Driving from NY to Hilton Head - hotel on the way?

[LUVourMarriotts]

This July, we will be heading to Hilton Head for a week at Barony Beach Club. We will arrive on July 9 (Friday). We are currently up in the air as to fly or drive. Also up in the air as to rental or personal car if we drive.

Anyway, if we drive, we will leave NY on Thursday morning after the commute is over. I am thinking that we will go anywhere from 8 to 10 hours on Thursday and do the rest on Friday. Our 14 month old (at that time) will probably dictate how far we go. We will take the 95 route. Does anyone have any recommendations or experience with the hotels right along this route? We would rather stay pretty close to the route. I've used the "Along a route" option on Marriott.com and there are about 100 options, but only a handful in the 8-10 hour range.

Hopewell, Emporia, Rocky Mount, Wilson, Fayetteville

I'm definitely going to stay at a Marriott affiliated hotel, so I can use points.

 

[dwmantz]

We're going to have to meet up one of these days!

We're from Wappingers Falls, NY, also going to HH this Summer - Aug 7 to 21 but we own a Spinnaker Waterside 3BR for our family of 5. We also own at Fairway Villas and will be there Aug 27 to Sept 3.

Most importantly, my son and I are also Red Sox fans!

We always drive and stop before Richmond, VA. We usually stay at Holiday Inn Express for cost savings and the Cinnamon Buns!

 

[dive-in]

Here's a recent thread on a similar subject...

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113901&highlight=hilton+head+drive

You might want to check out the alternate route from the NE to avoid some of the mess along I-95.

Also if you do an "Advanced Search" for reservations on the Marriott site, you can find hotels along a route. I also find Google Earth invaluable in checking to see what services, gas, restaurants, etc. are near the hotel.

My wife is from Wilson, NC and we watched a Fairfield Inn go up in the last two years or so at the intersection of I-95 and Bus. 264. I believe it is exit 121 off of I-95. If you do take I-95 and your 14 month old makes it that long, it may be worth a look.

Note, don't get gas on the West side of I-95. It's always about .10 more a gallon that on the East side. Guess they are trying to get the Southbound Yankees.

Good luck.

 

[LUVourMarriotts]

We're from Wappingers Falls, NY

We live in WF too, with a Fishkill address. My wife is a Spankees fan, so we have a mixed marriage. So far, my daughter has a lot more Red Sox stuff, so I will hope she leans that way.

You might want to check out the alternate route from the NE to avoid some of the mess along I-95.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll take a look at some alternate routes around the congested areas. And thanks for pointing me to the other post.

 

[Kenrabs]

I used priceline when we went and looked for a place in Richmond Va. We got a Sheraton that was nice for less then $50. There are cheap places advertising as you cross into southern Va and NC right off 95.

 

[pedro47]

Sorry guys I would check into fly into South Carolina and rent an automobile. Driving from Richmond, VA to Hilton Head Islands you still must have at least 7 to 8 more hours to drive.

 

[icydog]

To save money you can fly into JAX, Jacksonville. There are some excellent fares in that airport due to SWA being there. That airline keeps all the other carriers cheaper.

 

[LUVourMarriotts]

To save money you can fly into JAX, Jacksonville. There are some excellent fares in that airport due to SWA being there. That airline keeps all the other carriers cheaper.

I will check this out as a possibility. So far, the best solution flying (price-wise) has been to fly to Myrtle Beach on Spirit and then rent a car. My SIL, who is also bringing her family on the trip (they traded as well) thought of JAX, but I didn't find any flights that were convenient. I'll check SWA.

 

[Kenrabs]

I just used priceline for our next trip to Hilton Head and got the Sheraton Richmond West Hotel which I got last time for $35 bid $47 with taxes.

 

[LUVourMarriotts]

If we do drive it, we will definitely stay at a Marriott brand hotel, so I can use points.

 

[javabean]

HV to HHI drive

We are also Hudson Valley people, although a little farther north in Kingston. We should have our own TUG meet and greet some day. We traveled to Barony for the first time last year at spring break. I can't suggest a good hotel because we left home at 2 pm and drove to DC and spent the night with our daughter. She traveled with us for the very, very long day's drive from DC to Hilton Head. I swear it takes longer to get to South Carolina than it does to drive to Florida:annoyed: . It was a great vacation and we will do it again. Soon we hope. I love having our own car when we drive. No lost time waiting in airports either.
We're flying to Orlando to try out Royal Palms this year. Safe travels and enjoy your vacation.

 

[pedro47]

If you are going check-out the Marriott's hotel in Washington, DC and Richmond, VA for some great weekend prices. On Friday's night most hotel are not busy at all.

Enjoy your stay on the Island. We are going to Surf Watch in November for a week.

 

[dive-in]

Pedro,

You aren't suggesting that they stop at South of the Border? Anyone who drives I-95 through NC and SC knows what I mean. For what it's worth, SOTB has updated some of their signs.

Darrell

PS - I'll vote for you, too. :rofl:

 

[luvgoldns]

Not sure how this might play into your plans but we stayed at the Fairfield in Lumberton on the way to/from Charleston, SC.

Fairfield Inn Lumberton - 3361 Lackey Street, Lumberton, North Carolina 28360 USA Phone: 1-910-739-8444 Fax: 1-910-739-8466

Basic Fairfield - clean & convenient...on I-95 w/nearby restaurants (1 exit either way).

ilene

 

[dmorea]

Go farther than Richmond day one

Hopewell, Emporia, Rocky Mount, Wilson, Fayetteville?

We used to do this drive about once a year with young children from Long island... We would drive as long as we could the first day around 10 hours usually, so we could have a shorter drive the next day. I would try to get to NC, unless you have an extra day to play.It was a real mental barrier for us...only two states left to go. We used hampton inns and would have them call ahead to see if we could move to the next one if we had twenty more minutes in us....I think Richmond isnt quite far enough on day one for our likings.... Sometimes though we would stay over a night at Kings Dominion to really break up the trip..On the way back home we might stay at Emporia , get up drive to dc tour Washington DC or Fredricksburg for a day and finish the drive at night... If you have extra time to break it up, its worth it. We would sometimes spend the day and hubby would drive at night , the kids usually fell asleep in the car making the ride that much easier for everyone , he didnt mind the night driving.

 

[LUVourMarriotts]

Yes, I would love to do 10 hours the first day. Then the second day could be a casual drive with no rush, seeing how check-in is 4pm. We'll just see how much our daughter can take. We don't have a DVD system in our Pilot, so I am thinking of bringing my laptop and setting that up in between the front seats on the center console. I have a power converter and we can load up some DVD's. Hopefully that would server as a good distraction for her.

I would love to hear more about the alternate routes to avoid big traffic areas if people are willing to provide specifics. Thanks.

 

[dmorea]

We don't have a DVD system in our Pilot, so I am thinking of bringing my laptop and setting that up in between the front seats on the center console. I have a power converter and we can load up some DVD's. Hopefully that would server as a good distraction for her.

We did it before the days of installed DVD systems. We actually bought a llittle Portable TV that had a VCR player ( I am dating myself! ) in it and balanced it in the console area. We had two girls so used a split earphone set and it worked really well....When they asked how much further we would reply in terms of how many 1/2 hour or one hour shows ( that we had taped ) it would take.

Enjoy Hilton Head! I am going April 9th myself.