Travel: The Hidden Bay Side Of Panama City

My family just recently had the chance to travel down to the beautiful gulf for a weekend away. Only we explored a different side of Panama City that most people aren’t as familiar with: the bay. We stayed with Sheraton Panama City Beach Golf & Spa Resort and boy were we pampered! This hotel is so beautiful, being just recently completely renovated, and so clean! Like they told me they took it down to the beams and rebuilt from there! The staff is so accommodating and from the minute we arrived, we felt taken care of and loved how kid (AND dog) friendly it is! That is actually the first thing I noticed and maybe that’s because as a parent it’s hard to find great places to stay with the whole family, so this stood out to me. And the fact that they welcome dogs is such a relief since most of the time, we cannot bring Georgia and I always want to. We didn’t bring her this time, but when we visit again, we will for sure!

We arrived on Friday and after a long drive, the kids were ready to run around… and so they did, and the hotel welcomed this! There is a whole wing of this hotel complete with ball rooms (for weddings) and conference rooms that if they’re not being used, was perfect for the kids to play. We then went to their heated pool and ate lunch at their outside restaurant. We used Friday to explore the property which is so serene, and walk the pier that stretches out onto the water. (You will see a few shots at sunset as you scroll down, which is the real magic of this hotel!) The Sheraton has its own beach area at the end of the pier, complete with white sand, volleyball, and a mini beach that you can wade out in. The whole place felt really peaceful and we spent awhile out here just running around and playing. Since Friday’s nap schedule was a little messed up, we ordered food in the room that night, which is sometimes a relief for us, since the kids’ ages are not exactly restaurant friendly. I can’t blame them, they are full of energy, but they definitely don’t like to sit still for more than 2 minutes… or the time it takes to finish a muffin.

Saturday morning we ordered breakfast in the room, which is one of my favorite things to do ever, and it was so delicious. I think the room service food was my favorite! The rest of the day was spent out, as we rode the golf cart down the pier to the private beach area where Jackson played in the water for about an hour! We had lunch at the pier restaurant, where both kids slept in our laps, and then waited for our boat ride. We took a boat to Shell Island and got to see the gulf and waves! The Sheraton Panama City Beach Golf & Spa Resort is about a 20 minute boat ride to this island that is completely undeveloped. It has long stretches of white sand, blue/green water, and natural sand dunes. It truly was beautiful and Jackson’s favorite part of the trip, he loved the waves! We spent the latter part of our afternoon here and took the last boat in at 4pm to go get ready for dinner. We ended our night at Tides restaurant where the staff was so amazing to our little ones who were quite literally running around. And I would normally be worried about them rolling around on some random floor, but I honestly felt ok about it because it was seriously so clean. And trust me, it drives me insane when the kids touch public floors! Luckily were were eating super early, so we were one of the only people there. Robert had the Lobster Ravioli and I had the Sea Bass, both so good, and both so much food! The kids had a plethora of kid food and they specifically brought us the fruit that they loved, as opposed to just a bunch of stuff they would just pick around. I finished it off with Krispy Kreme bread pudding, which, I don’t even need to explain this… it was exactly what it sounds like and was amazing.

Sunday morning was for the parents! We ate breakfast at Tides and grabbed so many goodies from the breakfast bar. This was perfect for the kids because they could figure out what they wanted by trying a little bite of everything and then get more of what they loved. Jackson is obsessed with muffins which drives me insane at home because it’s probably the messiest thing you can ever feed a toddler, but he found a lemon poppy that he loved! (As I re-read this, I realize I might have an ocd cleaning problem… but toddler messes are 24/7!) And we found out Elston loves raspberries so naturally, we ate them all. After breakfast was the real relaxation! Robert and I took turns experiencing the Sheraton’s Serenity Spa! The spa is next door on the bottom floor of a beautiful condo, right on the water. The infinity pool there is so beautiful and serene, and if you use the spa, you can hang at this pool. Robert went first for a massage, which at this point in life, he has discovered he loves… I mean who doesn’t. He definitely needs it to relax as well as I do. I was next up, so we met him there with the kids and did a swap! I got on Facebook live to show you guys around, if you caught it that day, and gave a quick little tour of the amenities like the jacuzzi and aroma therapy showers! I got a facial and massage and thoroughly enjoyed myself, because the chance to get to lay down and get pampered is so rare! In my facial, they used electro therapy which is supposed to shrink your pore size and help with bacteria that make you break out! Afterwards, my skin felt really smooth and hydrated and I’m not sure what was more relaxed, my body or my mind! The spa was so accommodating too, they were so flexible in letting us move up our times so that we could leave after our spa morning. We wanted to hop in the car at nap time so the kids would sleep for some of the drive. (Which btw, only happened for about 40 minutes of our 7 hour drive)

Robert and I were talking about how if we could sum up our experience in one word, it would be hospitable. And we almost said it separately, but both felt this way. The resort was so warm and made sure that all of us were taken care of. Sheraton Panama City Beach Golf & Spa Resort can be summed up with their happy flexibility. Flexible in everything from being open to ideas to make everyone’s experience the absolute best, flexible to changing plans to best accommodate the guests, flexible when hosting weddings or conferences because they want to be the ones to do it!, and flexible in giving every guest everything they might need while listening to what they can do more of. We will absolutely be back and now YOU have to chance to win a trip to stay. Scroll down for details!