The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort

The grounds are lovely, the rooms spacious, and the spa staff, front desk staff, and wait staff kind and courteous! It is quiet, but very isolated. The group of three I traveled with all had issues with various concierge's being rude and condescending, whether it was when discussing transportation options or attempting to book any activities. There definitely was a not-so-subtle difference in how we were treated when compared to the clearly more affluent guests; did not feel 'southern hospitality.' Overall, there are better resorts throughout the southern states, with comparable pricing, to stay in and be treated with more respect while also having more options for booking activities, dining, etc.

The hotel decor is lovely. The staff is not as well dressed or polished as I would have expected. The Ocean Room restaurant is beautiful! Quiet attentive staff were very knowledgable. The steak my husband ordered that was almost $100 was less than 1" think and nothing special. On the club level the staff was junior and acted and dressed like it. The food in the club was not what we have experienced at other 5 star hotels. It was okay - but not great. The bar service is very good and they have all the high end cocktails you would expect. The spa was lovely and very expensive. I was suprised at the lack of seating areas to enjoy the ocean view. The club room has no outdoor space. You could be in the city for all the attention they gave the beautiful outdoor setting. Unfortunately, I had some items taken from our room. I reported it to security and they came right away, but I did not get my items back. We opted to leave early due to the event. It left a bad feeling for us both. We will not be back.

Beginning to go down hill. I have been going these for a dozen years. Never has this place been so bad. I was there for 2 days in March and again for 5 days in early April with two rooms for my kids. I signed up for the club on both occasions. I noticed the first trip that the club was empty. I was only there for 2 days but I did notice the food and service was not good at all. That was confirmed in a major way on the second trip. Club was virtually empty. Food was terrible. 'Crisp' food was soggy and other food was dried out. One evening they actually served, get this, mac and cheese as their, let's call it, main course in a '5-star club'. Give me a break. $300 a person and they serve mac and cheese? The next day my daughter had hair in her fruit in the morning and half the bowls were empty of cross contaminated with other servings. A total mess. Staff was disinterested and withdrawn. Outrageous for the money this place charges. I wrote the concierge and CCed the manager. ZERO response for 2 weeks now.

We stayed at the Sanctuary Hotel in Kiawah for a golf trip this past week. I'll do two reviews (the hotel and the golf). First, the hotel - it's top notch. The attentive service, friendliness of the staff, cleanliness of the entire property was off the charts and you can understand why it gets 5 stars. All of that greatness comes at a cost, it isn't the most wallet friendly hotel. It's pricey. We booked through our Chase Sapphire card where we get some perks like free breakfast every day. The benefit we were told equates to $42/day per person. The buffet just so happened to be $42 per person. The one day the buffet wasn't an option, so 3 eggs, potatoes, sausage, and toast was $38. The Ocean room was their higher end restaurant. We each had an appetizer, entree, two drinks each, and we split a dessert. All in with a tip was $320. All of the food we had was very, very good. The hotel name says it all, Sanctuary. You are pretty isolated. Kiawah Island doesn't really have a "downtown" to speak of. If you wanted to eat at a restaurant that's not in the hotel, you had to either drive or take a shuttle to one of the other courses' clubhouses and eat in the restaurant there. A shopping center-type area was there too, but we never had a chance to check it out. GOLF: We played Turtle Point, Cougar Point, and the Ocean Course where the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup were played. Becauses we stayed at the resort, we got discounted rates for golf ($370 for the Ocean course for those wondering + another $120 caddie tip- caddie is optional). You can book all tee times on their website, it's pretty simple. Even though the Ocean course is the big draw, we thought Turtle and Cougar were more challenging than the Ocean course. The Ocean course is wide open, you can spray the ball and still recover. The other two courses had lots of water in play and tree lined fairways. Alligators a plenty! For an idea of pricing of merchandise. We live in Pinehurst and a typical Peter Millar polo with the Pinehurst logo is about $115-125 (sorta pricey, but it has the logo on it, so you pay a premium, I get it). At Kiawah, the same polos were $140-170 - same shirt, different logo. I tried on a nice Peter Millar jacket, very nice and fit me well. I looked at the price tag: $330. Needless to say, I did not buy any merchandise. The entire island is small and has one lane roads. I can't possibly imagine the crowds and traffic during peak season. I liked Kiawah Island, but I didn't love it. I'll be back (in the offseason), but I'm not in a rush.

We spent 3 nights here and had a great stay at Sanctuary. The service was exceptional, from check in, to the bellhop/valet, room service.......everyone was top notch and helpful. The property is gorgeous, and although we were not able to take advantage of the outdoor pools due to weather, we still took advantage of the indoor pool and gym. The location is very unique, i highly recommend taking the shuttle to the ocean course and having a meal/drink there to experience the history.