Longboat Key Club/Resort
On Florida's SW coast;home of New 20-court Tennis Gardens
www.longboatkeyclub.com
TOPS'L Resort
Top 10 U.S. Tennis Resort Tennis pkgs: 888-248-4964
www.topsl.com
This is your opportunity to rate and review the resorts and camps you've visited. As material comes in I'll post it here, so you can read what others think.
So far, I haven't received any written feedback on Inn at Palmetto Bluff. If you've taken a tennis vacation there, I'd like to hear your reactions.
From the porch in my cottage 
I am looking across the May River at the distant outline of South Carolina's Hilton Head Island. As the crow—or more appropriately the snowy egret—flies, Hilton Head was only five miles east, but the Inn at Palmetto Bluff where I'm staying has little in common with Hilton Head other than views of a marshy landscape. As I sit on the porch two dolphins surface in the river (a tidal estuary, really), startling a small flock of mergansers. Behind me, inside the cottage, a fire burns in the gaslog fireplace and Faith Hill is belting out "If you fly away" on one of several CDs and DVDs provided with a surround-sound multimedia system and 42-inch plasma television. So although I am remote from the civilization as defined by the most famous of South Carolina's barrier islands, I am nonetheless bathed in creature comforts.
The Inn at Palmetto Bluff is the newest addition to the tennis landscape in this part of South Carolina's Low Country. One of the resorts in the Auberge collection, the Inn is the centerpiece of a 20,000-acre parcel of unspoiled maritime forest and marshes near Bluffton on the mainland. Unlike the barrier islands, it has no beach, but makes up for it in soul-soothing tranquility and opportunity for selfish indulgence. (Excursions by boat to the beach on Daufuskie Island, just off Hilton Head Island, are available.)
At the resort core is a village green, anchored by the sections of the stone pillars that once graced the front of a 72-room mansion that stood on this spot. Bordering the green are a tiny steepled chapel, a post office and gallery, a bakery/bookstore called Buffalos, a real estate office, a carriage house (source of bicycles or golf carts for getting around), and River House, where guests check in and later gather for cocktails or breakfast, lunch or dinner in its restaurant, either inside or on one of the verandahs or porches.
Pro Shop: 843-706-6635
It's a 10-minute walk or a quick bike 
ride from the cottages to the Wilson Sports Complex, named for Richard Wilson, who built the 72-room mansion that has since fallen into ruins. It consists of two professional croquet courts and two bocce courts, anchored by a large pro shop and pavilion with cedar-shake shingles on its roof and siding. Arrayed around the perimeter are by eight Har-Tru tennis courts laid out singly and in pairs and sporting wooden fence poles, wooden gazebos with cedar-shake shingles, sub-surface watering, and a forest backdrop. It is an exceptionally pleasant place to play.
Tennis director Warren Florence, who once ranked as high as No. 5 in South Carolina, skews his programming toward the weekends, when property owners frequently visit (otherwise, the local population is 27). He runs clinics for adults and juniors, a social round robin every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and a member-guest tournaments (hotel guests are considered members) over major holidays with a wooden-racquets-only event Friday evening. Midweek he may schedule an exhibition or, if there's demand, clinics.
He expects to see the calendar of weekly activities evolve as demand rises. Meanwhile, he's always eager to custom-design packages—often bundling in spa services—for groups or teams. Of his approach to teaching, Florence says: "I teach that you have four tools: Your eyes, your feet, your imagination, and then your racquet," he told me. "If the first three aren't working, then the fourth won't do you much good."
Golf Courses. May River Golf Club. Designed by Jack Nicklaus, this 18-hole course winds past the May River and into the forest of moss-bearded live oaks, palmettos, and pines.
Spa & Fitness Center. Perched at the edge of a lagoon and bird rookery, the 9,500-square-foot Spa at Palmetto Bluff looks like a Southern manor house, and its treatments drawn on traditions and ingredients indigenous to the area, including cornmeal, peaches, cotton, wild rice, and red river clay. The modest Fitness Center faces the heated outdoor swimming pool adjacent to the Inn, its dozen cardio machines perched behind tall windows facing east.
And ... Bike trails lace the property and canoes and kayaks are available for use on the lagoon, while guided kayak tours and nature tours more deeply explore this Low Country landscape.
Lodging comes in two types: Cottages, which range in size from 1,140 to 1,340 square feet, and two-to-four-bedroom homes with deluxe kitchens, fireplaces, and high-speed internet connections.
There are three dining options on property: Buffalos, and bookstore and bakery featuring pastries and coffee; the May River Grill in the golf clubhouse, which is open for late breakfast or lunch and cocktails; and River House, their full-service restaurant open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and specializing in elegant Low Country fare and supplemented by a lively bar and well-stocked wine cellar.
If you're looking for resorts with similar creature comforts or quiet seclusion, also check out:
Lodging ranges from Cottages and Cottage Suites to 2-, 3-, and 4-bedrooms village homes with full kitchens. The rates quoted here do not include 10% tax or a service fee of $25 per room, per night, which covers cash gratuities for bellman and housekeeping staff, and use of the fitness center and pool.
Jan. 1-Mar 11, 2010
Cottages: $475-$700. Cottage Suites: $700-$900. Homes: from $1,100
Mar. 12-May 31, 2010
Cottages: $650-$950. Cottage Suites: $900-$1,100. Homes: from $1,300
June 1-Sept. 30, 2010
Cottages: $475-$700. Cottage Suites: $700-$900. Homes: from $1,100
Seasons. Year-round.
Travel Instructions. By Air: The nearest airport is Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) in Georgia roughly 30 miles away.
General Tourist Information. Visit the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau web site or contact them at 1 Chamber Dr., P.O. Box 5647, Hilton Head Island, SC 29938; 843-785-3673 or toll-free 800-523-3373.