Jekyll Island Club Hotel

What People are saying

History, Charm, Class (and a great bike path!)

Guscat09on 02/07/2017 04:48

Although we have visited Jekyll Island on several occasions for day trips, this time we decided to stay overnight to celebrate our wedding anniversary. It was a magical experience from beginning to end! We brought our bikes and biked the 28 mile path around the island, which was spectacular. We were delighted to find a complimentary bottle of champagne and a chocolate bar in our comfortable room which had a lovely view of the river. We were grateful to be able to cool off in the club pool and rest in the comfortable lounge chairs. We were encouraged to open the champagne and enjoy it on the porch before dinner, which we did!

Each and every very staff member we interacted with treated us with graciousness and warmth and every request we made was honored with a smile. I must give special praise to our waiter, Kenneth, in the Grand Dining Room. He was attentive without being over-bearing and his lighthearted interactions with us made the evening even more enjoyable. The food was delicious, the ambiance warm, and sitting on the porch after dinner watching the gentle rain was the perfect end to a wonderful night.

When you visit Jekyll, take time to walk the paths and look at all of the beautiful homes which have been restored and the restoration which continues. Visit the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and learn about the amazing rescue work that they do. Stop into the darling history museum to learn about life as it once was on Jekyll (at one time "the richest, the most exclusive, the most inaccessible club in the world"). Borrow a book from the Jekyll Island Rotary Club Lending Library and spend some time exploring the charming little shops. We are so very fortunate that what was once a private retreat for the rich and famous is now a sanctuary accessible to everyone. Thank you again for making our anniversary so special.

Serenity and beauty and all around charm

218charlyson 30/06/2017 21:28

Beautiful island resort , great old southern charm. Had the best time in an amazing setting in great Georgia. I would love to go back and spent even more time. Amazing staff and excellent customer care. You definitely feel appreciated when you visit.
It is like home away from home.

Weekend Getaway

Sonya Ron 29/06/2017 23:25

We absolutely had the best weekend at this fantastic resort! The ambience, charm, character & history made for a very much-needed time of relaxation and rejuvenation. I lived on Jekyll for 3 yrs in the early 1980s as a young girl and during the time the club was inactive. It is just wonderful to see how this has now changed and that the life has now returned to this beautiful piece of property. The only thing that could have made the stay better was if there were more options stocked in the refrigerator (we only had 2 bottle of waters for the two nights we stayed), if the pool bar had friendlier and more efficient service and was kept a little tidier, and the café had a cashier that made you feel more welcome. Outside of those minor setbacks, we will be back as we enjoyed this classic resort that makes you feel as though you have stepped back in time. In addition, we'd like to give a big shoutout and an A++ rating to AJ our bartender who was attentive and completely on her game with every single guest she came in contact with, to Kyle our valet and driver, a true gentleman and a pleasure to escort us wherever we needed to go. Last but not least, Stan the security gaurd for the late evening shift, he was absolutely the most informative about the history of the hotel & island as well as being a true southern gentleman ( he definitely was a no bull kind of guy). Can't wait to see you all again very soon!

Ronnie & Sonya Reiselt
Beaufort, SC

Almost a 5 Star Experience

245chuckgon 28/06/2017 23:36

Anyone who has occasioned fast food at Chick-Fil-A and ANY OTHER fast food enterprise can tell the difference. While the Chick-Fil-A food may or may not be any better, every other aspect of the experience is far, far superior. The Chick-Fil-A help staff is articulate (you can actually understand them when they speak to you), helpful, friendly and clearly demonstrates that you are the important person in the room. Most all other fast food business fall so far short. You can barely understand them, they look like they are having a bad day and most demonstrate that they can’t wait to either get a break or go home … and YOU are the one keeping them from it. (I know there are exceptions but you get my drift). And it all comes from the top

That same difference can be seen/experienced between a 5 star hotel (e.g. The Ritz Carlton) and lesser hotels. It is not so much about the physical appearance of the hotel, restaurants, grounds as much as it is the way you are treated. From the moment you pull into the parking lot, every employee is interested (or faking it really well) in your well being.

The Jekyll Island Club Hotel has most of the pieces in place to, in my mind, be a 5 star business. The grounds are amazingly beautiful and seemingly well kept, the buildings, many of which are well over 100 years old, serve well as hotel rooms and restaurants, and in most cases, the food is excellent as well. The history of this place is incredible. Most other resorts could only dream of having these kinds of facilities. Where they fall short, in my mind, is the staff. A few of the wait staff that we encountered, [Gabriella at the Court Yard at the Crane for dinner], [Robyn in the main dining room for breakfast], were the kind of staff that can turn this business into a 5 star business. They were both awesome. Super friendly, helpful, clearly enjoyed what they did for a living and their enthusiasm was very contagious. The Hotel should consider paying them to train other staff and maybe get rid of a few staff who just don’t get it.

The room we stayed in (the Cherokee Cottage) was large, clean and classy (and older than I am). VERY nice.

For example, the guy working the bar on Tuesday evening (did not get his name) could not have been more opposite than Robyn or Gabriella. I don’t know if he was just having a bad day, or new to the job or just didn’t like his job but he would not get my vote to be a good will ambassador for the hotel. We were celebrating my birthday so I decided to order what we sometimes refer to as an “umbrella drink” only this one did not include an umbrella. It was on the drink menu so I assumed (as it turns out, incorrectly) that he knew how to make the drink (it had 7 or 8 ingredients). I knew were in trouble when he was looking at his copy of the menu so he knew what ingredients to use, but, unfortunately, not the quantity of each (the results were what one might expect when a seemingly random quantity of ingredients are thrown together, put in a shaker with ice, shaken and served). But that’s not my beef. He was not friendly, barely spoke to us, and did nothing to make us feel welcome. He needs some serious training, both as a bartender and as an ambassador of the hotel. Had it not been for Gabriella and Robyn (and a few other examples), this visit would have been much less stellar.

To be fair, there were certainly other employees we encountered who were pleasant, but none to the level of Gabriella and Robyn. They should be the example of how to turn this facility into a 5 star business.

Just sayin'

customer service

dawgtrooperon 28/06/2017 21:31

We have been coming to this hotel every year for 15 years. It seems that they have hired new staff who are not as friendly or as customer service oriented as they used to be. The updates around the pool are nice and look a lot better but the staff at the pool are very slow and not as friendly. There was trash all around the pool over the weekend and staff members would just walk right by and look at it. It took hours for towels, plates and beer bottles to be picked up so many customers had nowhere to sit around the pool.
The lobby area looks really nice but the bartender would not even acknowledge us for 5 minutes.
We ate dinner one night in the grand dining room which was a great experience. The food and service were great.
It seems like they are trying to improve many things about the hotel but the new staff needs to improve their customer service skills.