My wife and I stayed at the lodge at sea Pines and unlike the previous review by Loanhead, we were very happy with all aspects of our stay. The lodge was definitely 5 star. Our room looked out onto the first tee of the Harbourtown Golf course and was absolutely beautiful! the staff was extremely friendly and helpful, the complimentary breakfast was very nice with the usual continental breakfast items as well as made to order omletes. We also enjoyed the unlimited use of the many bicycles available, the island is very safe and easy to ride. The lodge is an easy 5 minute walk to the harbor where there are many shops, bars with live music and shops. We cannot wait to go back!

The entire Sea Pines property, from the harbour to the stables, was gorgeous! The amenities alone are worth staying in Sea Pines. We stayed in one of the 2 bedroom villas around the Night Heron area. The architecture of the villas is unique. I liked the way ours sat on the edge of a small lake in that area. We had a nice balcony overlooking the lake, which was pretty. The inside of the villa was not so impressive. It looked like it had not been renovated or updated since the 1980's. There was nothing fancy about this place. There was 2 bedrooms and then a loft sleeping area which had 2 more beds. The inside of the villa felt a bit dirty, and musty. There was a moldy smell to it, like moisture had seeped in at some point. The beds were not comfortable at all!! The bedspreads were hard and smelled funny too. The only thing I liked about this villa was the fireplace! My recommendation to people, if you're going to stay in Sea Pines, stay in one of the hotels or a condo!

First and foremost, SeaPInes is a well thought out and planned gated community with special emphasis on protecting the environment & preserving natural resources. Charles Fraser, founder of The Sea Pines Resort, was a true pioneer who was passionate about preserving and conserving the environment and to this day the resort strives to continue his love, vision and spirit of innovation. (and many accolades and awards are testimony to this)

People buy property or decide to vacation in SeaPines for a beauty & vision not found in the more crowded, commercialized vacation destinations...but, most important....security. you want find massive high-rise buildings, over-crowded waterparks or flashy neon "shell" signs. I would classify it as laid-back. I have heard a few complaints about the "entrance fee" for non-owners or guests. Yes, there is a $5.00 fee to enter (car or bike) if you are not an owner or guest. This fee helps to pay for the beautiful landscaping, pathways, facility maintenance and to handle extra traffic that occurs from those just passing through. (which is fine...but does create extra traffic not only for cars, but bikes on the path)

If you are offended to pay this pass, my suggestion would be to immerse yourself and STAY within the resort. Staying as a guest within SeaPInes is a completely different "feel" than simply passing through. When you become a guest of Seapines you are provided with accommodations & treatment that are world class. Some areas I would agree are getting older and need updating...but anywhere we have stayed has always been clean and well-kept and staff at the Sea Pines Resort office or top. (& I think the office is fair in basing rental prices on how up-to-date accomdations are) The Seapines Resort office will treat you the same as they would The Trumps. They rolled out the red carpet and gave us our monies worth. If you decide to stay and play, it is a place where you can meander along beautifully preserved paths and nature reserves, leave your car unlocked and walk the greenways or beach after dark.

If you are looking for a Desitn or Myrtle Beach knock-off...you will not find it on Sea Pines. Just know before you go. If you can understand and appreciate this, you will not be disappointed. Its a beautiful (NATURAL :) place.

We spent a week at the Sea Pines Resort at the end of a road trip down the Carolina coast from Washington DC. We thought that this was going to be a 5* resort but were very disappointed and could have rented a much nicer house with private pool for the same money we paid for a 2 bed condo at Sea Pines. The Welcome Centre was very smart and the staff polite and efficient so all looked promising. Pulling up outside our accommodation we had that sinking feeling that all was not well. We booked through an agent and were allocated our accommodation by the resort and not through personal choice. I did contact Sea Pines prior to our arrival; they replied promptly and were most helpful. I asked to be in walking distance of the beach with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. What we got was a condo in an area called The Plantation Club, an ugly and unappealing 4-story block.
To be fair the condo was well furnished and well appointed by the owners. The kitchen was particularly well set up for self catering but there was nothing in the cupboards, not even salt and pepper. The blue silk bedspread in the master bedroom looked lovely but had a nasty off putting stain and there was hair and sand in all the corners and thick dust on the air vents and edges and ledges. We moved one of the sofas to retrieve a pen and it was obvious it had not been moved or cleaned under in a long time. Making one of the beds we found a lost sock behind it along with hairballs. The master bath was like the black hole of Calcutta. When you closed the shower curtain it was so dark you couldn’t see a thing. The ceiling was cracked and the whole room was in need of updating.
On arrival the shower in the master bath did not work so we called for assistance. Maintenance staff arrived very promptly and quickly solved the problem which was impressive. We asked about other properties as I would have considered asking to be moved. However the message seemed to be that we were in one of the ‘better’ rental properties so we decided to stay where we were and went out to buy bleach and rubber gloves.
Our condo was well set up by the owners but the building was dated and badly cleaned and maintained by the property managers.
On the plus side the Sea Pines Resort has a good beach, golf courses, riding stables, activities for children, bikes for hire and miles of cycle track, tennis courts, a choice of swimming pools and a variety of restaurants all on the resort. In keeping with its environmental ethos, there is almost no lighting or signage so it would be almost impossible to find your way around if you arrived after dark.
We were there at the very end of August and over Labour Day and it was clear that the ‘season’ was over. On the up side it meant that we were always able to park at the beach, did not have to book in the restaurants and had the cycle paths almost to ourselves. The downside was that by lunchtime on Labour Day we were almost the only customers so atmosphere was lacking.
We travelled as a family with 2 older daughters, 18 and 21. There were no young people of their age, all other guests were either retired or had young children. Properties for sale on the resort were in the millions of dollars as were the yachts in the marina at Harbour Town. I can see the appeal for families with young children though prices for all activities were high except for the bike rental.
We found plenty to see and do in the area and enjoyed the resort but would probably not go back.