First time staying, wonderful scenery, convenient location, like home away from home... Will be back for longer next time!!

My family and my brother and his family (seven total, three adults and four kids ages 17-10) stayed in the Silver Shells unit 1104 ("Hulen unit") in the St Maarten building http://www.vrbo.com/103465. The pictures are accurate. We really enjoyed our stay, and would stay at Silver Shells again (we had previously researched many excellent houses via VRBO and am glad we chose a condo right on the beach). There is no room service or concierge.

We had no problem with noise in the building or pool. Yes, the Destin airport is basically across Hwy 98, but services smaller aircraft. I think they were closer to St Lucia building, and ran from about 8am to 10pm. We were never woken up by the noise.

The pool is fantastic. Bring your own beach towels and pool toys, or shop the Tropical Waves, Alvin's Beach or even Walmart for the same very reasonably priced. Pool was never overly crowded and we always found pool chairs (seven all together as well).

The beach is to die for....bring your flashlights (with red filters so as not to disturb the turtles and their nests) to go ghost crabbing at night (we left four flashlights in the unit). We encountered some sea wasps on two of the days....just some stings unless you have a reaction to them (white vinegar or Windex helps).

The unit is perfectly situated, and looked like it had been recently remodeled. There is no beach service with this unit (we didn't miss it), but look for the four sand chairs in the closet. The place is full of furniture: very nice dining room table with six nice chairs inside; great table on the balcony facing the ocean with eight chairs; 4 bar stools. Carpet in fairly good shape, but I did wash four floor mats (should have taken a before/after pictures).

Refrigerator was clean and ready to go; ice maker was very productive. Dishwasher is available, but we hand washed. Kitchen sink could use some bleach (many coffee stains). Kitchen utensils and supplies very well stocked...we only wished for a whisk, big pitchers (we bought and left two 2-gallon ones there) and sharpened knives (we bought a filet knife and left it there).

We agree with the previous review that the mattresses in the room with two queen beds could be improved...nothing like a hard bed after a full day of fun in the sun . King bed and single queen bed were comfy. King bedroom shares balcony with dining/living room; other two bedrooms share a balcony facing Hwy 98, but not too close to be bothered by any road noise. Sunset viewing is from this balcony. Moon rising viewable from ocean-facing balcony.

There is one thing that would cause me to reconsider renting this unit again, and unfortunately it has nothing to do with the unit (other than two hard mattresses). This unit is managed by Best Beach Getaways (BBG), which is offsite (about 3.5 miles east of Silver Shells). We were fooled by the "Guest CheckIn" sign on the property when we drove in, and also by the 'carefree checkin' references in our confirmations from BBG. Things would have been better if we were provided with checkin and checkout procedures specific to this unit or resort. In reality, we learned that we had to pick up and return our keys to the BBG office (there is no 'carefree checkin' due to the great security). I find it much more convenient to have this onsite, perhaps consider renting a different unit managed by Abec if this is important to you. We received three keys to the unit...one of which turned out to be a key to another unit in the same building owned by the same owner. To BBG's credit, they did agree to deliver our checkin package to us, and also delivered a replacement key (we drove to check out at their office). Chuck, the onsite maintenance man, is very helpful and friendly.

The Publix just to the east is more convenient for groceries than the Winn Dixie to the east, simply because there can be so much traffic on Hwy 98.

Places we tried for dinner and would recommend: Joe's Crab Shack, Back Porch (easy walk on the beach just east of the resort, look for the orange building; great oysters from 3-5pm for $6); Jim and Nick's BBQ right across Hwy 98 (we wanted a break from seafood) and Staffs (in Ft Walton Beach; generous portions with attentive service in a supper-club type setting that beats Ruth Chris's hands down).

We recommend Tracks for go-karting (try the wooden track) and the minigolf right next door (go on a cooler day; try the Mountain course). We thought the entry price for Big Kahuna waterpark too much (we'll go to Wisconsin Dells when we get home).

We bought a fishing charter at HarborWalk per a review on another site, and would agree that Just B Cause with Captain Ken and First Mate Tom is an excellent experience and value. We requested and received a 5-hour trip, and limited out (18) on red and black snapper, grouper and mackerel (not counting the 4' Cobia that got away...twice). We feasted on fish so fresh and tasty that night. Tom is a Destin native and really made the trip interesting. He was very patient, instructive, and helpful. Our kids had a blast, from catching the baitfish to watching Tom's skill and expertise in fileting the fish. Definitely full service.

I would not recommend staying at any resort near the HarborWalk....we always encountered an unpleasant smell when driving through that area, even though fisherman have to dump the fish remains out in the ocean.

We probably should have rented a pontoon boat one day and joined the *hundreds* of boats on the sand bar on the north side of east bay by the bridge. We did go shelling in the dunes just after/east of the bridge.

We flew Continental into Valparaiso (NW FL airport)....very effortless. Smaller airport, easy to get around.

After refusing to jump into the Silver Shells world my friends raved about, we finally gave in and visited for a week in May. Well, they were right, we were missing out. Spotless condo, grounds, and common areas, beautiful beach, everything is just a short drive away. Highly recommend. We rented through destinbeachrentals.com on VRBO Our unit was so clean, well decorated, and spacious. We will be back.

I always love staying at Silver Shells. I have looked at alot of other properties in the Destin area but for me I choose Silver Shells. The location is right in the middle of everything. IMO it has one of the best pools, as well if you stay in the St. Lucia building you also have a private fool that building as well. One of the pluses is the resort is right next to Henderson Beach Park which is all wide open spaces so even some of the beach can be crowed you have alot of unobstructed areas. I wish there were more places like this in Destin. Keep in mind if you rent from VRBO be sure to ask lots of questions and for recent pics. As with any place your experience if you go through VRBO can be unique with different owners