We chose The Henderson for our daughter’s wedding with hopes given its beautiful location and promises of luxury and service. Unfortunately, our experience fell far short of expectations on what was meant to be one of the most important days of her life.
The staff at the Primrose while polite did not deliver. Key details we had agreed on months in advance were overlooked and poorly executed. Also despite the premium cost of the meal, we were served with inedible and shockingly small portion plates. Only to leave hungry and disappointed. The party left to warm up pizza from the fridge. It was embarrassing and completely unacceptable for such a special occasion.
Also, other issues upon check in. They were late. The staff always was polite and said they would take care of it but never did.
What matters is service reliability and follow through, in these areas The Henderson fell far short!
Justin Schrank
We just checked out from an eight night stay and overall we were very disappointed in our experience this week. We visited the henderson once or twice a year since our children were toddlers. Beyond financial support, we have been the most vocal champions of the resort for years. Not only have we consistently provided good reviews online, we have also brought siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to the Henderson. We wear the merchandise from the resort store year round. So when we booked this trip, we were excited as always. We paid for the premium gulf view room just as we did last trip, and were instantly disappointed with our room view. We did not have the pool/gulf straight on view like we did last time and is advertised on the website. Instead, we had a view of trees and only a partial gulf on the side. This is an unacceptable view when paying for the premium option. We called the front desk twice and kindly asked to be moved, or even notified if one of the better views opens up throughout the week. However, we were instantly shut down both times, being told there is absolutely nothing they can or are willing to do for us. So although we paid for the premium view for eight nights, we were never once able to enjoy it. We would have simply preferred courtyard view over what we had and saved the money. The way our concerns were brushed aside after being loyal customers for many years has made us question if we will ever return. Before posting this review I tried contacting management twice while at the resort and another five times since we checked out, having been ignored the entire time.
On top of the room view, there were a lot of other concerning issues that we have never experienced at the Henderson. Our room was very beat up and in need of repair. The walls needed painted and the furniture needed replaced. The lights in the bathroom constantly flashed like strobe lights and everything in general felt unclean. There were leaks in the lobby, tiles missing in the pool, the showers by the beach were half broken, and the bathrooms by the beach were closed for an entire day. So we had to walk all the way back to the resort to use the restroom. The overall level of the service we experienced on this trip was not the exceptional customer service we have become accustomed to at the Henderson. No one helped us with our luggage, bar tenders at the beach weren't friendly, and overall we felt more like a number instead of a valued guest (which is what we always loved about the resort). There seems to be more focus and attention given to the condo selling expansion than the resort guests. There was also constant non stop construction noise for our entire trip - which we were not warned about upon booking. When you're charging these kind of prices, there are expectations that follow. One of my favorite things in the past has been the cheese quesadilla at the pool. Even that was a shell of its former self, with barely any cheese. I actually have a photo of the way it used to be compared to now. And I paid a premium for that just like everything else at the hotel. At one point I paid $22 for two popsicles at the pool. Again, these prices are acceptable when the overall experience matches like it has in the past. But that simply wasn't the case this week. As much as it pains me to say, my wife has been looking for different options for our next trip to Florida
Lastly I would conclude that the overall care level from the resort staff was nowhere close to how it used to be. We went to a water balloon toss event that was a total joke. The staff had about 10 water balloons and zero plan. It lasted about 30 seconds. That was a good representation of the whole trip. Nobody cared about our room complaint, nobody cared to fix the maintenance issues, and the sense was that selling and expanding condos is the main focus now. We are going to have to take time as family and consider if the Henderson is going to continue to be a staple for our summer vacations.
Amy Middleton
Just got home from our stay at the beautiful Henderson Resort. What a beautiful property and the staff were so friendly and helpful!!
