First time travelers to the HH area - 2 adults/1 4 year old. Would like any tips on good places to stay. Want to be close to the beach although we will have our own car. Any helpful info would be appreciated. Thanks!
Hey Loraine,
I have a good friend who rents her condo on the beach in Hilton Head. It is in the prime location in Hilton Head and is very cozy. I have stayed there and just love it. It is right across the street from the shopping plaza, restaraunts and you can rent bikes to go everywhere. If you are interested, email me at ____@____.com and I will get the info for you.
Great place to vacation...
T.
First, most of Hilton Head is divided into different Plantations, which are semi-private or private communities. Many of which you need a security pass to access.
The hotels are nice if you looking at staying a couple of nights, but the nicer ones are going to cost you. I recommend the Crowne Plaza (Shipyard Plantation) or the Westin(Port Royal Plantation). Although you have to make a trip to the Tiki Hut at the Holiday Inn.
If you are staying a week I would definately recommend looking into renting a villa/condo. You can either rent directly from the owners or there are a lot of Rental Companies. Palmetto Dunes Plantation has the most rentals of villa and condos, from golf course views to oceanfront. The plantation also offers 3 golf courses, restaurants, tennis, bike rentals ( a must do on Hilton Head), fishing in the lagoons. palmettodunes.com is the company that has an office on site and has the most availablity.
Just make sure to read the fine print on rentals. Many have extra fees for cleaning, you have to pick up the keys at a different location, etc.
I hope this helps, there are so many choices on hilton head, it is hard to decide what is best. All 12 miles of beach is wonderful, so if that is what you are going for it does not really matter what part you pick. Feel free to add another post once you narrow down what you are looking for and I will give you any input I have.
By the way I am a former Hilton Head Native and both my husband and I have worked at different Hotels & villa/condo companies on the Island.
My dau lives on HHI, about 2 blocks from beach. There is a Holiday Inn right on beach (they are doing some construction work though)and there is also a Comfort Inn nearby. There are plenty of villas (some private owned). I'd prefer to stay in a hotel. It's a short walk to beach and does get crowded at times - it's according to where you enter the beach area. The ones I'm talking about are on South Forest Beach Rd, and they do have aminities like, swimming pools, tennis courts, etc. I visit my dau & help out w/granddau several times a year. There is a toll road ($1.25) which is easier on traffic. Come down Pope Ave, to S. Forest Beach Rd (turn Right) - they also have Roundabouts which help with traffic, but be careful. You can get a map from mapquest that will help also. There is a travelers' rest that gives out maps also. There's lots of good places to eat (Skillets at Coligny Plaza, Crazy Crab at North end of island). Harbor Town although they charge $5.00 to go in, has shops, restaurants, and a light house). Lots of sights around.
good morning. my friends own a vacation rental one block from the ocean withing walking distance to the shopping center coligny plaza. her name is kristin sharma and she can be reached at ###-###-#### and her website to view the location is www.vrbo.com/164381
have a wonderful time. hilton head is beautiful.
Try these two web sites. Tripadvisor.com has lots of reviews for local lodging, activities, restaurants. And VRBO.com is a great resource for finding condos and houses for rent. We have rented a vacation home through VRBO and it was a great arrangement.
We took a family vacation last year (with 6 children age range 1 to 7) and it was AWESOME! HH has so much to offer. We rented a home in the Singleton Beach neighborhood (used Hilton Head Rentals last year, have used VRBO other times) which is located right next to a huge city park (70 acres) and offered playgrounds, tennis courts, basketball courts, soccer and ballfields, walking trails. That particular neighborhood also offered free shuttle to the beach via a golf cart, or you could drive as there was parking (and showers to rinse off after the beach). There is a great kids museum (in case of a rainy day), much fun to be had at Harbortowne/Sea Pines, including another large playground, rentals for boat rids (we did a kid friendly cruise with live entertainment), and I believe on Tues nights at Shelter Cove they have free fireworks with jump castles, face painting, live band, etc so we took a picnic as do many others. There are also a number of great putt putt golf places. Before children my husband and I stayed in Palmetto Dunes at an oceanfront Weston hotel that was great if you prefer that route. The beach in HH is beautiful. Enjoy your vacation!
