• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 31 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 31st anniversary: Happy 31st Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $24,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $24 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    Tens of thousands of subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Marriott Grande Ocean - Hilton Head, SC

sandytoes

sandytoes

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2005
Messages
484
Reaction score
0
Location
State College, Pennsylvania (Penn State)
Hello all . . . we will be at Marriott's Grande Ocean on Hilton Head Island next week. We will be spending the day of check-in in Charleston, SC and would also like to visit Savannah, GA. Any suggestions of must dos, see or eats? This will be out first visit to the area.

Also, wondering what type of clothing to pack. Will the ocean water be warm enough to go in? How about the outside pools. . . are they heated and will they be open? Santa brought us snorkeling equipment for x-mas . . . any good place to try it out?

If any of you want me to ask any questions while I am there . . . let me know. Will it be possible to take a tour for points? I am not sure this is possible for a "sold" property.

As always. . . thanks for your anticipated assistance in answering all my many questions. Karen
 
Please add to your must do list!

Take and post a ton of pictures and try to see the resort through the eyes of a five year old.:D :D I'll be there with the family in May! :whoopie:

Charles
 
Plan on spending an entire day in Savannah. You will have a lot to see and do, and most can be done by foot. You should try to eat at Paula Dean's restaurant (Lady and Sons).

Charleston has a ton of good restaurants and most are reasonably priced. Just ask around when you get there. I liked the Noisy Oyster and Jestine's kitchen. Both are really casual and laid back. You could spend days in Charleston, so I suggest staying near the Market area in the historic district.

It will be too cold to swim in the ocean at GO, and there is an indoor pool there.

sandytoes said:
Hello all . . . we will be at Marriott's Grande Ocean on Hilton Head Island next week. We will be spending the day of check-in in Charleston, SC and would also like to visit Savannah, GA. Any suggestions of must dos, see or eats? This will be out first visit to the area.

Also, wondering what type of clothing to pack. Will the ocean water be warm enough to go in? How about the outside pools. . . are they heated and will they be open? Santa brought us snorkeling equipment for x-mas . . . any good place to try it out?

If any of you want me to ask any questions while I am there . . . let me know. Will it be possible to take a tour for points? I am not sure this is possible for a "sold" property.

As always. . . thanks for your anticipated assistance in answering all my many questions. Karen
Click to expand...
 
CMF said:
Take and post a ton of pictures and try to see the resort through the eyes of a five year old.:D :D I'll be there with the family in May! :whoopie:

Charles
Click to expand...

I'll try to take all my pictures from about 3 feet off the gound :):cool: Telling me to take tons of pictures is like telling a kid in a candy store to eat all the candy they want . . . I will definilty will take lots of pictures. Karen
 
Big Matt said:
You could spend days in Charleston, so I suggest staying near the Market area in the historic district.

It will be too cold to swim in the ocean at GO, and there is an indoor pool there.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately Charleston will only be a slight detour on our trip to Hilton Head. We will be staying two hours out after an 11 hour drive. We will then drive the two hours to Charleston and spend the day before driving two more hours to Hilton Head for check in at HH. I would love to spend more time . . . maybe on another trip.

I sort of figured swimming would be out in the Ocean. What about taking lounge chairs and relaxing by the Ocean? Think it will be warm enough??
 
Last edited:
I think that your ability to stay out by the ocean will depend a lot more on the amount of wind than the air temps. It's been really mild, so I'm hoping you will get some more good days. I'd suggest that you get back up to Charleston for some sight seeing on a day that isn't as nice to be outside on the Island.
 
Please let me know where they are up to for beach refurbishment and when the area by Grand Ocean will be completed. We will be visiting the end of April.

Thanks!
Vicki
 
Try to stop in one of the southern plantations just before Charleston. Middleton is one of them. Boone Hall and Magnolia are two others.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15756696/

You can do a trolley tour of either city Savannah or Charleston. There is horse and buggy tour near The Battery where the beautiful homes are.


Locals of Savannah told us to eat at Lady & Son's rather than Mrs Wilkes which no longer used all fresh ingredients, this was 6-8 yrs back. This was prior to Paula having a TV show and moving to the newer building. Lines are really long so go early.

Here's the online version of the dining guide. We love Hugo's for dinner,Stacks for a great breakfast.Truffles and RedFish for a nice lunch and Sticky Fingers for BBQ.

http://hhidining.com


http://hhidining.com/
 
If you venture towards Bluffton there's a community called Palmetto Bluff. The Buffalo is a nice restaurant where you can have lunch or you can have a really nice lunch on the porch at the inn.

http://www.palmetto-bluff.com/

Last year we took a little boat tour they have which explained the ecosystem of the water features they've built. Probably wouldn't be a very exciting day for small children but we always enjoy a grown up tour of the place.
 
Photos of Grande Ocean

Thanks to all for your good tips. We are at Grande Ocean on Hilton Head Island and the weather could not be more perfect . . . especially for January.

We are in the Starfish Building the second unit back from ocean front. We have a good view of the ocean and the pool. It seems fairly deserted here (which we like) though we have been told the units are 50% occupied. Starfish is on the far right side of the property looking out onto the ocean. They are in the process of refurbishing the units. They have stared on the far right side and are working their way south. Currently they are refurbishing the units to the immediate right of the check-in building. Out unit is not reurbished. For not being an updated unit, we are pleased. It is very clean and the mattresses are OK . . . a little on the soft side. I prefer the new bedding with the covers that are washed after every use as opposed to the bedspreads/blankets that are washed who knows when. (That's my husband's germaphobia (my own word)rubbing off on me :)

This is a fabulous place to ride bikes. The are tons of flat/level bike paths . . . the only challenge is to not get lost . . . which we sort of did and ended up biking 10 fun miles . . . but we got to pet some very friendly horses.

