Hilton Head Cheap?

[bwbuddy5]

Since we stayed at BCV in July 06, and we plan to take a Disney Cruise in 08 for sons' High School graduation, we were thinking about driving to HH summer 07 in an attempt to have a "cheaper" vacation. Can we keep expenses at HH as low as possible, just using our points, and making as much use of our kitchen as possible? Is there a reasonable amount of nature/beach actvities to enjoy at reasonable rates, if not free? Are all of the dining possibilities at the resort expensive?

 

[Disneyaholic]

Unfortunately "Hilton Head" and "cheap" are not usually used together. BUT that doesn't mean that you can't go there and have a great time!

You have the right idea to start with -- using points and preparing your own meals. Once you get beyond that, however, it can get costly, if you let it.

The Disney snack bars are not inexpensive. You can limit the number of meals you have there and instead go back to the room or bring a cooler with lunch to the beach house.

Restaurants can range from reasonable to costly. A lot of the restaurants offer early bird specials which allow you to eat less expensively AND avoid the long waits that are common during the busy months.

Groceries on the island can be expensive as well. Prices will likely be higher than you are used to paying at home, just because of the location. You can help that situation by bringing a lot of the staples with you (condiments, salad dressings, staples, etc.) instead of buying them there. There is a Sam's Club not far from the Disney resort, if that helps you, or you can do a major grocery "run" to an off-island grocery store. (Personally, I would rather pay the higher price and get to stay on the island than to take up my valuable Hilton Head time going to buy groceries )

As far as activities, you can bring bikes or rent them fairly inexpensively -- the resort offers a "length of stay" option. Many of the nature-oriented activities offered by the resort are free of charge. You can also check out what is offered by the Coastal Discovery Museum for a small donation or free. It's more the food-oriented and kid-oriented activities at the resort that have a price tag attached. Also, there are all kinds of temptations on the island, like golf (regular and miniature), arcades, etc. that can empty your wallet.

A lot of people bring their own beach chairs and umbrellas, which is a BIG savings over renting them at the beach. You can get them pretty inexpensively at the WalMart, too. Same with boogie boards and other beach supplies.

Hope this helps.

 

[iloveokw]

Some reasonable places to eat while at Hilton Head are:

Harold's Diner - B & L
Sea Shack - L & D
Moe's - L & D
Wonderful early birds - especially at Hugo's at Wexford!

We LOVE HH!

 

[kweaver]

We were there in July...wonderful!

I would also recommend San Miguel's in Shelter Cove...a nice mexican restaurant that is relatively inexpensive (and great food...as well as great margaritas...but I can make fabulous margaritas in the room). Quick walk from the Disney resort too.

If you are driving in and want to pick up groceries, definitely stop in Bluffton (or wherever) first.

Enjoy...there are lots of inexpensive activities...just hanging out at the pool and beach house takes up lots of time! Don't miss the member mixer at the beach house...wine and great snacks...plus plenty of good conversation!

 

[Lesley]

The resort has some free activities. Going to the beach is free (bring a raft of boogie board). There are horseshoe pits all over the resort. There is a fishing pier at the resort. There is a pool at the beach house and one at the resort.

The kitchens in the villas are nice and big (about halfway between an OKW kitchen and one at BW, BC, or WL...or a little larger). We ate at Outback the one night we went to HH. You can go to McDonald's if you want. There are lots of suggestions for non-chain restaurants that are reasonably priced. Remember, even though its a resort island there is some degree of competition to keep costs in line....unlike at WDW where you're a captive audience.

Have fun. We plan on doing much the same thing next September. We've been doing WDW on our AP's and we're kind of tapped out from dining, etc....

 

[Bribrittmom]

The prices at Publix on the island are very reasonable. HH is definately a cheaper vacation than WDW unless you golf a lot.

 

[klaubaugh]

We just got back from here a couple of weeks ago and I feel this is one vacation that we can do on the cheap. We brought our own chairs for the beach - that is a big cost savings! We did rent bikes, but next time we go, we will take our own. I took a ton of food with us and we always eat breakfast and lunch in. If we ate dinner out, we tried to hit the early bird specials.

One thing we enjoyed doing was getting some food from the deli and taking it to the beach house for dinner. We practically had the place to ourselves and it is a great time of the day to be on the beach.

We loved HH and are in the process of adding on there so we can make it an annual "cheap" vacation.

 

[Plutofan]

Since we stayed at BCV in July 06, and we plan to take a Disney Cruise in 08 for sons' High School graduation, we were thinking about driving to HH summer 07 in an attempt to have a "cheaper" vacation. Can we keep expenses at HH as low as possible, just using our points, and making as much use of our kitchen as possible? Is there a reasonable amount of nature/beach actvities to enjoy at reasonable rates, if not free? Are all of the dining possibilities at the resort expensive?

Most definitly. We just got back from HH in June. We stayed in a Grand Villa for 5 nights. We bought all of our food at Sams club and Walmart. It is just a short drive down the road. There are a lot of free activities at the resort (magic show, camp fire, story time, learning to make smores with the sun, pool party, treasure hunts, free DVD rentals, classes on how to juggle, classes on how to do magic etc....) You can get a copy of the most current activity list by calling the resort directly. It will have prices of any of the activities that are not free. This will give you an idea on what they offer. There is plenty of stuff to do at the resort to keep you busy. Dining will probably be expensive but they do have a few chain restuarants like Applebees.

