Originally Posted by
pjp65
This forum is my go-to for planning all of my travel and I'm hoping the FT community can weigh in on my ambitious plans.
I am trying to plan a week long (much needed) vacation to celebrate my husband's birthday. We basically haven't gone anywhere but the Hamptons since my first son was born (we are from NYC). We have 2 young boys - 3.5 and 11 months at the time of travel. This will be our first time flying with kids. We will be inviting some extended family to stay with us so that my husband can play golf daily on the island with 3 other guys.
I am thinking of renting a 6 bedroom "premier" home through Kiawah Resorts. This will be a pretty special event so we want to "do it right" and don't mind spending money to make it nice, memorable and comfortable for everyone.
I'm having trouble finding reviews of these homes online. Has anyone here ever done this? Will we be disappointed? We have high expectations given the cost, but generally we are of the view that in travel you get what you pay for.
Reasons we decided on Kiawah Island:
- high end golf
- tennis for the ladies
- short flight from NYC with minimal driving (kids hate car seats)
- prefer homes over hotels because we cook most of our meals (dietary restrictions, food allergies)
- walking distance to beach
- heated private pool
- access to resort amenities (restaurants, gym, kids pools, shuttle)
- resort says they work with a company who will outfit the house for a baby - crib, high chair, etc.
- strong preference to stay domestic
Thanks in advance for your comments/feedback!
Spend a ton of time in the CHS area, and at least one week per year out at Kiawah. You will be happy in one of Kiawah Resorts premiere homes. You will pay for it, but you will be happy. Yes, some VRBOs are just as nice (many are nicer) and much cheaper. But staying through Kiawah gives you several advantages. First, with kids especially, you will have access to their pool centers. My kids are older and have pretty much grown out of them, but for 2-13 they are really useful. Slides that anyone from 5-50 love, shallow areas with sprinklers, etc. Decent food there, too. Second, you get discounted golf and access to the better tee times further in advance. I believe it is 25%, and if they play the ocean course a time or two that will pretty much offset the price difference.
SC beaches are much different than up here in the northeast. They are hard packed flat sand. Most really love them. Also, most people rent bikes for the week and simply ride to the beach and up/down the beach all day. You can also have the resort set up chairs/umbrellas for you each day, with your names on them, for a nominal price.
There's a great (if expensive) supermarket right before the entrance gates to Kiawah in the fresh fields market. Do try to make it into downtown Charleston at least once. Simply an amazing city.
Don't know what time of year you'll be heading down, but it almost doesn't matter. Summer is a southern summer- hot and sticky. If you go down between June and end of August, make sure the men book early morning tee times at Ocean- it is a brutal course in the sun (you have to walk prior to noon). Each of the courses is really nice, though not a huge fan of Cougar due to it's lack of length and/or character.
Anyway, September, October, and early November is HIGH season for golf, and the beaches are literally almost empty. Humidity pulls back, and most days are low to mid 80's with abundant sun. Golf weather is all year round, but once you hit mid November you won't have a ton of beach days. March is iffy for beach (great for golf, though), April becomes a better bet but water is cold and you can still get days in 50's on occasion, and by May you're in summer.
You can't go wrong. Kiawah is a well oiled resort that caters to the luxury traveler.