The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort

Words truly cannot express how pleased we were with our stay at The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island! From the moment we pulled into the property until the second we left, everything was simply perfect. The level of service and attention to detail was unmatched. The gentleman who took care of us on the beach was incredibly kind and attentive, making our time by the ocean unforgettable. The staff at every restaurant and bar went above and beyond to make us feel welcome and cared for—professional, friendly, and genuinely warm. We also want to give a special shout-out to the wonderful young lady who took care of us at The Ocean Room. We had the opportunity to enjoy a meal there and chose to dine in the bar area. Her service was outstanding—warm, knowledgeable, and made our evening extra special. It’s rare to find a place that exceeds every expectation, but The Sanctuary did just that. We absolutely cannot wait to return!

Lovely and beautiful hotel. But ruined by the fact that on a Saturday night they close the bar at 11pm. We could not get a drink at all to share with friends. I found that totally shocking. The night before the bar was open past midnight so there was no warning or expectation that we would be unable to do the same ON A SATURDAY!!!! Thoroughly disappointed. And staff offered nothing to accommodate. We had been out with house owners and wanted a drink at the end of the night on our return (especially for the driver) but no one was willing to help. As hotel guests I would expect a different response. Shame as our last night and ruined our experience especially given the cost of the stay.

The service was exceptional. Each person was kind and communicative at the resort. I haven’t seen this kind of attention to detail lately. Each team member asked how they could help at breakfast lunch and dinner. The beach was wide and beautiful. I’d certainly come again. The pool wasn’t special and didn’t have a view of the water.

The staff at the Sanctuary were excellent. Had a bit of an issue in check in but they got it taken care of quickly. The shuttle is great to be able to go from the hotel to other restaurants and activities in the island. The live music Saturday evening on the lawn is a lot of fun. My only complaint was that despite having tables available many of the restaurants were completely booked up days ahead of time, I am guessing they are low on staff and not able to seat guests at each table. I had to drive off site one evening to get dinner because the concierge couldn’t find us availability anywhere.

Take uber from the airport not Lyft. We were charged 23.00 extra as Lyft doesn’t have a contract to get onto the Island. I wish the hotel mentioned this. We paid this cost in cash for the driver in addition to the regular transport cost. Once there: Room was very nice. Restaurant food quality was good overall. House Volvo cars were a great perk! Spa was amazing. We had wonderful massages in a beautiful environment. There were many small bothersome things that were cumulative for a 5 star hotel: - Concierge team seemed to not know the area, details about restaurants (Places closed on Mondays - we almost got a driver to one restaurant Monday evening while talking to several concierge staff. Luckily I looked myself ahead as the restaurant was closed on Mondays. —Someone approved a person to come in room to open our safe - called us after someone was already in the room to open the safe while we were on the beach to make sure we had authorized it. A prior guest apparently requested it. We were panicked because we thought we were being robbed. -pool bar/restaurant closes at 5:00 pm -had to leave beach to walk to the pool restaurant to get lunch as no service on the beach for at least one hour despite repeated attempts to ask. -Transportation booked by hotel to airport never showed up. Made the end of the trip very stressful. No one seemed in a rush to fix the problem telling us the driver was 20 minutes away in traffic (this was a 100.00 per person transport the hotel stated was highly reliable through their vetted company). We got to the airport one hour before our flight on a one lane road with construction. We could have easily missed the flight.