Demetria Avant
We ate here while staying at the Henderson Beach Resort. We drove in on Christmas evening and fortunately it was open late. The atmosphere was cozy and the food was fresh and tasty. We had the smoked wings, pizza, chicken tenders and fries. (We traveled with our little ones) The waiter was so patient and friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pepperoni Pizza
Savanna Stroppel
Food and drinks were great. Rron is the best bartender! I will be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
T Slaven
Nice food, and polite bar staff with a good view. With that said, service took a very long time. There was one bar staff on, when it was clearly evident 3 or 4 were needed. It felt like management here wasn't supportive of customers actually using horizons. Very, very slow.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Stephanie
Food and service were wonderful. Server was very attentive and checked up as needed to make sure everything was to our liking. The only negative note would be that we were celebrating a birthday and had it noted on the reservation, but neither host or server said anything or acknowledged it.
B LangeII
I rather enjoy this place!
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Kristin Case
If you are looking for a family friendly vacation, this resort is not it. Save your money and go elsewhere…here is why.
Pros of resort…The rooms and resort itself are beautiful and maintained. We liked the offerings of complimentary fitness classes, like yoga and spin. We had complimentary paddle boards, this was great! Complimentary Starbucks coffee and water as well.
The cons of resort…no one followed up as my younger son had a medical emergency on resort property, pools, lack of customer service, extra charges for everything, no mini fridges in hotel rooms or microwave and lack there of kids activities at resort.
My son was bitten by multiple jellyfish on the beach. Security was called. Sean was great as well as beach attendants. I’m shocked that a manager did not step in and or check on the situation. Maybe they were not notified or maybe didn’t care, but was a scary situation for us.
With the pools, why do you have multiple lazy rivers and not provide a tube to float down the pool with?! The resort charges $36 per tube at one of their stores. You don’t go to a water park and purchase tubes when you get there? We left the resort to go buy tubes to find out another pool on another part of the resort offered tubes, also a different owner we later found out. Why charge a $47 resort fee per day if you can’t supply a simply amenity for the pool?
Extra charges…beach chairs to rent are anywhere from $80-$100 per day…again other resorts in the area don’t charge for this. Most days towels were not available at the pool or the beach, so we enjoyed sitting in the sand :)
As far as food on the resort…last call for drinks and food of any kind was at 4:45pm each day poolside. I am pretty sure ppl like to have dinner by the pool or even a drink and this was not the case. No outside drinks are allowed but when you cut off services to your guests this should not be the case. This left us with restaurants on site and spend a few $$$$ or go to a local Destin restaurant and wait 3hrs, not my idea of relaxing.
Customer service, you’re not greeted or attended to unless you pay the $$$ valet fee. When I checked in no one greeted me, showed me where anything was, it was oh your self parking and do you have your credit card?! No one on the resort is knowledgeable about events on property, restaurant suggestions or activities outside of the resort. Henderson posts certain things on FB and when I inquired do you make that drink here? Response was oh I don’t know never heard of it. That was the response in general from all staff of I am not sure or don’t live in Destin.
I will say Paislee and Mia were very helpful with certain aspects of registration and checkout, I did appreciate their helpfulness and their awesome customer service.
With kids activities I thought there would be more activities like tie dye stations, stuffing a stuffed animal, finding shark teeth in the sand etc.
There was 2 activities while we were there mini golf and movie by the pool. The movie didn’t work after about 30 mins and then the mini golf was not a mini golf course just a chance to hit the ball twice.
My family and I travel a lot and the overall feel we all felt from this resort was a Ritz Carlton budget and customer service of the Holiday Inn. I did fill out a guest survey. We will be back to Destin but not at this resort.
EricC
Excited to try in a recommendation. Beautiful location . We were sat and not greeted by anyone for over twenty minutes. A server asked if we had been helped , responded no, and had a server come by 5 minutes later, said he would be be back shortly . Waited another ten minutes and left.
Called and asked for the best room available. Confirmed and credit card was taken.
