Shem Creek Inn — Hotel in Mount Pleasant

Great Location, But Sadly Not Worth The Money. My husband and I stayed at the Shem Creek Inn in 2007 for our first wedding anniversary, and again this past Friday for our 11th anniversary/since the Inn was remodeled extensively. We paid $280+ for a King room with a Creekside view, which was gorgeous. However, we will not be staying here again because the room, customer service and amenities were not worth anything close to $280 for one night. To compare, last summer we paid $300 a night for a room in Duck, NC (Outer Banks) that was on the beach. We had EXCELLENT customer service, a luxury room, incredible breakfast spread and amenities like a free shuttle to nearby grocery stores and popular sites. I booked the Shem Creek Inn and knew the location and view were amazing, and assumed for $280/night (and a recent renovation), we would get our money's worth. I booked an Experience Package that included paddleboarding. The website does not give many details about the package, so I called the hotel to get more info. The clerk was vague and literally said, "You get like, paddleboards from the place next door." Uh...thanks?! I wanted to know how long the rental was good for, if a guide was included, etc. and the clerk literally had no idea. I also was not told that the $280 price shown on the website UNDER the Experience Package was not in fact, the actual price. That was just the room price, as my card was charged almost $320 on check in (which was a shock, but whatever). The room: beds are hard, and they only have a sheet covering them. No quilt, down comforter or anything. A white sheet, thin white blanket and another sheet. The A/C was super loud, and not very efficient because we were so hot all night long. The TV had maybe 5 channels, so watching a movie was not really an option. The bathroom was the worst. It reminded me of an RV bathroom: small, cramped, hollow and VERY low ceilings. The ceiling was just a few inches over my head (I am 5'11") and consisted of cheap plastic tiles that were mostly askew. They concealed huge ductwork for the A/C, I guess but they did not match the renovation work..they seemed to be a cheap afterthought. There are no tubs, only showers and the shower was so narrow that when I lifted my arms, I hit the walls. There is just enough room to turn around. And there was that odd hollow thumping sound when you are in there, like you hear in an RV or camper trailer. The breakfast was pretty pitiful. For $280 a night, I expect a nice spread. In Duck, we had a fresh fruit selection, juices, cereals, a waffle maker and chef preparing omelets to order and pancakes. Lots of magazines and newspapers out to read, and bottled water as well as coffees and lattes. The Shem Creek Inn had some bacon, eggs, bagels and not much else. It was just...pitiful. We ended up going out to eat on Sullivan's Island. The paddleboarding next door was AMAZING and it was nice to have a room right there to go back to and change afterwards. But all in all, I would not stay here again. It was not worth the money spent and we will be looking at other options next time. I think a downtown B&B would have been money better spent, or an AirBNB on Isle of Palms or Sullivan's...

I wish Google allowed us to do half a star because, in all honesty, my experience with Shem Creek is a 2 and a half stars. Let me start with the positive. The front desk staff, Amber, was very friendly and helpful when my boyfriend and I checked in. I thought it was a nice touch that they offered a free alcoholic beverage for each person upon check in even though I myself am not a drinker. The location was great and peaceful and you feel that local vibe as soon as you turn into the inn. The view was also nice and relaxing. Sadly, that's the extent of the positive experience that Shem Creek gave me.

Our room had 2 queen beds, which was perfectly fine. We had just had a 5 hour drive so we wanted to relax but found that one of the bed had crumbs and hair underneath the cover. We called the front desk right away and they said they would come up to show us to a new room. While we waited, we decided to check out the balcony. We pulled the curtain and found a pill and a goldfish cracker right on the floor next to the sliding door. Needless to say, we felt a bit irked by this point due to the cleanliness issues, or lack thereof. The staff came up shortly and apologized and we were walked to a new room. The new room had a very loud a.c./heater unit that made a loud can't every time it ran and a loud grumbling noise throughout the entire time that it was on. We were woken up every time it started in the middle of the night. The room was also supposed to be equipped with an ironing board and an iron but the iron was missing in my room. I called front desk once again because I needed an iron and waited for about 15 minutes after they said they would bring one up and nothing. I called again and the girl said she forgot, apologized, and said she would bring it up. And this time, I finally got the iron. When we went to take a shower, the door for the bathroom wouldn't close. The door seemed to be too small for the frame, after we inspected it further. Fast forward to the next morning, we were woken up around 9am due to the cleaning staff being super loud, talking and laughing in the hallway.

I really wish I had taken pictures of all of these things but I was genuinely so tired and forgot about it. All in all, I don't know if I would go back...

When we first arrived, it looked great, ambiance was amazing, but after dinner we saw some other guests going to the pool with their personal speakers and some alcohol. By 10pm, at which the pool is supposed to be closed, they were utterly unruly, speakers were unbearably loud and several people have complained about these guests. Every time, the reply by staff is that the party will end at 11pm and they’re sorry for the inconvenience. At 11:15, the party is still going strong and the speakers continue to get louder with every song. We call the front desk as we’re all dressed for bed and ask for the woman on the phone to help do something about the unruly party. As we’re just down the hall from the front desk, we hear “oh my god, REALLY?!” from this woman right after we have hung up the phone with her. The party seems to die down for maybe ten minutes before the noise goes right back up to where it had been before. We go out and physically demand this employee do her job before the party actually stops, but not before she tries to excuse the party’s actions by saying that they have a lot of influence. We have to be smartasses and say “they don’t have influence over us. It’s past 11pm, we were promised they would stop by 11pm—do your job” and meanwhile she is still getting complaints from all over that the party needs to stop because it’s nearly a quarter to midnight (roughly 11:45). We also bring up her unappreciated outburst, and she can’t seem to come up with an excuse, nor does she try to apologize for any “mix up” as a guest who supposedly knows her for 25 years is trying his hardest to save her bacon and say that her outburst was directed at him and no one else—but since she won’t look us in the eye or even speak, I think she knows we know. At midnight there were still guests in the pool loudly singing ring-around-the-rosey even though the posted rules say it closes at 10. Had to call guest services to do her job and stop that, half an hour later and she has seemed to do her job without having to stand over her. Needless to say, we will...