Beach House Hilton Head Island — Hotel in Hilton Head Island

Please Read Before Booking The Beach House

If you’re considering The Beach House as your wedding venue, I strongly urge you to keep looking. What they advertise and what they deliver are completely different—and the result was a heartbreaking disappointment for my sister’s wedding on Sunday, May 25th.

As Maid of Honor, I watched family and friends travel from across the country—New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Kentucky—to celebrate what was supposed to be a beautiful beach ceremony. My sister chose this venue based on the curated website photos promising an intimate, elegant beachfront experience. In reality, it was chaotic, impersonal, and full of logistical failures that no couple should ever face on their wedding day.

The first red flag appeared at the rehearsal. Margaret, our main contact, vaguely pointed to a crowded public beach and said the ceremony would be held “somewhere around here.” No designated spot. No setup. When I expressed concern, and voiced that the photos on the website did not show anything like this. Margaret shrugged and said, “That’s called photoshop.” While she never claimed the beach was private, she also never disclosed that the ceremony would happen in the middle of a busy, noisy public area with zero privacy or control.

This lack of transparency was deeply disappointing. My sister never would’ve booked had she known this critical detail.

On the wedding day, it rained early in the afternoon. The forecast showed clear skies shortly after the planned ceremony time. We asked to delay briefly to allow for the beach ceremony. Staff refused—no flexibility, no empathy. The ceremony was forced into a pavilion. The flower arch wasn’t moved indoors as promised. Chairs weren’t arranged. Guests sat at dining tables while the ceremony took place. It felt rushed, impersonal, and disorganized.

Décor and details were equally mishandled. The chairs weren’t the color chosen. Tablecloths were wrinkled. Napkins weren’t folded properly. Forks were missing from place settings. When we asked about the silverware, we were told they were still washing utensils due to multiple weddings being held that day—some at the same time. That’s not just poor planning—it’s unprofessional.

The buffet was another disaster. The food was cold, and several trays sat empty. Appetizers meant to be passed during cocktail hour were instead placed on a table and forgotten. Children’s meals were completely missed; staff said the kids’ chicken had been used for the buffet. It took over 30 minutes to serve the children, long after dinner began.

At no point did staff show genuine concern for the bride, groom, or guests. There were no apologies—only excuses. We were made to feel like an inconvenience. From start to finish, the experience was defined by indifference and poor coordination.

My sister deserved better. Every couple does. Weddings are emotional, once-in-a-lifetime moments—not just another slot in a venue’s schedule. The Beach House showed no care, no personalization, and no accountability.

Don’t be fooled by the polished website. What you see is not what you get. If you want your wedding treated with respect and professionalism, look elsewhere.

The response from The Beach House is completely misleading and deflects from the real issues. Let me be clear: this has nothing to do with weather. We fully understood the risks of planning a beach wedding — but the weather on our day was calm and far from severe. That excuse is both invalid and insulting.

This 1-star review reflects the real problems: cold food, poor service, missing utensils, unprofessional staff, and blatant false advertising. The lack of accountability and basic hospitality was unacceptable. Weather had nothing to do with the disappointment we and our guests experienced — the blame falls squarely on The Beach House’s failure to deliver on...

We were sold on this property by the Hilton Grand Vacations marketing staff after learning that the Ocean Oak was fully booked, stating that this property was freshly renovated as a boutique brand, had available oceanfront rooms with balconies, and was now a very close second to the Ocean Oak property. Upon check in, staff was very friendly, but had informed us that the ocean front rooms were unavailable to us, as they were booked for later in the week - despite having put in for this room 6 months prior. It was also at this time that we learned 90% of the rooms on property were parking lot/island facing which was not what was represented by Hilton Grand Vacations’ marketing team.

We were given our first room, and upon entering, it was very clear that this property had not been renovated; updated with a coat of paint (maybe) but not renovated. The furniture had bloodstains, the wood sticky, carpet full of sand, room clearly uncleaned, and the bathroom featured a shower rod falling off the wall with the last guest’s globs of hair still on the shower wall - waiting as a gift for our arrival. Upon seeing this, we requested a second room which was quickly accommodated but still not what we had put in for 6 months ago, still being told that the property was fully booked for later in the week (still do not understand what that had to do with anything in the here & now).

Our second room was not much better. Mold growing on the air unit, no smoke/fire seal around the door (leaving us to hear every conversation in the hallway and a MAJOR life-safety code violation), cracking and peeling of the tub finish; all of the same issues with the first room assigned to us, but at least no blood on the furniture like the last room.

We called Hilton, and despite having Hilton Honors Gold Status, well in excess of Diamond Status level point accrual, we were told nothing can be done for us after an hour and a half phone call. We ultimately made the decision to cancel and have our vacation refunded with the Hilton brand due to lack of honesty during booking and misrepresentation of their property, lack of action to correct a bad presentation of their product, and inability/unwillingness to rectify the situation. All in all, it was clear that the only part of the property that had actually been renovated was the pool and main lobby building and photos of rooms were heavily doctored before presentation online.

Thankfully their competition family of brands had openings down the shoreline and were able to get us in for our week stay on a 15-minute notice so we were not forced to make a 14 hour journey home. After we figure out how to manage burning out 200,000+ points with Hilton, we will be vacationing with the folks who saved our vacation (and even upgraded our stay, suite, and comped a dinner after hearing of our experience that day)...

We’ve returned to the Beach House Resort for our fourth year in a row! We enjoyed ourselves but things are a bit different! Front desk staff are not welcoming and do not emit that welcoming energy we’ve gotten years before. (Checkout person was sweet, I didn’t grab her name) here are some examples: at check in, the lady mentioned the joining room I requested was sold. I told her that wouldn’t work because our children were traveling with us. She ended up finding two joining rooms on the second floor. The gentleman outside helping with baggage seemed upset that we didn’t need his help. He told us we had yo bring back the cart! We told him not problem we would. At check out, he pressed us again saying we had to hurry down because he needed the carts. One night I called and requested new bedding as my kids got the sheets dirty (we were staying 4 nights!) at 45 minutes after the request, I called back and front desk lady stated, ok I’ll call and ask again. 15 min later, we get two quilts! Next day, housekeeping did change the bedding! The grounds are not as kept as they used to be. By 5pm pool is dirty with sand and who knows! Cigarettes butts everywhere The elevators were still slow! They don’t have the splash pad!! Haven’t in a couple of years! Bring it back for the little ones! The pools isn’t as big so little kiddos don’t enjoy it as much Bring back the pool entertainment! You better get a chair by at least 11 am as the pool fills up quick!

These are minor things but an inconvenience for the price you pay yo stay there!

The good! His is why we keep coming back… Tiki Hut live concerts! Are great! Right in the beach and coligny plaza you can walk everywhere Christina and Alexa at the pool took such good care of us! So attentive! The Bar servers were also so nice! I didn’t grab the gentleman’s name, but he was a manager/security he passed out cold towels for us on really hot days! He made sure only guest of the resort had access and we felt pretty comfortable and safe the entire time. Kids loved it then, and they love it four years later! A few recommendations since I heard there is new management! Good customer service is key! More training, especially for your front desk folks as they welcome us is necessary. Also responsiveness timeliness is important! We pay a lot of money for these vacations! Bring back the brisket tots!!! Bring back a splash pad for little ones! Offer all inclusive options! Love the cold towels! Keep that going! Bring back the entertainment for little ones other than just the movies at night!

We’ve made this our family tradition around the fourth, please invest in your returning customers!!!!

Thanks for a...