HHI options: Barony, Surf Watch or Grande Oceon

[sandcfort]

Hello all,
2-4 adults (h/w/s/dil) in April or October (3 golf/1 doesn't) Any recommendations of places to stay? We have stayed at Harbour Point and Harbour Club

 

[Fasttr]

No bad answer among the 3 you listed. Do you prefer one area of the island to another. GO is nearer Sea Pines/Harbor Town (easily bikeable). Barony/Surfwatch are closer to the heel of the HHI shoe.

 

[Steve A]

The https://www.hiltonheadgolf.net/port-royal/ is located within Port Royal about a quarter of a mile from the Barony. Two courses.

 

[MOXJO7282]

I vote GO specifically for proximity to Sea Pines.

 

[pedro47]

All three (3) resorts are excellent . You will not have a bad experience at any of theses resorts.

One major question do you want free Sea Pines Plantation access? Hand down my choice is GO for free access to Sea Pines Plantation.

 

[Steve A]

As an HHI resident please explain to me the draw of Sea Pines. There isn’t a whole bunch of water access for Marriott Timeshare visitors unless you stay at the Monarch. There’s very little shopping. The one week rentals mean that many of the houses are beat up. We know because when we looked at them when we moved to the Island. There is one golf course but there were two right outside the Barony. I get that Sea Pines is pretty and the bike paths are nice but the traffic around Coligny in the summer is really bad. We only go down there in off season. There are not that many restaurants either inside or right outside the gates.

We live in Port Royal Plantation (as someone who did his graduate work in Southern history I hate that last word), and only go to Harbor Town once or twice a year to show it to out of town guests. If you seen it once there is no need to revisit. Frankly, Shelter Cove at mid island is much more interesting for shopping and restaurants and its park with frequent events and the view of the marsh and and river. The Arts Center of Costal Carolina, with it’s Broadway type plays, is also there.

So please explain.

 

[Pamplemousse]

As an HHI resident please explain to me the draw of Sea Pines. There isn’t a whole bunch of water access for Marriott Timeshare visitors unless you staying at the Monarch. There’s very little shopping. The one week rentals mean that many of the houses are beat up. We know because when we looked at them when we moved to the Island. There is one golf course but there were two right outside the Barony. I get that Sea Pines is pretty and the bike paths are nice but the traffic around Coligny in the summer is really bad. We only go down there in off season. There are not that many restaurants either inside or right outside the gates.

We live in Port Royal Plantation (as someone who did his graduate work in Southern history history I hate that last word), and only go to Harbor Town once or twice a year to show it to out of town guests. If you seen it once there is no need to revisit. Frankly, Shelter Cove at mid island is much more interesting for shopping and restaurants and its park with frequent events and the view of the marsh and and river. The Arts Center of Costal Carolina, with it’s Broadway type plays, is also there.

So please explain.

I stayed at GO in April 2 years ago and didn’t choose it for the sea pines pass (didn’t know it was included) but we did use the bike paths, they weren’t very crowded for us and will consider it a plus towards booking at GO again. Also went horse back riding which I believe was in sea pines.
I know as I resident it’s sometimes hard to understand what appeals to tourists. I live in a touristy location and I am amazing at the people who pull off the road to photograph seagulls and squirrels.

 

[jpa2825]

As an HHI resident please explain to me the draw of Sea Pines. There isn’t a whole bunch of water access for Marriott Timeshare visitors unless you staying at the Monarch. There’s very little shopping. The one week rentals mean that many of the houses are beat up. We know because when we looked at them when we moved to the Island. There is one golf course but there were two right outside the Barony. I get that Sea Pines is pretty and the bike paths are nice but the traffic around Coligny in the summer is really bad. We only go down there in off season. There are not that many restaurants either inside or right outside the gates.

