The Lodge at Sea Island

This is a beautiful property, from the tree-lined drive leading to the front entrance, to the well-appointed dining room with views of the golf course and the water. Unfortunately, the food was bad (dry, flaky fish, over poked, tasteless burger), the wait was quite long (for which they apologized), and the prices are a little on the steep side. Skip the meal, come for drinks instead.

Wow is how I describe our visit to The Lodge at Sea Island. Service and Facilities is every bit a five star experience. With 40 years being in management at five star properties myself this was a special treat to visit once again after 16 years from our initial stay. The gracious southern hospitality is evident from every lady and gentlemen serving us. Jim our butler could be a saint. He was gracious and very attentive to everything we desired in our brief stay. The dinner at Colt and Alison was outstanding. The views from room 20 are the best overlooking the practice putting green and area where the evening bagpiper delivers his featured enjoyment to enliven our experience there. Love this secret gem. Only 40 rooms and the pampering by everyone was memorable. Thank you all. Especially liked visiting the Ocean Forest club which is the private course on sea island. Kory the GM and his staff were so eager to show me how proud of this club that is a crown jewel on property. Congratulations to everyone who reflects their pride and commitment to excellence every day to uphold this legendary brand.

When you pull up at the Lodge on Sea Island there are multiple members of the staff there to greet you, including your butler. You needn't lift a finger and you are treated like royalty from day one until you check out. While the hotel is only 15 or so years old, it seems like a classic old hotel. The ambiance is sedate and most of the rooms overlook the golf course or the ocean-ours had both. There are two restaurants in the Lodge but it's the extra touches in the rooms that make each stay memorable. Coffee service is available in the lobby every morning and the coffee is delicious. At night, your turndown device includes bottled water and delicious homemade cookies. The room includes lovely amenities with Molton Brown cosmetics to sample. We especially loved the ceiling fan over the bed which cooled the room at night even on the hottest nights. All of the staff are so accommodating and seem to truly care that you're happy with your stay. The Lodge is quiet even on holiday weekends and if you want to sit on the beach you just need to jump on the shuttle which takes you to the Cloister or the Beach Club. For golfers this is a great option. For those who don't golf, it's still a delight!

Our family booked three rooms and loved the stay! Kids were entertained at the sister property pool and beach - adults golfed! The service was outstanding!!! Don't miss the rose bath - drawn by a butler. And, bagpipes on the lawn at 7pm. Oh, and take advantage of the complimentary test drives in the fleet of 7series BMWs.

We looked forward to visiting this property as they are known as the "Pebble Beach of the South". We did not think the comparison was even close. The highlights: The property is in a very quiet and private location with a total of 40 rooms. Each room is assigned a "butler" who greets you on arrival and provides a private tour of the facility. The building is reminiscent of an old family estate and meticulously maintained. Everyone we met was very pleasant. At dusk a bagpiper walks the golf course and "pipes the sun down". Very cool! You can sit on the huge veranda and listen as you sip a beverage of your choice or open the doors of your room and listen from your patio. The rooms are spacious and well designed. The housekeeping staff is just awesome!! Food Services did not meet expectations: The food and food servers were a huge disappointment. After arriving, our party wanted to unwind and have a bite to eat in their "casual" dining room. The quality of the food was fair at best and took so long to arrive they reduced our bill by 20%. That evening my 8 yo grandson wanted dinner (adults had drinks and apps). There was a 30 minute wait for a table in the dining room so we opted for "take out" and waited while they prepared a PBJ, fries, brownie, milk, and apple slices. After about 20 minutes we were called and picked up our "to go" order. On arrival to our room we found no utensils or milk in the bag. Yet another trip to the restaurant to retrieve the missing items. An apology and another wait. (They had to go to basement to get utensils!) The following day after golf we decided on nachos as we were going elsewhere for dinner. Plenty of wait staff but had to flag down waitress for any service at all. (There were only two other tables with customers so they weren't overwhelmed.) Again, food was fair and after previous night our expectations weren't too high! We asked out butler to adjust the door closure on our room as it took forever to close. "Oh yea, I noticed that yesterday!" Was his response. 48 hrs later and another reminder and it was finally adjusted. The caddy on day 1 knew less about golf or the course than we did! (The course was well maintained and we had a great round!) My general dissatisfaction centered around cost/value. This type of property is in the same league as the Ritz Carlton, JW Marriott, and St Regis. They should provide the same level of service if they expect to compete with these locations. They did not meet that standard during our stay.