Our Stay at Palmetto Bluff | Girls Weekend in January

Last weekend I met up with 3 of my girlfriends from college for a little reunion trip.  We haven’t all been together since 2017 on a trip to South Beach , so we were so excited for this holiday weekend get together at the Montage Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, SC!  This resort has also been on my bucket list to hit.

Two of our friends live in Charlotte and another in Philadelphia, so it was great that our friends in Charlotte just had a 4 hour drive to the resort and then we would have a car if we needed it.  My friend Kate, who lived in Philly, flew and met me in Atlanta and then both of us flew from ATL to Savannah.  Once in Savannah, it was easy to grab an Uber and it was a 40 minute ride or so to Palmetto Bluff.

The arrival was picturesque as we approached the property with the most gorgeous oaks with hanging moss.  I knew this low-country beauty was going to be a different beauty then what we have at home and it truly was!  The property is over 20,000 acres with 32 miles of waterfront.  So it is huge and has a lot to offer.  The weather was cool — in the low sixties and our plans consisted of exploring the property, drinking and eating great food, relaxation and some friendly, but competitive pickle ball matches 🙂

We were greeted at check-in by our last names and handed over a delicious glass of champagne.  Our home wasn’t quite ready yet when we arrived, so we decided to grab some lunch at Octagon right there in the Inn lobby and they would come get us as soon as it was ready.

We stayed at the Palmetto Bluff Wilson Village Home 5049 which was a two-bedroom, 2.5 bath cottage right next to the tennis and pickle ball courts.  It was so beautiful and charming.  The home had a kitchen, laundry room, and nice size living room with a cozy fireplace.   The screened in porch was comfortable with a grill and outdoor TV and a view of the tennis courts. Our home came with complimentary bikes that we rode all over the property.

We had this gorgeous surprise waiting on us when we checked into our home.  Two bottles of wine and a beautiful cheese board from my travel agent, Melanie, at MK Luxury Travel.  She is awesome and has planned several of our recent trips in the past year.  We even had an amazing surprise on day two when we walked into our cottage and a tray of homemade margaritas were waiting on us.  They had fresh squeezed lime juice and several bottles of tequila for us to make our own margs (they probably took note on how many Octaquilas we ordered from the bar at the Octagon Lounge, ha!).

There are 8 restaurants on Palmetto Bluff – Buffalo’s, Cole’s, Fore & Aft, Canoe Club, Octagon, Canteen, River House Lounge and Hush plus a cute little coffee shop, Buzz, and Ice Cream shop, Melt.

During the winter months, some of these spots may not be available.  During our stay, two of the main restaurants were closed for renovation plus the speakeasy bar  — The Riverhouse, Buffalo’s, and the speakeasy, Hush.

We were only there for 3 nights, so we still had plenty of dining options and enjoyed all of our meals.  We did go off property one night (about a 20 min drive into Bluffton) for dinner to The Pearl.  This restaurant had come highly recommended, but I will say we left there feeling a little underwhelmed.  It is definitely a high-quality cuisine and cute ambiance, but we had a sour waiter and a few dishes that just missed the mark.  So I hated to leave there feeling that way, but sometimes that happens!  The hotel provided us with a few drivers names that we were able to contact to pick us up and take us home from the dinner.  We were quoted $100 plus tip for the transportation.  If you are willing to drive, the hotel also offers complimentary Cadillac SUVs that you can reserve for the night.

On our first full day, we reserved and scheduled the Veuve Cliquoet Picnic and Bike excursion.  They load of your picnic baskets with a lovely lunch and give you a map of some of their favorite spots on property for a picnic lunch.  You can enjoy the bikes for several hours and ride around wherever you would like.  It was a very “cute” experience and perfect for this girls trip.

We played pickle ball every single day and loved it so much.  They have 6 pickle ball courts that you rent ($30 fee) through the Wilson Tennis and Lawn club.  I do recommend reserving your courts ahead of time because we were there in slow season and the courts were still very crowded!