Initially, I was given pool and resort passes. Then suddenly, no rooms were available. Upon complaining about the $1,200 charge and mysteriously losing the reservation, the spa manager, John Vaneron, threatened to call security (I was not yelling, he simply didn’t like the inconvenience of explaining or trying to help)—why the massage guy was running the front desk is another issue I can’t explain, but an incredibly poor management choice. If John works in hospitality, then I am Jiminy Cricket in the flesh.
Having small children waiting, I was one of many having similar issues. Everything was someone else’s fault.
What a joke… misleading, bizarrely arrogant, customer-last, and by far the worst experience I have had at any “nice” resort. The staff seemingly enjoyed it, especially the spa guy who seems to be empowered by a resort blazer. At one point they were laughing in a back room together.
An absolute joke of an establishment. Could get better service at the Red Roof Inn.
As I write this review, several groups are experiencing the exact same treatment. In fact, 3 couples have come to offer their condolences and share their own frustrations as I am leaving.
Service was really good but expected so much more from the food. Very expensive. Very small portions which didn't really matter because we wouldn't have eaten more anyway. Seasoning was way overdone and just didn't go together. Very disappointed and will definitely not return. Wish I had that money back.
We chose this restaurant to have a nice family meal on our anniversary. The reviews were great and so many photos had beautiful meals with cute gestures like “congrats” or “happy anniversary” written in chocolate on dessert plates. Although our meal was fantastic, our anniversary was not acknowledged in any way and that was a little disappointing. We noted it through our OpenTable reservation and even told our waitress but still nothing. Other than that, it was a nice evening and restaurant!
Lovely service in a nice atmosphere. My brunch dish, the tenderloin hash, had no seasoning at all. No sauce. Just potatoes, spinach, a few overcooked pieces of tenderloin, and two poached eggs.
Maryann
Jennifer, our server, was top notch. Wedge was skimpy w very little blue cheese crumble and bacon bits but lettuce was fresh. 6 Oz filet mignon and asparagus were perfectly cooked and very tasty. Baked potato side was crusted w sea salt. Yummy. Grouper dish was very good too.
We chose The Henderson for our daughter’s wedding with hopes given its beautiful location and promises of luxury and service. Unfortunately, our experience fell far short of expectations on what was meant to be one of the most important days of her life. The staff at the Primrose while polite did not deliver. Key details we had agreed on months in advance were overlooked and poorly executed. Also despite the premium cost of the meal, we were served with inedible and shockingly small portion plates. Only to leave hungry and disappointed. The party left to warm up pizza from the fridge. It was embarrassing and completely unacceptable for such a special occasion. Also, other issues upon check in. They were late. The staff always was polite and said they would take care of it but never did. What matters is service reliability and follow through, in these areas The Henderson fell far short!
We just checked out from an eight night stay and overall we were very disappointed in our experience this week. We visited the henderson once or twice a year since our children were toddlers. Beyond financial support, we have been the most vocal champions of the resort for years. Not only have we consistently provided good reviews online, we have also brought siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to the Henderson. We wear the merchandise from the resort store year round. So when we booked this trip, we were excited as always. We paid for the premium gulf view room just as we did last trip, and were instantly disappointed with our room view. We did not have the pool/gulf straight on view like we did last time and is advertised on the website. Instead, we had a view of trees and only a partial gulf on the side. This is an unacceptable view when paying for the premium option. We called the front desk twice and kindly asked to be moved, or even notified if one of the better views opens up throughout the week. However, we were instantly shut down both times, being told there is absolutely nothing they can or are willing to do for us. So although we paid for the premium view for eight nights, we were never once able to enjoy it. We would have simply preferred courtyard view over what we had and saved the money. The way our concerns were brushed aside after being loyal customers for many years has made us question if we will ever return. Before posting this review I tried contacting management twice while at the resort and another five times since we checked out, having been ignored the entire