… with Hilton Head Health Wellness Resort & Spa’s Help
Resolution: Eat well in 2025 and beyond. Well, at least eat better, thanks to Hilton Head Health Wellness Resort & Spa.
Disclosure: To enjoy Hilton Head Health Wellness Resort & Spa’s renowned restaurant, True, you have to be participating in one of Hilton Head Health Wellness Resort & Spa’s varied wellness programs.
True restaurant: True food is local, flavorful, and wholesome. True to nature. True to you.
About six years ago, we wrote a feature for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about our first experience at Hilton Head Island’s well-respected Hilton Head Health Wellness Resort & Spa (aka H3), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary next year (2026). It remains one of the more popular articles we’ve ever written for their Sunday travel section (along with our lengthy feature for them about Beaufort).
With a busy year that included many tasty meals near and far that weren’t always “healthy,”
we felt it was time to return to H3 with a resolution to eat well this year and beyond. Well, at least eat better.
Our timing was great, in that they are now offering shorter wellness programs of three or four nights that are essentially condensed versions of their longer and very popular one- to three-week programs, as well as stays of a month or more (one can dream). And, the only way you can enjoy their restaurant, True, which we consider one of the better restaurants in the Lowcountry, is to be participating in a H3 program.
Thomas ‘Chef T’ Carrig, photo by Seldon Ink
Let’s start with H3’s numerous offerings that are included in a “stay.” You can stay at H3’s stunning 30-room Sweetgrass Inn, which opened in 2021 on the H3 campus and which we really enjoyed, or elsewhere (typically at a nearby villa).
Of course, “fitness” is a big part of any wellness resort and H3 doesn’t disappoint, thanks to a wide variety of offerings focusing on cardio; strength; stretch/recovery; and walking (like their trademark post-meal “Thermal Walks”). These daily offerings take place in H3’s world-class facilities, including: their Strength Gym and Functional Gym (both Cele’s jam), Fitness Studio (ditto for Cele); Body + Mind Studio (namaste, y’all); and a heated pool (Lynn’s toasty hangout for a variety of classes).
There are also many lectures each day, featuring a wide range of topics, like: “Motivation Hacks,” “Clearing Up Nutrition Confusion,” “Chronic Inflammation;” “Dining: The H3 Way,” and many more that we found really helpful for our ongoing wellness journey. Between “fitness” offerings and lectures, each H3 participant has a choice of more than two dozen possibilities every day and can enjoy a packed wellness schedule or a more relaxed approach, including appointments at H3’s Indigo Spa (which is open to the public, providing a great way to see H3…we promise you’ll return). Pickleball newbies and veterans will be pleased to learn The Blue Zone Sports Court behind True hosts pickleball games, drills, and more.
There’s so much more we could say about a H3 stay, including their incredibly supportive
staff and the camaraderie that develops between guests, who often return to H3 together after meeting there. H3 is most popular with individuals, but we can attest to the benefits of going there as a couple (did someone say Lowcountry staycation?). That said, let’s talk about H3’s “food,” which is so much more that tasty meals at True restaurant.
We loved H3’s focus on nutrition, rather than weight loss or what the scales report. It starts with several food- and nutrition focused lectures that we found helpful, but H3 also features a sprawling stand-alone Healthy Kitchen, where many “Cooking Demonstrations” and “Chef’s Table” cooking classes and meals take place. Cooking demo topics (and tastes) can include “Rooted Vegetable Revival” and “Wake Up to Flavor” (featuring healthy breakfast ideas), while delectable Chef’s Table themes might include “Nourished by Lowcountry Tradition” or “Nautical Nights.” The excellent demos and classes are typically led by H3’s Executive Chef, Thomas Carrig (aka “Chef T”), and we learned a lot from him in the Healthy Kitchen, True restaurant, and elsewhere on H3’s campus.
We also learned a lot of cooking and eating tips in the lectures, like: using fresh non-
Salmon, photo by Seldon Ink
processed ingredients as much as possible; plating based on colors; putting your utensil(s) down between bites; using your non-dominant hand to take bites; using all five of your senses while eating; taking note of your fullness as you eat; avoiding distracted eating (looking at you, TV); and many more that we’ve found pretty darned easy to further incorporate into our cooking and eating.
Of course, the focus on nutrition (and appearance and flavor) continues in True restaurant, where all three daily meals and healthy snacks (called “Fit Bites”) are included with every stay.
There’s lots we can say about True dining, but let’s start with the vegetables, which were quite simply some of the best (and prettiest) veggies we’ve ever enjoyed in any restaurant or at home. Each menu comes with a lot of vegetable choices and we tried most of them during our short stay. From moan-worthy and colorful carrots and beets to their roasted cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, green beans, and more, True’s vegetables were a True revelation, as were the varied soups, salads, other starters, and the tasty entrées.
Lobster tacos
As expected, H3’s lunch and dinner proteins and entrées in general were packed with flavor, though the small portion sizes (think three or four ounces) did give us pause at first. Size notwithstanding, Chef T’s servings of salmon and other fresh fish, chicken, lobster tacos, sushi bowls, filet mignon, featured flatbreads, and more (yeap, even including tofu) were also among many True lunch and dinner dining highlights.
Breakfast is just as interesting, including seasonal crepes, a morning scramble (using a whole egg and two egg whites), a tofu scramble, oatmeal, and more (we loved their sprouted grain toast). Chef T currently changes the menus every Tuesday and Friday, which is reason enough to return to Hilton Head Health Wellness Resort & Spa and True restaurant—or simply extend our next tasty stay.
Hilton Head Health Wellness Resort & Spa
14 Valencia Rd.
Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
843-785-7292 or 888-329-7989
BY THE WAY…
We recently enjoyed another fine dining experience at Anchorage 1770’s renowned Ribaut Social Club (www.ribautsocialclub.com), where new-ish Executive Chef Robert Trainer (last at Montage Palmetto Bluff) wowed us with his crispy Brussels sprouts as one of many tasty starters and enticing entrées like a decadent 16-ounce ribeye, a delectable and creative duck a l’orange, chicken marsala (trust us), and his pork ribs special that still has us salivating. Welcome Chef Trainer!
