Historic Litchfield Plantation, home to colonial rice planters more than 250 years ago, is today a unique country inn and resort on Pawleys Island, SC, between Myrtle Beach and Charleston.

The latest Zagat Survey of 2,100 top U.S. hotels and inns rated Litchfield Plantation highest in the South Carolina coastal area known as the Grand Strand, and equal to Zagat�s �Top 50 U.S. Inns and B&Bs� list. The Plantation has been accepted into the exclusive Small Luxury Hotels of the World, an elite group of 230 of the highest quality small hotels, resorts, country inns, retreats and spas in 50 countries. (See related stories.)

Under the direction of General Manager Karl Friedrich, a hotel industry veteran with more than two decades of experience in Europe and the Caribbean, ongoing improvements are being made. �Giving our guests personalized service, emulating renowned Southern hospitality, is our goal,� Friedrich said.

There are 35 available rooms at the Inn, and the fresh water marina has been renovated to include 68 wet slips with electric and pump-out, where remnants of old rice fields still attract abundant wildlife.

Riding through the plantation�s massive wrought-iron front gates and down the Avenue of Live Oaks, with sunlight filtering through the mossy branches and reflecting off green lawns and dark pools of water, has a powerful impact on most visitors � an experience of traveling back in time to a magical place.

The late South Carolina Poet Laureate, James Dickey, who maintained a Litchfield Plantation residence for many years, described it this way: �The moment you come into Litchfield Plantation from the ordinary world is as dramatic as Alice going through the looking glass�you are enveloped in wonder. Here, there is nothing else.�

Louise Price Parsons, who inherited the property in 1966, has directed a program of continuous renovations, landscaping and other improvements, to make the plantation one of the best country inns and small resorts in the country.

Premier accommodations include:

� Four historically furnished rooms in the colonial-style, white-columned Plantation House, standing like Tara in �Gone With the Wind� at the end of a long avenue of live oaks. � A luxurious white stucco Guest House, originally built by a German steel industrialist, featuring an expansive second-floor master suite with a fireplace, sitting area, wet bar and more. � The cypress-clad Cottages at Chapel Creek, which won an American Institute of Architects award, and other residential buildings providing additional rooms, suites, living, dining and kitchen areas overlooking natural creeks and ponds.

The 10,000-square-foot Carriage House restaurant offers gourmet dining prepared by an award-winning staff, wood-paneled meeting rooms, and banquet seating for up to 120. It serves as a spacious focal point where guests can meet each other to coordinate activities. A three-story oceanfront beach clubhouse provides guests with private access to Pawleys Island�s delightful beaches, which have been protected from commercialism and crowds.

Other amenities on the 600-acre Plantation include tennis courts, a large swimming pool overlooking the rice fields, and a marina connecting to the Intracoastal Waterway. Around the Plantation are some of the finest golf courses in the South, many designed by golf�s top names.

Litchfield Plantation was originally part of a land grant from King George II in 1710, that encompassed thousands of acres from the Atlantic Ocean to the black waters of the Waccamaw River. Its most continual antebellum residents were the Tuckers, in the golden days when South Carolina was the rice-producing capital of the Western World. A number of people have claimed to see the ghost of Dr. Tucker, a devoted physician, returning from his night calls to the plantation. The whole area is rich in ghost tales and other mysterious occurrences.

Current owner Louise Price Parsons is the granddaughter of Julian Price, former president of Jefferson-Pilot Corporation, a major insurance and broadcast holding company. In the 1970s Henry Boykin, a leading architectural restoration expert, helped Mrs. Parsons restore the Plantation House to its original elegance. A wing which had been added to the back of the house during its years as a hunting lodge was removed. Authentic interior woodwork, molding and other details were restored. Bathrooms and the kitchen were brought up to high standards, and draperies and furniture fabrics were selected to enhance the antique furnishings and colonial ambiance.

Litchfield Plantation�s beautiful grounds are meticulously maintained and have been enhanced with additional trees, shrubs and flowers. Noted arborist Ken Knox, who also has overseen the famed Augusta (GA) National Golf Course, serves as a special adviser to the Plantation.

Ground transportation is available to and from nearby Myrtle Beach Airport. Golf tee times; sport fishing, deer and duck hunting; tours of local attractions such as Brookgreen Gardens (the world�s largest outdoor sculpture garden), historic Georgetown, SC, or Charleston, SC; shopping excursions and a wide variety of other recreational activities and guest services can be arranged upon request.

�We believe leisure and business guests will continue to find Litchfield Plantation a perfect place to get away from the noise and pressures of the commercial world for quiet relaxation, outdoor activities, delicious food, creative thinking and conversation,� Mrs. Parsons said. �There is truly nothing like this anywhere else in the world.�

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Media Contact: Karl Friedrich +1 843-237-4286 karlf@litchfieldplantation.com