LeCiel was renamed (from Bayside name) between approximately 2011 and 2013, when it was partially renovated. This old multistory hotel at Sandestin Beach Resort is a rather dark, homely building located right on the bay at the "bayside" side of the resort. Water views are very nice from higher levels, which have tiny balconies overlooking the bay. Rooms are similar to an average Ramada or maybe a Best Western; not as nice as an average Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn Express. But rooms are clean, some have new carpet, and the bathrooms have been partially renovated, painted, and seemed clean. Rooms have microwaves and refrigerators, and tiny coffee pots with very bad coffee. Best of all, the beds were super comfortable.

The parking lot at night is very dark, a little scary if you're alone, and the entrance to the lobby is poorly lit. I didn't see any signs on the building to indicate I'd arrived at LeCiel, although discreet signs along the route indicated I was going in the right direction. Public rooms are decorated in a funky old world leather and metal style that I didn't quite understand, kind of like a new age pirate ship or something. A glass wall bay viewing room overlooks the porch, with giant scopes and metal/leather barrel chairs. The front desk closes at night, but registration after hours is accomplished at the Grand hotel a couple miles away, inside the Resort. Front desk employees at both places are friendly and gracious.

LeCiel is a bus ride to the beach; or drive your car four or so miles and take your chances for one of the few parking spaces at the public beach access points. For a beach vacation there are far superior accommodations along the beach at one of the many rental houses or few Sandestin hotels; or go a few miles further west off Highway 98 in Destin where thousands of hotel rooms are right on the beach. The beach is absolutely perfect... be sure to check out the walk down to the beach from whatever hotel you choose, because some locations have very steep and long stairways from the road to the beach, while other locations are situated right on the flat beach area.

Sandestin Beach Resort is about more than just the beach. The enormously child friendly play area near the Village area just a few minutes ride from LeCiel has a zip line for kids, remote controlled boats on a small pond, a ropes course for kids, child friendly eating spots, an old fashioned carousel, and other activities... including an old timey candy store. Take money, and lots of it. Every single activity is about double to triple what we expected, Two adults with two children for a half day runs about $500 if they enjoy several activities before stopping for candy or ice cream and then lunch.

LeCiel is adequate, inexpensive at the $200.00 we paid for a two-night weekend, which included taxes. Next time I'd try the major hotel at the Resort, The Grand. It looked much nicer.

We booked this because the pictures made it look very modern/updated and we love the resort. We were so disgusted when we got to our room and it reeked of cigarette smoke. We actually ended up changing to a different hotel in the same resort at the suggestion of the staff. Do not stay here!!!

We turned up at 7pm, just after nightfall. The gatehouse guard was unintelligible and from what little he said that was understandable he directed us in the opposite direction to the property. Little did we know that after 6pm registration is 2 miles away, and it took about half an hour to find a registration desk that was open. The signposting, when we did figure out which building we needed, was shockingly poor, and we were unnecessarily annoyed by the whole place by the time we'd managed to check in and get to the room.

The room itself was clean, nice view, good facilities, comfortable beds - in short, everything you'd expect from a reasonable hotel. If only the gatehouse people could (a) speak english properly and (b) give out resort maps, that would make the new arrival experience so much better.

Leciel was a great stay. We requested to change rooms to have a better view and they were very helpful and accommodating. The only slight negative was it seemed that the front desk at leciel was often closed and we had to drive to the other side of the resort to deal with any issues we had. We did stay over Christmas so I realize that this is probably the reason for that. But even the day after Christmas the desk was still closed.

Overall, sandestin is a great place to stay, no matter where you are at on the resort. Highly recommend!