Anyone been to Hilton Head in January?

[disneyfreak89]

We've decided to stop at HHI on our way home from Disney this coming January and were told by MS that the Beach House will be CLOSED while we're there. We're a little disappointed because this will be our first time at the resort and we wanted to check out everything including the Beach House.

Will the Beach House being closed diminish our trip in any way? Will we still be able to access the beach from the Beach House even though its closed?

Also, are many restaurants closed this time of year? Will we have trouble finding a place to eat?

 

[disneyfreak89]

Anyone?

 

[DVCconvert]

I haven't been, but I'm sure you can still have access to the beach....but the beach house itself would mean no food & drink sales, and proably the pool at the BH would be closed too.

There's something like 250 places to eat on HHI, a group of them at the marina which is within walking distance, there will be some places closed I'm sure, but you'll still have lots of places to pick from

HTH

 

[Saratoga Springs Tom]

We stayed in HH last February on our way home. We had no issue with finding a restaurant. The pool was closed for maintenance. We did not make it over to the beach house and not sure if it was open or not. Based on our visit we will return to HH. Nice location enjoyed our quick stay.

 

[hollis]

I was there Christmas through New Year a year ago. So it was barely into January, and it was peak season. So beach house was open, and so was everything else.

I think you should still be able to access the beach since it is a public beach. And I imagine most of the nearby business (restaurant, shopping) should be open.

 

[dgaston]

We have a HHI stay booked for 12/31 to 1/5/12. We received a letter from MS letting us know the Beach House would be closed, but that we will have access to another property on the beach, maybe the Dunes? I don't remember exactly, but do recall that we could take the shuttle to this alternate location.

 

[WiscBill]

We've decided to stop at HHI on our way home from Disney this coming January and were told by MS that the Beach House will be CLOSED while we're there. We're a little disappointed because this will be our first time at the resort and we wanted to check out everything including the Beach House.

Will the Beach House being closed diminish our trip in any way? Will we still be able to access the beach from the Beach House even though its closed?

Also, are many restaurants closed this time of year? Will we have trouble finding a place to eat?

We have stayed at HHI three times in January. In all cases, the beach house was open, but that just meant that the pool and Surfman Station's were open for use. The bar and the snack bar were both closed and there were no scheduled activities at that location. As others have said, I don't see why you couldn't access the beach there as it is a public beach, unless for some reason they closed the parking lot.

There were some activities at the main location, but fewer than during the summer..It didn't stop us from enjoying the visit, although we did spend at least one day each time in Savanah.

Some of the restaurants were closed, but most of the ones in Shelter Cove were open. We also went to some of the places in Sea Pines plantation.

In January, you will have a very different experience than in the summer months, one that is more focused on sight seeing, walks, and bicycle rides, as opposed to the beach and golf (although we were able to golf on two times)

 

[Derf]

We stayed last year over MLK weekend in January and have reservations again this year to do so since we enjoyed ourselves so much.

We loved going to the Den in the lobby to sit by the fire along with the bonfire & smores at night. The resort is so peaceful.

There wasn't a single restaurant that was closed that we wanted to go to (I don't remember any being closed). In fact, they have their restaurant week starting with the MLK weekend (I believe) which was great (specially priced prix fixe menus all over town).

I too got the letter on the Beach House and that is a little bit of a bummer as we enjoyed spending time there to play a board game or foosball or ping pong (they also have an arcade there), but at least the Palmetto Dunes clubhouse will be open for us to use as a place to park/be dropped off at with good beach access (I believe there is a restaurant there too???)

On separate note, I wonder what enhancements they are making to the Beach House? I wonder if it is just a general refurbishment or if they are adding or enhancing anything??? Anyone know?

 

[disneyfreak89]

Thanks for all the comments!
Sounds like we'll have no problem accessing the beach (from somewhere) and most of the restaurants should be open.....although, I did email San Miguels to make sure they'd be open since we love Mexican and its one of the closest restaurants to the resort, but alas, they will be closed all of January for their 'winter break' and will reopen the first weekend in February......2 days after we leave.

 

[hoosiergirl]

Did it list the dates the Beach House will be closed? We'll be there from 12/24 through 12/31 and haven't received that letter.

 

[Candace]

Did it list the dates the Beach House will be closed? We'll be there from 12/24 through 12/31 and haven't received that letter.

I will be there 12/30 - 01/06, and I have not received the letter either.

 

[WAWDWLUVER]

We'll be there Dec 27th for three nights and have not received a letter either!

 

[nickspace]

We booked multiple units during Christmas week a few years ago and we used the Beach House at night to have family pot luck dinners. There were about 30 of us and we had the whole place to ourselves. It was great.

 

[disneyfreak89]

If you haven't already, I'd be making a call to MS just to be safe.

We have not received a letter either and when booking wasn't told about the Beach House until I asked if there were any refurbishments going on, then they told me the BH would be closed. We are going Jan 30-Feb 3.

 

[ReneeQ]

We stayed there this past January (Sun 1/16 - Fri 1/21/11). I was not prepared for how much was closed. There was exactly one shop and one restaurant open at Shelter Cove (the shopping center within walking distance of the resort). We also wanted to eat at Giusiepie's (spelling?) pizza, right around the corner, and it was also closed. Most places had signs on the door that said "closed for January."

The main pool was only open the day we arrived (but we had received the letter about that). But it was FREEZING the five days we were there, so we couldn't have swam anyway. The beach house and beach house pool was open when we were there, but I think mainly because the main pool was closed. But nothing AT the beach house was open, so you couldn't get anything to eat.

We had a nice trip, as we went just to relax, but I REALLY missed having onsite dining options.

It was also odd how EMPTY the resort was. I walked from one end to the other - MORE THAN ONCE - and NEVER saw another soul! It was actually a little creepy.

One other thing, I did not know that all the studios and most of the 1BRs (we were in a 1BR) were in the main lodge. We had hoped for a room further out, but they were all "down" for rehab.

None of this ruined my trip, but had I known all this beforehand (and granted, I could have known with a little advance research on my part, so I'm not blaming anyone) I wouldn't have "hoped" for things (room location, eating at certain restaurants, etc) that weren't even possible.

 

[gatorette97]

I stayed with my family of 4 adults from Jan 2-9 this year and we had a great time! None of the restaurants we wanted to go to were closed and they still had activities planned at the resort every day. True, there weren't many people around but I liked the quiet. We had a 2BR. The Beach House was open, but you couldn't buy food or anything. I would go back at this time of year again!