Travel Channel 

Best Luxurious Hotel
Marriott Bay Point Resort
Web: www.marriottbaypoint.com
Overlooking beautiful St. Andrew's Bay, Bay Point Marriott Golf & Spa Resort offers guests plenty of recreational activities, including top-rated golf courses and water sports, in a luxurious resort setting. Nestled on a 1,100-acre wildlife sanctuary, and located just 15 minutes from Panama City Airport, Bay Point Marriott Resort features 316 spacious guest rooms, including 60 1- and 2-bedroom recently renovated golf villas, fine dining in 4 onsite restaurants and a luxury spa and fitness center.

Best Family Hotel
Holiday Inn Sun Spree Resort
Web: www.paradisefound.com/sunspree.htm
It may not be as elaborate as the SunSpree Resort near Disney World (which features Sesame Street suites), but the Holiday Inn SunSpree is just as kid-friendly. During summer, children are invited to a "Kids Night Out," where the SunSpree activities crew entertains them with pizza and a Disney movie. The hotel mascot, Splash the Dolphin, offers a special kids turn-down service. Splash will tuck the little ones in at bedtime and bring them milk and cookies for a late-night treat. Kids can also enjoy beach games and supervised fishing. All 340 oceanfront rooms have 2 queen-size beds, refrigerators and microwaves. Children under 12 stay free and eat free in the hotel restaurant when accompanied by an adult.

Best Budget Accommodation
Boardwalk Beach Resort
Web: www.boardwalkbeachresort.com
Offering a range of rates and room types, Boardwalk Beach accommodates travelers of all sorts. Rooms sleep 2 to 8 people, which is perfect for vacationing families as well as thrifty spring breakers. Happy hours and family-friendly entertainment are provided by hotel staff. Clutch, the hotel's Oldies Revue Band, is a popular attraction with tributes to Elvis and Sonny and Cher that are not to be missed.

Best Spring Break Crash Site
Chateau Motel
Web: www.chateaumotel.com
It's Spring Break. Do you know where your college student is? Check out this spring breaker's paradise first. Smack-dab in the middle of all the fast food joints, bars and clubs on Front Beach Road, the Chateau caters to the spring breaker. The convenience store on the premises is perfect for those late-night party runs. Suites sleep up to six and are equipped with efficiency kitchens. What more could a stressed co-ed want?

Best Bar
Schooners
Web: www.schooners.com
Schooners is the kind of place to hear the beach anthem Margaritaville in the background while munching on golden-brown hush puppies and sipping a cold one. The laid-back atmosphere of this open-air bar welcomes tourists and locals to mingle until the wee hours of the morning. Each evening begins with the blasting of the now-famous Schooners cannon. As the sun sets in the Gulf, a bar patron is picked to set off the cannon to celebrate the end of another day at the beach and the beginning of another night of partying.

Best Waterfront Atmosphere
Pineapple Willy's
Web: www.pineapplewillys.com
Aside from the prime beachside location, the pier that leads to the Gulf and the fabulous sunsets, the best thing about this restaurant is the ribs. More than 4 tons are soaked in Pineapple Willy's award-winning Jack Daniel's barbecue sauce and prepared each week. These tender treats are served with garlic bread, cole slaw and baked beans in the complimentary Pineapple Willy's bucket. For an authentic Pineapple Willy's experience, wash the ribs down with a tasty Pineapple Willy - a blend of pineapple juice, cream of coconut, Myers rum and other secret ingredients served in a 24-oz. cup. Hours vary depending on season. Visitors are encouraged to call before dropping by.

Best Local Seafood
Captain Anderson's
Web: www.captandersons.com
After 30 years in business, Captain Anderson's has become quite a legend on the Gulf Coast. The years of experience show in classic dishes that have become popular over time. The World's Finest Seafood Platter features stuffed deviled crab, golden-fried shrimp, scallops and fried fish with one half-stuffed Florida lobster. 

Best Family Restaurant
The Treasure Ship
Web: www.thetreasureship.com
There are several dining and entertainment options aboard this 200-foot replica of a 17th-century Spanish galleon. Hook's Grille and Grog on the dock level serves Caribbean cuisine, including the Coconut Shrimp Trinidad appetizer and the Cuban Sandwich - roasted pork loin and ham with Cuban mustard sauce, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese served hot on freshly baked Cuban bread. The main dining room is on the second level and offers more seafood dishes. The Alligator Nuggets served on a bed of Cajun rice are not for the faint of heart, while the kid-size portions and tableside visits from face-painting pirates will delight younger diners.

Shipwreck Island Amusement Park
Web: www.miraclestrippark.comIn the midst of the sea of miniature golf courses, go-carcks and arcades, Shipwreck Island rises above the rest and brings back the charm of old-fashioned amusement parks. The park's rides include family rides like the Lazy River and Zoom Flume, adventure rides like the Pirates Plunge, rides for small children and more.

Best Day Trip
St. Andrews State Park and Shell Island
Web: www.floridastateparks.org
To know what Panama City Beach looked like before commercialism began in the 1950s or when the Spanish conquistadors settled on its shores, visit St. Andrews State Park. Only 3 miles east of the crowded, carnival-like beachfront, the 1,260-acre park seems like another world. The pristine sand dunes, towering pinewoods and dense marshlands represent Florida's varied topography. Hike marked nature trails to see deer, egrets and alligators, or camp in one of 176 campsites. Some of the best deep-sea diving in the country is off the coast of the park in the Jetties - a narrow channel of water between the eastern tip of Panama City Beach and neighboring Shell Island (a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico). The water is crystal clear and thus perfect for observing tropical fish.

Best MTV Wannabe Hangout
Club La Vela
Web: www.lavela.com
Club La Vela was once MTV's official Spring Break headquarters and is still a hot spot for partiers. Hang out with thousands of other MTV wannabes in nine different theme rooms featuring hip hop, house, rock, acid, disco and rave music. What better place to show off the new henna tattoo or belly ring you got on the beach?