Montage Palmetto Bluff

My wife and I recently spent 1 night at Montage Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, SC. We were in the area visiting family on Hilton Head, and chose to add on a night in Palmetto Bluff. We enjoyed the approximately 27 hours we spent on property, arriving early and enjoying some pool time prior to our room being ready, and also on our departure date we made our way to the Moreland Village section of Palmetto Bluff and enjoyed lunch at the Canteen while also checking out the Tree House in that section of the property. Overall we had an enjoyable, albeit very short stay. Check in/Arrival We drove our rental car in from Hilton Head which took about 40 minutes and arrived at the property prior to check in time. We were able to have to front desk hold our bags and we used the spa locker room to get changed into our swimsuits and spent the afternoon by the spa pool. After a couple of hours there we received a text that our room was ready. Room We booked the cheapest room available for this trip and our travel agent was able to get us an upgrade to the Carolina Suite which was in the main building and great views of the lagoon. I imagine this generous upgrade was due to our stay being just 1 night and taking place on a Monday. The room had more than enough space for us to spread out and get comfortable. It was a one bed room suite with a living room with dining area attached, 2 bathrooms both with showers, and a bed room with a king size bed. It also had a small balcony that we made use of for some early evening drinks prior to our dinner. Service Due to the shorter length of stay we were unfortunately unable to interact with staff as much as we would have liked, but everyone was friendly and hospitable for the most part. We enjoyed our waiter Alex’s help at our lunch at Fore and Aft, and Roy was helpful for our poolside needs. Other than that, I didn’t catch much of the staffs names or have much of an opinion on their service delivery with one exception. The spa includes male and female locker rooms with a nice hot tub/cold tub combo as well as a steam room and sauna. During our stay we utilized these amenities multiple times, especially when we were waiting for our room to become available as well as when we had already departed our room. It wasn’t until we were utilizing these for one last time prior to heading to the airport that the staff informed us that these amenities were only available to guests with spa services. The way the spa staff approached us both seemed unnecessarily accusatory, insinuating that we were attempting to sneak into the locker rooms to use the amenities. We weren’t informed of the spa policy upon arrival and utilized the amenities repeatedly without issue until we were approached on our last afternoon. We would have happily paid for the privilege to utilize these areas, had we been briefed on the policy of the spa. Dining We had a total of 4 meals on property all of which were above average, but none were particularly memorable. We had hoped to try their River House restaurant, but it was unfortunately closed on Sundays and Mondays, the two days we were on property. For our first meal on property we tried Fore and Aft, their Mexican restaurant which was situated right above the main lagoon outside of the back of the main inn building. We tried the dip trip (salad, queso, and guacamole), carne asada burrito, and shrimp tacos. The cucumber lemonade was excellent for a non-alcoholic option. For dinner our in laws joined us for a meal at Buffalo’s which was in Wilson Village, a separate section of the resort. It was about a half mile walk from the main inn. My wife and mother in law were able to get a golf cart while my father in law and I walked and were able to spot a massive alligator in the river along the way. Buffalo’s served American classics and international dishes that were pretty Americanized. We enjoyed the BBQ chicken wings, the asian noodle salad, the burger, and the chicken tortilla soup. We hoped to try the house made veggie burger, but they were unfortunately sold out. Buffalo’s was a solid, but unspectacular meal that we were happy to have tried, but probably wouldn’t have repeated had we had more nights on property. Octagon is the restaurant in the main inn area and they serve all 3 meals there, but we only had breakfast there. We shared the banana bread and fruit plate, I had a berry smoothie and custom omelette with bacon, spinach, peppers, and goat cheese, while my wife tried the breakfast burrito. Our breakfast was enjoyable again, without being over the top memorable. For our final meal on property, we asked for a shuttle to take us to Moreland Village and tried out the sandwich shop, Canteen. We tried the tuna melt and the turkey BLT both of which were good to enjoy while we sat in the Adirondack chairs and enjoyed views of the waterways nearby. This was a fun way to spend our afternoon getting to see a different part of the property before we headed to the airport. Activities Although we didn’t get to partake in any formal activities, we did get to participate in one of the complimentary workout classes offered in the morning and my wife rented a bike. The grounds of the property are so expansive (20,000 acres) that it’s the perfect place to go out on a run or bike ride. I was able to do 2 separate runs around the property to get a great feel for the entire complex and my wife accompanied me on one of them on her bike to check it out herself. We hope to return to be able to do some of the boating tours to look for dolphins or tour the inlets and around the islands, but we didn’t have time to do any of that this time. Location The Palmetto Bluff development is a massive, lush property with so much to offer for guests at the Montage and full time residents alike. My wife and I are huge nature travelers and love to visit luxury wilderness properties whenever we can. Although so much development on the property definitely disqualifies it from any sort of wilderness, this property nonetheless was right up our alley in terms of the setting in amongst the river and lagoon. The forest that has been preserved and not developed is dense and gives native wildlife a chance to still thrive here, we were told that raccoons, armadillos, deer, foxes, and coyotes can be found here amongst other mammals and diverse bird populations, in addition to the alligators that inhabit the lagoon and river system near the property. We got to spot a number of alligators on our first day and enjoyed watching them move around the lagoon, albeit at a safe distance. One of our highlights of our stay was catching at shuttle ride to Moreland Village and walking through the neighborhood to be able to climb up the 5 story tree house, offering sweeping views of the river system. Facilities We feel that there is so much on offer that we could definitely return and stay entertained for well over a week and still not get to enjoy everything offered. We are not golfers, but the golf is supposed to be excellent, there are plenty of pickleball and tennis courts, there’s a basketball court as well. The spa has very nice amenities in addition to the adults only spa pool and hot tub. There’s also a family pool directly across the way, but far enough that we were not disturbed from the peace and quiet we enjoyed. We may not even be fully aware of what other facilities are available due to our short stay, but it seemed like there was something for everyone, regardless of interests. Overall We’d definitely return to this property in the future, especially as our family is spending more time in the Hilton Head area. Ideally we’d want to be in a cottage on the river side if we came back just my wife and I, but we didn’t want to spend that much for just this one night stay, so a room in the main inn worked for us and the upgrade we were able to secure made it even better. An increasingly netter option for us in the future would be to round up our family and friends and join in on a week long residence rental to be able to do all of the activities on offer, do runs and bike rides to explore all corners of the property, experience all of the dining options available, and try a spa treatment or two as well.

First class hotel located in beautiful area, great service, tremendous restaurant choices and activities. We attended the RBC Heritage tournament while there and it was a blast. Downtown Bluffton has a cool vibe, shopping and restaurants.

I have had the luxury of going to PB for many, many years and they keep raising the bar. The accommodations, food, activities, setting, and service are stellar. Put it on your list of MUST!!! Park you car and be ready to be spoiled. Every aspect of the resort is 5 STAR

Terrible service. Understaffed. Not even close to where it needs to be for this class of hotel. Food is mediocre at most of the restaurants and takes a very long time to arrive. They can’t honor late checkouts from Amex and concierge is entirely useless. We stay at five star hotels all around the world and we are definitely not coming back.

Ambiance and immersive experience are outstanding. The service level and making you feel like a special guest are best in class. But, these days when you are paying 6 star prices, EVERYTHING should be 6 star. We had several disappointments during our stay. I have stayed at Four Seasons, other Montage properties, St. Regis, Ritz Carlton, Luxury Collection, Leading Hotels of the World etc,,,, I speak from experience. These days we are all over-paying. The onus on hotels is to over deliver.