Know Before You Go: Montage Palmetto Bluff (South Carolina)
Set on 20,000 acres of waterfront land encompassing a private nature preserve and two (soon to be three) villages, this low-key family travel destination in the low-country of the southern United States offers an endless variety of things to do on land and on the water, no matter the season. We first stayed here during festive season in 2020 and finally fulfilled our dream of returning four years later — spending lazy, dreamy days here “porching”, biking, and enjoying the good life like a glass of sweet tea — drinking slowly and savoring each sip.
OVERALL RATING
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Exceptional
Overview
At-a-Glance
Date of stay: December 2024 (return visit); December 2020 (first visit)
Length of stay: 10 nights / 11 days total in Palmetto Bluff (5 nights in a village home booked with Montage, 5 nights in a village home booked with Luxury Simplified)
Trip type: Family festive season trip, eagerly returning to coastal South Carolina
Property type: Sprawling resort and gated residential community covering 20,000 acres of riverfront of Carolina Lowcountry
Tailor-made for: Active yet low-key family getaways where there is plenty to do and having a car on property is totally unnecessary (feet, bikes, and golf carts more than suffice).
Highlights
Spacious three bedroom home in Wilson Village booked through Montage - excellent accommodation and great, central location
“Festive Frolic” program — ballroom filled with bounce houses, games, crafts, and treats for the whole family
Game room at Cole’s in Moreland Village, walkable from the 4-Bedroom Moreland Village home booked through Luxury Simplified Retreats
Daily “porchin” with fresh baked cookies, hot apple cider and hot chocolate
Wood-fired pizzas at Flame (pizza truck)
Hush speakeasy in Wilson Village (adults only)
Nightly fireside S'mores
Traditional carolers
Dolphin tour (first visit)
Stables visit and “Paint the Pony” experience
Hiking and biking the River Road Preserve trail
Good to Know
There was a negligible difference in the experience we had in Palmetto Bluff with the village home we booked through Montage for the first 5 nights of our stay versus the home we booked through Luxury Simplified Retreats for the last 5 nights of our stay, even though the Montage home cost about 50% more
Secure dining reservations early during festive season and summer months
Dining was hit and miss — best meals were at Flame (both visits) and Canoe Club (first visit)
Though there were some very special service touches, the overall service experience had less of a personal feel, likely due to being such a large resort
Watch out for alligators in and near the water — there are lots here
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Location & Setting
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Set in the heart of the Lowcountry, near Bluffton, South Carolina, Palmetto Bluff is like a world unto itself. Arriving at the gates of the Palmetto Bluff community is just the start of a scenic, miles-long drive to arrive at the resort.
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Property & Grounds
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A unique-in-the-world residential community and resort comprising two separate, distinct villages across a vast expanse of waterfront land and endless activities, Palmetto Bluff offers guests the opportunity to feel like a resident in their upscale, "good-life" community while having access to all the amenities and services of a Forbes Five Star Resort and Spa with the Montage onsite.
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Room
💛💛💛💛+
Guests can choose between rooms at the Inn, cottages along the lagoon, or residences in one of the two resort villages. For the first five nights of our stay, we booked a 3-Bedroom Wilson Village Home through Montage. The Wilson Village area of the property is ideal for families, with easy access to all the Wilson Village amenities and West Wilson lawn and racquet club, yet only a 10-15 minute walk to the Montage Inn and recreation facilities.
For the second five nights of our stay, we booked a 4-bedroom Moreland Village Home through Luxury Simplified Retreats, which is the designated property management company for all Palmetto Bluff homes not managed through the Montage rentals program. Luxury Simplified Retreats offered similar stock of Wilson Village and Moreland Village homes but at prices around 50% lower than booking a home through Montage. The Moreland Village home was modern, well-equipped (better even than the first home), and well-located to Cole’s Restaurant, Canteen, and the Moreland Village pool and fitness center. We appreciated that Luxury Simplified Retreats provided all bed and bath linens, bath amenities in every bathroom, complimentary concierge services for booking dining reservations and activities (we booked golf carts, which worked seamlessly) as well as other services (e.g., in-home chef services, grocery stocking, mid-stay cleanings, etc.) — but our favorite aspect of this stay was the “leave the key and go” check-out philosophy, meaning guests do not need to do any end of stay cleaning.
