Tides Restaurant Amelia Island — Restaurant in Fernandina Beach

I can’t say enough about this hotel. From our arrival we were greeted with helpful, friendly faces.

We got in around 7/8 PM so we decided to do a quick dinner at their restaurant and boy are we glad that we did. The food was fantastic— unexpectedly delicious. The server, Rosa, was so sweet and accommodating. She engaged with our 4 year old daughter which helped us read through the menu. We had breakfast there the next morning and we were met with the same delicious, food & quality service. The chef was very involved as well and he walked around checking in with all of the staff throughout our 5 day stay. He was very pleasant the entire time we were there. I’m not sure if it’s true or not but apparently he came from the Ritz Carlton where he was a chef for many years. That explains why the food is absolutely delicious. It was so nice traveling with two small children and having delicious food right in your hotel. We went out to dinner two nights and for the third night we decided to come back and eat at the hotel instead because the food is that good.

Now to the pool! The pool is huge and spacious with fun fountains flowing into the pool. Big shout out to the bartender George and the server Colette who made our stay extra special! They told us great stories about the local scene, and made us feel right at home. We ate at the pool for lunch every day and the servers walk around the pool and take your food & drink orders. They give you part of your children’s meal (the cold stuff) on an upside down frisbee which is just downright fun and genius.

I run a dentistry organization so I peeked in on the meeting space and I am thrilled that they can accommodate large and small groups. I will be traveling here for conferences in the winter.

I have not even talked about the location!! It is only two short blocks to the beach and right across the street from the nature conservation. You are surrounded by restaurants and activities. We fell in love with Amelia island during this trip!!!

This hotel is doing everything right and is not your average Marriott hotel, this is a 5 star hotel. This hotel is a hidden GEM!!!!

If you found this review helpful, please mark it as helpful below so I can...

I am giving an overall experience of 2/5 stars due to my family's experience with the staff. On one hand, the location was close to the beach which was great (5/5 stars).

However, I am giving 4/5 stars for the rooms because they were mostly nice expect for a light cover that was easily came off when it was bumped.

For service, I am giving 2/5 stars for service for two interactions I had with the staff. Before I talk about those experiences, I would like to share some positive ones. The general attitude of the staff was pleasing. We especially enjoyed our experience at breakfast. The food was a bit overpriced for the food portions we received, but it did taste good.

Concerning some negative experiences, the first involved an issue where the refrigerator in the room shut off/broke in the middle of the night and spoiled the food we purchased the day before. I respectfully explained to the employee at the front desk that the fridge ruined our food and asked for the hotel to help. I am thankful that they provided us a small breakfast voucher but since the hotel's food is so expensive, it hardly fed half of our family. While it was nice of the employee to give us this voucher, her attitude was mostly hesitant and did not express concern that the hotel's fridge ruined our food.

A second experience was even more of an issue. I called the hotel after we returned home from our stay to ask about some charges. One of these was a $45 charge for parking. I explained to the gentleman that when I checked in that I asked the employee at the desk if parking was extra and he said it was not. The employee of the phone began arguing with me about my experience and was border line rude.

Any hotel should ensure that the staff listens to their guests and does not present an attitude that could appear stingy. This was the general impression we experienced at our stay and I sadly would not recommend this location. I would recommend checking out other hotels in the area and hopefully management can remedy...

I arrived with my wife at the hotel and was surprised that my room was entirely filled with marijuana smoke. It was so strong I felt nauseated. I called the front desk and was given an excuse about why. Finally a person came and verified the smell. The staff member said he definitely smelled it but could not address the person they believed was smoking even though it was against the hotel policy. He said there were no other rooms we could be moved to. He finally said he would try the ozone machine and we reluctantly said we would find something or somewhere to go for a few hours to see if it would help. We came back and it was not as strong but our clothes now smelled like the marijuana along with the bedding. I paid for an extra night when I arrived and the front desk clerk messed up the cards and also never noted that we were going to stay in the same room. The house keepers kept trying to come in. Later I was called and told I needed to bring my card to the front desk and I already did that authorization the night before. We were locked out of our room and the lady made us wait in line behind all the check ins and could not make a room key because my credit card was in my room that I was locked out of. This fiasco was continuing until she decided to go with me to my room to let us in. As she had trouble getting in the room and then we came right down and was made to stand in line again by the same staff member. This was not only a waste of time but my wife has a bad leg. Woke up at 6am to smell of marijuana filling the room. We decided to leave and the front desk worker said she would have the manager call us. Update I guess a 380.00 per night room equals only 15,000 points for a messed up room and experience. Spent at least 600.00 dollars or more with stay and on the food and drinks. For 2 days....