Two couples in their 30s vacationing in late May - early June in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, seeking information about where to stay (3 or 4 nights) and what to do. Please provide your best and worst experience on Myrtle Beach to try and assist us in planning our vacation. Open to suggestions on what to do.

Terri,

I suggest you do a text search of this site using the term *myrtle beach* and selecting South Carolina in the subject field to the right of the text search field.

There have been a ton of informative posts on MB over the past few months (and even before that).

Worst Experience: against all good judgment, my wife & I tried a seafood buffet--never, never, never again.

Best Experience: hit the beach about 10:00 AM, walk, swim, or nap in the sun until about 11:00 or 11:30, go in for a bite of lunch or late breakfast, back on the beach about 1:00 or 2:00, with book or magazine, cup for shells, a couple of gloves and a baseball, and a cooler full of your favorite beverage--this will take you up through at least 5:00 or 6:00 (or beyond), when it's time to get ready for a night out.

Our favorite place to stay (before we moved to the area) was oceanfront at Kingston Plantation. I saw a negative comment about it recently, but the author of that comment stayed away from the beach, and hopefully her negative experience was an exception. I have never seen another bad comment.

Have a great time!

My worst? Someone stole my car from the hotel parking lot. Never got it back.Police weren't even very helpful IMO. Watch those hotels where all the rooms have ocean views and none look out on parking lots. Evidently, they knew it was easy.

Definitely go to Broadway at the Beach. It's a large complex made up of shops, restaurants, acquarium, Imax, mini-golf, etc. A great place to stroll thru at night after dinner.

Chuck - Thanks for the information. Will check out the South Carolina Web Site for information on Myrtle Beach. Linda - Thanks for the tip. Sorry for your unfortunate experience.
Randa - We'll check out Broadway at the Beach when we visit. Thanks.
Do any of you have an opinion on visiting Myrtle Beach during Black Biker Week? It is my understanding it is Memorial Day week and this is the week we are interested in visiting. Thanks again!

Myrtle Beach is great if you like T-shirt shops and minature golf. We went specially to play golf, and they do have some very nice courses, but I wouldn't go back there if it was free! Why not drive south to Charleston or Beaufort?

I think you may not enjoy MB during either of the biker weeks. Why not go south to Garden City, Litchfield, Pawley's Island. Food is the best at Murrell's Inlet (just N of Litchfield/Pawley's). Myrtle is just so congested and truly awful during the biker weeks. They do not go much further south so you can escape somewhat.

Terri,

While I respect the opinions stated above about *Black* Biker Week, which is Memorial Day Weekend, (and the Harley-Davidson Rally), I just don't see what the fuss is about.

Of course there are going to be a large number of people here Memorial Day Weekend (and from mid-June through mid-August). And some of them will be on motorcycles. So?

Finally, you will be fairly isolated in Kingston Plantation, so you'll see the spectacle only when you venture out. And from your location, you'll be able to get to most attractions/restaurants without too much trouble, even in traffic.

I am perhaps the negative poster to whom Chuck refers. We stayed in a one-bedroom villa in off-season (Sept.) at Kingston Plantation. The location was great, as it was only 3-4 minutes from the beach. They had very few accomodations for one bedroom guests so that is all we were offered. While reasonable ($125 per night) we were incredibly disappointed with the condition of the villa. It was filthy! I don't mean dirty....I mean filty! There were roaches, greasy kitchen tops, dirty appliances, etc. Then, to add insult to this situation, there were maintenance men with ladders up to our windows...noses looking in at 8:30 in the morning. The were pounding on the roof....we think our neighbors complained. I was livid, but my husband didn't want to complain (he is like that) even when the men were on ladders looking in our windows. I thought this was intolerable! The blinds didn't meet anywhere on the windows....they appeared to be torn up long ago...and of course, never repaired. It really was a joke. Other things just for your information...the air conditioner didn't work very well, and neither did the washer/dryer. Again, we were there in September, and they didn't even appear to be 1/3 full. You would think that they would have moved us if they were planning maintenance work....besides, it was WAY overdue. The housekeeper came to our door and said she would provide services if we wanted it...she didn't even make the bed. She left some linens. She never came back for 2-3 days. In fact, the bed was made once during our visit. In hindsight, I should have complained vigorously...and perhaps I relented to my husband because we were there on 9/11. It did seem rather small at the time. The only positive was the health club...if this is your cup-of-tea, it is first-rate. I just do not believe with all the really nice places to stay, I would ever consider giving Kingston Plantation another dollar of my money.

