My family just returned from a week at Kiawah, and this was our first time renting a villa. My husband and I had previously stayed at The Sanctuary (the five-star hotel on the island) in 2008 and 2009, so we were very curious to see whether we would enjoy the island as much in a villa. I'm very happy to report that we actually enjoyed vacationing in this beautiful villa even more than we'd enjoyed the hotel!

The villa is perfectly located just across the street from the beach boardwalk; it's maybe a three-minute walk. It's also just around the lagoon from the Night Heron Park and Nature Center, which has a wonderful pool and kids' pool. One of the things we had worried we might miss from staying at the hotel were its beautiful pools, but we were absolutely delighted with the pools at the Night Heron complex. The pool complex was adjacent to the Night Heron Grill and Bar, and servers circulated the pool regularly to take food and drink orders, which could be charged right to your resort account. It was great!

It's important to note that certain resort amenities like the pools are only open to guests of villas that offer resort privileges--like this beautiful Windswept villa. The resort privileges were absolutely key for us, because the Kiawah resort staff really do go above and beyond to take care of their guests. At one point during the week, one member of our party misplaced his key. I called the front desk to ask about getting a replacement key card, and they had an employee knocking on the front door in under five minutes with a replacement.

In addition to being perfectly located and having resort privileges, this Windswept villa is just beautiful inside. The kitchen and bathrooms are all recently renovated, and the pictures represent them perfectly. We were delighted, too, with the tasteful furnishings. As for technology, we were completely happy: The WiFi worked perfectly, even streaming movies. The cable package offered on-demand programming, which was helpful when we needed to entertain the little ones inside. There was even an iPod dock on the breakfast bar! The villa was beautifully maintained and extremely comfortable. I also noticed that its wrap-around deck is much larger than those on most of the neighboring villas, and its lagoon view is unobstructed and gorgeous.

These owners clearly take great pride in their villa, and were a delight to work with. We can't wait to plan our next Kiawah vacation, and would definitely stay here again!