As the Lowcountry looks to the late spring and summer with hopes for a revival of its tourism business, an Isle of Palms resort is hoping to draw in guests with the opening of an all-new hotel and revamped amenities. 

Hyatt Hotels-affiliated Wild Dunes Resort unveils its Sweetgrass Inn March 26.



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At 153 keys with 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space, it’s one of the most significant hotel debuts slated for this year, which has already outpaced a sluggish 2020 in adding new rooms to the region’s hotel inventory.

Like dozens of other local lodgings, Wild Dunes temporarily closed last spring during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The seaside resort, which is owned by Lon Angeles-based Lowe, was the only one in the area, however, to reopen and then close again. 

The resort shut down for another month over the summer as the region’s case numbers spiked. Several Wild Dunes employees had contracted the virus, too, according to the destination’s leaders. It reopened in mid-August.

But the pandemic didn’t slow down the timeline for the Sweetgrass Inn. In the works for several years and under construction since early 2019, a spring 2021 debut has been projected since before the pandemic. 



Sweetgrass Inn

Lowe executive Dan Battista talks about  luxuries the company put into Sweetgrass Inn, one of the biggest new hotel developments in the Charleston area. Brad Nettles/Staff


Dan Battista, Lowe’s senior vice president and Southeast regional leader, said he thinks the new luxury venue will be a “wonderful” hospitality asset for the Lowcountry.

“We are committed to investing in this region and contributing to improving the Isle of Palms, the resort and the Wild Dunes community,” he said. 

This week’s opening also includes the Spa at Sweetgrass, a 10,000-square-foot amenity with 14 treatment rooms and a private outdoor “spa garden” for extra relaxation after guests enjoy their massages, facials and other treatments. The space, which is equipped with plunge pools and cabanas, can also be rented out for parties and other events.

Just outside that private garden is an expansive plaza that connects the new hotel with The Residences at Sweetgrass, a condominium-style lodging and retail complex that was recently rebranded from its former name, The Village.  

Improvements to The Residences include two new retail spots.



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All of the upgrades to the plaza made during the Sweetgrass Inn’s construction are best viewed from the new hotel’s rooftop, which looks out at the expanded Palm Cove pool with a kids splash pad, hot tub, fire pit and poolside restaurant.

The rooftop itself, called the Indigo Room & Rooftop, is also a key feature of the Sweetgrass Inn. In addition to offering a view of the resort’s upgrades, it has vantages of the ocean, the marshes and, from a distance, downtown Charleston, that can serve as the backdrops for special events. 



Sweetgrass Inn

Part of the lobby at the Sweetgrass Inn. Brad Nettles/Staff


Much of the Sweetgrass Inn was designed with events in mind. Altogether, the hotel is doubling the gated resort’s meeting space. 

While tourism officials in the region and state have said group business is likely to take months longer to recover than leisure travel, Battista said there is some early interest in booking the Sweetgrass Inn’s venues. 

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Sweetgrass Inn

The view from the new rooftop event venue and bar area at the Sweetgrass Inn at Wild Dunes Resort on the Isle of Palms. Brad Nettles/Staff


That’s particularly true, he said, when it comes to weddings. 

The view from the Indigo Rooftop has been particularly enticing to couples who have toured the hotel, he said. 

One section of the rooftop can fit about 250 guests with theater-style seating for a ceremony with an ocean view. 

After the ceremony, guests can move to another section of the open-air portion of the rooftop to have cocktails and mingle under a covered area adjacent to an indoor portion of the venue where a full reception can be held. Windows line the indoor area for almost continuous views. 

On the ground level, the Osprey Ballroom & Terrace was also set up in a way that will allow event groups to transition between indoor and outdoor spaces. 



Sweetgrass Inn

A guestroom at the Sweetgrass Inn at Wild Dunes Resort on the Isle of Palms. Brad Nettles/Staff


The ballroom, which can be divided into as many as seven breakout spaces, is surrounded in a “U” shape by pre-function space and, on one side, opens out onto a 4,000-square-foot covered outdoor terrace. 

That idea of giving visitors space to move between indoor and outdoor areas is a theme in other parts of the hotel’s design, too.  

Guest rooms, which start at $379 a night, were equipped with three-panel sliding doors opening out onto large terraces that, especially on the higher floors, offer clear views of the ocean or marshes.

Furnishing and decor in the guest rooms, common areas and event spaces was meant to create an “elegant beachy” aesthetic, Battista said. 

Shades of sandy tan and various blues were used often in the lobby, ballroom and rooftop venues. The spa is decorated in soft green hues. 

Billed as a connection between “the resort you know” and the “next generation” of Wild Dunes, the Sweetgrass Inn project involved the creation of a new entry point for guests staying in hotel rooms rather than the vacation homes that are also part of the resort complex. Instead of sharing a gateway, Sweetgrass Inn guests will be greeted at a separate, newly built entrance. 



Sweetgrass Inn

The poolside bar at the Sweetgrass Inn. Brad Nettles/Staff


That will also be the recommended entrance for locals who come to check out the amenities that are open to the public, like the spa and Oystercatcher, the lobby bar, or The Laughing Gull, a new outdoor bar and restaurant next to the Palm Cove pool that will serve “island-inspired cuisine” and “frosty beverages.”

Lowe, the owner, bought Wild Dunes in 1990.

Along with the Sweetgrass Inn, Lowe is further expanding its footprint in the Lowcountry with The Cooper, a 225-room full-service hotel that broke ground next to Waterfront Park on the Charleston peninsula slightly more than a year ago. 



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