Hotels with a pool in the old town, Kiawah Island

How this list was put together

42 Kiawah Island hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.

Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

Peter Halvorsen The Nordics

Twenty-six years of teaching means 26 long summers. Trains and driving through most of Europe, now further afield, usually alone with a tent. Keeps every train ticket since 1994.

Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.