Alys Beach: An upscale destination on a low key stretch of highway in the Florida panhandle

I took a trip to the much advertised, much promoted Alys Beach recently with my family. Full disclosure, we visited Alys Beach once before during the height of COVID-19 and did not have a great experience, but chalked it up to the difficult environment and circumstances and decided that we wanted to give it another try.

I’m glad we did.

On our first visit, we stayed in a rental house, but on this recent visit we decided to book one of the condominiums overlooking Highway 30a, which was a great choice.

I don’t know if all of the condominiums are this stylish and functional or if we just got lucky, but to the decorator of Number 303: you nailed it.

There was a beautiful balcony on both sides of the condo for coffee in the mornings and a glass of wine at night. Another bonus, it overlooked the greenspace so we could sit and watch the kids play soccer and football from the balcony in the afternoon and evening.

We enjoyed the pool as well as the beach; we are more beach than pool people but sometimes you can use a good pool day. The service is great as were the selections on the lunch menu. The only downside is that they close the pool early because the space is also a restaurant in the evenings, Caliza. They are in the process of building a beach club which will be a nice addition but construction has not been completed yet – photos below.

Other spots worth checking out at Alys Beach and on 30a: Charlie’s Donuts, George’s, Raw and Juicy – the best coffee and Acai bowls, LaCo, Edward’s, Willow Boutique. They also have a new restaurant called The Citizen that we didn’t get to try but the menu looks amazing.

By the way, if you’re missing your girlfriends like I am during this pandemic, you’re not alone. One of my closest friends that I am far apart from and miss so much sent this recent commentary about missing female friendships — it captures how many of us are feeling these days. A girls weekend at Alys Beach would really do the trick.