HHI Owners

[JudyTL]

Can anyone tell me about HHI? When do you go? Is it hard to book a stay? Is it good for teens?

Thanks

 

[Y-ASK]

Hopefully I won't get flamed too bad but here it goes. I'll give you two views, mine and my wife's.

1st Mine: We went in the Fall time so that may have a bearing on our vacation. A couple of the days were warm enough to swim so the pool at the resort was nice. The pool at the beach seemed to be a much older crowd and we kind left there fairly quickly since there were no kids about except for ours. The beach was nice as well but you had to drive to it. Might have been a nice bike ride in the summer time, but I probably would not have wanted to walk there from the resort, spend the day in the sun, and then walk back. The furniture in the room was just ok and not very comfortable. I liked the view of "the wetlands" that we had. We never really found a great place to eat but then we did not stay for any length of time.

Now for my wife's take: The place was too "rich" for her. While she likes to spend money like she's rich, she doesn't really relate to wealthy people and people who live on that island for the most part are very wealthy! She thought some of the folks were snobs and kind of looked down at our family of five with one young child. I told her it was all in her head. She also didn't like the furniture very much and thought the beds were hard. To be honest I havn't found a resort yet that has a soft bed. As far as the view, the wife refered to the beautiful wetlands behind the resort as "the swamp". Well sure, I guess you could call it that. She did not like the smell although it did not bother the kids or I. Needless to say after we got back from our 1st trip there my wife said "you might as well sell our points. I'm not interested in going back to that place again!" So after Christmas I sold our points.

I liked the place except for the furnishings and the drive to the beach. Given that I have a choice I would much rather go to Myrtle Beach and stay at Marriott's OceanWatch than go to Hilton Head Island again. Although Oceanwatch is rather upscale and expensive I get along better with a beer drinking crowd and so does the wife.

Y-ASK

 

[JudyTL]

Thanks for your insights. It was informative and amusing, too.

 

[3pirates]

Completely different perspective here....we absolutely LOVE the Lowcountry! I am fascinated by the "swamp" and love to watch the birds and wildlife that are in motion there. One of my teenagers would rather vacation at HHI resort than anywhere else. We have stayed several times at an oceanfront Marriott property there, but my kids think the Disney place is the real thing.

The only downside to me is that is is a ways from the Disney resort to the Disney beach club. But they do offer a shuttle and it is an easy bike ride. We always have our car so we usually just drive over. We have gone in Summer, Fall, Spring and Winter. Different activities are better at different times of the year. The beach is best in the Summer and Fall. The water can be a little cool in the Spring, but as long as the weather is nice you can use the pools, and the water slide is fun. My teenagers like playing shuffleboard and ping pong, fishing and crabbing off of the crabbing pier, (use chicken as bait, the Disney people can help you with the equipment.) At the beach house again they play ping pong, they play water volleyball in the pool, and they enjoy the beach. Hilton Head is full of bicycle paths and bikes are allowed on the beach, so you can get all over the island that way.

For dining, we like the Crazy Crab, Old Oyster Factory, Salty Dog Cafe, and Scott's Fish market which is just a short walk across the bridge from the Disney Resort in Shelter Cove Harbor. On nice nights there is usually someone out playing guitar there. Hilton Head is full of restaurants, so that is just for starters.

Hilton Head is developed enough to offer movies, miniature golf, etc. There is a decent sized shopping mall on the island as well as the requisite beach shops here and there. There is also an enormous outlet shopping area just before you get to Hilton Head.

I personally think the crowd depends on where you are on the island and what else may be going on at the time. Of course, there are a lot of wealthy property owners on Hilton Head, but the hotels on the island range from average to deluxe. In my opinion you find a good mix of people there.

I think the furnishings are consistent with those in the other DVC resorts as far as comfort--not the best, but fine.

So, a completely different perspective.

Oh, and as far as booking stays, it is a small resort, so I think the Summer goes pretty quickly. Most of the resort is two-bedroom units, so those are the easiest to get. I just booked a long Summer weekend a few weeks ago, and late August still had a lot available, but other than that..