I live here on the island & its awesome for kids. There is a playground @ the holiday inn express on the beach. The Sand Box is a children's interactive museum on Pope Avenue. Across the street is the new Compass Rose Park w/ water features and a spinning granite compass that kids love to sit on. Dolphin Head beach has a playground in Hilton head Plantation. Harbor town in Sea Pines has a playground & lighthouse. Also live music and restruants. The library has storytime for the kids Saturday morning @ 10:00. Coligny plaza has a kids night on Tuesdays, I think. And right over the bridge in Bluffton @ the Bridge Center is Island Playground w/ inflatable slides & bouncy things, a castle & dress up clothes. And if you need a sitter one night to have a grown up night out, I am available most nights at a reasonable rate. Hope you have a great time!
If you are looking for a relaxing vacation... Hilton Head is NOT the place to go. Everything is so fast paced, we couldn't enjoy ourselves anywhere, except on the beach. Tried riding bikes on the bike path, and a car whipped into a parking lot just as my daughter(age 10) crossed the drive and I was about to cross. I would have to say we felt more like we were in New Jersey business traffic, than a "leisurely" resort area. If you've never been to New Jersey, then compare it to traffic in and around Atlanta. If you like to cook your own fresh seafood, good luck finding a place to buy any. It's like the island is set up for very rich people that don't cook and they didn't bring their maid.
This might be the type of place you want to go, if you love to shop and go out to eat or if you're going to play golf and tennis all week. If you're wanting to slow it down and relax...don't expect to do it on HHI. We have given up FREE vacation offers just because of the fast "nerve wrecking" pace.
I would recommend Frip Island,SC, Edisto Beach,SC, or Holden Beach, NC. They are all more laid back and family friendly.
We LOVE Hilton Head -especially with kids! The whole island is one big bike trail, and you can cut up in a million places and hit the beach! I highly recommend renting bikes and renting one with a kiddie cart attached. The kids LOVE riding in it, and with only one kid, you can load beach gear in the other part of it. It's so much fun to get around the island this way. We almost never use our car when there!
I second the recommendation for using VRBO to find a condo or place to rent from the owner. So many of the plantation townhomes are very pretty -on golf courses or ponds and pretty scenery, and it's so easy to ride your bikes up to the beach!
Some recs on eating places -I DO NOT recommend The Old Oyster Factory. It looks great and gets good reviews, but I've given it three different tries over the last two and a half years, and it's been mediocre at best and just plain bad twice.
Skillets is GREAT for breakfast!
I have not been to HH in a while, but I do remember that there was a Holiday Inn ( Maybe a Holiday Inn Express) right on the beach.Try a google search or look online for the Hilton are newspaper. Have a nice trip and good luck!!
HEY! Hope you're travel plans are ok! There are several places to stay, it kinda depends on what budget, time, & plans you're on. Bc if you're on an-anything goes budget, The Hilton is the best!! It's RIGHT next to the ocean, but still SO beautiful! I *love* the hilton here. But, it will cost you. If you're looking for somewhere that's just as beautiful but a little less expensive than the HH area, try the Isle of Palms, it's 5 mins from downtown Charleson and a GORGOUS place. It reminds me the closest to HH!!!
There are also quite a few other hotels/houses for vacation rentals in HH. You should go to yahoo & search vacation rentals in HH, Sc. It'll help a lot. Brings up MANY sites. A great one is homeaway.com. If you're planning far enough ahead. I'm not sure about what time restrictions, etc. they have. If you just want a hotel go to myrtlebeach.com and it should have a link that takes you to hiltonheads site!! They will have lodging there!
As far as things to do? Anything really. The shopping! (yay!!!) is the best!! I LOVE the shops here! ahhh!! wish i was going wiht you! hope it helps!! good luck!!
Our favorite beach vacation spot!!!!
We usually camp at the RV resort but enjoy the Disney Vacation club there. The rooms are not on the ocean but they have a great pool with an awesome water slide. The Beach Club is how you enjoy the beach when staying there. It is only a few miles away and has an air conditioned building with games and a nice pool and food/drinks cafe. Really kid friendly.
Renting bikes is a must! So much fun to bike to Harbor Town and look around.
Our favorite restaurants are Marley's, Old Oyster Factory and Crazy Crab. Check out the parks also. My kids love it there and so do we! Have Fun!
Reading this hurt me so bad! I have not been able to go to HH in 2 years, and my heart breaks just thinking about it. For almost 10 years, my son and I would go every summer, and stay at the Bluff Villas in South Beach. Across the street one way was the beach, the other way was the pool. Sigh. Unfortunately, we can only do the famous STAY-cations right now.
From a former NYer, HH is definitely NOT fast-paced like a city!!
