This past weekend we went on such a fun family adventure. We rented a Class C RV through Outdoorsy and headed a few hours east to dip our toe into the RV life. I’m going to share our full experience with renting the RV, but first I thought it would be helpful to focus in on where we stayed in this Carolina Pines RV Resort Review.
We chose Carolina Pines because it’s less than 4 hours from Charlotte and was recommended to us by several different friends. They described it as being a higher-end RV resort with a ton of kid activities. While ideally we’d love to try some more off the beaten path adventures, we knew for this trial trip we’d be staying put at the resort since we were not going to tow a car. This sounded like the perfect spot to spend a weekend.
Carolina Pines RV Resort is located in Conway, SC, a few miles inland from North Myrtle Beach. If you have a vehicle, there is so much to do close by, from shopping, dining, Myrtle Beach State Park, and more. Since we stayed on site the whole time, this post is focused solely on the resort experience.
Ways to Stay at Carolina Pines
Our purpose was focused on trying out the RV life, but Carolina Pines offers a hearty mix of RV sites and cottages. RV sites start out ranging from $68 Standard RV site to $83 per night for an elite back in site. All sites come complete with full hookups for 30/50 amp electrical, water, sewer, cable and include free Wi-Fi. See all RV site options here.
We were driving a 31′ Class C and rented the Elite Back-In Site which all have a large concrete pad that can accommodate RV’s up to 40’. These sites also a large concrete patio with an upgraded outdoor furniture package and a fire pit.
They also offer cottages, ranging from $140-$200 a night. They offer studios, one bedroom, and two bedroom cottages. See all cottage details here.
Resort Amenities
There are so many amenities offered that you might find yourself never leaving the resort, even if you have the ability to do so. It reminded us of the fun we had glamping at Jellystone Golden Valley!
They offer organized kids activities like sports games, trivia, and bingo. Live music, karaoke, dance parties on the lawn. Waterpark (opens Memorial Day Weekend), pools (three are heated, including one indoor pool), dog parks, fishing pond, playgrounds, sports courts, fitness facilities, billiard room. See full list of amenities here.
Bathroom facilities and laundry are easily accessible, as there are several locations throughout the property. They also offer a General Store that supplies a lot of helpful items you might have forgotten (like we forgot charcoal), as well as coffee.
Extra Expenses to Budget For
There is more than enough to keep you occupied without added expense, but to get the full experience, it’s a good idea to budget for a few of the premium offerings.
We added a golf cart to our rental for $70 per day. It felt a little pricy, but it was a really convenient and fun way to scoot around the large resort with ease. You can bring your own golf cart, but there will still be a fee of $30 per day to do so.
Other pay-for additions to keep in mind are:
- Mini Bowling – we LOVED this. To play, you load a card with credits and swipe your card to play. It ends up being roughly $5/person per game. It’s 10 frames, just like regular bowling.
- The Arcade – I appreciated that the arcade was clean, well-lit, and all the games worked. Like the bowling, you load a plastic card with credits and can earn tickets to turn in for prizes. $30 worth of credits kept the kids busy for a full hour.
- Restaurant – If you want to take some time off of food prep, there is a full service restaurant, a casual snack and bar spot, and pool-side concessions.
A Few Shortcomings
The only thing that wasn’t a homerun for me was the food. However, still give them a try because we were told the food was excellent, so perhaps we just ordered wrong. It was certainly nice to have a restaurant and snack option for taking a night off of cooking, and the staff was friendly and kind, but we preferred sticking with making our own.
Wifi was spotty. I think it correlated with busy times. In the morning it worked well, but in the evenings, perhaps when everyone had turned on a movie for the night, it was slow, bordering on non existent at times.
Carolina Pines Review: Overall Impression & Final Tips
For families, you can’t beat a stay at Carolina Pines Resort. The staff was friendly, the grounds all felt safe and were immaculately maintained, and all the amenities felt clean and well cared for. There is so much for kids of all ages to do and it’s nice to give the older kids a little freedom. Our kids enjoyed attending the Gaga Ball tournament and kids’ trivia on their own.
It’s very dog-friendly and every we encountered was respectful of each other, picking up dog waste (there are a few stations located throughout) and keeping dogs contained.
I was surprised at how peaceful it felt. We were there in the off season (March) but were still impressed that our late evening walks and early morning walks were quiet. People would be set up by their fires, but it never felt noisy or chaotic. Just friendly waves and quiet conversation.
Bring kid bikes. I’m so glad we got this tip, and would have brought all our bikes if we could have made them fit. The kids loved the freedom of exploring on their bikes, taking them to meet up with newly made friends, and even taking them down to the bathrooms.
If there is anything I missed in this Carolina Pines review, please ask! Kaitlyn is already asking if we can go back when the waterpark is open, and we all had a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. If there’s a RV park that you recommend, please let me know. I’d love to make a list of places to visit as we ponder more RV travel in the future.