There are 3 pools on property — 2 are family friendly and one is an adult only pool.   The pools were empty this time of year.  They are all heated to 86 degrees, so they are warm enough to swim; but it was just cold enough outside that it probably scared most people away.  We did enjoy the hot tub one afternoon which was fun and saw one Mom and little boy brave the cold for a few minutes in the pool!

This little Outfitters store was my favorite shop on property.  They have several shops around the resort — Peter Millar, a cute shop at the Inn, shop at the Tennis Center, one at the Spa and probably more that we missed.

We didn’t brave any of the water activities the resort had to offer.  It was just a bit too cold this time of year.  Some of the options are paddle boarding, canoeing, fishing, and a variety of boat tours.  This would definitely be something to look into during warmer months.

Also at the tennis center, they offer bocce ball, croquet course along with several different options for tennis lessons and tennis clinics.

We enjoyed massages at the Spa one morning which was beautiful.  They have a first-class spa with this beautiful outdoor space that has a hot-tub and cold plunge pool along with a locker room that has a great steam room and sauna.  You could easily spend an extra hour at the spa enjoying the amenities before or after your treatment.  You also have access to the spa the entire day of your scheduled treatment.

On our last night, we had dinner at Coles and enjoyed the bowling.  The bowling is first come, first serve; so when we walked in and there was a lane available, we decided to jump on it!  We ended up deciding to just order and eat our meal at the bowling alley instead of sitting at our table.  We were having fun and were enjoyed the relaxed feel.  Also, this was the classiest bowling alley I have ever been to.  Its hard to tell in the photo below, but the walls of the bowling alley are made out of oyster shells!  It was pretty amazing.  The whole restaurant was super cute and kid friendly.  They had a big gaming room for kids with a pool table, TV and other games.

It was our last night and we hadn’t made it for S’mores any night yet, so we decided to go back to the Inn and enjoy some campfire and complimentary s’mores.  Also, these espresso martinis were the bomb!  To get to and from Cole’s, it is about a 2.5 mi ride, so you can pick up a shuttle from the Inn that will take you to and from dinner.

Every night we would finish the evenings back in our little cottage with some fun games.  We played Wits & Wagers and Sequence every night.  It was so fun to all just be together and catch up on old times and new.

And that was a wrap on our girls weekend getaway! I am so happy that I got to experience this beautiful place with friends and enjoy a little of this low-country beauty.

Palmetto Bluff Recap

 :: Where We Stayed ::

Palmetto Bluff Wilson Village Home 5049

:: Where We Ate ::

Octagon
Canoe Club
Room Service Breakfast
The Pearl in Bluffton
Veuve Cliquet Picnic (highly recommend the KISS package)
Cole’s (great for families)

:: What We Did ::

Pickleball
Bocce Ball
Veuve Cliquet Picnic & Bike Ride
S’mores
Bowling at Cole’s
Massages at the Spa 
Hot Tub

:: Final Thought ::

I really loved this trip for an adults getaway and it was great for girlfriends to catch up and relax.  The property is absolutely stunning with wonderful service throughout! The people are super friendly and you can tell they take pride in making this a memorable experience.  During the winter months, I would say there is definitely less “things to do.”  As long as you enjoy hiking, biking, tennis or pickle ball, I think that helps a lot with enjoying your time.  I think winter would be a tough time to bring younger kids.  They do have neat tree houses throughout the property and swing sets for the kids to enjoy along with a really cute Merit scavenger hunt the kids can do around the property.  Definitely the summer months is the time to bring them when they can utilize the pools and enjoy all the extra outdoor activities that the resort offers.  That is just my opinion though based on being there this trip!  All in all, the place is beautiful and a little slice of luxury in the low-country.

I had some fun downloading this editable travel itinerary off of Etsy and sharing it with the girls!

One thing you may notice on our itinerary below that we never made it for was an afternoon of lunch and shopping in Bluffton.  One of my girlfriends had just returned from a trip to Palmetto Bluff and she highly recommended a brunch spot called Nectar Farm and Kitchen. Again, the little town of Bluffton is about 20 min away and we just decided we wanted to hang at the resort rather than go down there for the afternoon. Otherwise, we stayed pretty true to our itinerary and I thought it was perfect!