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Which Hilton Head Marriott do you recommend?

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We want to take our first visit to Hilton Head and would like to know which one is considered to be your favorite. I'm sure that all the Hilton Head Marriotts are great - but which one is "the best" and why.

We are husband and wife in our 50's going by ourselves for this particular trip (our daughter is already an adult). Also, would your selection change for an off season visit in January or February?

Thanks so much for the info.

Best wishes,
Dave
 
No, my selection wouldn't change depending on the season. All the properties there are nice. My favorites are: Grande Ocean, Barony Beach and Monarch. Why? they are larger in square footage, right on the ocean, the Grande Ocean and Monarch are in Sea Pines plantation so you don't have to pay to get in.

Of all the resorts, Monarch is the oldest and the closest to the beach. That property is smaller and has a certain charm about it. It was not built by Marriott, but has a nice pool and many amenities. It was refurbished two years ago.

Grande Ocean is the largest and is really beautiful. Right on the beach, great pools and HUGE villas.

Barony was built after Grande Ocean. Not as large a property but also on the beach and right next to a full service hotel, you can walk next door to go to dinner if you want. Very nice property has great amenities.

Surf Watch is the newest, but the villas are quite a bit smaller 1150 sq. ft compared to 1400, new decorating etc, but this property is a LONG walk away from the beach. Very large property, has some really nice pools etc, but I prefer the older properties.

You really can't go wrong with any of them. I think I would prefer for my first visit to stay down in Sea Pines. This island is actually pretty big and for a visual comparison you could say Monarch is in the toe of the island while Surf Watch is in the heel. Grande Ocean is about the ball of the foot.

Happy traveling!
 
hilton Head

Grande Ocean is Marriott's signature property on Hilton Head IMHO
We have stayed at almost all of the Marriott's there and nothing compares to Grande Ocean. My second choice would be Monarch because it is in Sea Pines Plantation - the best place to be on HHI and my 3rd choice would be Barony. Hope you get the Grande Ocean.
 
I vote For Barony

Although you cannot go worong with any of them...I vote for Barony. Main reason is location on the Beach. You walk out onto the beach and turn left, walk past the Weston and the crowds evaporate as for several miles there is only housies...no hotels, timeshares, or condos...very peaceful...
 
We love SurfWatch for its upscale units and landscaping - that shower is a treat in itself, and the wide-open space and nature all over the resort can't be beat. SurfWatch also has the largest, nicest oceanfront bar/grill area. (But it has limited winter hours of operation.)

We love Barony for it's peacefulness and secluded beach, and again the landscaping is beautiful. The units will be undergoing a refurbishment in the next year and should be gorgeous when finished.

Grande Ocean sits in a very nice location at the entrance to Sea Pines, with Sea Pines access, and there are many, many restaurant options nearby. We haven't stayed in those units but my overall feeling walking through the resort was that it was too crowded, the buildings felt overpowering. Very pretty grounds, still.

I don't know anything about the others, except that the one right there in Harbor Town sits in a very nice spot for it not being oceanfront.

Considering a January or February stay, I wouldn't worry too much about where exactly on the island you'll be located because it's not a very big island at all and you'll be able to get around just fine without the busy season crowds. Some restaurants do close seasonally, though, so you might want to check the Chamber of Commerce or something similar for that sort of info.
 
We were at Barony this past year and had a great time there. As mentioned above they have a wonderful expanse of beach in front of the resort. I would imagine both Surfwatch and Grand Ocean would be wonderful as well with Grand Ocean having permit access to Sea Pines ($5/day otherwise).

Our next trip to HHI will be to Harbor Club in Harbor Town. Smaller, older and less fancy resort but, we were by it on our last trip and loved the location inside of Sea Pines and next to Harbor Town. It seems to me the bike trails are better in Sea Pines than around Barony.

Harbor Club is not a beach front resort. For our first trip to HHI, I wanted beach front. I think for a first trip I'd still want to be beach front and then explore the rest to see what I thought would be nice. We take a beach vacation at Ocean Point every year so I'm not worried about missing the beach with Harbor Club. I'd rather have the bike trails, the location within Sea Pines and the location close to Harbor Town this time around. Afterwards we may decide we missed being on the beach but, I want to at least try something different.

