Myrtle Beach Hilton resort is getting a major overhaul. Take a first look at luxurious upgrades

Chase Karacostas

A multimillion dollar renovation to one of Myrtle Beach’s biggest resorts is almost complete.

On Aug. 20, Embassy Suites by Hilton Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Resort will welcome guests two new waterparks and a pool area with dozens of cabanas. And this fall, a new beachfront restaurant and beer garden, Black Drum Brewing, will open to public as well.

Already, the property, managed by Kingston Resorts, has renovated all of its rooms and event spaces. The Embassy Suites even got a new paint job, trading out its retro neon orange for an ultra-modern white.

The hotel gave The Sun News a sneak peek of the upgrades to the Embassy Suites, one of the biggest renovations to any Myrtle Beach-area resort in decades.

Black Drum Brewing, one of the most obvious additions to the property, will open in late September or early October, Embassy Suites managing director Bob Barenberg said. The brewery will have 40 beers on tap, many of which will be from North and South Carolina. Its food offerings will include barbecue from both Carolinas and a walk-up pizza stand where freshly made pies will be available in minutes.

Kingston Resorts in Myrtle Beach is undergoing renovations with a new pool deck and waterpark scheduled to open by August 20, 2022 and the Black Drum Brewing restaurant to be complete later this fall. Additional facilities will include 28 cabanas, a hammock garden, day beds and a beer garden. Aug. 5, 2022.
Kingston Resorts in Myrtle Beach is undergoing renovations with a new pool deck and waterpark scheduled to open by August 20, 2022 and the Black Drum Brewing restaurant to be complete later this fall. Additional facilities will include 28 cabanas, a hammock garden, day beds and a beer garden. Aug. 5, 2022.

The restaurant has two floors, with the second available for event bookings, and there is a small area for parties or weddings off to the side of the building. Between the indoor and outdoor areas of the restaurant, Black Drum Brewing will be able to host more than 300 people.

The renovated pool area stretches the length of the restaurant.

Kingston Resorts in Myrtle Beach is undergoing renovations with a new pool deck and waterpark scheduled to open by August 20, 2022 and the Black Drum Brewing restaurant to be complete later this fall. Additional facilities will include 28 cabanas, a hammock garden, day beds and a beer garden. Aug. 5, 2022.
Kingston Resorts in Myrtle Beach is undergoing renovations with a new pool deck and waterpark scheduled to open by August 20, 2022 and the Black Drum Brewing restaurant to be complete later this fall. Additional facilities will include 28 cabanas, a hammock garden, day beds and a beer garden. Aug. 5, 2022.

Surrounding the pool are dozens of cabanas, a “hammock garden” and traditional beach chairs. Much of the seating is tiered, as well, so no matter where someone is sitting, they will have an unobstructed view of the ocean.

Kingston Resorts in Myrtle Beach is undergoing renovations with a new pool deck and waterpark scheduled to open by August 20, 2022 and the Black Drum Brewing restaurant to be complete later this fall. Additional facilities will include 28 cabanas, a hammock garden, day beds and a beer garden. Aug. 5, 2022.
Kingston Resorts in Myrtle Beach is undergoing renovations with a new pool deck and waterpark scheduled to open by August 20, 2022 and the Black Drum Brewing restaurant to be complete later this fall. Additional facilities will include 28 cabanas, a hammock garden, day beds and a beer garden. Aug. 5, 2022.

For guests with children, the new waterpark area will be a big draw, Barenberg said. Split in two, the waterpark features half a dozen water slides. The two sections are split up with slides built for younger kids on one side and slides for older kids on the other.

“In the resort world, it’s very easy: Happy kids; happy parents,” Barenberg said. Or, rather, “occupied kids” as he joked later.

Kingston Resorts in Myrtle Beach is undergoing renovations with a new pool deck and waterpark scheduled to open by August 20, 2022 and the Black Drum Brewing restaurant to be complete later this fall. Additional facilities will include 28 cabanas, a hammock garden, day beds and a beer garden. Aug. 5, 2022.
Kingston Resorts in Myrtle Beach is undergoing renovations with a new pool deck and waterpark scheduled to open by August 20, 2022 and the Black Drum Brewing restaurant to be complete later this fall. Additional facilities will include 28 cabanas, a hammock garden, day beds and a beer garden. Aug. 5, 2022.

The renovation to the two hotels comes as major hotel chains, including Choice, Marriott and Hilton, have become more and more interested in expanding in the region.

“When I got here — I came in in May of 2000, is when I started here — and we were one of the only branded hotels in town. There literally was nothing,” Barenberg said.

Kingston Resorts in Myrtle Beach is undergoing renovations with a new pool deck and waterpark scheduled to open by August 20, 2022 and the Black Drum Brewing restaurant to be complete later this fall. Additional facilities will include 28 cabanas, a hammock garden, day beds and a beer garden. Aug. 5, 2022.
Kingston Resorts in Myrtle Beach is undergoing renovations with a new pool deck and waterpark scheduled to open by August 20, 2022 and the Black Drum Brewing restaurant to be complete later this fall. Additional facilities will include 28 cabanas, a hammock garden, day beds and a beer garden. Aug. 5, 2022.

Some of those chains, instead of building new hotels, have chosen to rebrand and renovate existing hotels. This happened in two cases earlier this year.

In May, the former South Bay Inn & Suites held a ribbon cutting to announce its official rebrand as the Homewood Suites by Hilton Myrtle Beach Oceanfront. And a month before that, a Marriott Springhill Suites/Courtyard opened on the property of the Breakers Resort, one of the most well-known independent Myrtle Beach hotels.

Barenberg said the recent growth in the number of major chain hotels is in part due to Myrtle Beach’s explosive growth as a destination for the last two decades. Time and again, recessions or the pandemic would hurt other regions, but Myrtle Beach would continue to thrive because of its affordability, he said.

“I’m looking at numbers from hotels from Florida to Spokane, Washington. Nobody performed better than Myrtle Beach last year — maybe Key West might have been the one standout — but it was Myrtle Beach that killed it overall,” Barenberg said.

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