This was our first visit to Hilton Head and to a Marriott property. This was a timeshare exchange through Interval. We stayed in a 2 bedroom suite rm 8133 in the Pelican building. The room was spacious and clean. The 2 balconies overlooked the 1 heated outdoor pool. There
were 2 or 3 other outdoor pools and a huge indoor pool. The property has been renovating the rooms in the southern buildings which I thin k that phase was about finished and should move on the the northern ones. Since our room was one of the non renovated ones there were a few flaws such as a loose wall socket, a problem, a chair problem that
I fixed, and a stain chair and rug stain. These I'm sure will be taken
care of when they renovate this section. The room was very comfortable
and could sleep 6-8 people. The kitchen was room and well supplied with a large fridge, stove and dishwasher. There were 3 TV's and a dvd. We chose not to have maid service as it's an extra charge. You do have some cleaning supplies, vac, and boom to clean with.

The resort has a continental welcome breakfast on Mondays and a complementary wine and cheese social on Sunday that we missed due to having to good of a time visiting Savannah Ga. Even for off season there were plenty of tours and activities offered through the resort. Our son loved doing the crafts with the activities staff. Leo Barros was one of the staff that handled the activities and did an exceptional job. Our son had a great time making ornaments and other items with him. His sense of humor was pleasant to b around and was great with kids. You can rent bikes at the resort for $25 a week. It's
fun riding up and down the beach and around Hllton Head. The resort gives you a pass to access the Sea Pines area which has great scenery.

There is a mini mart the serves some sandwiches and Pizza Hut Express.
For breakfast we ate at Kenny B's which had great sausage gravy and biscuits and Skillets which was great for breakfast and both close enough to ride bikes to. Other meals were at Paul Dean's Lady and Sons, great buffet style southern food, The Studio which may have been
the best of many great meals e had, Wild Wings for good pub food and wings, Frankie Bones for great Italian. X-Mass day we dined at the Old
Fort Pub which is built on a historic fort site. Great meal from soup to dessert. The Main Street Cafe and Pub, and Cranes Steakhouse, which had the best meatloaf I've ever had. Never a bad meal all week.

The weather was cloudy and mid 60's most of the week. The beach is calm and scenic. I loved the combination of palm trees and big oaks with Spanish moss. HHI is hard to drive around at night since it's very dark with little lighting and most buildings and malls behind tree lines. My GPS came in handy. Savannah is an easy 45-60 min ride and a must do for at least a day.

Was it worth the 16 hr drive? Yes, I left snow and ended up with palm trees without having to fly. The Grande Ocean is a great facility with
friendly staff. The area was new to us and scenic. We don't golf, but still had a wonderful time.

I must say this is one of the if not the best place to stay on the island. Marriott should be proud of this place.

We own Marriott timeshare and traded into this resort. We are return visitors to Hilton Head and love the island! This resort is nicely located in Sea Pines. You will receive a pass upon check-in and each time to you into Sea Pines thru the guard gate, you don't have to pay the $5 fee. We also received a pass for biking. We rented bikes directly from the Marriott and loved biking thru Sea Pines. Even saw a few alligators! The resort is located on a nice stretch of beach. They have numerous outdoor pools, but I believe only one was heated in the off-season as no-one swam in the other pools. They do have an indoor pool, so you can swim no matter what the weather brings. The pool bar and grill were closed for the season. Our villa was laid out in typical Marriott fashion. I think our room could use some updating as some things were a bit worn, but mostly nice. I love the beds - so comfy and loved falling into it the 1st night! The Marketplace is well appointed and good for a quick snack, postcard, etc. The fitness room was really nice with great view of the ocean - enticing you to come and work-out! They also have a nice, quiet area to sit and read or talk. The resort is located near Coligny shops and many restaurants. Middle of the island - cannot get any better then that. I highly recommend a visit to the Grande Ocean - you will have a grande time!

Note about the weather on HHI this time of the year - we had some gorgeous days with high 70's and then some days with low 60's. It is the luck of the draw this time of the year. One negative to going in the Fall, your days are cut short by darkness falling around 5:30pm. We like to go biking or to the beach after dinner, and this did not happen, of course. A positive - no humidity and therefore quite enjoyable.

We spent 4 days at Grande Ocean and the accomodations were above average. The Villa was nicely decorated and very clean. However, because we were there on a package deal so they could try to sell us a time share, they put us in the worst location, farthest from the pool and ocean. I understand the owners get first choice at oceanfront but the resort wasn't even half full. Overall, unless you golf, Hilton Head is pretty boring and this Resort fit right in with that theme. The only really bad part was that they charge $30 per day to rent a chair at the beach, which seemed terribly out of character for the usual Marriott customer service quality!