My recommendations would be to put in an ongoing request and list Barony, Surfwatch and Grand Ocean at the very least. All are newer and all are ocean front properties. Surfwatch is the furthest away from the beach but, it was a very nice walk through the dunes to get to the beach and the stretch of beach there looked very nice when we toured the facility. Grand Ocean is just grand and has the permit into Sea Pines, which appears to be a tranquil place to ride bikes. Barony was a great resort, very attractive and had a very nice expanse of beach to either walk or ride bikes on.
 
We spent Christmas week at Grand Ocean on an exchange a few years ago. We received an ocean front unit that was just beautiful. We loved riding the bikes on the beach and did use the hot tubs though it was pretty cool for the pools.

We did the presentation and tour at Barony Beach Club, but were happy with Grand Ocean. Think they are probably pretty equal in appeal.

Ann
 
Ann in CA said:
We spent Christmas week at Grand Ocean on an exchange a few years ago. We received an ocean front unit that was just beautiful. We loved riding the bikes on the beach and did use the hot tubs though it was pretty cool for the pools.

We did the presentation and tour at Barony Beach Club, but were happy with Grand Ocean. Think they are probably pretty equal in appeal.

Ann
Click to expand...

BARONY ALL THE WAY. WE like it the best.
 
FYI...Not sure if you are interested in a pool but both Barony and Grande Ocean have an indoor pool you can use in Jan and Feb. I don't think any of the others do. We have not been to Barony but have been to GO three times and we are headed to the Monarch in a month. It's our first time at the Monarch. Love the GO but I think we'll be happy with the Monarch. We wanted Sea Pines and something on the beach which is either GO or Monarch.
 
Surf Watch has a heated indoor pool in that octagon-shaped building that you see as you enter the property. I'm not sure, either, about Monarch or the others at Harbor Point and Shelter Cove.
 
Well, I'm going to be in the minority but we loved Marriott's Harbour Club in Harbour Town. No, it's not on the beach, but it is on the bay and it truly is a delightful location!

Located in Harbour Town, you can walk to numerous restaurants, shops and water sport activities. Everyone wants to come into Harbour Town at night and you won't have to worry about finding parking!

We rode our bikes on the beautiful Sea Pines bike paths to the beach each day. It was a pleasant 15-20 minute ride under the cool shade of the trees. Not once did we feel we were missing out not being on the beach.

Harbour Club is a smaller resort with just 40 units and a smaller pool. But it is just the right size for the population of the resort. You never have to fight for pool lounge chairs and it is so relaxing and serene. Right across the street is CQ's Restaurant and the Harbour Town Bakery which is wonderful! We had breakfast there every morning and sometimes bought lunch there too.

We love that everyone feels they need to be on the beach at a large resort. It makes it easier for us to exchange into the charm of Harbour Club.:D
 
The search button is your friend....there are a TON of posts comparing all HHI Marriott TS's. We only stayed at Barony and loved it. Surfwatch is newer, GO is larger but similar to Barony IMHO. You cannot go wrong with any of them. The other Marriotts I am not that familiar with though I went by one of them in Harbourtown and it looked nice. Barony also has large heated indoor pool.
 
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Barony gets my vote but in fairness, haven't been to the others. Barony feels intimate size wise but has all the amenities. The layout is really nice. I love the on site spa. The indoor pool area is spacious. As far as location on the island, once in the car it doesn't matter if I'm 2 min or 10 minutes away from a restaurant. We will be back at Barony between Christmas and New Year.
 
In my humble opinion there are no bad Marriott's T/S on the Island. Here are my picks #1 Grande Ocean, Barony Beach Club, Harbour Club at Harbour Town, the Monarch @ Sea Pines, and Heritage Club at Harbour Town. I did not include the new SurfWatch because we have not had the pleasure to visit this new Marriott's resort.

Also, we have not stay at the Marriott's Sunset Pointe or Harbour Pointe both located @ Shelter Cove.

Any Marriott's resort located on Sea Pines Plantation.

Enjoy your week on the Island.
 
hot2trot said:
Surf Watch is the newest, but the villas are quite a bit smaller 1150 sq. ft compared to 1400, new decorating etc, but this property is a LONG walk away from the beach. Very large property, has some really nice pools etc, but I prefer the older properties.
Click to expand...

