The Cloister at Sea Island

Entrance to first room was shocked to see 2 plumbers unclogging the sink and toilet. They got me another room as they knew this wasn’t going to work. Check out the spa… oh yeah just because they give you an appointment time doesn’t mean it is correct. It would have been nice to relax but they admitted to screwing up our appointment times so my wife had to run to her appointment and was now 10 min late. The therapist couldn’t adjust the time, had to get the kids from school. Won’t be back, at these prices the expectations were just as high. Resort followed up and asked to give them another chance. They had their chance to make it right, they didn’t even offer to adjust bill or anything.

1^st class resort, location, facilities and service. I spent 4 days with my wife and children and enjoyed the pools, beach, grounds and impeccable service. You’re treated like royalty without being fawned over. I enjoyed the meals but the whole resort is what makes you want to come back time and time again.
You would be hard pressed to find a more beautiful location in the eastern US (I’m sure their are equitable spots in other states — just not sure they have resorts located on them).
One of my favorite moments — grabbing mini-​flashlights with my three sons and crab hunting along the beach at night. We didn’t see any turtles but there were about 100 nests on the beach. Coming back to our suite the maid service made it up like you were King and Queen — with your sons as princes. It didn’t cost that much to be treated so well. They know how to make you feel special.
We’ll be back!

I have been to many major resorts around the world, and I can confidently say this is the most luxurious place I’ve ever been.
It’s beautiful, well designed and serviced by the most professional people in the world.
Well done!

We’ve rented a house a few times for a week and loved this resort in the past. The island and Cloister are pretty amazing spots for a family retreat. Our most recent stay has not been as great as the other times. It seems that half of the resort including one entire family pool is off limits for four days to an organization that has rented the space. There are no spots by the pool because the entire resort (with kids) is relegated to half the pools there normally would be. They’re also blaring dance music for this function. The outdoor facilities manager (Donnie) was far from accommodating. This has left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. Not the same Cloister that I remember. If you plan on coming double check to make sure all facilities are available. If not, I’d think twice.

Having just returned from a fundraiser, I’d like to commend the property on the caliber of their event space, prepared cuisine and attentiveness of their staff. Every request was met with an authentic ‘Of course sir’ and there was what felt like a 1:1 ratio of servers to patrons (thank you Sade).
Plates cleared, water refilled, coffee poured right when you wanted it but before you could ask for it.
The grounds are exceptional. I walked what felt like ¼ mile just to appreciate the expanse of the place. The main lobby will take your breath away with airspace, scale, warm woods, crackling fireplaces and a live pianist and cello player. Room after room flowed logically with sunrooms, brandy rooms, smoking rooms, plush indoor /​outdoor lounges with obvious attention to detail and excellent furnishings.
The vibe was comfortable, relaxed and appreciate the special touches that make the Cloister what it is.

Extraordinary service, impeccably clean and absolutely beautiful.
Our accommodations overlooking the river surpassed all of our expectations!
We have stayed in a number of
5 star hotels in the US and abroad. The Cloisters is our new favorite.
We highly recommend The Cloisters at Sea Isalnd to anyone looking for the perfect vacation or getaway

The BEST beach resort in Georgia! Absolutely beautiful private island resort with facilities good enough for the G8 summit. Great place to take the family. Large rooms and impeccable service. Pools and beach club are awesome with plenty of activities. Food is great and cocktail selection is wonderful. This place needs more stars than just 5! First class all the way.

