Compass by Margaritaville Hotel

Margaritaville's boutique Compass brand is building its second Grand Strand hotel on the oceanfront site of the demolished Castaway Beach Inn, in North Myrtle Beach's Crescent Beach section. Construction broke ground on September 18, 2025, with a spring 2027 opening targeted for the 14-story property, whose room count is cited as either 141 or 150 depending on the source.

The place

On Crescent Beach, one of North Myrtle Beach's original beach communities, at 1717 South Ocean Boulevard — a quieter, largely residential stretch between the livelier Ocean Drive shag-dancing district and Windy Hill. North Myrtle Beach is a separate incorporated city from Myrtle Beach proper, roughly 15 miles south, formed in 1968 from the merger of Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive, Crescent Beach and Windy Hill; the two are often confused but run separate city governments and separate hotel markets. Direct beach access puts the property steps from the Atlantic.

The concept

The 14-story hotel is rising on the footprint of the Castaway Beach Inn, a longtime independent oceanfront motel demolished in early 2023, after which the lot sat vacant awaiting redevelopment — genuine ground-up construction, not a conversion or rebrand. Developer MIG Investments of Myrtle Beach, led by Monty Morrow, broke ground on September 18, 2025, backed by a $68.5 million construction loan from Dallas-based HALL Structured Finance, with a ceremony that drew local officials and a Caribbean-style band in keeping with the Jimmy Buffett-inspired brand. Compass by Margaritaville is Margaritaville Holdings' upscale, boutique select-service brand — a lighter-footprint counterpart to the company's full-service Margaritaville Resorts, built for smaller leisure markets and infill sites rather than sprawling resort campuses. This is the brand's second Grand Strand property, after Compass Hotel by Margaritaville in Myrtle Beach itself. The room count is one detail still unsettled in public reporting: the hotel's own booking site lists 141 guestrooms, while several outlets covering the groundbreaking cited 150.

Dining & wellness

Published plans call for a full-service restaurant and poolside bar operating as "5 O'Clock Somewhere Bar & Grill" — a name used across Margaritaville properties — plus a grab-and-go outlet called Provisions, two indoor pools, an outdoor pool with a 13-foot waterslide, a fitness center, meeting space and a complimentary breakfast buffet. None of it is built or bookable yet, and details on finishes, hours or any spa component haven't been released this far ahead of opening.