As for beach reconstruction. We have tried to get definite answers but really have no specifics. The refurbishments started on the south end of the island and is working it's way north. A notice at check-in stated the project was scheduled for September to December. Since the construction is now on the beach directly on front of Grand Ocean and they have 3/4th of the ocean side left, I would guess the December is 2007. The first night we arrived they worked into the dark hours with big flood lights. You can still enter the beach on either far side of the property and walk for miles. We walked down to Marriott's Monarch and back. We figured it was about a four mile walk round trip. The beach is very pleasant to walk on as the sand is hard and you barely leave a foot print.

Here are the first of my installments of new pictures . . . enjoy . . . more to come later. We will be touring SurfWatch on Tuesday and I will try to take some pictures there as well.

If anyone has more question . . . let me know and I will try to find the answers. Karen

http://clarkfamilyphotos.smugmug.com/gallery/2326262/1
 
Thank you for sharing

Great pictures of the condo and resort. Are they putting sand in? It looks at one picture that the beach wasn't very sandy to me.

How strange that the resort cannot tell you what it is about.
 
Any great resturants nearby? We will be at GO the end of April for the first time. I loved your pictures!
Vicki
 
Emmy and Vicki,
The picture you asked about is actually over by Harbor Point. The sand in front of the resort is very wide with very few shells. The front desk said they thought the work in front of the resort is almost completed. All the pipes you see stacked up in one of my pictures are now connected and running parallel to the ocean. We are wondering where the sand comes to bury the pipes. Or maybe they still need to dig a trench and bury the pipes. It is a great source of conversation on the beach. No one seems to be able to figure out just what they are doing and how it will work. I do know there is lots of activity daily.

On another note . . . the bike rentals here at Ocean Point are $25.00 per week. You can get helmets, baskets and/or locks at no extra charge. They also give you a bike entrance pass to Sea Pine (at check-in we were given a car entrance pass to Sea Pines, each pass is different).

We haven't been here long enough to have some good restaurant recommendations. We have eaten at the New York Pizza Pub on Pope Street and the Crazy Crabs at Harbor Point in Sea Pines. Crazy Crabs was good but not terrific. Our meal at The New York Pizza Pub was very good, but the atmosphere is more like a bar/pool hall . . . though I did not see any pool tables, but that's what came to mind.

The Sea Shack has been recommended to us by several people. We were told that is the favorite of the locals. We will try it at some point and let you know. Karen
 
sandytoes said:
Emmy and Vicki,
The picture you asked about is actually over by Harbor Point. The sand in front of the resort is very wide with very few shells. The front desk said they thought the work in front of the resort is almost completed. All the pipes you see stacked up in one of my pictures are now connected and running parallel to the ocean. We are wondering where the sand comes to bury the pipes. Or maybe they still need to dig a trench and bury the pipes. It is a great source of conversation on the beach. No one seems to be able to figure out just what they are doing and how it will work. I do know there is lots of activity daily.

On another note . . . the bike rentals here at Ocean Point are $25.00 per week. You can get helmets, baskets and/or locks at no extra charge. They also give you a bike entrance pass to Sea Pine (at check-in we were given a car entrance pass to Sea Pines, each pass is different).

We haven't been here long enough to have some good restaurant recommendations. We have eaten at the New York Pizza Pub on Pope Street and the Crazy Crabs at Harbor Point in Sea Pines. Crazy Crabs was good but not terrific. Our meal at The New York Pizza Pub was very good, but the atmosphere is more like a bar/pool hall . . . though I did not see any pool tables, but that's what came to mind.

The Sea Shack has been recommended to us by several people. We were told that is the favorite of the locals. We will try it at some point and let you know. Karen
Click to expand...
Karen, You can try IT"s Greek to Me if you love Greek food. Also,Alexander's in Palmetto Dunes, Old Oyster Factory 101
marshland Rd. Westin next to the Barony.To purchase food for your room try the Fresh Market. Antonio's Fine Italian Resturant andLittle Venice Harbourside at the Shelter Cove Harbour. Enjoy your vacation.
 
With all the good recommendations, I will have to start eating every meal out :)

I just added a few more pictures of the property taken at sun rise. All the early morning pictures were taken from Starfish looking across the pool area to what I am assuming is north. (the buildings are to the right of the check-in building if you are looking at the ocean).
 
Activities for small children

There a lots of things for the small one to do here. Below is a partial list.

Dora the Explorer Movie Time
Sand Castle Building contest
Finger Painting
Bingo for Kids
Sand Candy
Kids Night for ages 5 to 12
Sand Dollar Starfish Painting
Ice Cream Social
Kids Putting Tournament
Town tours (with parents)
Shark tooth Necklace Making
Hermit Crab Time
Bob the Builder Time
and much more:whoopie:
 
Sorry we missed meeting you as we went out to the island on Sat and spent a while sitting in the rockers and watching the beach project. What a beautiful day we had on Sat!! It will be a little cooler after this morning rain but still should be a good week. We have a rather busy week here in Sun City so it may not be possible for us to visit the island again before you leave. If you have any questions about the area, e-mail me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top