This past weekend my family and I ventured off to Myrtle Beach, S.C. as part of a sponsored blogger stay with Holiday Inn Club Vacations (HICV). Their South Beach property in Myrtle Beach was our home for two restful evenings that defied the grim forecast of rain, rain, and more rain. However, Mother Nature was on our side and we had the opportunity to enjoy the property’s outdoor amenities after all.

The Myrtle Beach Area
In my honest opinion, as far as beach locations go, though a very popular destination, Myrtle Beach itself isn’t the most pristine of beaches. My husband, a Charleston native, was very opinionated on this fact as well. Luckily, the area has a lot of other things going for itself which makes it a neat family destination. However, as you drive further up the beach towards North beach, the area is crowded and congested and hotels are right on top of each other.

The Property
The great thing about HICV’s location is that its’ property is a few miles down Ocean Blvd (the main hotel strip), across from the beach and away from the heart of the congestion. HICV gives you the best of both worlds. The property’s Oceanfront Breezes Beach club sits on the beach, offering private access, an owner’s lounge area, a kiddie pool, a regular pool, and a deck area. The property’s shuttle bus runs continuously between the two locations so that you don’t have to worry about driving.

The 256 one, two and three-bedroom villas are spread out across eight 4-story buildings. What does this mean? Rooms aren’t stacked on top of each other but instead, are spread out – your elevator wait time is short, which is something you wouldn’t necessarily think about until high-traffic times such as when it’s time to depart or venture out for dinner.

The Villa
We stayed in a two bedroom villa complete with a full-sized kitchen, which opened up to a spacious living and dining room area. Our room overlooked the Lagoon Pool and Captain Cliff’s Lagoon Bar. The villa can sleep up to 6 people comfortably. Our villa was right by the elevator and the window of our boys’ room faced it, so I wasn’t too crazy about that. However, we just kept their curtains closed for the duration of our stay. Luckily, there weren’t any loud vacationers on property waking our kids.

Our room, located on the opposite side of the villa, was spacious and had a screen-enclosed patio just off of it. This is a priceless feature and an overlooked necessity for any patio in South Carolina where the mosquitoes are ruthless. Our suite had a sauna-style tub as well as a shower. I can’t say anything about the bed because I don’t remember falling asleep in it, it was so comfortable.

The Owner’s Clubhouse
My favorite features of the property were the numerous pools and hot tubs in addition to the gym and adjacent arcade. Kids may be content with doing the same thing day in and day out but adults like change-up. And the resort does a nice job of meeting parents and kids in the middle by offering several places to relax in the water: the indoor to outdoor pool in the owner’s clubhouse complete with two hot tubs and a wading pool for the youngest of guests, a lazy river behind the clubhouse and the Lagoon Pool with bar. The clubhouse pool was by far my favorite because I was able to allow my 7 year old son unlimited fun in the pool while I relaxed in the hot tub, just three feet away.

Another set of amenities that I thought work really well for families is the gym and the arcade. The location of the gym near the arcade allows parents to easily keep an eye on their kids through the glass doors while their child plays and they work out.  This is such a smart feature – the convenience factor is invaluable for families with younger children.

The resort offers families so many things to do, all of which I can’t possibly cover in one post. Here is a summary of the other amenities I didn’t mention in detail: saunas in the locker rooms, the Marketplace grab-and-go eatery, free wi-fi, an activities center, pool table, grills and picnic tables, a volleyball court, and an onsite Par 3 course.

With all these offerings, could I possibly have any criticisms? Well, I love gyms with all the bells and whistles and I’d say the resort’s gym was pretty basic. However, the sauna and nearby game room make up for this. The only criticism my husband had was the lack of flat-screened televisions in our villa. For me, it’s not an issue but nowadays Fall=football=flat screen. Personally, I’d rather see Holiday Inn spend the money on an outdoor playground for toddlers looking for open space to run.  Overall, our stay with Holiday Inn Club Vacations in Myrtle Beach was terrific and relaxing. A great Fall getaway and change-up to the hustle and bustle.

 

Disclosure: My two-night stay was sponsored by Holiday Inn Club Vacations who also provided my family with an expense credit and tickets to the Aquarium. Opinions expressed within this post are solely my own (besides my husband’s input on the televisions) and based upon my experience.