First about the neighbourhood, then about Villamare itself in general, then about the specific unit, then about the unit condition and experience with owner.

As a whole, Palmetto Dunes a good HHI handy location in the middle of the island: in striking distance for biking up or down the shoreline or on the inland bicycle paths to visit nature reserves; or to cross the HHI "waist" to access a good shopping centre and nature on the inland bay at the town park. A very good quality restaurant offering good early-bird values and both bike and kayak outiftters are part of the community. Of couse, golf and tennis.

Villamare is pleasant and seems well-tended -- not in the very latest luxury style, but ocean-front beach access with nice pool, hot tub, work-out room etc., easy and quick to Palmetto Dunes exit and entrance road yet without too much traffic.

Unit 3225 at Villamara owned by Trudy Seltzer was nicely located with great views and sound of the ocean waves. Reasonably furnished for a rental,

...BUT the absentee owner was truly absent: not just an inconvenience, but to the point of mean thoughtless treatment of my elderly parents. At first, and after the first money was sent, responses on any issue by email or phone came merely late --- then never.

Worst was when the power company left Final Notice of Immediate Electricity Shut-Off for long unpaid bills. My parents never did get any response from the owner, despite leaving repeated worried messages. I arrived for a quick visit and found my parents terribly upset about what to do. I persuaded the power company to delay the cut for a day or two, but had to follow up daily to discover if the bill was paid. In the end, a friendly electric account person told me she had taken the long call from this owner, who apparently had no spare time to reply to my parents' messages asking to be reassured they wouldn't be left in the dark with a fridge of rotting food.

That was merely of a part with the rest:

Very delayed response to repeated messages asking for confirmation of receipt of the deposit (which merely disappeared from the bank account) and thus the booking.

They arrived late afternoon after a multiday exhausting journey to find confusion: The unit was suddenly unavailable (for "repairs", although none were ever seen or heard to be made) and much confusion to get keys and access to the substitute unit. Trash had been left on the balconies and my mother did a lot of cleaning (including scooping out accumulated soapscum of ages to make the shower door tracks operate, and handwashing freshly-stained mattress undercovers too big for the in-unit washing machine). Screen door tracks were clogged and broken: the owner's handyman promise to fix them never happened. My father had a lot of trouble to discover the phone # (not the one given nor what was noted on the phone itself) and arrange the pass to this gated community. A touted arrangement for a multi-pass into Sea Dunes community was not done.

One doesn't expect rental units to be furnished in the very latest of fashion. One does expect a certain amount of minor omissions or needed repairs - that's life. Oe does expect a fair degree of cleanliness and basic responsiveness (especially over the matter of threat of immediate power cuts).

First of all I would like to say that both the Palmetto Dunes Resort and Villamare are beautiful facilities. Located about midway up the ocean coast, they offer top-notch recreation and beach facilities in a extraordinarily well maintained setting.
Villamare is a high rise complex with a series of buildings that all angle to a central pool and commons with a view of the ocean (a couple hundred yards away).
The Beach: The beach was vast and full of people. The sand is firm and when the tide goes out the beach is HUGE. The lifeguards rent umbrellas and chairs for a fee per day but most people carry their canopies and chairs down to the beach and set up comfortably for the day. There is plenty of room for all. It is very windy, but that takes the edge off of the heat. It ran mostly in the mid to high 90's at the end of July. It was HOT. It was so hot that after carting Golf Clubs 750 miles to play the courses, none of us felt the urge to play in the heat.
The pools were hot and FULL of kids while we were there. After the first couple of days we had a TON of jellyfish in the ocean and most of the kids headed for the pool. The pool was actually so congested that we spent little to no time there.
Take in the fireworks on the Marina side of the resort (that part is a Disney Resort) and try one or more of the shops and eateries at the marina complex. We tried the Mexican place. It was good (not great) and we were seated relatively quickly. They had live entertainment the night we were there. One guy (very good) who sang favorites and stumble through a few odd requests.
We shopped at the Outlet Malls back over the bridge one afternoon. Be aware it is very congested going over the bridges at pretty much any time.
Other shopping is convenient to this location. We had no trouble finding things or parking anywhere. Piggly Wiggly was good for groceries. The liquor store closes fairly early so make it one of your first stops (same complex).
A few negatives:
The beach is a coarse sand that is very grippy on your feet and we all wound up with blisters on our feet from walking or playing on the beach.
I takes forever to get on the island on "Arrival Saturday" I may have been an hour from when we hit the traffic jam until we got moving on the main parkway to the hotel. We will try to arrive on a Friday next time.
We were luck to have ready beach access, but this is a large complex and I saw many people pulling carts a looooong way to the beach.
The heat this year was oppressive at times.
Sea Pines was crowded (too crowded to park) and they charge a $5 admission to drive into the place, even if you have a dinner reservation.
I don't know if the jellyfish situation is always this bad, but it kept almost everyone out of the water the last 3 days.
Some Positives:
Lots of great restaurant options. We liked Marlie's best but also enjoyed Truffles. (I have posted other reviews here). There was a nice little diner on the left just before Coligny Plaza that served a great breakfast. Another good breakfast place
Coligny Plaza has some fun shops. My teenage boys found tons of great swimming suits at the surf shop there.
I enjoyed Villamare. The room was clean, comfortable and well furnished. We may go back to our deserted stretch of Topsail Island in North Carolina next year, but we will be back for the more upscale resort atmosphere and the varied restaurants in the area.
The entire island is a clean, nice place. Very family friendly for us at least

We travelled to Hilton Head for a golf vacation and stayed at Villamare in Palmetto Dunes based on the fairly good recommendations at TripAdvisor. As mentioned in several other reviews, the experience seems to depend on your luck with the particular unit that you are assigned by the rental company. Yes, the elevator seems to be a problem--we were on the 4th floor of building #1 and had to lug our luggage and golf clubs up the stairs when we arrived. Not what you want after a long day of travelling! However, the elevator was fixed the next day and we had no other problems. The main issue is that our particular unit has not been updated: you feel like it is 1990. The TVs are old and too small; the dishwasher doesn't work very well; the caulking around the tubs and shower is dirty; some of the light switches are broken; the walls need repainting; the washing machine is very noisy; one thermostat was dangling on the wall; etc. And yes, the towels are old, small and scratchy. On the plus side, the units are large and the location is perfect: we had an ocean view, the community is beautiful and there are many good restaurants nearby. Finally, there are 3 golf courses in the community and while they are all beautiful, experienced golfers will be annoyed by the slow greens (we enjoyed golfing more at other courses on the island). All in all, Villamare Villas is not bad given the fairly inexpensive rates, but I wouldn't recommend it. I would have gladly paid more for a modern unit.

We stayed in the Villamare Villa 2419. Beautiful villa, we felt right at home. The decor, furnishing and beds (very comfy) are perfect.
The villa is very roomy with 2 bedrooms/2 baths, den and kitchen. And the two patios are a nice touch! Loved sitting on the patio in the evenings, walks on the beach and of course the golf. The keyless entry is a nice touch and the wireless internet is very easy to access. The grounds of the Villamare is very nice, well kept and just minutes away from some of the best restaurants on the island. Love the beach!! The beach is extremely clean, you can walk right out on the beach and rent umbrellas/chairs by the day or week, very convenient. If you are a bike rider, you can rent them right in Palmetto Dunes, they will deliver and pick them up. Be sure to visit Harbour Town and Coligny Circle for great shopping and restaurants! Just a little piece of paradise on Hilton Head Island!