The beach in front of Monarch is one-and-the-same with the Sea Pines Beach Club, borders indistinguishable,
which is the location of the
Sea Pines Public Beach Access. Not good!
The Beach Club area and clubhouse are beautiful no doubt, great in slower seasons, but in the summer the beach itself
will be wall-to-wall with bodies.
And I do mean hundreds of bodies you'll step over or around, coolers, umbrellas, pull-carts, people playing games and
hurling frisbees and kids playing soccer or throwing baseballs & footballs. We refer to it as "Woodstock".
It's similar to the beach up at the Coligny area, where that's the location of the "other" HH public beach access.
Much improved esthetically, sort of park-like, but very overcrowded in summer and during holidays.
It's where ALL the HH locals go, in addition to the folks staying in the immediate area at various condos, hotels, etc.
From Grande Ocean we used to walk south past the Monarch area, but it's become quite insane there. Nowadays we avoid it.
The beach at GO is always busy too, but it's a different type crowd. The Monarch pools are far smaller,
so the 100% full-capacity resort population keeps it crowded too.
At least GO has 3 mega-pools, well separated, and a more spread-out footprint overall, so it has a much less crowded feel to it.
In addition, GO has a wide, long new raised oceanfront deck (only 1-2 feet higher than the ground,
with 2 separated rows of chaise lounge chairs with small above-chair covered tops)
which is rather private, and quite lengthly running down the resort frontage and wonderfully overlooking the dunes.
The feel is that of being at ocean level.
Great ocean breeze there, Loggerhead Landing Bar immediately behind you, and the South Pool adjacent.
Large multiple fire pits and sanded area with lounge chairs present, beautiful and very quiet.
The grounds at GO are superb and quite superior to any other resort, well worth the stay.
Also, re size comparisons, Monarch is a relatively small resort...property bought and converted by Marriott long ago.
Its grounds are beautiful and its location is great (excepting those times in summer & on holidays when the beach is over-crowded).
Close to everything in Sea Pines obviously.
Their recent renovation was great, and it's much improved. Monarch is a wonderful resort.
Still, a caveat----the villas are very small, and the second BR has two twins which limits the ability to include guests on occasion.
for a couple, or a small family, it's perfect. For couples, I'd say it's an ideal spot.
Grande Ocean, by contrast, is the largest of HH's Marriott resorts by virtue of the number of buildings (10 in all),
and its overall footprint is significant.
It has more pools and unique on-site "pluses" than any other HH Marriott resort, some of which were listed above.
The villas are the largest in square footage of any of the other HH Marriott resorts, and the experiential feel of that is noticeable.
.................The location as described BELOW in detail makes it about as private and quiet as a resort can get.
Its closeness to the Sea Pines community (a 45 sec drive)--- as distinguished by world-class bike trails, the Lighthouse, South Beach,
and nice private residences----make it a superb location too. Closer to being inside SP as any other place.
The BIKE ride into SP only takes a few minutes,
and the trail is nicely paved...... and since it winds in and amongst trees, it's safe, free and removed from traffic concerns,
and is a nice bike trail ride in its own right.
Frankly I see no difference or advantage at all in the trails when comparing that of Monarch (inside Sea Pines) to that
of GO (just outside of Sea Pines), since the ride into Sea Pines
is every bit as enjoyable, and actually passes a few beautiful ponds and lagoons
not otherwise seen if you start at Monarch.
LOCATION:
GO is located in the middle between the two public beach areas, but far from either (Coligny & Monarch).
On its
North side, the Coligny side, it's bordered by
0.9 mile of several small exclusive privately-owned gated condo complexes
(Ocean One, Beachwood, Shorewood, Seaside, Ocean Club, HH Beach Villas, & then Hilton's Ocean Oak Resort)---
----all of these located immediately adjacent to Grande Ocean's
North side,
hence buffering GO well from the Coligny area.
On its
South side, GO is by immediately adjacent to
1.8 miles of nothing but forests and huge private homes as it
blends down into the huge Sea Pines private residential community,
again still
1.8 miles from the Monarch entrance (a 5 min drive).
GO has FREE Sea Pines passes for vehicles (separate one for bikes), and for outside visitors currently it's $8 per vehicle.
You cannot
bring bikes into SP on your vehicles, nor can you
ride bikes into SP, even for a fee.
MAP of Monarch & Grande Ocean locations:
To view whole map, Remove the blue&white box to LEFT by clicking on little arrow at top right of box.
(Click & drag, or ZOOM to view the coastline alongside GO)
★★★★★ · Hotel
goo.gl
Whatever you do, enjoy Hilton Head.....it's a keeper.