time. On top of the room view, there were a lot of other concerning issues that we have never experienced at the Henderson. Our room was very beat up and in need of repair. The walls needed painted and the furniture needed replaced. The lights in the bathroom constantly flashed like strobe lights and everything in general felt unclean. There were leaks in the lobby, tiles missing in the pool, the showers by the beach were half broken, and the bathrooms by the beach were closed for an entire day. So we had to walk all the way back to the resort to use the restroom. The overall level of the service we experienced on this trip was not the exceptional customer service we have become accustomed to at the Henderson. No one helped us with our luggage, bar tenders at the beach weren't friendly, and overall we felt more like a number instead of a valued guest (which is what we always loved about the resort). There seems to be more focus and attention given to the condo selling expansion than the resort guests. There was also constant non stop construction noise for our entire trip - which we were not warned about upon booking. When you're charging these kind of prices, there are expectations that follow. One of my favorite things in the past has been the cheese quesadilla at the pool. Even that was a shell of its former self, with barely any cheese. I actually have a photo of the way it used to be compared to now. And I paid a premium for that just like everything else at the hotel. At one point I paid $22 for two popsicles at the pool. Again, these prices are acceptable when the overall experience matches like it has in the past. But that simply wasn't the case this week. As much as it pains me to say, my wife has been looking for different options for our next trip to Florida Lastly I would conclude that the overall care level from the resort staff was nowhere close to how it used to be. We went to a water balloon toss event that was a total joke. The staff had about 10 water balloons and zero plan. It lasted about 30 seconds. That was a good representation of the whole trip. Nobody cared about our room complaint, nobody cared to fix the maintenance issues, and the sense was that selling and expanding condos is the main focus now. We are going to have to take time as family and consider if the Henderson is going to continue to be a staple for our summer vacations.
Just got home from our stay at the beautiful Henderson Resort. What a beautiful property and the staff were so friendly and helpful!!
We ate here while staying at the Henderson Beach Resort. We drove in on Christmas evening and fortunately it was open late. The atmosphere was cozy and the food was fresh and tasty. We had the smoked wings, pizza, chicken tenders and fries. (We traveled with our little ones) The waiter was so patient and friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pepperoni Pizza
Food and drinks were great. Rron is the best bartender! I will be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nice food, and polite bar staff with a good view. With that said, service took a very long time. There was one bar staff on, when it was clearly evident 3 or 4 were needed. It felt like management here wasn't supportive of customers actually using horizons. Very, very slow.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Food and service were wonderful. Server was very attentive and checked up as needed to make sure everything was to our liking. The only negative note would be that we were celebrating a birthday and had it noted on the reservation, but neither host or server said anything or acknowledged it.
I rather enjoy this place!
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
If you are looking for a family friendly vacation, this resort is not it. Save your money and go elsewhere…here is why. Pros of resort…The rooms and resort itself are beautiful and maintained. We liked the offerings of complimentary fitness classes, like yoga and spin. We had complimentary paddle boards, this was great! Complimentary Starbucks coffee and water as well. The cons of resort…no one followed up as my younger son had a medical emergency on resort property, pools, lack of customer service, extra charges for everything, no mini fridges in hotel rooms or microwave and lack there of kids activities at resort. My son was bitten by multiple jellyfish on the beach. Security was called. Sean was great as well as beach attendants. I’m shocked that a manager did not step in and or check on the situation. Maybe they were not notified or maybe didn’t care, but was a scary situation for us. With the pools, why do you have multiple lazy rivers and not provide a tube to float down the pool with?! The resort charges $36 per tube at one of their stores. You don’t go to a water park and purchase tubes when you get there? We left the resort to go buy tubes to find out another pool on another part of the resort offered tubes, also a different