Portofino Beach Hotel and Resort in Pensacola Beach #GulfCoast

When you travel as often as I do, you learn to make sacrifices in terms of your accommodations in order to be able to afford other things - like activities, nice restaurants and well, hell, the trip itself!

I have stayed everywhere from a friend's couch to the Hilton, to a Motel 8 to an air mattress on a friend's floor, to a hostel. I am not picky like that. As long as there aren't roaches or bedbugs, and I have indoor plumbing and an AC, I am content.

Unfortunately, that is probably going to change after my most recent trip...

I stayed at the Portofino Island Beach Hotel and Resort in Pensacola Beach, FL during the #Brandcation blogging "un"conference this past weekend.

Photo Courtesy of Portofino Island Beach Hotel & Resort

Situated along eight miles of untouched white sandy beaches within the Gulf Islands National Seashore, Portofino Island Resort offers the perfect balance of indulgence and natural beauty. Portofino’s protected shoreline offers endless opportunities for recreation and rejuvenation on, in, or around the waters of the Gulf of Mexico or the Santa Rosa Sound. Premier Island Management Group offers more than 300 beautiful accommodations and believe me, they are beautiful!

On my first day at the Portofino, I was blown away by how luxurious the rooms where! We stayed in a bedroom condo with a beautiful balcony overlooking the beach. We even saw dolphins playing in the water right in front of the hotel!

Not bad for being taken with my iPhone 4s, right?

There were 8 of us in our condo, and there was plenty of room! There were two king sized beds, a set of bunk beds and two large and comfy couches!

Photo Courtesy of Portofino Island Beach Hotel & Resort

I especially loved the large bathrooms and the whirlpool bathtub in the master suite! Each bedroom was pretty specious and had a gorgeous view of the beach and water - but then again, with the wonderful way the Portofino Island Beach Hotel and Resort was laid out, it seemed like every room had that gorgeous beach view. They really knew what they were doing when they designed those buildings!

Photo Courtesy of Portofino Island Beach Hotel and Resort

I can't wait to go back to the Portofino Island Beach Hotel and Resort!

I want to say a big thank you to the Portofino Island Beach Hotel and Resort for the discounted rate during #Brandcation! All opinions are my own!