These Myrtle Beach oceanfront hotels receive $58 million renovation. Here’s what to know
A Myrtle Beach area hotel brand is renovating three of its Myrtle Beach hotels and spending a pretty penny to do it.
Brittain Resorts & Hotels will upgrade the Caribbean Resort & Villas at 3000 North Ocean Blvd., Ocean Reef Resort at 7100 North Ocean Blvd. and Compass Cove Oceanfront Resort at 2311 South Ocean Blvd.
In an interview with The Sun News, Brittain Chief Marketing Officer Patrick Norton said the renovations will overhaul the lobbies and common areas of the three hotels and renovate many of the rooms in each location.
Norton did not know how many rooms involved in the overhaul. He added that the room renovations would maintain the quality of the experience during their trip.
“The number one thing that people will remember from their vacation is not amenities. It’s not food and beverage, it’s not the lobby. It is the room,” Norton said. “The room makes or breaks your vacation. You are in there a majority of the time. One bad bed is all you remember.”
The lobby upgrades are part of a growing trend in Myrtle Beach hospitality. Although most visitors drive hours to visit Myrtle Beach, Norton said that many older hotels built in the region didn’t feature lobbies, as the focus was on adding more units to a building.
Now, consumers expect amenities and refreshments when they arrive after a long drive, and Norton said Brittain’s efforts intend to address this.
“The lobby is the first experience, especially a market like ours where it’s 97 percent drive market,” He added. “It better refresh them. So, the number one thing we’re doing is full-blown renovations and overhauls of our lobby experience.”
A press release for the upgrades said the plan will cost $58 million for the entire project. The company is making the investment along with EOS Hospitality, which purchased a majority share in seven Brittain Resorts & Hotels locations, including the three receiving upgrades.
Part of the renovation aims to address an evolving hotel industry. Changing consumer trends and rising operating costs are impacting hoteliers.
Some independent operators in the Myrtle Beach area decided to get out of the market recently and put their property on the market. Norton said nationally branded hotels are keen on expanding into the Grand Strand.
Despite the Myrtle Beach area having hundreds of hotels, rentals and about as many rooms as Las Vegas, Norton said some developers see Horry County as open territory and a cheaper alternative than building in a place like Florida.
Some Floridians have also moved to the Myrtle Beach area because the Grand Strand is less expensive and experiences less severe weather than the peninsula. Norton added that this growth in branded hotels and investment in the region could push most independent operators out of the market.
“Some of them feel like we just don’t understand what we still have here,” Norton added. “They still see our value, our market, as completely untapped and with significant upside. So, I do think the pressure on the mom-and-pops from these new outside investors will become harder and harder to resist.”
