A Review of Myrtle Beach & Dunes Village

Early this summer, I started thinking it would be nice to take a family vacation this year, but I had no idea what to do.  We've been to Disney World twice and totally loved it but wanted to try something different.  Everyone in Catlin seemed to be going on beach vacations this year, particularly Myrtle Beach, so I thought, why not check it out?  I googled something silly like, "best hotels with preschoolers in Myrtle Beach" and came up with Dunes Village.  I had no idea what to expect on prices or if this was even a reality but was just messing around on the internet more than anything.  I saw that they had a fall special going on for a little more than $100/night.  These very rooms were going for almost $400/night in the summer!  I read more and found that September is actually one of the best times to be in Myrtle Beach weather wise, but crowds are obviously down due to school being in session, so the rates are great.  So, after bugging Josh about it just a little bit, he said "book it!"

Dunes Village is a large resort with lots of different room choices.  I believe there are actually 17 different types of rooms.  We ended up going for the Oceanfront Queen Suite, which slept up to 8 people, had a full kitchen with dishwasher, fridge, microwave, two TVs/DVD players, a Jacuzzi hot tub (love), and maybe best of all, a balcony looking straight onto the ocean.  Unbelievably, this was one of the cheaper/smaller rooms.  We did pay a bit extra for the wonderful view, but it was worth every penny!

So, in review of the vacation overall, I would say:

-Myrtle Beach is a great place to vacation, with lots of family friendly activities.  If I could do it over, I would go there again, but we both agreed that if we ever do another beach vacation, we'd probably visit another beach just to do something different.

-Dunes Village was a great, economical, family friendly resort on the ocean.  If I had to do it over, I would also go there again simply because the room was so amazingly nice for the money.  We couldn't get over it.  There are some minor frustrations, like their website wasn't great, their prices change by the minute, and I didn't think all the workers were super friendly.  But, for the room and the price, I cannot complain!!!  It was very nice and very clean and very affordable!

-September was a great time to go to Myrtle Beach.  The weather was picture perfect every single day.  We had no rain and 80 degree weather.  It was never too hot or too cold!  And the crowds and prices were both down!

-This was our first family beach vacation.  It was a very different pace than our last two vacations to Disney World.  It was definitely an adjustment, but there's not much laying around with a 1 and 4 year old!

-Speaking of having a 1 year old on vacation, I realized the last 3 Downing family vacations were with a 1 year old!  We went to Disney when Hannah and Jacob each turned 1, and Jacob was still 1 on this trip!  I'm just guessing this is not our last vacation with a 1 year old in tow....

-Driving 14 hours wasn't as bad as I thought it could be, but the DVD players in the car were our saving grace.  We hardly heard a peep out of the kids.  On the way down, we did 9 hours the first day and 5 hours the second.  We only stopped once the first day and not at all the second day.  Our theory was if the kids were happy, we weren't stopping!  And we finally had to stop the first day because Josh and I were hungry, needed a restroom, and needed gas!  On the way home, we did the whole 14 hours in one day with about three stops.  No matter how good the kids were, that was a long time to be in the car.  Both times, we started our travels when everyone got up for the day.  If I had to do it again, I would do it the same.  Everyone (including Josh and I) were well rested and in a good mood.  The last hour home was our only rough moment...we were all ready to just be home... the kids took turns crying, and Josh and I felt like crying!!!  I offered to drive several times throughout the trip, but Josh always insisted that he was fine.  He did the full way there and back, what a trooper!  I got to read 4 books to pass the time!  Overall, it gave us confidence that we could handle another road trip someday.  And the minivan was definitely a luxury that came in handy.  We might have been able to do it without, but not as comfortably or as conveniently.  I've had moments of guilt for buying that van before we really needed it, but when I was packing the van up, I was glad for the space!

All in all, it was a great vacation, and I'd do it all again!