The Lodge at Sea Island

Let me preface this review with the comment that it poured rain 75% of the time we were there. My wife and I have heard rave reviews about Sea Island, so we booked a quick 2 night weekend stay to get away after hosting guests at our Beach house for 4 weeks. Having never been here before, I wish I had done more research prior to booking. We stayed at the Lodge which is a beautiful building with an amazing hotel staff. Starting right at the guard house who alerted the hotel we were 30 seconds away, to the valet staff who greeted us by name, to our Butler assigned to us who helped us check in and gave us a tour of the building. Very impressive. Our room was very large with a couch, easy chair, desk and chair and a very nice bathroom. Plenty of closets. Excellent room. What we didn't realize was the Cloisters and the majority of advertised amenities like beach access, shooting range, equestrian facility, marina, walking paths, were all a 20 minute bus ride from the Lodge. We like to walk and what look like a very nice walking trail on the maps, turned out to be a "speedway" for golf carts moving to and from the cottages, etc., so it was very unsafe to walk there. We ended up walking laps in the parking lot to get our steps in. Also, there are DANGER signs at the water line, telling guests to stay off. Hence, no water access. SO, that all was disappointing. The lodge is a very short 4 minute drive to Mallery St., Neptune Park and the Lighthouse and museum. All worth visiting which we did Saturday morning, including walking up the 108+ steps to the observation level of the lighthouse. We walked up and down Mallery street, enjoying popping into the stores and enjoying a couple great cups of coffee while doing so. (My wife shopped - I held the coffees :-). ) So now let's talk Food. It was always our plan on Friday night to enjoy the Oak Room for our first night and then one of the restaurants at the Cloisters the second night. Night one we were introduced to "the system" of eating at the Lodge/Oak Room. 1) Reservations and taken only for seating between 5PM and 6PM. I guess this makes sense when you think about families, many multi-generational, staying at the Lodge in the Cottages. 2) What we didn't realize that the "game" is to get your party on "the wait List" starting at 6:01PM, so when the usually full 5-6PM seating starts exiting at say 645 - 700PM - you are first in line!! Imagine our surprise showing up at the desk at 7:45PM, being told 45-60 Min wait! 3) When I questioned the hostess she said, "you should have put your name on the wait list at 6:00PM". HUH??? 4) We waited 45 minutes. I had a flash back to the one and only time I ate at Longhorn Steak house with call ahead seating! I don't know, maybe it's just me, but staying in a 5-star resort with only 46 rooms, I would have expected much much more for their guests. Once we got thru that gamut, I have to tell you the best part of the meal was the bread and the drinks. My wife had a steak salad - the steak was well prepared. I had a "house specialty" - meatloaf. OK not great. But I guess, it's meatloaf. Saturday morning we wanted a quick sandwich before exploring and I was directed by a very knowledgeable and pleasant woman who was working the Oak Room, to the the pool house for a quick option. The 2 breakfast burritos I ordered were mush. I guess if I was eating it between shots on the golf course, I would not have noticed, but I took it back to our room and we both ended up throwing most of them away. The Lodge concierge made a reservation for us at Tavola at the Cloisters for Saturday night. The hostess did not like that we showed up at 8:02 for an 8:15 reservation, and was visibly cold to us and told us that we were WAY TOO early. Really? oh well. Seated at 8:20. Again, the bread and drinks were great. The lobster ravioli was hard and tasteless and the meatballs/Alfredo (another $$$ speciality) was luke warm and nothing special at all. A clumping, I do mean CLUMP, of pasta and 5 meatballs. Very disappointing. I will say the shuttle drivers were great - especially Tony who gave us a lot of great local info on the ride over to the Cloisters. Sorry for the negativity - other than the restaurant personnel and experience, the Sea Island staff is truly amazing and makes you feel very special. The scenery is stunning. I guess we hit the restaurants $$$ on off nights...... If we go back again, maybe it won't rain and I maybe I will play golf! :-)

A holiday including golfing and the sea island resort is a fantastic place Hopefully will be back again at some point

Hotel & Restaurant are Great! Golf is HORRIBLE! Pro Shop is Rude! Starters are Rude! Caddy’s are The Worst in The World! Caddy’s are something out of Caddy-Shack!

We stayed at The Lodge and this place is unbelievable. The friendliest staff that I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. The food was excellent and highly recommend Colt and Allison and Georgian Rooms. You will not be disappointed.

Great place to get on Beach time and slow done in the best of atmospheres. I HIGHLY recommend. Seaside is one of the best golf courses in Georgia. I was skeptical a few years back when I heard of the plans to create a pool and pool house between The Lodge and the Golf Performance Center, but, they pulled it off!! Must have had a great architect.