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April, 2003
Overview
Disney's Hilton Head Resort
Rooms
Pool and Beach
Staff
Activities
Restaurants
Conclusion
Side Trips
When we took a summer vacation in Ocean City, MD in 1999 we used a type of accommodations that we'd never before used for a family vacation. We rented a week in a timeshare property. We immediately realized that this was the way to go for a family vacation - you get larger accommodations and (as important at least) a full kitchen. Yes, you do give up certain amenities - like daily maid service - but we have found this to be a small price to pay. We have found that staying at this sort of property leads to a much more relaxed - and cheaper - family vacations. Our positive experience staying at timeshare properties also influenced our decision to purchase an interest in Disney Vacation Club (DVC).
Since that summer in Ocean City we have stayed at several timeshare properties - often using our DVC membership - including Orlando, Puerto Rico, New Hampshire, Vero Beach, and now Hilton Head. After our stay at Hilton Head, Andie and I agreed that this is our favorite.
To begin with, the town of Hilton Head is a fantastic place to vacation. It's mostly known for its golf courses, but neither of us are golfers so we didn't see any of the courses. Regardless, the town takes special care to maintain a look of devoid of lots of development. For the most part, the resorts and businesses are nestled behind trees so that when you drive around you feel as if you are in an undeveloped area.
Disney's Hilton Head (DHH) resort continues that theme. The resort is actually located in a small harbor known as Shelter Cove that is that is actually quite developed. However, DHH is on a tiny islet in the harbor - you have to cross a bridge to get to it - and once you are in the resort you get a very strong sense of seclusion. Some of the buildings faced the marina and I suppose that those rooms have less of a sense of seclusion.
On the whole, the property itself is among the most beautiful properties of any resort we have stayed at. What makes it particularly attractive are all the trees that are dispersed liberally on the grounds. Even better, the trees are obviously "old growth" and pre-date the resort by several decades. As you wander about the property it is obvious that great care was taken by the developers to insure that as many of the old trees as possible remain intact.
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It sometimes seems to me that, in timeshare properties, the rooms are either spacious or they are well appointed, but rarely both. Now, I can't complain too much about space, the rooms in any timeshare property are considerably larger than your average hotel room. Still, the rooms at The Boardwalk Villas and Hyatt Hacienda del Mar, while nicely appointed were not exactly overly spacious. On the flip side, the rooms in New Hampshire and Ocean City were quite large, but not as luxurious. We found the rooms at DHH, however, to be both roomy and luxurious.
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The pool at DHH, in true Disney Fashion, is very nice. It's not very large, but it has a nice layout, the pool area is very pleasant with lots of lounge chairs, and there is a short (but very fast) water slide.
About a mile and a half from the resort is the private Beach House. There is another pool at the Beach House, although this one has no slide. The building itself is much like the Community Halls you'll find at most DVC properties. Inside there are chairs and couches, a TV and lots of games. And, of course, there is the beach. The beach at Hilton Head is one of the nicest I've seen. The water is shallow and the shelf seems to go on forever. The sand is fine and compacted so hard that people ride bikes on it. There are vendors at the beach who will rent you equipment such as bikes and umbrellas if you feel inclined to spend the entire day at the beach.
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We found the staff at DHH to be very helpful and pleasant. Nat and Charlotte ended up on a first-name basis with most of the lifeguards. Much like at Disney's Vero Beach, the lifeguards actually run pretty much all of the resort activities. For most of our stay the staff included Bryon, Kory, Matt, Chris and Crystal as well as the front desk attendants Holly and Pam. Entertainment was provided by the multi-talented B'Lou Crabbe.
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Disney provides an abundance of activities at all of their DVC resorts and DHH is no different. One interesting point is that there is much more of an inclination to partake of these activities at DHH or DVB than at the WDW resorts because you don't have the theme parks and water parks vying for your attention. In addition, when we stayed at DVB the kids weren't really old enough for most of the activities. On this trip, however, we did several activities. We went on a kayak trip in the bay - probably my favorite. The whole area is beautiful and a kayak is a great way to see it. We also went dolphin watching and saw some of dolphins up very close (one surfaced right below me as I leaned over the edge of the boat the blew mist right in my face!
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We also went to several of the free activities that occur around the resort including a magic show, a puppet show and meeting the resort mascot "Shadow" (a golden retriever.) On one of the nights we were there we went to the campfire - a tradition at DVB as well. It's a lot of fun to sit around the blazing fire and sing silly songs and dance silly dances. Of course the s'mores at the end of the evening aren't bas as well! The kids also did 2 nights of kid evening activities leaving Andie and I to our own devices. The first they went to was "Disney Detectives" - a sort of treasure hunt where the kids try to solve a mystery. They enjoyed that so much they were very happy to go to the movie night a few days later, with all the kids being taken to a local theater to see a movie ("What a Girl Wants", in this case.)
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We went to 2 different restaurants while in Hilton Head. Andie and I went to "The Boathouse II" on the other side of the island while the kids were at an activity. On the other night that the kids weren't with us we went to "Scott's Fish House", right across the bridge from the resort. We returned to "Scott's" a second time with the kids. The food at both restaurants was unremarkable, but they both had outdoor seating and that was our main criteria. I can say that we both had fish one night at Scott's and steak the other - the fish was better. Also, truth told, the best meal we had was the "Shrimp Boil" at DHH!
All in all, we absolutely loved DHH. Andie and I keep saying that, someday, we will take up golf. If we do, we could certainly partake of the renown courses Hilton Head has to offer. Until then, DHH alone is reason enough to return. The fact that we can drive down (granted, a very long trip for us) and forego the costs of airline tickets and renting a car makes it all the more attractive to us.
On the way to Hilton Head we stopped at "South of the Border". SotB is, far and away, the biggest, tackies tourist trap on the east Coast. In other words, it's a fun place to spend an hour or two. And just try to avoid all those signs!
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On the way back we spent a couple of hours in Ellicot City, MD. It's a charming town full of antique stores and restaurants. Well worth a couple of hours of your time.
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