The King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort — Hotel in Saint Simons

Let me begin by saying that I have been coming to St. Simons for 50 years and King and Prince Resort for about 45. While the island has grown and changed over the years, the King and Prince always remained a luxurious, historical place to stay. The standards commanded by the previous owners were much appreciated. My family and I booked several rooms this past weekend for my wedding. I was so excited to celebrate and stay at the resort. Upon arrival I went up to the front desk to check in after a long ride and was greeted quite abruptly by a young man who was extremely rude and condescending. When I asked about the rooms we had reserved he snapped at me several times for no apparent reason. After receiving our key and speaking to some of our family members I found out that they had also received the same rudeness at check in. Not a great start. And never before has this happened at K&P. Although the rooms could use some updating, it was pleasant and clean enough. A couple of things such as a broken slat on the metal grill for the furnace and some mold in the closet carpet should have been easy enough to fix but had not been dealt with. The chairs on the balcony could have used a good wipe down as well. Not the end of the world but disappointing. One of my family members had a room that was so small the door hit the bed when opened and you had to squeeze in and then close the door to get to the rest of the room. Really? And for the rates charged, shouldn’t have been something we encountered. For the wedding dinner in Echo restaurant I was snapped at again by one of the servers when asking about our table. She was very negative and unfriendly. The other servers were all very pleasant and food was good. Another inconvenience is the coffee situation. Years ago they had free coffee in the lobby by the water. I can understand that coffee stations may be hard to maintain, but if you go to Echo restaurant in the morning and ask for coffee to go, they tell you they cannot give it to you. It is only for patrons of the restaurant. They need to find some sort of coffee station or to go set up in the lobby for convenience. No one wants to use the dirty coffee machine in the bathroom next to the toilet. Again, easy fix and these things shouldn’t have happened. The bar area and seating areas needed someone coming around to keep clean. Also, clearly posted near doors from outside, it states “must have coverups and shoes to enter bar area”. Again, one of those nice touches that makes the ambiance worth the price. It is no longer enforced. Such a shame. The umbrellas surrounding the pool area were ripped and tattered. They looked as if they had been through a hurricane. Again, an easy fix but wasn’t addressed. While we were there we also encountered a bad rainstorm which had employees scrambling with buckets and towels for all of the leaks from the roof. The first floor of the historic building had flooding on first floor. I found out that the resort was recently purchased from the 40+ years private family owners by two companies, South Street Partners out of Charlotte Charleston areas and TPG out of San Francisco. I, and I’m sure everyone else that loves the K&P, certainly hope these two companies restore this resort back to its former glory and grandeur. And sooner than later. With all of this said, my special wedding weekend was not ruined. I just came away a bit saddened. From all of the reviews that I have read where people have encountered problems, these two companies provide a standard answer of “ we have read your concerns and hope that you will give us another try.” That, in my opinion, simply won’t do. Who wants to “give us another try” when you have done nothing towards fixing the problems? These companies need to make the effort to compensate these patrons for bad experiences encountered at your property. Especially for the rates charged. Take responsibility. Restore this beauty and get it back to top notch standards if you intend to charge top...