WOW. This isn't close to being correct.

The following is per the Marriott website:

Grande Ocean is 1295 sq ft

Barony Beach is 1300 sq ft

Surf Watch (2 BD) is 1275 sq ft

Surf Watch (3 BD) is 1575 sq ft

Monarch is 1200 sq ft
 
hot2trot said:
Surf Watch is the newest, but the villas are quite a bit smaller 1150 sq. ft compared to 1400, new decorating etc, but this property is a LONG walk away from the beach. Very large property, has some really nice pools etc, but I prefer the older properties.
Click to expand...

WOW. This isn't close to being correct.

The following is per the Marriott website:

Grande Ocean is 1295 sq ft

Barony Beach is 1300 sq ft

Surf Watch (2 BD) is 1275 sq ft

Surf Watch (3 BD) is 1575 sq ft

Monarch is 1200 sq ft
 
Not to be repetitive but I think it really comes down to views of the ocean. I have stayed at both Grand Ocean and I am currently at Barony beach club. Both are great resorts with lots of activities. There are so few ocean views at barony beach club and if you are exchanging may end of way in the back in the garden villas.. We were upgraded to high floor in front buildings and can't see the ocean because of the tall trees(which are beautiful and add great character to the resort). With that being said, I prefer Grand Ocean a bit more but have had a wonderful time at Barony. :)
 
wsrobinson said:
WOW. This isn't close to being correct.

The following is per the Marriott website:

Grande Ocean is 1295 sq ft

Barony Beach is 1300 sq ft

Surf Watch (2 BD) is 1275 sq ft

Surf Watch (3 BD) is 1575 sq ft

Monarch is 1200 sq ft
Click to expand...
And that's not necessarily correct either. SW is 1275 for 2 BR but 1623 for 3 BR per the sales literature. Barony is 1270 and GO is 1380.

For exchanging, I'd put GO first, SW second and BB third. For owning or renting it would depend on the unit type but generally GO first. The problem with exchanging is it's likely you'll get a GV unit and those are inferior in location at BB compared to SW IMO, GO doesn't technically have GV though some would say it should.
 
Dean said:
And that's not necessarily correct either. SW is 1275 for 2 BR but 1623 for 3 BR per the sales literature. Barony is 1270 and GO is 1380.
Click to expand...

Perhaps, but sales literature is printed prior to construction in most cases and therefore subject to change. I would guess that my figures (taken from the Marriott reservation website) are far more accurate. :shrug:
 
wsrobinson said:
Perhaps, but sales literature is printed prior to construction in most cases and therefore subject to change. I would guess that my figures (taken from the Marriott reservation website) are far more accurate. :shrug:
Click to expand...
Likely not because they are taken from the blueprints, however, not every unit is the same anyway and there are actually several different unit designs at all of the resorts in question and they may vary from each other. Still, your main point I suspect was that the previous numbers were way off and that the variation from GO to the others was not as significant as implied and on that we totally agree.
 
As a Surfwatch owner, I'm partial to the upscale villa's, the variety of pools, and love the walk from the buildings to the ocean. The infinity pool at the beach's edge is fabulous! I'm a nature person, so I love looking over the boardwalks down to the nature preserve to watch the critters. Last year, we saw a line of small crabs about 4 ft. long following each other. Have no idea why!
 
mish said:
As a Surfwatch owner, I'm partial to the upscale villa's, the variety of pools, and love the walk from the buildings to the ocean. The infinity pool at the beach's edge is fabulous! I'm a nature person, so I love looking over the boardwalks down to the nature preserve to watch the critters. Last year, we saw a line of small crabs about 4 ft. long following each other. Have no idea why!
Click to expand...

You didn't see the "Crab Conga Line" on that week's MAZE schedule??

<groan>
 
Barony has an on site spa and a large gym plus an indoor heated pool and two outdoor pools. The Garden Villas I thought are larger sq ft wise than the standard units and some units have larger balconies and GV's have two master bedroom suites with jacuzzis in each bathroom. Stayed at BB 4 times and love it there.

Any of them are a great choice. Just keep coming back and try a different one on each visit.
 
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