Montage Palmetto Bluff — Hotel in Bluffton

My wife and I recently spent 1 night at Montage Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, SC. We were in the area visiting family on Hilton Head, and chose to add on a night in Palmetto Bluff. We enjoyed the approximately 27 hours we spent on property, arriving early and enjoying some pool time prior to our room being ready, and also on our departure date we made our way to the Moreland Village section of Palmetto Bluff and enjoyed lunch at the Canteen while also checking out the Tree House in that section of the property. Overall we had an enjoyable, albeit very short stay.||Check in/Arrival|We drove our rental car in from Hilton Head which took about 40 minutes and arrived at the property prior to check in time. We were able to have to front desk hold our bags and we used the spa locker room to get changed into our swimsuits and spent the afternoon by the spa pool. After a couple of hours there we received a text that our room was ready.||Room|We booked the cheapest room available for this trip and our travel agent was able to get us an upgrade to the Carolina Suite which was in the main building and great views of the lagoon. I imagine this generous upgrade was due to our stay being just 1 night and taking place on a Monday. The room had more than enough space for us to spread out and get comfortable. It was a one bed room suite with a living room with dining area attached, 2 bathrooms both with showers, and a bed room with a king size bed. It also had a small balcony that we made use of for some early evening drinks prior to our dinner.||Service|Due to the shorter length of stay we were unfortunately unable to interact with staff as much as we would have liked, but everyone was friendly and hospitable for the most part. We enjoyed our waiter Alex’s help at our lunch at Fore and Aft, and Roy was helpful for our poolside needs. Other than that, I didn’t catch much of the staffs names or have much of an opinion on their service delivery with one exception. The spa includes male and female locker rooms with a nice hot tub/cold tub combo as well as a steam room and sauna. During our stay we utilized these amenities multiple times, especially when we were waiting for our room to become available as well as when we had already departed our room. It wasn’t until we were utilizing these for one last time prior to heading to the airport that the staff informed us that these amenities were only available to guests with spa services. The way the spa staff approached us both seemed unnecessarily accusatory, insinuating that we were attempting to sneak into the locker rooms to use the amenities. We weren’t informed of the spa policy upon arrival and utilized the amenities repeatedly without issue until we were approached on our last afternoon. We would have happily paid for the privilege to utilize these areas, had we been briefed on the policy of the spa.||Dining|We had a total of 4 meals on property all of which were above average, but none were particularly memorable. We had hoped to try their River House restaurant, but it was unfortunately closed on Sundays and Mondays, the two days we were on property.||For our first meal on property we tried Fore and Aft, their Mexican restaurant which was situated right above the main lagoon outside of the back of the main inn building. We tried the dip trip (salad, queso, and guacamole), carne asada burrito, and shrimp tacos. The cucumber lemonade was excellent for a non-alcoholic option.||For dinner our in laws joined us for a meal at Buffalo’s which was in Wilson Village, a separate section of the resort. It was about a half mile walk from the main inn. My wife and mother in law were able to get a golf cart while my father in law and I walked and were able to spot a massive alligator in the river along the way. Buffalo’s served American classics and international dishes that were pretty Americanized. We enjoyed the BBQ chicken wings, the asian noodle salad, the burger, and the chicken tortilla soup. We hoped to try the house made veggie burger, but they were unfortunately sold out. Buffalo’s was a solid, but unspectacular meal that we were happy to have tried, but probably wouldn’t have repeated had we had more nights on property.||Octagon is the restaurant in the main inn area and they serve all 3 meals there, but we only had breakfast there. We shared the banana bread and fruit plate, I had a berry smoothie and custom omelette with bacon, spinach, peppers, and goat cheese, while my wife tried the breakfast burrito. Our breakfast was enjoyable again, without being over the top memorable.||For our final meal on property, we asked for a shuttle to take us to Moreland Village and tried out the sandwich shop, Canteen. We tried the tuna melt and the turkey BLT both of which were good to enjoy while we sat in the Adirondack chairs and enjoyed views of the waterways nearby. This was a fun way to spend our afternoon getting to see a different part of the property before we headed to the airport.||Activities|Although we didn’t get to partake in any formal activities, we did get to participate in one of the complimentary workout classes offered in the morning and my wife rented a bike. The grounds of the property are so expansive (20,000 acres) that it’s the perfect place to go out on a run or bike ride. I was able to do 2 separate runs around the property to get a great feel for the entire complex and my wife accompanied me on one of them on her bike to check it out herself. We hope to return to be able to do some of the boating tours to look for dolphins or tour the inlets and around the islands, but we didn’t have time to do any of that this time.||Location|The Palmetto Bluff development is a massive, lush property with so much to offer for guests at the Montage and full time residents alike. My wife and I are huge nature travelers and love to visit luxury wilderness properties whenever we can. Although so much development on the property definitely disqualifies it from any sort of wilderness, this property nonetheless was right up our alley in terms of the setting in amongst the river and lagoon. The forest that has been preserved and not developed is dense and gives native wildlife a chance to still thrive here, we were told that raccoons, armadillos, deer, foxes, and coyotes can be found here amongst other mammals and diverse bird populations, in addition to the alligators that inhabit the lagoon and river system near the property. We got to spot a number of alligators on our first day and enjoyed watching them move around the lagoon, albeit at a safe distance. One of our highlights of our stay was catching at shuttle ride to Moreland Village and walking through the neighborhood to be able to climb up the 5 story tree house, offering sweeping views of the river system. ||Facilities|We feel that there is so much on offer that we could definitely return and stay entertained for well over a week and still not get to enjoy everything offered. We are not golfers, but the golf is supposed to be excellent, there are plenty of pickleball and tennis courts, there’s a basketball court as well. The spa has very nice amenities in addition to the adults only spa pool and hot tub. There’s also a family pool directly across the way, but far enough that we were not disturbed from the peace and quiet we enjoyed. We may not even be fully aware of what other facilities are available due to our short stay, but it seemed like there was something for everyone, regardless of interests.||Overall|We’d definitely return to this property in the future, especially as our family is spending more time in the Hilton Head area. Ideally we’d want to be in a cottage on the river side if we came back just my wife and I, but we didn’t want to spend that much for just this one night stay, so a room in the main inn worked for us and the upgrade we were able to secure made it even better. An increasingly netter option for us in the future would be to round up our family and friends and join in on a week long residence rental to be able to do all of the activities on offer, do runs and bike rides to explore all corners of the property, experience all of the dining options available, and try a spa treatment or...

