Kiawah Island Golf Resort, South Carolina

With five award-winning courses, the Kiawah Island Golf Resort is considered a golfer's heaven. The new clubhouse at the Turtle Point Course exudes Low Country elegance.

Photo: Courtesy Kiawah Island Golf Resort

I embarked on my first trip to South Carolina's Kiawah Island Golf Resort with trepidation. I knew that Kiawah, one of the country's largest golf and beach developments, located on a 10,000-acre barrier island some twenty miles south of Charleston, was a cherished American classic—a Southern seaside resort that discerning travelers, particularly golfers, had sought out since the seventies. As a relatively young newcomer, and a nongolfer to boot, I felt intimidated by Kiawah's history, by its place among the leading U.S. resorts. It seemed too late to "join the club," where, I feared, clued-in members would greet each other with secret handshakes and proof of previous visits would be required at the door. As it turned out, I could not have been more wrong. Instead of finding an insiders-only atmosphere, I discovered a resort that was not only a welcoming—and charmingly Southern—host but also a place in the midst of a buzzing renaissance, thanks to a special hotel that opened its doors on the island last August.

Initially, the announcement of the construction of the $125 million Sanctuary, the most expensive hotel ever built in South Carolina, was met with a mix of anticipation and anxiety among residents and longtime visitors. After all, the Kiawah Island Golf Resort had been developed slowly and deliberately by a series of owners since it opened with one golf course and the small Kiawah Island Inn (now closed) in 1976, and even though a five-star property seemed overdue for this esteemed vacation destination, some people worried that a luxury hotel might irrevocably change the island's unpretentious nature. Luckily, RiverStone, which now owns the Kiawah resort and oversaw the building of the Sanctuary, was as invested in preserving the area's historic value as it was in providing modern-day travelers with spa treatments and wireless Internet access.

The road leading to the hotel is lined by tall oak trees, whose gnarled branches and thick, leafy canopies give them the appearance of having stood in this exact location for centuries. The feeling of driving through ancient grounds is a clever illusion, however, for the lush landscape surrounding the hotel is as carefully composed as its cream-colored facade. Adhering to island policy, which forbids the removal of trees unless they are replaced or replanted, the hotel developer moved the property's more than 150 oaks into their current places using the world's largest mechanical spade. Though moving them was costly, the replanted oaks provide sun-dappled mood lighting before guests set foot in the lobby and beautifully reflect the hotel's commitment to blending into Kiawah's natural and emotional environment.

The four-story estate—whose exterior showcases a mix of local materials like slate, Charleston-style brick and copper—evokes a private Southern mansion from the past, an ambience that continues in the interior. The spacious sitting rooms are dotted with 19th-century antiques; formal, Sargent-inspired portraits preside over carved limestone fireplaces; and the hand-distressed walnut floorboards are laid in such a way that they creak softly as you walk on them. Leading to the hotel's east and west wings are two magnificent staircases, the kind that conjure up visions of Southern belles descending with frilly hoop skirts.