The Seaside Inn at IOP

Hello! For Take a Look Tuesday, I thought you might like to see where we stayed on our recent getaway.  

Our destination was "Isle of Palms" Beach, which is located on one of many barrier islands near Charleston off the South Carolina coast.  We love this area because it is not as commercialized as Myrtle Beach, SC.

The beaches here are much larger and better preserved.  Isle of Palms (IOP) is 7 miles long and 1 mile wide and located next to Sullivan's Island.  On the northern end of IOP is a 1500 acre resort that hosts a premiere golf and tennis facilities in addition to numerous private and rental accommodations.  We have stayed in the Wild Dunes resort and really love it but wanted to stay in the heart of IOP for this trip.  There are only about a handful of hotels on IOP as the majority of rentals are condos or homes.  We actually had reservations at one of the other hotels but after checking in and not being satisfied with our room (I'm kinda picky) I turned right around and went over to this hotel.  Our other hotel was not bad by any means but I didn't like the way that hotel was laid out and the location of the room we had.

  I knew this hotel was steps away and went right on over to inquire about a room.  Much to my delight they had availability, and I was even able to inspect the room before agreeing to check in.  Thankfully the other hotel did not penalize us for leaving and everyone was happy.  So we loaded our bags back up and checked in here at The Seaside Inn.  I have never been so happy I followed my heart and actually changed hotels this time!  We feel so incredibly lucky to have been able to make the switch so effortlessly because this hotel was much more suitable to our style.

  

Our room was a deluxe queen.  This is an older hotel and is in the process of getting a few updates.  I found it to be quite on par with what I expected though and even better was the personalized service we received.

 That little window there looks out onto the open balcony where I could see the ocean and that was our saving grace.  The other hotel had a window overlooking a side wall and an outdoor restaurant below.  Not what I expected when booking a partial view as I was expecting to see the ocean!

 Small but adequate bathroom with great water pressure and very hot water.

 And here is the view we had right outside our door, this is not an oceanfront room but was perfect for me!

The breeze here was incredible!  I sat out here and ate my continental breakfast here every morning.

 Beautiful iron flower holders were everywhere.

The room next to ours was Ocean front and here is the balcony that was in front of them.  We were on the 2nd level where that oceanfront balcony is open, so you can walk all the way around the hotel.  We enjoyed standing here on the corner to take in the views.  We even met the Hotel Manager, Doug, as he was delivering these new Adirondack chairs one afternoon with a staff member.  We had such a nice chat with him about this hotel and how it is being updated.  He knew who we were from our check in notes (from switching hotels) and was glad we liked it here.  We told him we really did and would definitely keep this place in mind for future getaways.

On the first floor is a small deck area in front of those ocean front rooms that overlooks the ocean.

This is the view that was just a few steps away from our room towards the oceanfront room but still looking towards the side.

From the balcony where our room was this is what was next to us.  It was a VFW post and next to that a very popular sports club/bar called the Windjammer.  They are notorious for their volleyball tournaments and I am sure must have been sponsoring the young girls league.

This may not be some peoples cup of tea but for this trip is was perfect.  Since we had such a short amount of time to enjoy the beach we wanted to be right in the heart of things and enjoyed such a short step out to the beach. 

As you can see there really wasn't a whole lot going on here until the evening and even then it wasn't bad at all.  The VFW cranked up about 4:00pm and usually quieted down by 8:00pm.  Funny!

Further down the balcony towards the street the roof of the VFW was on the 2nd floor level and we could see money all over it.  I'm not sure why but apparently there must be something to tossing coins on this roof top.  Maybe it brings the servicemen good luck!  

This was the front entrance of their post and it really just struck me as so special that they would have this tacked on their stairs after all this time.  It was quite fun to see these older fella's enjoying their beach hut.

From the street this is the entrance to the lobby where we had a continental breakfast every morning too.  It was a small space, Charleston style, but supplied everything you needed for breakfast.

Here's the main stairs leading up to the first floor.  There are three floors total with only 17 rooms per floor.  I loved that this was not a huge hotel and we received excellent customer service because of that.  Each staff member was so nice and knew who we were.  Even the room service attendants were nice and happy and joking with each other.  It really makes a great atmosphere when you see happy employees.  

I loved the beautiful gas lanterns that are sooo Charleston!

I also loved all the beautiful plants that were everywhere!

 It is amazing how much landscaping can enhance a parking garage!

There were gorgeous hanging baskets everywhere too.

There was also a cute little small wading pool off of the 2nd floor.  

This is looking down towards the street from the pool area.

Looking out towards a few shops and eating areas.

Street level this is the what the heart of IOP looks like.

We ate dinner here our first night.

It was a rather swanky small little hole in the wall restaurant called Hucks.

It was located on the top floor only.

Very neat tropical feel. 

Sorry I didn't take any pics inside as I just didn't feel comfortable doing so.  We were trying to budget our money for this trip so I just had a shrimp salad and the Mr. a hamburger but both agreed this was the best salad and hamburgers we have had in years.  Have I mentioned that IOP and Charleston is rather expensive, y'all?

No?  I haven't?  Well, it is!!!   That's why I was so thrilled to have found this small hotel right in the heart of things and right on the beach for such a great price.  

Of course if your budget allows you can always rent one of the oceanfront condos to the right and left of this hotel.  They rent weekly for over $4000.00 each.  You can get a small 1 bedroom unit for about $1600.00 and up.   It's not oceanfront though the building is..but again it's only 1 room.  Houses and condos are more affordable the further off the beach you are.  Well worth considering if you have more time and are on a budget. 

 We had such a great time here and will definitely go back.  I would recommend it for sure!  You can check out their website here at

http://www.seasideinniop.com/index.cfm

If you go, how about tell them Mary sent ya, okay?

They don't know me as The Decorative Dreamer.

Thanks for visiting today and I hope you enjoyed the look!

Come again!

Mary