I just checked out of the Montage Palmetto Bluff after a two-night stay over Christmas. I wish we had enough time to stay one more night because the property is expansive and we didn't get much of an opportunity to explore on Christmas day due to the rain. The vibe is calming and relaxing when you walk around the property.

Overall, we had a lovely stay at this Montage location. The property itself is beautiful, lined with live oak trees draped with Spanish moss. We scored a room upgrade at check-in and had an amazing view of the lagoon from our room. The service was hit or miss (see details in the review).

Here's what I liked about the property: location - such a unique and beautiful location for a resort dining - solid amount and variety of dining options on the property from grab & go to casual sit down (Octagon) to more fine dining (River House) speaking of dining, we had an amazing meal at River House (amazing food, amazing service, thanks Teddy!). we also enjoyed dinner at the bar at Octagon. The bartenders are awesome! gym - decent amount of equipment at the gym (you have treadmills, peloton, row machine, free weights, etc.) valet - super friendly service, there was even a golf cart waiting to take us back to the main lodge from the River House after dinner extra amenities like the afternoon snacks during porch time, after dinner s'mores

Here's what could be improved:

the concierge service wasn't super helpful. If you've stayed at Aman, Rosewood, or Four Seasons, Montage feels like a class below that. Even top-category Marriott hotels like St. Regis or Ritz Carlton do this better. I was expecting to be able to coordinate a lot more through the concierge, like spa appointments or room service. To make spa appointments, you have to contact the spa directly. To order room service, you had to dial an extension. Not a big deal, but it's just more streamlined when you can coordinate everything through a single line of communication. At other top luxury resorts, I can coordinate/communicate with the staff via text or a mobile app.

mixed communications on availability and reservations between the concierge and restaurant staff: the concierge recommended that we get drinks at Hush before our dinner reservations, but Hush was actually closed on the day of our dinner reservation. The concierge also told us that the sushi bar was first come first serve, but when we got there, the staff (who was kind of rude, btw) informed us they were fully booked for the night. Again, not a huge deal, but the miscommunication was not my fault, so they didn't have to be rude about our confusion.