owner we later found out. Why charge a $47 resort fee per day if you can’t supply a simply amenity for the pool? Extra charges…beach chairs to rent are anywhere from $80-$100 per day…again other resorts in the area don’t charge for this. Most days towels were not available at the pool or the beach, so we enjoyed sitting in the sand :) As far as food on the resort…last call for drinks and food of any kind was at 4:45pm each day poolside. I am pretty sure ppl like to have dinner by the pool or even a drink and this was not the case. No outside drinks are allowed but when you cut off services to your guests this should not be the case. This left us with restaurants on site and spend a few $$$$ or go to a local Destin restaurant and wait 3hrs, not my idea of relaxing. Customer service, you’re not greeted or attended to unless you pay the $$$ valet fee. When I checked in no one greeted me, showed me where anything was, it was oh your self parking and do you have your credit card?! No one on the resort is knowledgeable about events on property, restaurant suggestions or activities outside of the resort. Henderson posts certain things on FB and when I inquired do you make that drink here? Response was oh I don’t know never heard of it. That was the response in general from all staff of I am not sure or don’t live in Destin. I will say Paislee and Mia were very helpful with certain aspects of registration and checkout, I did appreciate their helpfulness and their awesome customer service. With kids activities I thought there would be more activities like tie dye stations, stuffing a stuffed animal, finding shark teeth in the sand etc. There was 2 activities while we were there mini golf and movie by the pool. The movie didn’t work after about 30 mins and then the mini golf was not a mini golf course just a chance to hit the ball twice. My family and I travel a lot and the overall feel we all felt from this resort was a Ritz Carlton budget and customer service of the Holiday Inn. I did fill out a guest survey. We will be back to Destin but not at this resort.
Excited to try in a recommendation. Beautiful location . We were sat and not greeted by anyone for over twenty minutes. A server asked if we had been helped , responded no, and had a server come by 5 minutes later, said he would be be back shortly . Waited another ten minutes and left.
Restaurantji Recommends
Called and asked for the best room available. Confirmed and credit card was taken. Initially, I was given pool and resort passes. Then suddenly, no rooms were available. Upon complaining about the $1,200 charge and mysteriously losing the reservation, the spa manager, John Vaneron, threatened to call security (I was not yelling, he simply didn’t like the inconvenience of explaining or trying to help)—why the massage guy was running the front desk is another issue I can’t explain, but an incredibly poor management choice. If John works in hospitality, then I am Jiminy Cricket in the flesh. Having small children waiting, I was one of many having similar issues. Everything was someone else’s fault. What a joke… misleading, bizarrely arrogant, customer-last, and by far the worst experience I have had at any “nice” resort. The staff seemingly enjoyed it, especially the spa guy who seems to be empowered by a resort blazer. At one point they were laughing in a back room together. An absolute joke of an establishment. Could get better service at the Red Roof Inn. As I write this review, several groups are experiencing the exact same treatment. In fact, 3 couples have come to offer their condolences and share their own frustrations as I am leaving.
Service was really good but expected so much more from the food. Very expensive. Very small portions which didn't really matter because we wouldn't have eaten more anyway. Seasoning was way overdone and just didn't go together. Very disappointed and will definitely not return. Wish I had that money back.
We chose this restaurant to have a nice family meal on our anniversary. The reviews were great and so many photos had beautiful meals with cute gestures like “congrats” or “happy anniversary” written in chocolate on dessert plates. Although our meal was fantastic, our anniversary was not acknowledged in any way and that was a little disappointing. We noted it through our OpenTable reservation and even told our waitress but still nothing. Other than that, it was a nice evening and restaurant!
Lovely service in a nice atmosphere. My brunch dish, the tenderloin hash, had no seasoning at all. No sauce. Just potatoes, spinach, a few overcooked pieces of tenderloin, and two poached eggs.
Jennifer, our server, was top notch. Wedge was skimpy w very little blue cheese crumble and bacon bits but lettuce was fresh. 6 Oz filet mignon and asparagus were perfectly cooked and very tasty. Baked potato side was crusted w sea salt. Yummy. Grouper dish was very good too.
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