Simple Rewards Inn

About half of the guests at the Ramada Hilton Head are traveling on business, while the other half are looking to save money yet still be a short drive from the beach. The Ramada, however, is not so inexpensive as to merit its shabby housekeeping and poor handling of moisture-related mold and bugs. The hotel is pleasant in appearance with a porte cochere entry and porches running the length of each floor. The setting is woodsy with a five-hole, artificial-turf putting green and a seasonal outdoor pool. Inside, the lobby is lime-green with honey wood furnishings, patterned carpets, and contemporary fixtures. A seating area near a picture window covered in sheers is opposite the reception desk. Free coffee, water, and packages of chips sit on a corner table. A free breakfast in a bright yellow room, and the private Il Carpaccio Italian restaurant next door add to the hotel's ambience. Still, guests at this Ramada are not lingering; they are headed to the beach, golf courses, outlet shopping, or business meetings, using the hotel to sleep and shower.

Ramada Hilton Head is just off I-278 on a wooded lot that is surrounded by commerce. A prep school, theater company, and bowling alley sit behind it. In four minutes on foot, guests can reach a Wendy's restaurant. An Outback Steakhouse is a three-minute drive or eight-minute walk. Walmart is 10 minutes on foot or three minutes' drive. The Coastal Discovery Museum is a four-minute drive. Hilton Head Airport is a six-minute drive, while the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport is 50 minutes away by car. Folly Field Beach is an eight-minute drive. Tanger Outlets and Hilton Head National Golf Course are about 10 minutes away by car. Savannah is about 45 minutes away by car. 

As of winter 2015, the Ramada Hilton Head was upgrading its guest rooms, a smart idea since the rooms are bland and drab with dark carpeting, sterile, blank walls, and inexpensive furniture. Still, rooms are air-conditioned and the basics are there. The 32-inch flat-screen TVs sit on cubes of wood veneer drawers. Coffeemakers are placed on vanity sinks in the bathrooms. The green bed throws are thin, but in 2015, the hotel added new Serta mattresses. Bigger rooms have separate living rooms with oversized pleather sofas. Each room has a mini-fridge and a microwave. There are also safes and ironing facilities underneath clothing racks. Guests have reported musty smells, mold (perhaps due to moisture and heat), and sightings of what are likely Palmetto bugs, common in the South. The bathrooms have fluorescent lighting, shower/tub combos, wall-mounted hairdryers, and free Matrix toiletries. On our visit, there were rust stains at the base of the toilet and the tub bottom, and some of the surrounding tiles were dirty. Overall, rooms at this hotel are efficient but not particularly pleasant. Smoking and nonsmoking rooms are available.

The Ramada's free, extensive breakfast is the one amenity routinely praised by guests. The menu offers good variety and generous helpings of make-your-own waffles, various cold cereals, and fruit. All day in the lobby, guests can grab free coffee, water, and packages of chips. Guests can enjoy a seasonal outdoor pool with blue loungers and a concrete terrace for sunbathing. There's also a pitch-and-putt golf course with free clubs to borrow. The hotel also offers free Wi-Fi, a business center with natural light, a computer, a fax machine, and a printer; an ATM sits close by. The hotel's 2,850-square-foot room for meetings and events is low on atmosphere with an acoustic tile ceiling, no windows, and metal-leg furniture. The property is pet-friendly, but there is a fee. The front desk offers a safe and free luggage storage, and there's a coin-operated laundry on-site. Parking is free as well.