1st time to Hilton Head..looking for beach house suggestions

We are looking to plan our first family vacation to the Hilton Head area. Our children are ages 14, 12 and 1 year. We would like something on the beach. Any suggestions on where to stay and what to do would be greatly appreciated. We are planning either June or July. Thanks!

1st time to Hilton Head..looking for beach house suggestions

Hi blguidy: You will LOVE Hilton Head. I would look on vrbo.com or the other rental agencies that are advertised on this forum. Look for North Forest Beach area or Palmetto Dunes. Singleton Beach is cheaper but not as close to everything. If you stay in North Forest Beach, you are closest to Coligny Plaza which has lots of shops/restaurants/grocery/etc. We rented a house on Osprey. Lovely.

D in Muskoka.

1st time to Hilton Head..looking for beach house suggestions

Thanks!

I%26#39;ve been looking at different sites. One of my fears is trusting what I see on the internet and then getting there and being really disappointed! Thanks for your help!

If you go the route of ';rent by owner'; ask lots of questions (see the post about someone wanted to rent without a rental agreement).

Noting the ages of your children, I%26#39;d be sure and ask about baby things i.e. are the electrical outlets protected, are there stairs, does the owner provide a pack %26#39;n play crib or other baby supplies. For the older kids are there board games (it does rain in the summer), video games, movies, etc.

Don%26#39;t think any question is too crazy (I had someone ask me about lamps--apparently they had stayed in a home where there were no lamps...hard to read at bedtime when you have big overhead lights beaming;-}). You know what you want and expect from your vacation. The more questions you ask and the more info you share with an owner, the more likely your are to find the ';perfect'; place for your family.

Thanks! Those are some things I didn%26#39;t even think of. I have been to a bunch of different web sites, I just don%26#39;t know which are the best and most reliable for information. Any suggestions?

You can google ';hilton head vacation rentals';. My personal favorites are vacationrentals.com and vrbo.com. I did use Homeaway.com (which owns vrbo and vacationrentals) this morning. It has a good search feature. Although some ';script'; kept having trouble loadin--could be because I%26#39;m using Firefox as my browser.

Vrconnection.com is another handy site as it allows owners and renters to do everything online i.e. sign and accept rental agreements, pay online, etc. (note: not all owners may activate these features; I also don%26#39;t know how many HHI listings there are).

I would suggest Palmetto Dunes and island getaways rental company. We have used them for years and have never encountered an issue. The agents are knowledgable and will tell you honestly if a place is not as nice as another. The pictures online and in the brochure have always been up to date and accurate. We also will have 2 kids this year (13 and almost 2) We find that the best houses for us are on the end of a cul-de-sac. That way the kids can ride their bikes/sidewalk chalk or whatever without the fear of tons of traffic. The beaches at PD are never crowded and we love to bike around the plantation. We don%26#39;t stay oceanfront anymore due to the cost, we find that 2nd or 3rd row (on a beach path) is more than adequate for us. We are pretty mellow as far as activities. We will catch the weekly fire works display and eat out a few times, but most of our time is spent by the pool grilling up something yummy or soaking up the rays on the beach. The lighthouse is neat for kids to see at least once and its a nice place to get pictures. Putt-putt is always an option. I have heard there is a skate park is any of your kids are interested in that. We are going to check it out this year if I can find where it is. LOL IMO You can%26#39;t go wrong with HHI. Have fun and enjoy!

blduidry:

If you narrow down your dates, you will probably have loads of people helping you with possibilities. You need to tell us boys or girls and what you guys like to do generally.

I agree that ';on the beach'; is not really that necessary. You will pay through the nose and we had a 3rd row house and it was just perfect. We could see the ocean from the front driveway yet it was only 50 steps to the beach, way less than one minute and it was much cheaper than being ';oceanfront.'; As well, with a one year old, the water would not pose an immediate hazard if they were to ';get away'; without anyone noticing. We were in North Forest Beach and loved the area. It was really close to Coligny Plaza. We biked there for ice cream, shopping, etc.

As for what to do. Rent bikes for the week and ride on the beach. The dolphins can been seen from shore. The age range from 12 to 1 is tricky. Dolphin cruises for your 12 and 14 yr old would be totally different than what you can do with a one year old.

D in Muskoka.

The baby will be 2 in September so he%26#39;s at the age now that animals really interest him. We don%26#39;t have to be ';Oceanfront';. I would just like to be able to see the beach. I didn%26#39;t realize ';away from beach'; was so close. Is June and July a good time to go? This is our first time planning a beach vacation as well as our first time to South Carolina. I appreciate all of the input!

Most folks are up for the humidity the South has to offer during the summer months. Seeing you%26#39;re from LA, you know how much ';dripping sweat'; humidity can cause;-)

Make sure you use lots of sunscreen. ';No see %26#39;ums'; can be a little irritating as well as mosquitoes (If you plan on being outside after dark, perhaps on a deck; the higher up you are the less mosquitoes you%26#39;ll see). We put Bounce dryer sheets in our pockets if we are playing golf to keep the no see %26#39;ums at bay.

If you%26#39;re planning on eating out in HHI, go early. Choose a late lunch or an early dinner. Traffic can be gridlock during the high dinner hours. Personally, my ideal vacation is to cook at home. That way we can all help out cooking and enjoy a cocktail or two. Besides there%26#39;s nothing like Carolina shrimp (trust me,it does not compare to gulf shrimp; it is way more sweet;-}) or a big steak cooked on the grill.

June/July is a great time to go, but its the most $$$. I would try to narrow down your choices asap, the best places may be gone already, but you will find something.