Which Beach?

Last summer went to Destin, FL for a week and loved it. It wasn't crowded because we went in late August, and the Floridian kids had gone back to school already. It was mostly us Texans on the beaches there! We are going to try to go on vacation again this summer. Not sure when, but may try to do that time right before school starting again. We can use Amex Hilton points in Destin (not sure if Gulf Shores has a hotel we can use our points at) - last year our trip pretty much cost us only gas and food money. The entire week was paid for with Hilton Honors points.

Anyway - can anyone compare Destin, FL to Orange Beach/Gulf Shores, AL? We've been told that the AL beaches are just as pretty as Destin. It would be about 1.5 hours shorter of a drive for us to go to AL.

We have a 6 year old and 2 year old and we would drive there. We loved that the Hilton in Destin had bunk beds in a separate area for the kids.

Anyone with experiences with both?