Cindy,

I really hate that you and your husband had such a bad experience! I understand why you did not complain, but I wish you would have. The condition of your unit was totally unacceptable, and it reflects very badly on what many of us seem to think is the best resort in MB.

As you may or may not know, the villas (at least many of them) in Kingston Plantation are individually owned. I believe a real estate management company handles rentals, maintenance, etc. on behalf of the owners. But apparently there is variation from unit to unit.

Have you tried Ocean Creek a few miles north of KP? My wife & I stayed there once a few years back, and it was similar to KP in design (combination of oceanfront rooms and villas inland). The beach is a little funny because there is a creek or inlet that necessitates a walk over a bridge to reach the ocean. Not a big deal, just a little unusual.

Anyway, sorry you had such a bad time. If I see any other negative stories about KP, I will have to reconsider my enthusiasm for the place.

Thank you Chuck, Toni, Gretchen and Cindy for your comments. Still undecided on our May vacation. On this site, Kiawah Island, South Carolina and Duck, North Carolina were listed for top 10 beaches in the U.S. Any feedback? I am still looking into Myrtle Beach, but thought I might seek information about these other two places as well. Thank you!

Terri,

It's been 10 years (unfortunately!) since I visited Kiawah Island. I believe it is probably essentially the same--an unspoiled beach with very luxurious accomodations. We stayed in a great little villa, perhaps a 2 minute walk to the ocean. I recall the beach being very nice, with wonderful sand dunes.

Duck is a little more rustic than Kiawah and not as exclusive, but the beach is awesome--unspoiled.

The pristine, relatively undeveloped beachfront & dunes and the relative quiet/simplicity are the main distinguishing factors as between Duck/Kiawah and MB.

Even though I live in N. MB and love it, if you're looking for natural beauty and a more exclusive area, you would choose Duck or Kiawah over MB (same could be said of Hilton Head too).

On the other hand, if you're looking for a wide variety of things to do, with a pretty good beach (relatively clear ocean water, wide flat beaches, although not much in the way of dunes), with a decidedly middle class flair--MB is great.

Hope this helps.

Oh, and another possibility for you. You should consider Sunset Beach NC. It's about 20-30 miles north of MB, a little barrier island developed mainly just with beach houses. Great beach, great sand dunes, quaint and unspoiled. You could rent a cottage (ocean front or a few rows back), and if you needed to get out & do stuff, MB is only about 35-45 minutes away.

If you like quiet and natural beaches, take a drive up to Bird Island. It is near Sunset Beach. After a walk down the undeveloped beach you will find a bench and the mailbox of the "Kindred Spirit" . In it, you will find journals where people have written thoughts and you can add yours. There are starfish and sand dollars in the tidal pools left at low tide. I thought it was beautiful. When my husband and I went there was no one on the beach but us and the sand pipers.

Hi Terri!
A good website you might want to try out is www.myrtlebeachlive. Has a lot of information. Personally if I was getting a place to stay at the beach I would consider Garden City or Surfside Beach since Myrtle Beach is so crowded in the summer. Hope you have a nice trip.

Cindy, I can't believe you had such a different experience at KP then we did! We've rented one and two bedroom condos there and are going again this year. We rent directly from the Hotel, not an owner. Perhaps that is why our experience was so different.

We had daily maid service and our unit was kept spotless. We normally did our own dishes, but on the few occasions when we left a few in the sink, the maid did them. If we wanted more towels, no problem, they brought them right away. Not to mention that fantastic waterpark, which, if you rent from an owner rather than the resort you have to pay for. Also you're right about the health club. It's the nicest I've ever been to. My sister and I use it every day we are there.

My mom has gone to MB for years, and thinks KP is the best resort there. Since she found KP she won't stay anywhere else. Just our opinion though.

Thanks Chuck, dk, Misty and Nina for your responses.

I am in the process of looking into Sunset Beach, NC, Garden City and Surfside Beach as well as still browsing for more information on KP. The other couple travelling with us is interested in the Outer Banks and we are browsing for information on that as well.

Thanks again for all your information.