 

[Dean]

I think HH is a very reasonable place to vacation overall. One can cook in and grill out, what I call "grilling and chilling". And while the restaurants are moderate to expensive, they can be quite reasonable if you tries. Restaurants.com has some coupons. HH has a number of specials including discounts for DVC members and early birds. While I never recommend doing so just for the dollars, timeshare tours can provide quite a bit of dollars to spend if one is so inclined. The grocery stores are somewhat expensive, esp on things like meats. Many times one can carry what they need with them for many items. I know people who carry frozen meats to the caribbean for this very reason.

 

[walter]

Dean,
Have you stayed at Surf Watch yet? We will be visiting for the first time in late Oct. We loved DVC/HHI, but this new resort was too nice to to pass up buying a week. You are right about resturant.com. We have three gift certificates (at 60% off) for various places on and off the island. Parrot Cove at Shelter Cove is one of them. We ate there last year and enjoyed our meal (I love she crab soup).

 

[Dean]

Dean,
Have you stayed at Surf Watch yet? We will be visiting for the first time in late Oct. We loved DVC/HHI, but this new resort was too nice to to pass up buying a week. You are right about resturant.com. We have three gift certificates (at 60% off) for various places on and off the island. Parrot Cove at Shelter Cove is one of them. We ate there last year and enjoyed our meal (I love she crab soup).

We were there this summer, the week after the 4th. Had 2 ocean side units, one an exchange and the other we own (gardenview though). The resort looks great and I think you'll enjoy it. I don't think the indoor pool or gardenview units will be ready then but you never know. Make sure you get your requests in to the resort about 2 weeks prior to your visit. If you plan to do the tour, they will usually offer you more to do so on Sat or Sunday. While normally I'd say go for the highest floor, I actually think the first floor is better overall than the 5th.

 

[dblr]

We stayed there 2 years ago and had a great time. We rented bikes for the lenght of stay and it was cheap, if you plan to bike alot you might want to take your own or look for better rentals as the one they have are single speed crusier bikes. Our kids spent most of the time on the pier or in the water they had a blast.
There is a pool table near where you check in that is free to use plus at the beach house there is also ping pong I think it cost 25 cents for the ball, and also a nice lounge area with games to use.
People we met booked a dolphin cruise and saw none but our oldest went paresailing and ther were three dolphins playinr @ the marina cuold not beat that. I'm sure you find plenty to keep you going.

 

[flechette]

I just wanted to add a quick reminder that the resort dining places do NOT serve dinner. I think they close at or before 5pm. So you definitely need to plan to cook or buy the evening meal. There are several nice restaurants within a 5 minute walk across the marina.

That said our visit to HHI this past May sealed the deal as far as my hubby is concerned - in regards to buying into DVC. He loved the resort, the service and the rooms and keeps asking me if we've got the money to buy in yet

(He's in Kuwait with limited internet service and tries to avoid logging into our banks and credit card accounts - just to be safe....)

Enjoy!

 

[bwbuddy5]

Do you recall the restaurants within a 5 minute walk? Or, are they all locals? How many mini-golf courses are within walking distance? Any good ice cream within walking distance?

 

[Disneyaholic]

Any of the Shelter Cove restaurants are within walking distance...

Scott's Fishmarket is our favorite of the bunch and it's the closest. I'd definitely take a pass on Kingfisher, which is directly across the street from Scott's. Others at Shelter Cove are San Miguel (Mexican, not our favorite), an Italian restaurant that I don't think we have ever tried (hence I can't remember the name ), Parrot Cove (more casual, not bad, but I don't think I'd recommend it too highly), and a New York-style deli. (There may be others, but that's all I can think of at the moment.) You will find that others on this board may have very different opinions of these places!

You can walk to Bruster's Ice Cream from the resort, but I'd recommend a bicycle instead. And if you're going to Bruster's there's a pizza place right next to it that people either love or hate. (Another one DH and I have never tried, although we have ordered for our kids from there.)

There is also a miniature golf course within walking distance of the resort.

Not sure if all the above are within a 5-minute walk, but they are fairly close.

Are you asking about the walking distance because you are not planning to have a car there? (Or do you just like walking?) If you are not planning on a car, you may want to reconsider...there are sooooo many other things on the island that you will miss if you don't have one! You might want to consider even renting one for a day or two (if not for your entire visit) so you can truly appreciate all Hilton Head has! JMHO....

 

[bwbuddy5]

Scott's Fishmarket is our favorite of the bunch and it's the closest. I'd definitely take a pass on Kingfisher, which is directly across the street from Scott's.

Are you asking about the walking distance because you are not planning to have a car there? (Or do you just like walking?)

We will have a car there, but we like to walk - we now do about 2-5 miles daily.

We are not seafood eaters, so it sounds like that will certainly reduce our choices. What's the best of the "non-seafood" joints? Are there any chains?

 

[Dean]

We will have a car there, but we like to walk - we now do about 2-5 miles daily.

We are not seafood eaters, so it sounds like that will certainly reduce our choices. What's the best of the "non-seafood" joints? Are there any chains?

For Shelter Cove there are a number of places including MX and steak/chicken in addition to the seafood. Kingfishers has both. There are a number of other options within a mile or less including italian and other good places for steak/chicken and breakfast. Just counting easily and thinking a limit of around a mile one way, I can think of 12-13 places I'd consider eating at. But you'll do better using your car.