The Inn & Club at Harbour Town — Hotel in Hilton Head Island

The hotel offers so many amenities and transportation to get them, it makes for a lovely getaway. There is no transportation from the airports, but after you get there, someone can drive you in the vehicle or golf cart to the Beach Club, shopping, or Light House (you can walk to that one). When you arrive at the Sea Pines gate and let the guard know you will be staying at the inn, you will need to go into the visitor center to pick up your vehicle parking pass.

At the hotel, there is a swimming pool, hot tub, professional level golf course, tennis with tennis lessons, and a nice club house for breakfast, lunch, or dinner at Links. It is about a 2 minute walk to the club house from the hotel or you could ask for a golf cart ride. If you are a golf fan, you need to walk to the club house to see the list of winners, photos, and the golf shop. There is a separate shop in the tennis center. I discovered IBKUL tennis shirts which provide 2 way ventilation to keep you cool, have UPF 50 protection, and are super light. I am buying more for traveling.

For tennis fans, Wimbledon champion Stan Smith runs an academy there where you can take classes with him or the other professionals.

If you are driven to or drive to the Ocean Pine Beach Club, the Coast restaurant has a delicious menu. Make reservations through the concierge/butler service/front desk or on Open Table. The Ocean Lounge had outdoor tables and two fireplace tables. We made reservations at Coast for outdoor dining and instead of being seated in the front area of Coast, we were taken upstairs to the Ocean Lounge fire table. It was the best dinner with the sound of the ocean waves, full moon, and quiet. It was a cold night, so only two tables came and went on the deck.

The room had an old fashioned plantation style feel to the room with wood furniture, a high bed, desk with two chairs, a reading chair and footstool, live plant, and even a suit stand, which I had never seen before. The Nespresso coffee and tea maker in the room was a wonderful surprise. The first cup, it would lose most of the water, so you may need to do it twice to get a cup of coffee. The bathroom was spacious with a separate shower and tub. No bath salts were provided, so you may want to bring your own. Moulton Brown bath products.

We visited in February which was in the 50 to 60 degree range, so we had the pool and hot tub to ourselves. No towels were outside, but you could ask at the front desk.

The staff was so warm and welcoming and nothing was too much to ask including helping us re-arrange our dinner reservations at Coast and another restaurant. Joe who drove us to the Beach Club was warm, friendly, and made the drive there go so fast. Stellar staff!

We booked through the American Express Fine...

Absolutely loved our stay at the Inn and Club at Harbour Town!! As a travel agent my favorite kind of vacation is staying at resorts (over hotels). Finding that luxury resort-feel within the states can be hard. At the Inn we found that elusive resort experience, starting with champagne in chilled glasses during checking-in (LOVE!)

One of the most notable things about my stay was that the Inn at Sea Pines hasn’t cutback on the quality of service they are offering guests because of COVID. As many hotels are removing things from the rooms or limiting services, the Inn seems to be the offering the same level of service and amenities as pre-Covid. I appreciated this so, so much. From the big things like the shuttle is in full-swing down to the little things like a physical book describing the Sea Pines Resort (dining options, etc). This is helpful when new to the area or first time at the resort. (I am missing these things when visiting regular hotels.)

Prominent characteristics that set the property apart against others was the outdoor seating and fire pits overlooking Harbour Town Golf Course, relaxing pool and hot tub atmosphere, and personalized experience the staff provided. The service I received during the stay couldn’t have been better. Because the Inn is boutique-like with less rooms, the staff to guest ratio is perfect. It was nice to be greeted by name as I came and went.

As I worked from the room during the day it was so great to be able to walk a short distance for an upscale-breakfast and lunch daily at Links overlooking Harbour Town golf course (see picture). Fine (and high-quality) dining while staying somewhere isn’t always easy to find.

We originally planned to stay three nights and two nights elsewhere. Because of the cleanliness and property having all that we wanted/needed, we decided to stay the full vacation at the Inn. The conditions to work from the room were perfect, and I didn’t want to give up the soaking tub. With the shuttle and so many dining and cocktail options within the resort, you could park/stay at Sea Pines and never leave during your entire stay.

If you enjoy the finer things and small touches when on vacation then you’ll appreciate the Inn and Club. (Like a spacious bathroom with monster-sized soaking tub.... another thing hard to find in the states. And finally, two robes for both people to enjoy.)

I will add a note for those who may have a difficult time getting around.... As someone who vacations with a mother who has a difficult time with a balance and walking long distances, I would love to bring her here knowing she could get around the Inn easily and improved stay with the extra-large...

update - spoke with Cristen the manager and she sincerely expressed her apologies and addressed concerns regarding my stay. The way she views her customers is not that as a one off but ones she wants to make relationships with. Appreciate her response on my issue.

Overall the resort was in good, clean, shape along with the room and Inn.

However I did book through a third party reservation company (hotels.com) due to gift cards I was wanting to use. Few days after booking and month before arrival I called ahead to ask whether to apply gift cards now or at checkout. After a brief hold the employee told me she talked to her manager and it would be good at checkout. However when I approached on second to last day I was told I can’t use them. Communication between employees and understanding on how/what can be used is lacking.

I understand at that point no one wanted to help me - don’t know how hard it would be to apply the gift cards or not. If I were to pay cash which I’m doing now I requested that I get an offer of fourth day free that is on their website. I was told to call a reservation number, they told me they had no clue why I called them. They gave me the manager of the Inn’s number. I left her a voicemail explaining everything promptly and never heard back.

I feel like they could care less about my problem - everyone pushed me to someone else and as long as they had my card info to charge me all was well with them.

More about resort:

Hit or miss if you received a warm welcome or not which may have been due to our young age. Felt blown off several times.

American Links - their entire staff (except for elder gentleman who had us wait 20 mins in sun for check for breakfast), food, and service was fantastic. Their manager greeted us both visits with a warm welcome and had conversation and seemed to appreciate us being there. Wonderful breakfast and dinner.

Beach side club - wonderful area, wonderful service.

Atlantic dunes course - wonderful as well, worth the premium cost to play

Quarterdeck restaurant - much better than expected, most water side restaurants we have ever been to struggled with food quality. This might have been our best dinner - and by far cheapest.

I feel like it was such a great experience ruined by no one caring of my issue that I tried to prevent ahead of time. No communication, no one cares. They have your money, your card, and will get their money any way...