We stayed here for a conference for my husband's work and extended it for a little more family time over my birthday. First off, this hotel is advertised as luxury and has a reputation as "the nicest hotel in St. Simon's Island". Unfortunately, I do not think it lives up to either of those descriptions. The only thing on par with luxury is their pricing. Pros: LOCATION: Beautiful land right on the ocean. We even had an ocean view from the 3rd floor of the Oleander Building -They did provide a complimentary bottle of champagne and card for my birthday (although I do not drink alcohol) -The food: both pro & con. Echo as take-away to the beach: everything was great. the poolside Sea Shack: the nachos were good. The Cottage: food was good when in stock and heated to temperature (see below). -The linens looked clean and the room "looked clean" (more on this later) -The Oleander had its own little private parking area so it was never a challenge to find a spot close by -They provide contact info for chair/ umbrella service on the beach (there's not a way to reserve online and you have to leave a message but they do call back) Cons: -Price is not worth what you get -Food: 1. It's expensive but I find that to be the case in most beach resorts. Seaside Shack: wraps were dry, missing the advertised tomato & dipping sauce. The strawberry lemonade frozen drink tasted like ice with a hint of lemon flavor. The Cottage- they didn't even heat the egg on my son's breakfast sandwich (it was refrigerator cold). They were out of a couple of morning items and out of several custard toppings. -Room impressions: Carpet is old, matted down and dirty looking. Faucets are so old that they are showing beachside corrosion. Room had whirlpool tub with stains dripping from the filter and the faucet. Tub was also really high to step in/out of. Sofa had some fraying on the piping and a bleach stain across a cushion. The refrigerator barely kept things chilled. There wasn't a proper comforter for the pull out bed supplied & had to call room service (but should have been stocked based off the reservation). Should have a trash can for the room and for the bathroom but didn't. The tissue paper holder looked like a cheap plastic $1 Wal-mart purchase and had paint splatter speckles on it. The room was only stocked with 2 washcloths. The AC was loud when it would kick on (and it would cycle). At one point, it randomly went up to 78 degrees and we were hot. -Oleander elevator: 1.5 days of our stay it was acting it- taking forever to go to the floor it was called and forever to open the doors. It randomly starting working again but was super annoying for that time period given we were on the 3rd floor and I was nursing an ankle injury -Pool: The pool did not look like it was cleaned on a regular basis, there was sunscreen scum & debris in the "adult pool" every day. The lawn chairs are showing lack of care: mildew that could be easily cleaned and chipped paint that could be touched up. The trash cans were overflowing on a couple of the days. -But the saddest part is that in the madness of packing up, I threw all the pull-out sofa linens onto the main bed and I buried my home pillow (special cervical pillow) and forgot it there. I have called 4 times and sent an email. Only one of those correspondances did they even respond back and said "couldn't find it".

If you go, lower your expectations of luxury and for goodness sake don't leave anything behind that you ever want...

Disclaimer- not trying to complain, but help someone else who is booking here for resort style golf without looking enough into the logistics.

Hotel: Great location, lots of walkable restaurants that were good. It’s definitely a little worn, but everything was clean and nice enough. It has a more old historic charm, which is fine by me. That being said, I booked the standard room because I was stopped for one night to break up a long drive and to play golf. The standard rooms are not in the main building- I had figured the room would be lesser, but it would at least be in the main building. It’s on the other side of the resort away from everything. It wasn’t a long walk, but just for the people looking at the Ogelthorpe building- keep in mind. I would have upgraded if staying longer.

Golf: I should have realized this when calling the hotel to confirm my reservation and asking them to check with golf to confirm my tee time in the morning, they told me I had to call them directly, I also had to call them directly to book. Never experienced that with a resort before. Then they did mention the word shuttle, but I just figured the course was a short drive to the other side. It is not, it is about 25-45 mins away- depending upon time of day and traffic. Morning- plan for 25 mins, afternoon- plan for 45 mins. I had to drive bc I had checked out. The people who bought KP hotel bought a private golf course and attached the name. All of this is whatever, but I didn’t realize, so do your homework for planning purposes.

While at the Golf Shop, they were out of logo balls- which seems silly, but for someone who collects balls for courses played, and drove this far to stop, it sort of stinks. Really hoping K and P can help get me one sent, not sure if I will be back. I also had to bring my clubs back to my car and no neither of the guys working offered to clean them or help- which again for resort golf, is not the norm. The members were all nice, the course condition was fairly good, and the holes with the marsh (4-5 of them) were pretty. However, it is more of staying at a historic hotel with charm, in a great location, and having access to a random private golf club. Which is fine most of the time, but just noting for the other people like me who half assed my research.

Also big disclaimer- bring bug spray or don’t play. The second half of the front 9 was almost unplayable and really effected my score. I had seen mentions of this on reddit, but I am from Florida and thought how bad could it be and also was rushing and couldn’t stop- luckily a member had some at the turn.

Also- the pro shop is wildly expensive like a resort- balls and a glove cost almost as much as the discounted round.

Overall, it was okay, I can’t evaluate the better rooms and I would consider coming back to the hotel for a short time again bc of the location and sleepy area it is in, but I would have to weigh that with the convenance of other resorts and hotels for sure. Some of this was on me for not digging deeper, some is not, and the connection between the hospitality here vs there could benefit.

Course is super tight, but it was pretty nice and fun.

Hotel was fine- beach was very nice. It’s just not cheap- which is fine- but the price-point is sort of high for the amenities available and the...