Wild Dunes Resort

Expedia sells it as "Wild Dunes Resort – Sweetgrass Inn and Boardwalk Inn," which is the clearest description of the place. Wild Dunes is a gated resort community at the north end of Isle of Palms. Inside the gate are two hotels run as one, a condo-style hotel called the Residences at Sweetgrass, a large stock of rental houses and villas, two Tom Fazio golf courses and seven pools. Book either hotel and every pool, the spa, the golf and the beach are yours to use. The resort is part of Hyatt's Destination by Hyatt brand.

From a beach and racquet club to two hotels

The Sea Pines Company, the developer behind Hilton Head's Sea Pines, started Wild Dunes in 1975 as the Isle of Palms Beach and Racquet Club. Golf came next. The Links Course was Tom Fazio's first solo design, routed so its finishing holes run along the Atlantic. Beach erosion later took enough ground that the par-5 18th had to be rebuilt as a par 3.

The Boardwalk Inn came first among the hotels, a five-story inn built in 2002 on the Grand Pavilion, the resort's oceanfront plaza. The Sweetgrass Inn followed in March 2021, built by Lowe, the resort's longtime managing partner, with Dart Interests. It added a 10,000-square-foot spa with 14 treatment rooms and 30,000 square feet of event space, which the resort billed as making Wild Dunes the largest group venue in the Charleston area. The resort says it has put more than $150 million into the property over the past five years, the latest project being a rebuild of the Harbor Course greens.

Sweetgrass Inn or Boardwalk Inn?

The two hotels share everything except the building, so the choice comes down to which pool and restaurant you want downstairs.

The Sweetgrass Inn is the bigger, newer hotel and the center of the resort. The Sweetgrass pool complex has three pools, heated year-round, and the Laughing Gull serves food beside them. The Oystercatcher, a seafood restaurant, is in the lobby, and the spa and the fitness center are in the same building. The Nest on the roof is a seasonal bar for guests 21 and over. If you have children, book here.

The Boardwalk Inn is smaller and quieter, with a boardwalk straight to the beach. Its pool is adults-only, with cabanas, and heated year-round. Coastal Provisions is the restaurant downstairs. The two oceanfront pools at the Grand Pavilion are next door. Couples without children should book this one.

Check-in is at 4pm and check-out at 11am at both, and you must be 18 to check in. A free shuttle runs around the resort between 7am and 11pm on request. All resort-run outlets have been cashless since February 1, 2026, so bring a card.

The beach, the golf, and the sand being rebuilt

Wild Dunes has about two and a half miles of Atlantic beachfront. The beach is public, but the gate and the lack of public parking mean most of the people on it are resort guests. This fall the city is pumping 1.7 million cubic yards of new sand onto the Wild Dunes stretch as part of a larger renourishment that runs into December, so expect fenced work zones and some night-time equipment noise for a few days at a time. The City of Isle of Palms posts progress updates, and our Isle of Palms beach guide covers the island's beach and dog rules.

The two golf courses are the Links and the Harbor. Only one of them takes resort-guest and public play on any given day, so check which one is open before you plan a round. Our Wild Dunes golf guide explains the rotation and how to book.

What it costs on top of the rate

The headline rate is not the price. Wild Dunes adds a 16% resort fee to every room rate, which covers the fitness center, Wi-Fi, in-room coffee, two bottles of water a day and the putting and pitching greens. Valet is the only parking on the property and costs $35 a day, separately. On a $400 night, that's $64 in resort fee and $35 to park before tax, which is close to a quarter on top of the room. Both figures were checked in October 2026 and the resort marks the fee as subject to change.

Who should skip it

Skip it if you travel with a dog. Wild Dunes bans pets from both hotels, every rental and the whole resort, with a minimum $400 charge per pet. The rest of Isle of Palms allows dogs on the beach, off leash in the early morning, so a rental house elsewhere on the island solves the problem.

Skip it if you want to walk to Charleston restaurants. Downtown is a 30-minute drive at best and the bridge traffic gets worse in summer. For a first visit built around the historic district, a downtown hotel will work better, with a day trip out to the beach.

And skip it if you're watching the total. A 16% fee plus $35 a night to park adds up fast across a week. A rental house on Isle of Palms outside the gate often gives a family more room for the same money, and free parking in the driveway.

How it compares

The obvious comparison is the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island. The Sanctuary is a Forbes Five-Star hotel with the Ocean Course down the road, and it costs a good deal more. It is also 45 minutes to an hour from downtown, against about half an hour from Wild Dunes. If you want one resort and plan to stay on it, the Sanctuary is the stronger hotel. If you want beach days and Charleston dinners in the same trip, Wild Dunes is the easier base.

For a stay that puts the city first, look at the hotels in our where to stay in Charleston guide, which sets the beach islands against the peninsula.