2 SC hotels are the best in the US for 2025, US News & World Report says. Both are in top 15

Two South Carolina hotels were highly ranked by U.S. News and World Report in its 2025 best of list.

The magazine studied more than 3,900 properties and ranked Montage at Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton No. 12 and The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort No. 14.

First on the list was Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on Hawaii’s Big Island. Ten of the 50 best hotels were in the Four Season’s chain. The company operates 41 resorts in the United States.

Montage Palmetto Bluff resort is located beside the May River between Hilton Head Island and Savannah.

Novelist Tayari Jones, writing in Travel + Leisure, said she stayed in the resort that includes guest rooms, villas, restaurants, boat docks, and a post office but found “the beating heart of the property is the main building, the Inn, which was inspired by the 1910 manor built by Richard T. Wilson, a New York tycoon who made his fortune in banking and racehorses. To please his wife, Wilson constructed one of the most magnificent homes in South Carolina, only to see it catch fire 16 years later.”

The stone foundation, the entry steps and pillars are all that remains and the site is used for outdoor concerts, Jones wrote.

“On the riverbank are chunks of tabby, a.k.a. “coastal concrete,” made from oyster shells, sand, and lime — remnants of the homes of the people who were once enslaved on this beautiful land,” she wrote.

She noted the library was “furnished with all the clubby trappings you might expect: heavy leather-bound books, brass sconces, a stone fireplace. But above the mantle hangs a portrait of a Black woman dressed in white, calmly gazing outward.”

U.S. News said visitors can “relish the comforts of a luxurious hotel while also experiencing the area’s unique nature and culture.”

Wildlife research with the Palmetto Bluff Conservancy, bike rides, yacht cruises, fishing excursions, three pools, a fitness center and a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course are available.

“Visitors can indulge in an authentic Southern meal at Octagon or try one of the hotel’s other eateries,” U.S. News said. At the end of the day, guests will sleep well in the hotel’s varied accommodations, which include guest rooms, suites, residences, cottages and village homes.

On Tuesday, River House at Montage Palmetto Bluff was named one of the Top 100 Hotel Restaurants in America by OpenTable and KAYAK. It was the only hotel restaurant in South Carolina listed.

The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort is located on the oceanfront 21 miles south of Charleston.

It is a Forbes Five-Star hotel with 255 rooms and 13 suites, including a 3,000-square foot Presidential Suite with a fireplace and balcony overlooking the Grand Lawn and the ocean. A separate dining room with a mahogany table seats 12. The cost is about $700 a night.

The four-story Sanctuary opened in August 2004 and looks much like a grand seaside mansion, “designed to feel like it has been on Kiawah Island for centuries,” the hotel’s website says.

Some 400 trees, including 160 60-foot-high Live Oaks, were transplanted during development.

“This South Carolina retreat is a favorite among golfers, beach bums and anyone searching for a bit of Southern charm,” U.S. News said. “The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort looks more like a seaside mansion than a resort, with its stucco walls and iron balconies.”

There are two outdoor and one indoor pools, fitness center, a 24-hour business center and a house car for guest use.

The Spa at The Sanctuary offers aqua retreats, solariums and multiple treatment rooms, U.S. News said.

The resort has five championship golf courses, including the famed Ocean Course designed by Pete Dye. Other courses were designed by Tom Fazio, Clyde Johnston, Jack Nichlaus and Gary Player.

The Four Seasons Resort Hualalai “is the pinnacle of paradise,” U.S. News said.

It offers helicopter tours, waterfall hikes, snorkeling expeditions, a spa, eight unique pools, an 18-hole golf course, a fitness center, water sports rentals, gourmet dining options and a cultural center with interactive exhibits.

Rooms overlook a pool, golf course or the Pacific Ocean.

This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 6:00 AM.