Number One South Carolina Resort

Travelers voted The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort the number one South Carolina resort in the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards for 2026. Rankings were determined by more than 20,000 of the magazine’s readers, who voted for their favorite hotels based on criteria such as quality of service, accommodations, amenities, dining, activities and family-friendliness. Recognizing the resort’s outstanding setting, Kiawah Island was also recognized as one the Best Island in the Continental US.

This greatly envied recognition comes on the heels of other recent accolades. For the eighteenth consecutive year, Dr. Beach named Kiawah Island among his highly anticipated annual Top 10 Beaches in America. Once again, The Sanctuary received both Five Stars and Five Diamonds from Forbes Travel Guide and AAA, respectively. In addition to Five Diamonds, AAA also recognized The Sanctuary as one of its Top 10 Hotels for 2026. Last month, Condé Nast Traveler named The Sanctuary in its inagural class of Triple Crown winners—resorts that have appeared in its Hot List, Gold List, and Readers’ Choice Awards. TennisResortsOnline once again awarded the Roy Barth Tennis Center a Gold Medal for its racquet sports facilities and programming.

 

The resort’s world class golf courses continue to rank among the best in the world in leading publications, such as GOLF, Golf Digest, and GolfWeek. The South Carolina Golf Course Rankers Association also continues to recognize the quality of courses on the resort, naming four of the five resort courses among its Best Courses in South Carolina, including The Ocean Course, which came in at number one again.

To view all of Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s recent awards and accolades, visit the resort’s Press Room and look for the Awards & Accolades sheet.