The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island is shown in an undated publicity photo. The 255 room, $125 Million oceanfront resort is one of the most expensive hotels in South Carolina.

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- With a $125 million US price tag, The Sanctuary resort and spa on Kiawah Island is not just South Carolina's newest luxury hotel. It is also one of the most expensive ever built in the state, and tourism officials are hoping it will bolster efforts to attract affluent visitors.

"One of our key objectives is not necessarily to bring more people to South Carolina -- although that is one of our goals -- but to get more value out of the people who come here," said Chad Prosser, the director of the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

Tourism is the state's largest industry, generating $15 billion US a year.

"We have had limited product on the very high end," Prosser said. "It's important for us to attract that market, not only for the value that market itself brings to South Carolina, but that's a market that sets trends for everybody else."

With 255 rooms, The Sanctuary cost nearly $500,000 per room to build.

"Our mission is to provide the finest service, the most personalized service we can for every guest," said Prem Devadas, managing director of the Kiawah Island Resorts. "We've made great efforts to make it the best."

Ninety percent of the rooms have ocean views at a hotel that features an oak-lined driveway, two oceanfront restaurants, a casual seaside grill, two bars and seven boutiques.

There also is a spa, almost 1,700 square metres of meeting space and a 288-square-metre Presidential Suite -- bigger than a roomy house.

Kiawah Island has long had a reputation as an exclusive destination. A scenic 16-kilometre-long barrier island about 40 kilometres south of Charleston, it was owned by the descendants of one family for more than 200 years, until a lumberman bought the island in 1950 and began to develop it. It was a private resort community until 1988, when it was incorporated as a town.

Kiawah is treasured not just for its beautiful beaches but also for its wildlife -- the deer, bobcats, grey foxes, racoons, river otters, sea turtles and ospreys that populate its shoreline, wooded areas and marshlands. Visitors can enjoy bike trails, dune walks and sea kayaking. The island is also known as a top golfing destination. The UBS Cup tournament will be held on the Cassique course on Nov. 18 to 21, while a "Family Tee" program is available at four golf clubs Thanksgiving week.

The island was fortunate to have escaped serious damage from the hurricanes that ravaged other parts of the Southeast in August and September; the storms had a bigger impact farther north along the coast.

While numerous villas and cottages are available to rent on Kiawah, The Sanctuary is its first and only hotel. Built to resemble a seaside mansion, The Sanctuary was to have cost $110 million. But the price increased during construction, Devadas said.

"We did add several things," he said. "We enlarged the pool areas and made them more luxurious. We put beautiful stone surfaces on the balconies. We enhanced the interior and the art and we purchased even more antiques."

Devadas said one of the goals of the resort is to capture the coveted five-star rating from Mobil and the five-diamond rating from AAA. There is only one five-star and five-diamond hotel in South Carolina, The Woodlands Resort and Inn in Summerville.

Rates at The Sanctuary run from $275 to $4,500 a night and for that, visitors will have every need attended to by the hotel's staff of 350.

While the state tourism agency doesn't track individual resort investments, The Sanctuary is probably the most expensive per-room resort investment in state history, said Marion Edmonds, a spokesman for Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department.

Edmonds said it will help in making South Carolina a destination for world travellers.

"We're developing a world-class reputation, it's true," he said. "Hilton Head (Island) and Charleston have had a tremendous influence on that. With the introduction of a property of this size, that keeps moving forward."