Port Royal's Oceanfront Spends the Winter Without Its Resort
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa set Nov. 2 as the first day of a renovation closure lasting at least five months. That is the date in the notice it filed with the state, and it is the date that changes the north end of Port Royal Plantation this winter. The 420-room hotel at 2 Grasslawn Avenue has been on the plantation's Atlantic side since 1985. It is closing for a significant renovation planned by KSL Capital Partners, which bought it in 2025. For Port Royal residents, the months in between run on a different calendar from the usual off-season. The Town finishes its dune work on the Sound side, the plantation's own golf and racquet club keeps its seasonal hours, and the main thing nobody knows yet is when the resort comes back.
No single date marks the end of the closure, and the published versions don't line up neatly.
| Source | What it says about the closure | What kind of source it is |
|---|---|---|
| WARN notice dated Aug. 27, as reported by the Island Packet | Closes Nov. 2 for "at least five months" | The hotel's own filing with the state |
| Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce | Closed for "approximately six months" | Chamber summary of the owners' announcement |
| TheStreet, Sept. 5, 2026 | Booking calendars showed the closure lasting through April 16, 2027 | A booking-calendar date, not a hotel statement |
Five months from Nov. 2 is early April. Six months is early May. The mid-April booking date sits between the two. Neither the hotel nor its owners has announced an official reopening date, so for now April 16 is only the date that showed up on booking calendars.
WTOC reported that the hotel will stay closed for the whole renovation. The same notice listed 219 employees for temporary layoff starting Nov. 3, and they are to be recalled when the work is done. The Post & Courier was the first to report the closure.
A whole-hotel closure also closes every outlet inside the hotel. Marriott's dining page for the property lists these:
The Heavenly Spa by Westin Hilton Head Island is also inside the building. None of the coverage says any of these will stay open during the work. WTOC's description of a full closure is the clearest guide. Anyone who has gotten used to a spa appointment or an oceanfront dinner a short drive from home will need to plan around the hotel until spring.
KSL Capital Partners, a Denver-based private equity firm focused on travel and leisure, announced on Sept. 25, 2025 that its affiliates had bought the resort through the firm's Tactical Opportunities Fund. The price was not disclosed. In the acquisition announcement, Dan Rohan, KSL's head of Tactical Opportunities, called the Westin "one of the grand dames of the region."
The only public description of the project's scope is one sentence from the Chamber. It says the resort will close while "guestrooms, public spaces, and resort amenities are reimagined." No cost, designer or rebrand has been announced.
The scale is easier to judge against what has already been spent. KSL says the property has had more than $47 million in capital improvements since 2012. The most recent was a $13.8 million renovation of rooms and suites announced in January 2024. That work redesigned the suites and added four rooms. This time the plan covers public spaces and amenities as well as guest rooms, and the hotel is closing for months to do it. That points to a bigger project than the 2024 refresh.
It is also part of an island-wide pattern. The Chamber lists the Westin alongside completed renovations at the Hilton Beachfront Resort & Spa and the Sonesta Resort Hilton Head Island. It describes owners putting money into existing hotels "rather than replacing existing hotels." On the north end, that means the same building on the same footprint, with the renovated version due back in spring.
According to KSL, the resort has 600 feet of Atlantic frontage. This winter, that stretch of beach sits in front of a closed hotel, and the beach itself was rebuilt recently. The Town's 2025-2026 renourishment project finished in July and restored about 9.2 miles of beach with 2.4 million cubic yards of sand, according to the Town's Oct. 5 release. The project's phasing map put Port Royal in the first phase, along with The Heel, Fish Haul and Pine Island.
Follow-up work is still underway on the Sound side. The Town scheduled sand fencing to start Oct. 5 and finish by the end of October. One of the six fencing areas is the Fish Haul Beach Park shoreline on Port Royal Sound. Dune planting is expected to start in early December and finish in spring 2027. The fencing is about four feet tall and made of untreated wood slats, set at angles to trap sand. Where needed, dune plants will be added from the beach side of the fence to about 20 feet back toward the dunes. Light equipment and vehicles will be working on the beach. The Town says current access routes will stay open and asks beachgoers to follow posted signs.
The Port Royal Plantation beach itself is not on the Town's fencing list. So the planting crews will be working at the Fish Haul end, on the same months-long schedule as the Westin's renovation. Both projects are set to finish in spring.
The Port Royal Golf Club, run by Heritage Golf Group, is not part of the Westin closure. The club's two courses are open. Barony is a George W. Cobb design. Robber's Row was originally designed by Cobb and later redesigned by Pete Dye. According to its current page, Robber's Row Grille serves lunch daily, runs the kitchen from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the bar from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and holds an à la carte happy hour every day from 4 to 6 p.m. The page also warns that hours change with the season, so check winter hours before you go.
The Port Royal Racquet Club has eight Har-Tru courts and two pickleball courts. It runs lessons, clinics and weekly round robins, and it offers public court access as well as membership. The club's posted rates are $32 to $40 an hour for tennis or pickleball court time, depending on lodging, and $6 to rent a racquet or paddle. Private lessons are $80 an hour or $50 a half hour, and custom clinics for three to six players are $34 per person per hour. The club's online events calendar doesn't show winter clinic dates yet, so the pro shop is the best place to get the round-robin schedule.
The Port Royal Plantation property owners association handles neighborhood business separately. Its homepage showed late-October notices about a board meeting, a guest speaker and the annual packet, along with a ballot notice for the 2027 board of directors. The details of those posts are behind the member login.
With the hotel's restaurants closed, the closest big gatherings this month are elsewhere on the island. The Hilton Head Oyster Festival runs Nov. 6 and 7. Friday is at Shelter Cove Community Park and Saturday is at Lowcountry Celebration Park. A week later, the Hilton Head Island Lantern Parade is at Lowcountry Celebration Park on Nov. 14 from 5 to 8 p.m.
Back in Port Royal, the dates to keep are early December, when dune planting starts at Fish Haul, and mid-April, when booking calendars show the Westin reopening. Until KSL or the hotel confirms a reopening date, the April 16 date is still unofficial.
If you own in Port Royal Plantation and want to know what this winter's closure means for your home's value, a sale planned for spring, or a purchase timed to the reopening, I'm glad to go through it with you. Tyler Stone follows the north end year-round. Contact Tyler.
Whether you’re buying your first home, selling a luxury property, or investing in Hilton Head Island real estate, Tyler Stone provides expert guidance, local knowledge, and a client-focused approach. From the initial consultation to closing, he ensures a smooth, stress-free experience tailored to your unique goals.