We live in Port Royal Plantation (as someone who did his graduate work in Southern history history I hate that last word), and only go to Harbor Town once or twice a year to show it to out of town guests. If you seen it once there is no need to revisit. Frankly, Shelter Cove at mid island is much more interesting for shopping and restaurants and its park with frequent events and the view of the marsh and and river. The Arts Center of Costal Carolina, with it’s Broadway type plays, is also there.

So please explain.

As a visitor, I greatly prefer Sea Pines. If I am not on Sea Pines, I probably won't visit there at all due to pass issues and cost. If I am in Sea Pines, I can go anywhere else on the island I want to. I also really like the Harbour area. I think there are plenty of good restaurants in Sea Pines (particularly if only visiting 1 week / yr.) Finally, the pace is slower, it is less congested and the bike paths are really nice to have.

 

[jpa2825]

Hello all,
2-4 adults (h/w/s/dil) in April or October (3 golf/1 doesn't) Any recommendations of places to stay? We have stayed at Harbour Point and Harbour Club

If you are going in APR, you need to know whether you will be there during the RBC Heritage PGA Golf Tournament. If yes, expect the Sea Pines area to be much livelier and crowded. Double check if GO offers passes into Sea Pines during that week as I know they really "crack down" on traffic inside Sea Pines that week. If they do, and if you like those sort of events, I would highly recommend GO.

If going in OCT or not during RBC Heritage, my preference is for Sea Pines, but that is personal. We have stayed at Surfwatch and liked it fine, but it is fairly remote from other things (but the units are newer).

 

[Swice]

As an HHI resident please explain to me the draw of Sea Pines.
So please explain.

The answer is really simple:
Because everybody wants to get the Salty Dog t-shirt

As for us, we typically put in the request for the big four (Monarch, Surfwatch, Barony, Grande Ocean) and gladly accept whichever one comes through. BTW, we have never gotten GO.

 

[Steve A]

Re Salty Dog: they have an outlet store on Arrow Rd on the Island and a store/restaurant in Tanger 2 on 278. The south end location is nice but in both there and Tanger that food is nothing special.

 

[JIMinNC]

As an HHI resident please explain to me the draw of Sea Pines. There isn’t a whole bunch of water access for Marriott Timeshare visitors unless you stay at the Monarch. There’s very little shopping. The one week rentals mean that many of the houses are beat up. We know because when we looked at them when we moved to the Island. There is one golf course but there were two right outside the Barony. I get that Sea Pines is pretty and the bike paths are nice but the traffic around Coligny in the summer is really bad. We only go down there in off season. There are not that many restaurants either inside or right outside the gates.

We live in Port Royal Plantation (as someone who did his graduate work in Southern history I hate that last word), and only go to Harbor Town once or twice a year to show it to out of town guests. If you seen it once there is no need to revisit. Frankly, Shelter Cove at mid island is much more interesting for shopping and restaurants and its park with frequent events and the view of the marsh and and river. The Arts Center of Costal Carolina, with it’s Broadway type plays, is also there.

So please explain.

As a frequent HHI visitor, we enjoy going to Sea Pines occasionally, but tend to agree with you that most of our favorite places and restaurants are elsewhere on the island. We're continuing to look at home/villa listings for HHI for a possible vacation home purchase next year, and haven't been impressed with the properties in Sea Pines in our price range. If and when we do buy something, I think it will likely be in either Port Royal, Hilton Head Plantation, Indigo Run, or Palmetto Hall. Port Royal is my first choice since it has a beach club and ocean access, but the price point is higher than the others, so the selection in our price range is more limited. I also like Leamington and parts of Palmetto Dunes, but there again, the price point quickly becomes an issue.

One correction though, there are three golf courses in Sea Pines - Harbour Town Golf Links, Heron Point, and Atlantic Dunes.

 

[Steve A]

Jim:

Ok. I was wrong on the number of golf courses.

If you buy into HH be wary of the subdivisions that require golf memberships. Forced and expensive golf memberships have been a real problem across the bridges in Bluffton when it comes time to sell.

