott every time. 
For example: 
1.  The pool bar menu was very limited (ex. the only food was hotdogs and nachos)

2.  You could not bring a cooler or even your own cup with a drink in it to the pool.  One time the pool bar was closed and the guard still wouldn't let me bring my drink in.  

3.  The previously mentioned lack of wifi

4.  Lack of umbrellas at the pool

5.  Lack of outdoor grills

The rooms are nice and well maintained as are the pools and common areas, but the service and overall management of the resort is WAY below Marriott standards.  With that said, since I really like the panhandle of Florida and Marriott does not have a resort *on the beach* in the panhandle, I will continue to stay here until I find a better option.


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## dixie (Nov 14, 2014)

Allen, my husband said the same thing about the wireless router. Just wish he had thought to bring one. I left my laptop at home and was stuck with using my tablet with my phone hotspot or going to the cross walk when I needed to download a big file.

Adding a light kit to the ceiling fan in the bedroom would be an easy fix. I guess we could bring that too! I know they are "going green" but having such a dim bedroom and closet isn't very good!


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## Happytravels (Nov 17, 2014)

*reservations 2015*

We have reservations for the end of April...already know about the wifi but can you give me recommendations for room number?  Can we request something like two weeks out? We are not that picky just want a GREAT VIEW of the gulf and I think this fits the bill..


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## AllenWoodruff (Nov 17, 2014)

I would request as high as possible.  I believe they give RCI exchangers the first 8 or 9 floors.  You really need to be at least on the 3rd floor to get up high enough to have a good view of the beach.  

I believe we received a call from Wyndham about 1-2 weeks prior to check-in asking us if we had any preferences and that is when we requested a higher room and we were given a room on the 8th floor.


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## ride2slide (Nov 26, 2014)

*We were in PCB last week.*

I traded in there, because, I had used all my WYN points for the year. I asked to be higher, but, they put us on the 8th floor. It was a nice unit with a beautiful view. But, we didn't see much of the sealife from the balcony like the higher units can. Next time I will book a 2BD, with WYN points, to be higher and to not have to sleep right next to the walkway. 

The beach always looked clean from the balcony. My hubby liked to walk the beach from Pier Park to the condo. I just had a total knee replacement in Aug and could not manage walking in the sand very well. I did get my feet wet, a time or two, but, it was a challenge to get from the last step to the water, for me.

I took a wireless router so we did have very good wireless for our 5 devices.

I valet parked until hubby flew in. After he got there, we always parked on the 3rd floor. It wasn't that big of a deal for us. The escalator from the sky bridge down to the lobby of the condo building, was inoperable all week. So, we had to take a different elevator down to the lobby to catch the main elevator to the condo. Had that escalator been working, if would have made a faster trip back.

The unit was clean. I agree with a previous post about the bedroom lighting was rather dim, but, there was a ceiling fan above the bed, which I'm glad we had. The bedroom stayed warmer then the LR area. I had packed a small fan, just in case, but, the ceiling fan was much better.

The sales people asked us to do a 5 question survey. We got nice, big, insulated cups and free drink coupons. I told them on the phone, we absolutely would not be buying anything and if we did, it would only be resale. 
He respected that. I told him, I had done the math and had no desire to anything different. He respected that, also. Nice pleasant fellow.

The pool tiki bar was closed the whole time we were there, but it was rather chilly, so not a big deal.

All said, we had a great PCB vacation with no big crowds. It was very enjoyable to be there when it was quiet. I have the spring break memories and quiet is much better as we get older. Most restaurants we like were open, except for Captain Andersons. Shopping was enjoyable and the cinema in Pier Park was not crowded at all .

We drove to Destin twice. Rosemary Beach was quiet, although there were thousands of bikes still for rent. I can't imagine driving thru there when all those bikes are on that road!


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## MissTins (Dec 17, 2014)

Landmark Holiday Beach Resort just down the road is a true gem in my book.  Went there on an exchange 10+ years ago and loved it so much that we bought one resale. It's not a Hyatt or Hilton but every single unit is beachfront and the resort has provided my family years of MANY incredible vacation memories.


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## Happytravels (Jan 14, 2015)

*how about this??*

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZWOQZ6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We purchased one of these for resorts that do not have wifi...just plug it into THIER eithernet...wifi now in our unit for our devices.

We will report back to let you know if this works.


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## AllenWoodruff (Jan 15, 2015)

Happytravels said:


> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZWOQZ6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
> 
> We purchased one of these for resorts that do not have wifi...just plug it into THIER eithernet...wifi now in our unit for our devices.
> 
> We will report back to let you know if this works.



That looks like it should work fine and is reasonably priced.


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