Myrtle Beach in summer is one of those places where the price of everything triples and no one notices. A three-star oceanfront hotel charges $299/night in July. Meanwhile a Myrtle Beach oceanfront vacpack at Westgate or Bluegreen runs $79-$99 for two nights and you get a balcony facing the water. Your paying a fraction for the same view.
Last summer my wife and I did a 2-night getaway up to the Grand Strand. Here's exactly what worked.
Which Room Category Actually Gets You the Balcony
This is the trap everybody falls into. "Oceanfront" on some booking sites means "the building faces the ocean but your specific unit looks at the parking lot." Not what we want.
On vacpack bookings, the category you want is labeled "oceanfront balcony" or "direct ocean view." Side-ocean-view and partial-ocean-view units do exist and are cheaper, but if ocean-view is the whole reason your here, pay the $20 upgrade. I checked this three separate times because I've been burned before.
The Brands With Oceanfront Inventory
Big four for Myrtle oceanfront vacpacks:
- Westgate Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Resort — 3N from $99, full oceanfront tower
- Bluegreen Shore Crest Vacation Villas — 3N from $149, upscale
- Hilton Grand Vacations Ocean Enclave — 3N from $199, premium tier
- Spinnaker Resorts — 2N from $79, budget friendly
For a 2-night trip that's actually oceanfront, Spinnaker or Westgate are the hits. HGV is premium but the price reflects it.
What's Worth Doing in 2 Nights
We basicly did: beach all day, pier walk at sunset, one seafood dinner, repeat. Myrtle Beach has like 60 miles of Grand Strand beach so your not running out of sand. We skipped the Broadway at the Beach tourist shopping and nobody missed it.
One good seafood dinner (we did Nacho Hippo which isn't fancy but is delicious) ran us $62. We did breakfast at the unit both mornings. Lunch was a picnic on the beach from the Publix we passed.
Driving or Flying
Myrtle Beach International is small but direct flights exist from most east coast hubs. If your driving from Atlanta, DC, or Charlotte, its under 5 hours and the vacpack savings pay for the gas multiple times over.
The Tally
| Line | 2 People, 2 Nights |
|---|---|
| Spinnaker vacpack | $79 |
| Gas from Raleigh | $42 |
| Groceries (breakfast x2, lunch x2) | $38 |
| One seafood dinner | $62 |
| Beach chair rental | $30 |
| Total | $251 |
For comparison — a comparable weekend at an oceanfront hotel in Myrtle Beach would be $600+ in July just for the room. We did the whole trip for less than half that.
Check out oceanfront Myrtle Beach deals or summer Myrtle Beach vacpacks for the full active inventory.