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Service
💛💛💛💛+
Meeting Santa and Mrs. Clause (2020 stay)
Southern hospitality was on full display at the resort throughout our stay. Team members were accommodating, friendly, professional and courteous. Due to the size of the resort, it felt like it was a little difficult to make personal connections with the staff. However, the property offered texting-based service requests and updates, which was extremely helpful.
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Dining
💛💛💛+
The resort offers an abundance of dining options, with 7 full-service restaurants, an ice cream parlor and in-room dining, including in the Village Residences. Kids menus are available at all dining venues. Like last time, the food and beverage program was okay, but not great. Dinner reservations are a must — book several weeks out during festive season. We wanted to dine at Canoe Club again since it was the highlight of our dining last trip, but no reservations were available when we tried to book two weeks out. Hush, the speakeasy in the basement of River House (adults only) was our favorite dining out experience here, with an excellent cocktail program and live music (the guitarist was a little eclectic). While we cooked many of our meals at home, we had most of our meals out this trip at Octagon and Flame (the superb wood-fired pizza truck), plus a lunch at Buffalo’s.
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Family Services & Amenities
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The resort is exceptionally family-friendly with endless things to do and robust seasonal programming. We received a 14-page festive season program from Montage a couple months prior to our arrival. Festive Frolic — where a ballroom was filled with bounce houses, games, crafts, and snack stations — was the biggest hit. Paintbox, the full service kids program for children age 5-12, is offered daily for a fee (this is great for younger kiddos, but our kids had outgrown this program this trip). There is also a Montage Merit Badge program where kids can get badges for activities completed on property. Our kids also had fun during their stables tour and “Paint the Pony” experience.
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Activities
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Activities are really where the resort stands out, with extensive seasonal activities and programs. There are too many to list, but there is truly something for everyone, and you could stay at the resort for weeks without leaving the property and still not do all there is on offer. Highlights included exploring the property on bikes and golf carts, playing on the treehouses and playground, bowling, carolers, lawn games, nightly s’mores, daily "Porchin’” hour with freshly-baked cookies, hot cider, and hot chocolate.
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Wellness
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With the abundance of outdoor activities including biking , walking, hiking and paddling, Palmetto Bluff is a haven for wellness seekers (except for the dining, which is full-on Southern home cooking). There are three fitness centers and a variety of fitness / wellness classes offered daily. A full-service spa and salon is located at the Montage Inn.
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Wow Factor
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The expansiveness and residential-feel of the resort combined with its staggering amount of activities on offer makes it truly one-of-a-kind. We loved it here on our first visit and it surpassed our expectations yet again four years later — we are already looking forward to a return visit.
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Value
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This resort offers so much to do and see. While much is available on the resort, many of the activities are only available for an additional fee. The dining was also somewhat overpriced. Overall, the value was solid because of all the Montage programming and recreation available through the Palmetto Bluff Club. Given the steep price difference between booking a village home through Montage versus Luxury Simplified Retreats, we were glad we had a chance to compare the two experiences back-to-back. In the end, we felt we received better value booking a village home through Luxury Simplified Retreats than through Montage, which still provided access to all the Palmetto Bluff Club amenities, just not the Montage facilities and programs.
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Overall
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For a carefree family trip in the States with an endless number of seasonally-appropriate things to do, this place has much to offer. One of our all-time favorites and a place we could easily return every year.
Rating Legend*
💛💛💛💛💛 Exceptional
💛💛💛💛 Notable
💛💛💛 Standard
💛💛 Substandard
💛 Unsatisfactory
*All ratings are relative to similar-class properties
