The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island is second to none. We return here yearly to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and the property and staff continue to exceed our expectations year after year. From being met by a bell man as we walked up the sidewalk to the property to check in, to being personally escorted to our room, you really are treated as if you're a very special guest at the Sanctuary. The onsite restaurants are fabulous, and the coffee roasted and selected just for the Sanctuary is definitely something you'll want to buy and take home with you. Kiawah Island is one of the most gorgeous beach resorts in the US, and the Sanctuary just takes it to another level. If you need to get away, if you love the beach, and if you want to stay in the nicest, most welcoming luxury resort in the US, go to the Sanctuary.

My husband and I traveled here for a wedding and a weekend getaway. It was perfect. We stayed at the seascape villas and everything was perfect. We do not golf and there was plenty of other activities for us to do like tennis, wildlife watching, and water sports. We had easy access to the beach and a screened in back porch. In the morning we would sit on the screened porch and see deer and an assortment of birds. It was so quiet and peaceful. The wedding was at Mingo Point and was so beatiful. The food was amazing everywere we went and the staff was so knowledgable and friendly. The best part was that you could call a shuttle to come pick you up at your villa and it will take you anywhere on the island and you could use your room key as a credit card anywhere on the restort. This resort was perfect for a weekend getaway and it was so beautiful and romantic.

If you have ever booked a rental unit with no pictures and wondered what you would get, this unit was spectacular. Three bedrooms, three baths, completely equipt. We booked this unit for the Kiawah Island Marathon and were only looking for a place to sleep. Rate was resonable, so we said lets try it. Imagine our suprise at how nice it was. Kiawah Island Golf Resort manages it and they make sure everything is perfect. One bedroom with king bed, two others had twin beds and all had seperate bathrooms. Great kitchen and satelite TV in main room and all bedrooms. Lagoon behind unit and beach about 3 blocks away. Straw market and other places nearby. Large mall with grocery store just outside main gate. Would be great unit for family with kids. Not much of a view, but we went to the beach and it did not look like there is much to see if you had a beach view unit. I would definitly recommend looking into these units if your in the Charleston Kiawah Island area on vacation.

We stayed here when we did the 2012 Kiawah Island half marathon. The person who checked us in and out (same person) was super nice - process was quick and easy. The condo we rented (in Windswept) was very well maintained and very clean. These condos are older - maybe 80's vintage - but they appear to have been updated on the inside and are very nice. Parking is not plentiful but with my wife spotting a hard to see but available space we were able to park relatively close to our condo. We got the partial ocean view, and true to it's name we could partially see the ocean - mostly because we were on the ground floor. A higher floor would have been better. We were a short walk to the race start line - only took us 5 minutes. That was a really good thing after the race.The regular checkout time is 10 am and since we were in the half marathon which started at 8 am (and we don't run 4 minute miles) we needed a late checkout. We got a 1 pm checkout no problem - plenty of time to finish the half, walk over to the beach and hang out for a while (our condo was VERY close to the beach), go back to our room, and shower and pack in time to drive back to the airport in Charleston and catch our flight home.
So...if it's so super awesome why the 4 dot rating? It's pricey...pretty much everything at the resort is pricey. After researching the resort restaurants we decided save ourselves a chunk of change and eat somwhere equally nice but significantly less expesive in Charleston before driving to the island - we were very glad that we did. If you're going to be there a few days you will want to purchase your groceries at the Piggly Wiggly - a nearby supermarket. Also, it's not obvious where the check in office is especially in the dark (unless you have night vision goggles and can speed read the small and poorly lit signage). Be ready for a bit of a drive from the security gate to the resort offices.
Finally, when I tried to book online nothing was available. I called thier direct line on the off-chance that the system was not completely up to date and found out that they had lot's of rooms available. I guess that for dates adjacent to the marathon you can only book a room over the phone.