jodyluvsdisney
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 9, 1999
dear friends... we just returned from a MOSTLY wonderful hilton head island dvc stay in a grand villa from august 7th - 12th and i wanted to post a few thoughts. first of all, hilton head is extremely special to us, we are partial to its low country mystique and southern charm, the sea pines, the marsh grass, the incredible beauty of the beach but most of all the friendly cast mates at the resort and the happy memories they've helped to create for us over the years in our many stays in various 2 bedroom villas.
this trip.. we decided to spend a few days before our dvc stay checking out bluffton, and beaufort and savannah as we may want to relocate eventually and we liked the idea of exploring these places before our dvc stay so we wouldnt be leaving the place we love most in the world to leave for day trips to other less important endeavors. we stayed in savannah just long enough for a wonderful southern buffet lunch at the lady and sons and to check out the thomas kinkade art gallery at the city market before heading over to bluffton to stay at the holiday inn express at kitties crossing (corner of 278 and 46) which i must say was really wonderful. clean, great breakfast, new, excellent rate for a huge 2 queen bed suite. we enjoyed using this as a point to head out to check out some off island sites. when the long awaited day to check in at disney, we headed over at 730 am and were spoiled with an immediate access to grand villa 1822 which was our first request. how lucky and grateful we are to tommy and jenna at the front desk who were so helpful and kind with assignment and checkin. we were meeting up with my sisters family this time for a summer reunion and couldnt wait to get started having fun. we rented bikes from a lovely and patient gentleman in the rec area/bike barn, enjoyed b'lou crabbe as we always do with his charm and talent, met fantastically friendly and informative sam at tide me over and all was great.
however... and it is a big however...
i was pretty surprised at the masses of palmetto bugs we encountered all over the island, yes at the pool deck during the teen party, yes at 2 local restaurants, yes on the outside of our villa and YES on the INSIDE of our grand villa as well.
we called down after we caught the first one running up my daughters leg
in one of the upstairs bedrooms and put it outside and the folks at the desk were so apologetic and sent someone to spray the next day. i know how hard they are trying and it is a fact of life to have bugs in the south. the next day though, it was not fun to have another one in the bedroom AGAIN and the third day on my sons pillow on the livingroom sofa couch.this one i collected after it was killed and put it in a cup to bring down to the lodge to say i think we need some further attention/spraying etc. they did send someone down that evening to spray again after calling a second time. im not sure how i felt about all that spraying/pesticide while we were residing in the villa with children but we didnt know what else to do.
in fairness, mr. paul hart and elyse were lovely to talk to, tried to help, and are a credit to the resort as management. but, i have to say... i was embarassed in front of my sister as guests of ours, and the whole "feel" of the room felt compromised and just sort of gross after all that. we dont do roaches at my home in new york, and i dont hope to splurge on a grand villas worth of points and pay more than 1000 dollars for our hilton head points a year in dues to end up with roaches on my childrens leg and pillow.
i dont want to cause any trouble for the fine folks at disneys hhi resort. but at the same time.... it was pretty disappointing to contend with this. we tried to make the best of it but im pretty annoyed that this happened 3 times (BTW, we never kept the doors open at ALL when we used the deck ). i think we are grateful for the fact that the weather was pretty good, and that we managed to have some good sports in our party. anyways... we also found a couple of great casual and fresh tasting restaurants... "moes south west grill" in bluffton on 278 and at park plaza by harris teeter. we also thought "the mellow mushrooms" tofu and avacado and tempeh subs were delicious for the vegetarians amidst our group of 9. we loved "the shell shop" as we usually do at coligny plaza and carolina charms, tail waggers gourmet pet shop and del sol there as well.
anyways... all in all... visiting with family was great, the island is beautiful, the resort and the villa were so well maintaned EXCEPT for the multiple days of living with those darn roaches.
i hope the rest of you have better luck with this or more success in relaying how palmetto bugs/roaches joining you compromises the comfort level/magic one feels in their home away from home if it does.
this trip.. we decided to spend a few days before our dvc stay checking out bluffton, and beaufort and savannah as we may want to relocate eventually and we liked the idea of exploring these places before our dvc stay so we wouldnt be leaving the place we love most in the world to leave for day trips to other less important endeavors. we stayed in savannah just long enough for a wonderful southern buffet lunch at the lady and sons and to check out the thomas kinkade art gallery at the city market before heading over to bluffton to stay at the holiday inn express at kitties crossing (corner of 278 and 46) which i must say was really wonderful. clean, great breakfast, new, excellent rate for a huge 2 queen bed suite. we enjoyed using this as a point to head out to check out some off island sites. when the long awaited day to check in at disney, we headed over at 730 am and were spoiled with an immediate access to grand villa 1822 which was our first request. how lucky and grateful we are to tommy and jenna at the front desk who were so helpful and kind with assignment and checkin. we were meeting up with my sisters family this time for a summer reunion and couldnt wait to get started having fun. we rented bikes from a lovely and patient gentleman in the rec area/bike barn, enjoyed b'lou crabbe as we always do with his charm and talent, met fantastically friendly and informative sam at tide me over and all was great.
however... and it is a big however...
i was pretty surprised at the masses of palmetto bugs we encountered all over the island, yes at the pool deck during the teen party, yes at 2 local restaurants, yes on the outside of our villa and YES on the INSIDE of our grand villa as well.
we called down after we caught the first one running up my daughters leg
in one of the upstairs bedrooms and put it outside and the folks at the desk were so apologetic and sent someone to spray the next day. i know how hard they are trying and it is a fact of life to have bugs in the south. the next day though, it was not fun to have another one in the bedroom AGAIN and the third day on my sons pillow on the livingroom sofa couch.this one i collected after it was killed and put it in a cup to bring down to the lodge to say i think we need some further attention/spraying etc. they did send someone down that evening to spray again after calling a second time. im not sure how i felt about all that spraying/pesticide while we were residing in the villa with children but we didnt know what else to do.in fairness, mr. paul hart and elyse were lovely to talk to, tried to help, and are a credit to the resort as management. but, i have to say... i was embarassed in front of my sister as guests of ours, and the whole "feel" of the room felt compromised and just sort of gross after all that. we dont do roaches at my home in new york, and i dont hope to splurge on a grand villas worth of points and pay more than 1000 dollars for our hilton head points a year in dues to end up with roaches on my childrens leg and pillow.
i dont want to cause any trouble for the fine folks at disneys hhi resort. but at the same time.... it was pretty disappointing to contend with this. we tried to make the best of it but im pretty annoyed that this happened 3 times (BTW, we never kept the doors open at ALL when we used the deck ). i think we are grateful for the fact that the weather was pretty good, and that we managed to have some good sports in our party. anyways... we also found a couple of great casual and fresh tasting restaurants... "moes south west grill" in bluffton on 278 and at park plaza by harris teeter. we also thought "the mellow mushrooms" tofu and avacado and tempeh subs were delicious for the vegetarians amidst our group of 9. we loved "the shell shop" as we usually do at coligny plaza and carolina charms, tail waggers gourmet pet shop and del sol there as well.
anyways... all in all... visiting with family was great, the island is beautiful, the resort and the villa were so well maintaned EXCEPT for the multiple days of living with those darn roaches.
i hope the rest of you have better luck with this or more success in relaying how palmetto bugs/roaches joining you compromises the comfort level/magic one feels in their home away from home if it does.
