Myrtle Beach Message Board

Well, hello again fellow Myrtle Beach fanatics! My family will be coming back to Myrtle Beach in the summer of 2010!!!! We're SOOOO excited! When we come down, we'll be bringing our two boys, who will be 3 1/2 years old and 1 year old when we come down! We would love to stay at a place that has a lot of activities to do that are right at the hotel, and maybe a place to eat on site, or very close. We don't mind to drive a little ways to Broadway at the beach, or other types of attractions, but we'd really like to have something ocean front, and possibly a seperate bedroom for the boys to sleep in so that we can stay up later. So, if anyone has any suggestions for where we could stay, fire them my way!!!! We're so excited about hitting the beach that we can hardly wait for the summer!! I'm looking forward to all the responses that we might get from this!!! Thanks!

Welcome!! We've stayed at 2 places that I think might be good for a family with little ones (they were for us when our kids were that age!!). The first was Compass Cove, this is Oceanfront on the southern end of MB. Very nice, TONS of pools, including a bunch for little ones. We stayed in the Pinnacle building, which was nice then (2003 I believe) and has been remodeled since. They only reason we did not return here - for the 1BR condos, you enter through the bedroom. Our kids both napped until they were 5 (DD just stopped this year). On our beach trips, DH and I would take turns having our "alone on the beach" time during naptime, while the other stayed in the condo. We found this condo set up hard to navigate, couldn't enter/leave without disturbing the kids. Otherwise, great place!! I can't remember about a restaurant on-site or within walking distance.

Second place, where we stayed twice and LOVED, is the Ocean Reef. This is on the northern end of actual MB (not North Myrtle Beach), in a great, quiet residential area. About 10 minutes to Broadway, probably less to Barefoot! We had the same unit both trips - 1 BR Angle Oceanfront. In these you enter through a hall, the BR is off to the side. This worked out perfectly for us. They have a some great kiddie pools perfect for toddlers here, dumping buckets, etc. We found this hotel to be SUPER clean, just great all-around. They do have an onsite restaurant, though we never tried it. There is a River City Cafe within walking distance.

I would recommend either of these places to families with young ones. Compass Cove mainly if you get a 2 BR or if the room set-up doesn't concern you.

This most recent trip we stayed at the Ocean Creek, which we also thought was Great!! There were less "kid" things here though, no activity pools, etc or a lazy river (which my kids loved to float around in either on our laps or in their own vests when toddlers). Our kids are 7 and 5 now, though, and fell in love with boogie boarding, so we spent more time in the ocean this trip.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for that run down! We have this years version of the stay and play, and my wife has both of those places marked as possible places to stay!!! It sounds like the ocean reef is really a better set up! We will definatley take a closer look at both of these places! We're going to complile a short list of several places, and then compare prices, and ammenities (if that's even how you spell that word) and make a decision from there! Hopefully we'll get more replies to this post so that we can make a good well-thought decision! We have stayed at the Yachtsmans before, but I think it's now called something different, and we also stayed at the Holiday Inn at the Pavillion. Both of these places were awesome before we had kids, but now we need something with more room, and some more on site options.

What about breakers Paradise Towers...we used to stay there when John Blue was little and they have lots of stuff to do.

We stayed in a 1 BR oceanfront at Dunes Village and there was a separate bedroom. You entered the suite into a hallway.

I'm not sure what planned activities they have since were there in the winter, but they have lots of pools, lazy river, hot tubs and HUGE waterslides in two separate buildings, plus outdoor pools and lazy river.

Dunes Village looks awesome!! We hope to stay there some day!

Try Bay View Resort - it has lots of things for kids to do. Great beach, close to pier, not far from anything you'd want to do...
Try the 1 bedroom, 1 bath (2 double beds and a sleeper sofa), 693 sq ft., with oceanview and streetside view balcony - or even the 2 bedroom unit. This resort is very reasonable and is only 2 1/2 years old. Has shuffleboard, pools, lazy river, fountains for kids to run through, etc. Unfortunately I can't tell you about our particular unit because of "no advertising" on here but I can tell you to check out this resort! They will have a list of amentities in each unit soon and you can determine by that which one you'd rather stay in, if the unit is available. Some have more home touches than others. Good luck!

Sea Mist is hard to beat if you have little kids. They have on-site water park (with the best lazy river I have ever been on), super huge play area (think ultra-McDonald's), children's activity pool w/slides, admission to FK waterpark, unlimited rides at Family Kingdom every night of your stay (with the package, and I say you must get the package if you stay here). Also they have their own theatre, huge arcade, and kids' nights themed dinners. If you want a separate bedroom check out the Spray building; I believe it has a suite-type layout and is oceanfront. It is an older place but well worth the money for all the amenities and activities. It's great if you plan on not traveling around a lot and just hanging at the beach/hotel.
Also we liked Compass Cove. Lots of pools, and we thought the rooms were a bit nicer than Sea Mist.

I stayed at Beach Colony last summer with my two little ones (ages 2 and 4) and they had a BLAST. It has a lazy river, 2 pools, kiddie pool, and hot tub. It is right next door to Dunes, but a LOT less expensive. Now as extensive of a kiddie play area as Dunes, though...(no water slides, etc.) But for the little ones, it worked out great. They also have things like free ice cream Thursdays, etc. Check for good deals on their website before you book-they always have discounts of some sort...

It was a little far south for us, so probably won't do it again. I grew up staying in houses in Cherry Grove and have migrated to Windy Hill condos over the years. This was the farthest South we've stayed, and I feel that the North end is quieter and more family friendly and not as crazy-busy. I would recommend it for someone who doesn't mind staying in the South end and is looking for something family friendly that is not too expensive...

Regarding Bayview Resort,there is some issues about the parking garage and having to pass some small seedy type motels to get to it.A few posts on tripadvisor.com have mentioned this.
Beach Colony,Ocean Reef and Dunes Village and Island Vista are all very good choices.

Hi!
We stayed at the HORIZON on 77th last summer and it was awesome! We had 5 adults and 4 children ranging in ages from 18 months-7. We had a 3 bedroom suite and loved it! The place is about 2 years old now I tihnk, and in great shape. Our 3 bedroom had 3.5 baths and a HUGE balcony and awesome, well stocked full kitchen! State of the art master bath with Full garden tub and HUGE stand up shower! The other bathrooms were great size and the rooms were HUGE! The LR was great size too. The staff was nice and accomodating. There is a kiddie pool, lazy river, outdoor pool and indoor pool (kiddie pool inside connected to the pool)...you can also use the ammentities of their sister site which you pass when you walk to the beach...it has a mushroom inside in the kiddie pool and a large inside pool (which was cold the day we ventured in it). The walk to the beach and back is totally doable with two little ones, on a sidewalk! and no parking hassles since its a parking garage. We left our boogie boards/sand toys in the cars and just grabbed them from the parking garage oin the way down in the elevators---worked perfect (parking deck under the hotel)....

We will probably be back this year unless we find sometihng comparable. Cleanliness was a big on our list, as well as the space....so this place surpassed our expectations! No restaurant on site, but we ordered California pizza kitchen a few nights as a a late night snack...they were FAST!