North and South Carolina boast 76 Four Diamond and seven Five Diamond rated accommodations and restaurants. Go Magazine will regularly feature articles describing these properties, with expanded stories available at AAA.com/diamonds.
 BLUFF: HARD TO LEAVE ONCE TRANQUILITY SETTLES IN
The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, located on a centuries-old, 20,000-acre sea island that was once a wildlife and nature preserve near the quaint historical town of Bluffton, South Carolina, isn’t the easiest destination resort to find.
But it is a hard one to leave.
Relaxing on the screened porch in one of 50 cream-white Southern-style cottages, overlooking a manicured lawn with trees dripping Spanish moss, tranquility quickly envelops guests.
Odd numbered cottages enjoy tidal frontage, with Lowcountry views of the slow-moving May River; even numbers view a marsh dotted with grey herons, ibis, wood storks and snowy white egrets awaiting hapless fish.
Not a single, stand-alone building, The Inn at Palmetto Bluff includes a Plantation-style lodge with meeting rooms, a sit-down wine cellar and ground-level restaurant; the 50 cottages, (which include eight cottage suites with living rooms), and five nearby villas.
 Guests at the AAA Four Diamond-rated inn, and residents, enjoy modern amenities such as a 9,500-square-foot spa designed as an antebellum mansion with verandahs overlooking a lagoon; a three-lane Olympic-length horizon lap pool next to the May River; eight Har-Tru tennis courts, bocce and croquet areas; a Jack Nicklaus signature 18-hole golf course; a modern 24-hour fitness center, and a future equestrian center.
For nature lovers, Wilson Landing is a launching site for kayaks, canoes, fishing expeditions or leisurely sightseeing picnic boat rides or dolphin watches among barrier islands, such as Bull and Daufuskie, on the May River or to the east on Cooper River down to the New River.
All three rivers border Palmetto Bluff, so named for “bluffs” that at their highest sit 40 feet above the water and teem with wildlife. In the early 19th century, “The Bluff” was an exclusive, private hunting preserve owned by Richard T. Wilson, a wealthy New York banker, who built a four-story mansion on the property. Although the mansion burned down in 1926, broken marble columns—like Roman ruins—remain in the village square.
 Crescent Resources, the real estate management and development subsidiary of Duke Energy, purchased Palmetto Bluff in 2000 and have been developing it since with the Inn, the village and residential clusters snuggled about the property. The Inn’s manager is Jim Beley, a veteran of management at several AAA Five Diamond-rated Ritz-Carlton Hotels.
At least 6,000 acres of the river forest full of 300-year old oaks festooned with moss, palms and vegetation will remain a wild, natural, undisturbed habitat.
Walking bridges and pedestrian paths criss-cross the community, offering venues of walking, hiking or bike riding. – Tom Crosby
WASHINGTON DUKE INN & GOLF CLUB:
TRIBUTE TO A CIVIL WAR HERO
 The luxurious Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club in Durham, NC was named for Washington Duke, an impoverished former Confederate soldier who amassed his fortune in tobacco and helped relocate Trinity College to Durham, NC in 1890. (It was later renamed Duke University in his honor in 1924).
Duke University Golf Club followed in 1957 after being delayed by World War II. And on October 24, 1988, the Inn & Golf Club opened its doors.
Today, the five-story, 271-room Neo-Gothic inn seems older, given the extraordinary history of the Duke family and the longstanding excellent reputation of Duke University. The AAA Four Diamond rating has been bestowed upon the Inn and its full-service restaurant, the Fairview, since 1993.
The entrance travels between a pair of impressive stone gates identifying the Inn and descends through an alley of oak trees and blooming seasonal flowers leading to the porte cochere. The gracious exterior gives it a look of antiquity that fits the feel of the Old South.
The Inn completed a two-year $25 million renovation in 2005, and now has a grand ballroom that can seat 600 in its 7,000-square foot Executive Conference Center, a new swimming pool, more golf practice area and a new varsity golf education building.
“It’s not about getting bigger, it’s about getting better,” said Randy Kolls, general manager.
The lobby’s frequently polished and shiny gray slate floor is highlighted by a Persian rug underneath a circular oak table adorned with a Chinese porcelain vase that overflows with seasonal exotic florals. Overhead hangs an 18-light chandelier. Mahogany crown moldings add Old World charm and warmth.
With a 16-foot high ceiling and four square mahogany fluted columns, the lobby exhibits both grandeur and subtlety. Half a dozen high-back chairs are strategically located in the lobby and an antique highboy containing Duke family heirlooms of China figurines and tableware guards the leaded glass doors leading to the Bull Durham Bar next to the Four Diamond Fairview Restaurant.
The Duke Gallery (a hallway leading to the conference center) contains busts of the Duke family, gowns worn by Duke women, family photographs and Washington Duke’s 1850 antique wooden desk made of American walnut and bird’s eye maple.
On the grounds, the semi-circular, flagstone upper terrace overlooks the golf course with majestic willow oaks, maples, crape myrtles and the like provide a shady haven for guests to enjoy the gentle Carolina evenings.
Special amenities include turndown service with a pair of Washington Duke branded chocolates; a 13-page Guest Information Book with five pages describing places of interest and a church directory with phone numbers for 10 churches; a daily complimentary copy of USA Today; a 3.5 mile jogging track throughout the golf course; tennis courts; Duke family heirlooms and memorabilia plus the unique ambiance of a university setting. – Tom Crosby
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