PR is rebuilding its beach house, which is on Port Royal Sound. It will be finished by the end of the year. If you do buy make the seller pay off the amount they owe if the had spread it over 10 years instead of paying for it all at nice.

HH Plantation has had a problem with owners renting out their homes on a daily basis. I think they had a vote on it but you need to check on that. In PR you cannot rent for less then six months at a time. Makes for a much more stable community.

 

[jme]

This is why we haven't considered moving to Hilton Head or getting a beach house there.....it ruins paradise.

We like ....uhhhh, love..... visiting Hilton Head all the time....any month, any week, any weekend......
whether planned in advance or spontaneous. It's always special and always delightful.

I've told my wife many times, if we ever moved there our "Hilton Head lifestyle"
would be vastly different from what we are used to.....dining out nightly, shopping, walking and biking,
full days spent on the beach, etc.
Home ownership on HH (or any coastal destination) is a vastly different animal,
with many additional expenses and worries involved.
We don't covet those things,
and we don't want the burden of experiencing them. Right now they don't exist.

So now I'm reminded again about why we love ALL the "plantations" or gated communities, rather than one or two.
Each has wonderful qualities, activities, and destinations within, and each has a unique flavor and charm.
Those who have only visited a time or two think one area is best, but fail to realize all the positives about the others.
It takes time and effort to explore and find what you love.
We know the ins and outs, and where the treasures are buried.
We patronize and utilize every "community" on the island,
and that's why it never gets old. We have favorite restaurants
in every corner of the island, some well-known and some quite removed and inconspicuous.

Sea Pines is mentioned a lot. I tend to agree with SteveA......it's great for what it has, and not so great for other things.......
same for Palmetto Dunes and Port Royal, same for Shipyard and all the rest.

We'll continue to jump in the SUV and drive our quick 2.5 hours for wonderful stays, and let the rest go.

 

[JIMinNC]

Jim:

Ok. I was wrong on the number of golf courses.

If you buy into HH be wary of the subdivisions that require golf memberships. Forced and expensive golf memberships have been a real problem across the bridges in Bluffton when it comes time to sell.

PR is rebuilding its beach house, which is on Port Royal Sound. It will be finished by the end of the year. If you do buy make the seller pay off the amount they owe if the had spread it over 10 years instead of paying for it all at nice.

HH Plantation has had a problem with owners renting out their homes on a daily basis. I think they had a vote on it but you need to check on that. In PR you cannot rent for less then six months at a time. Makes for a much more stable community.

Yep. The forced memberships are why we aren't even considering Long Cove Club and Wexford. There are some great "values" in there, but the expense of the forced membership is why they are cheaper. We play golf, but don't want to be forced into a club, both for our own expenses and the impact when it comes time to sell. Thanks for the intel on HH Plantation and the PR beach club assessment.

For all the reasons Marty mentioned in his post above, we're still a bit on the fence as to whether we'll actually pull the trigger on something, so we're still evaluating the best course for us.

 

[JIMinNC]

This is why we haven't considered moving to Hilton Head or getting a beach house there.....it ruins paradise.

We like ....uhhhh, love..... visiting Hilton Head all the time....any month, any week, any weekend......
whether planned in advance or spontaneous. It's always special and always delightful.

I've told my wife many times, if we ever moved there our "Hilton Head lifestyle"
would be vastly different from what we are used to.....dining out nightly, shopping, walking and biking,
full days spent on the beach, etc.
Home ownership on HH (or any coastal destination) is a vastly different animal,
with many additional expenses and worries involved.
We don't covet those things,
and we don't want the burden of experiencing them. Right now they don't exist.