housekeeping or someone entered the room while we were still in the room

the gym was messy and did not have towels when I was there

we booked a 90-minute couples massage and at some point, they moved the reservation up by 15 minutes, which is fine, but at no point did they inform me that they made the change. the person on the phone was a bit condescending ("that's not even possible with our reservation system!") about it when they called us to inform us we were late for our appointment until I went downstairs and showed them my confirmation email, at which point they were apologetic. they ended up cutting our appointment short by 10 minutes without informing us up front, so I also had to go clarify after the treatment. They took 20% off the bill, which isn't much of a discount at all, given that we received a shorter treatment than what we booked.

my partner and I aren't married, and hotels like Aman, Rosewood, and Four Seasons typically get that right, but the Montage staff kept calling us Mr. & Mrs. [my last name] and I didn't have the heart to correct the staff every time and say ''actually it's Ms. __" (I made the reservation), but it was so awkward every time they greeted us. They have the right info on our spa reservations, btw.

Ultimately, I think the service and communication from the staff at this hotel could be improved. When you position yourself as a luxury hotel,...

It's Thanksgiving week and COVID is on the rise. I wanted a safe, clean place to stay on my way to Kiawah and I chose the Montage because the ratings were very good and I wanted to check out the neighborhood to see if it would be a good place for a vacation home. I arrived at noon during a dark rainy part of the day and checked in early with no problems at all. Ok, with 1 problem. I got a new Volvo and couldn't figure out how to release the parking brake. Fortunately, the team at the valet desk had a lot of experience and took my girl directly to the charger. {And by charger, I mean extension cord 😊} Whew, catastrophe averted. Seriously, in my mind I could see myself sweating and shaking while hundreds of guests pulled up and around me to check in while I tried to figure out how to release the brake. The Montage at Palmetto Bluff is beautiful. Even the rain couldn't dull the shine of this southern masterpiece. It feels like a plantation home. The only clue that it is, in fact, a hotel are the desks positioned on either side of the front doors. From the front porch you can see through the entry, parlor and the porch to a fire pit with Adirondack chairs and further off in the distance is an enormous swimming pool. As the floral teams begin to light the holiday trees the rooms fill with warmth from the freshly lit fire the hotel shimmers with an amber glow that is simply stunning. I was shown directly to my feather free room where my luggage was waiting and unpacked my tennis shoes to take a look around. It was still drizzling but the sun was on the way and things would be dried shortly. The Montage offers free bikes to guests and trail maps to see interesting nature type things. I didn’t do that. I went to Wilson Village and shopped, ate ice cream, checked out the marina, spoke to the team in charge of kayaks and canoes, stopped in at the post office and sat down with a realtor. By 5 pm I was starving. Unfortunately, one of the pitfalls of staying in a resort with homes is all of the other people that live there are hungry too. So be ready to make a reservation when the concierge calls you before your stay. I didn’t take this advice and had dinner on a bar stool at Cole’s. Cole’s was delish and because there were 2 bartenders it was easy to call one over when the tequila turned my breath to fire and I needed water to put out the flames. Plus, I met a very nice couple that was happy to share the ins and outs of living at the resort and how much they loved it. It was a win/win in my book. Around 10 the complementary shuttle bus arrived to take me back to the hotel for the best rest I’ve had since March. I don’t know if they are piping something into the rooms or have magic beans under the mattress but I slept 10 hours straight. The next morning, I had a quandary, take a bath in the deep soaking tub or a quick shower? Like most women I have this image in my mind of a long warm soak, maybe reading a book with candles and orchestral music in the background and the scent of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. The reality is never as good as the dream. The shower wins every time. It was then that I noticed the bug spray on the counter. How I wish I had noticed it yesterday! For those of you that aren’t from the south there are 3 things you can always count on. The weather will usually be hot, it will often be humid and there will always be bugs. Lots of bugs. I showered, had breakfast and by 11am it was pouring rain. I had late check out but decided to pack it in and get back on the road. I slept great and had a safe comfortable stay. The employees were very good about wearing...