Myrtle Beach, S.C.
One of Myrtle Beach’s most prominent oceanfront hotels recently rebranded itself as a Hilton hotels property, continuing the expansion of the world’s second-largest hotel chain in the Grand Strand.
The former South Bay Inn & Suites held a ribbon cutting Tuesday to announce its official rebrand as the Homewood Suites by Hilton Myrtle Beach Oceanfront. The rebrand included minor renovations to the hotel, including redesigning the hotel’s eatery and pool bar into a new restaurant, Coconut Charlie’s. Hospitality company OTO Development led the changes to the hotel.
“This repositioning combines the power of Hilton’s brand name with the hotel’s perfect Grand Strand location,” OTO Development CEO Corry Oakes said in a press release. “More than 19 million people visit Myrtle Beach every year — the climate makes it a year-round destination — and we are delighted to be here, too.”
OTO Development, in a press release, described the hotel as “a destination in and of itself, with its own lively indoor water park sporting two slides, a lazy river and a splash pad.”
Along with Coconut Charlie’s, the hotel features the Hershey’s Shake Shop Creamery onsite.
The hotel has 18 floors and 242 rooms. Many of the rooms include full kitchens or kitchenettes, allowing visitors with longer stays, common in the Grand Strand, to cook their own meals. There is also a playroom with billiards and table tennis, and, most importantly, there is direct access to the beach. The hotel will offer beach chair and umbrella rentals.
Located at 520 N. Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, the hotel is next door to the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk, one of the most happening tourist spots in town. The boardwalk features Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! exhibits and the famous Gay Dolphin souvenir shop and is just a block away from Grand Strand Brewing Co., the centerpiece of the city’s downtown redevelopment efforts.
Long absent from the oceanfront, South Bay’s rebranding grows the presence of the major hotel chains in Myrtle Beach. Last month, a Marriott Springhill Suites/Courtyard opened on the property of the Breakers Resort, one of the most well-known independent Myrtle Beach hotels.
The Marriott property is twice the size of the Homewood Suites, at 26 stories. From the hotel’s rooftop seating, visitors can see an entire Myrtle Beach coastline.
This story was originally published May 25, 2022 5:00 AM.
Chase Karacostas writes about tourism in Myrtle Beach and across South Carolina for McClatchy. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020 with degrees in Journalism and Political Communication. He began working for McClatchy in 2020 after growing up in Texas, where he has bylines in three of the state’s largest print media outlets as well as the Texas Tribune covering state politics, the environment, housing and the LGBTQ+ community.