So now I'm reminded again about why we love ALL the "plantations" or gated communities, rather than one or two.
Each has wonderful qualities, activities, and destinations within, and each has a unique flavor and charm.
Those who have only visited a time or two think one area is best, but fail to realize all the positives about the others.
It takes time and effort to explore and find what you love.
We know the ins and outs, and where the treasures are buried.
We patronize and utilize every "community" on the island,
and that's why it never gets old. We have favorite restaurants
in every corner of the island, some well-known and some quite removed and inconspicuous.

Sea Pines is mentioned a lot. I tend to agree with SteveA......it's great for what it has, and not so great for other things.......
same for Palmetto Dunes and Port Royal, same for Shipyard and all the rest.

We'll continue to jump in the SUV and drive our quick 2.5 hours for wonderful stays, and let the rest go.

You are so right that home ownership adds a lot of issues and concerns, and is why we haven't already pulled the trigger on something in HHI. The increased impact and frequency of hurricanes is certainly one that makes us think every fall. We're torn between a home, a villa, or just doing as you have done and add to our Marriott timeshares in HHI. The timeshare approach is certainly appealing, but also offers less flexibility and spontaneity. With our own house or villa, we could go anytime we wanted, for as long as we want, without packing suitcases, etc. We could decide today to go tomorrow. No need to be hostage to "availability". It would always be there. The lifestyle would be different, as you note. It would be more of a blend between the "vacation mindset" we're in when we are in HHI now and a "home mindset." We have neighbors who have a home in Indigo Run that they use as a getaway, secondary residence, and plan to move there full-time when they retire. They have told us it is definitely a different lifestyle than a pure vacation lifestyle that you get from a timeshare or hotel stay, but it's not just a home lifestyle either, because they still have access to the great restaurants and can go whenever they want to - and they are 10 minutes from the beach! But there are headaches...and worries every hurricane season.

 

[ilene13]

We own at Surfwatch,we used to own at Barony and GO. All 3 are great. We have a 3 bedroom villa at Surfwatch so it’s my favorite. Next IMHO is GO and last Barony.

 

[jme]

For all the reasons Marty mentioned in his post above, we're still a bit on the fence as to whether we'll actually pull the trigger on something, so we're still evaluating the best course for us.

Our unique situation, being 2.5 hours away from Hilton Head, is what allows us to enjoy it so much.
Many don't have that opportunity.
Also there's the fact that we got in early at Grande Ocean, and in spite of 3 initial developer purchases,
we have used it to our great advantage for 2 decades and have no regrets. What we spend for maintenance fees now
will allow us to use it cheaply going forward (relatively speaking).
.......that is, if one views timesharing as paying for vacations in advance, as the saying goes.

Our kids grew up at HH, so for that reason alone we feel blessed...they had wonderful vacation experiences because of Marriott.
We were able to see the country many times over, Hawaii, the Caribbean, etc, etc......and we visited Europe twice.
(Our kids have even returned on their own because of their experiences and confidence in traveling.)
Bottom line, we'd have never done all that traveling if not for Mr. Marriott.

Since we enrolled all of our allowed weeks (excepting resales) and have 18,000 DC Points annually if we choose to,
we feel fortunate in that we were in the right place at the right time. People are paying far more now for points
than we ever did for developer weeks, so having both our ownership weeks, plus the enrolled points, leaves us in a great position.
We'll never have to purchase points outright.

For those who live farther away, like Jim and others, I can see the INVESTMENT potential of buying a place at HH,
if stars align and one finds a good bargain. Then it does make sense.

I think Susan and Don have done a wise thing, and anyone can too if they're patient. For us, it didn't make sense,
as we can go 10-12 times a year easily and be very content.

JIMinNC, keep looking and see what turns up.

 

[Steve A]

As a footnote to nothing, United is adding flights to New York , Chicago and DC from the Hilton Head airport.

 

[jme]

As a footnote to nothing, United is adding flights to New York , Chicago and DC from the Hilton Head airport.

I'd say it's a footnote to the fact that Hilton Head is a highly preferred destination,
and becoming more popular than ever!
Airlines follow demand.