I absolutely love Sea Island. My husband and I got married at the cloister and our wedding was simply fantastic. Everytime we come back it’s just as wonderful as the last visit. The food is always amazing and the service is five star. The biggest issue for me is whether to stay at the Lodge or the Cloister. The rooms are great at both, especially the larger suites. The Lodge is good if you’re looking to get away from children. It’s very quiet and peaceful. The 24 hour butler service is fantastic. There isn’t really a front desk and your butler greets you by the front door and helps you to your room which is nice. They are notified by the front gate when you’re pulling in and will be expecting your arrival. That being said, I do like staying at the Cloister though and being able to walk across the street to the beach club. If it’s your first time, you should stay in the main building unless you’re a golfer and then stay at the lodge. I’ve enjoyed visiting the spa but think it’s overpriced. $ 50 for a manicure?! C’mon. I highly recommend Tavola for dinner and southern tides for lunch. Breakfast in the Georgian room is to die for and the ladies who work there are fantastic. I do love the molton brown products and the huge soaking tub and bath salts at the lodge.
Really Sea Island is just amazing. Makes ritz and four seasons properties a huge let down after having stayed here.
Some things I recommend:
Bagpipes on the lawn at the lodge
A horseback ride on the beach
The adult pool and waterslide at the beach club
Tour of the wine cellar
Relaxing in the whirlpools at the spa
Drinks out on the black banks terrace

Top notch resort. We rented a large «cottage» (actually a large high end home) for two adults and four teens only a couple blocks from the Beach Club and Cloister area. Close enough to walk to everything. Bike rentals were great. Beach Club has plenty to offer — our teens were happy, but this is definitely more of a family resort with lots of young children. Service was excellent. Beach Club is very nice yet casual. The Cloister is very grand and formal. Very «old money». A little too formal and grand for us, hence the four stars, but most people would probably love that sort of thing.

The Cloister. Absolutely amazing resort. Enormous, gorgeous room. Fantastic grounds. A lot of courtyards for outdoor dining and gatherings. Numerous pools. And an excellent beach. Highly regarded Spa on the grounds. Boat dock, bars, restaurants, and a chapel. Fantastic food, and drinks.
Fun to explore the grounds, and a shirt drive to nearby St. Simon’s little historical town with a cool lighthouse, street shopping, and little restaurants scattered around for food and beverages. Fun ace to be during the week of the Florida vs. Georgia football game!
Excellent service in this 5 star resort, site of a G-​8 Summit, and rated the best resort in the USA.

Updating my review since the change of ownership and I have to say it’s still the 10 star resort as I remembered.
There have been some additions like the twisty slide on the Beach Club side and I’ve been told they are working on building a new section for more rooms and suites, also have moved water activities to its own building.
We were fortunate enough this time to experience all that the spa has to offer. Having chosen the sweetheart package, it included a private yoga class (this was great as it was our first time ever doing yoga), a bottle wine with bubble bath in your very own suite equipped with a full bathroom (shower) and fireplace followed by an amazing hour of bliss massage that sent us both to a very relaxed state.
This remarkable resort offers a variety of facilities that will keep you busy through your entire stay from fine dining to adult only pool side, horseback riding, water sports, hunting and shooting range, multiple golf courses, 5 miles of private beach.
As much as I can go on and tell you all about this «piece of heaven on earth», the very least the place to go to in North America that feels like having crossed into Sea Island you feel as though you have entered an entirely different country. This wonderful Resort is the perfect example of the true southern hospitality at its finest. Georgia’s best kept secret.

The only thing 5 Star about our experience so far has been the guard at the gate and our Bellman. Even though we have a confirmed reservation for an Ocean Front room they put us in a garden view room in the main building on the other side of the resort from the ocean. Their only explanation is some rooms are double-​booked and the person who managed our confirmed reservation was recently fired. No one has offered to move us across the resort to the Ocean Club. Definitely not a 5 Star experience as one would expect from a 5 — star resort. Probably won’t consider coming back here again.
Pebble, Myrtle, Reynolds Plantation, and other golf resorts — but not The Cloister at Sea Island.

Absolutely love this resort. My first visit here was remarkable. It truly is like something you’d see in a magazine! Excited to visit again in March.

Best hotel I have ever visited. Courteous staff, great amenities. Located right on the beach, with an amazing pool. The most relaxing resort I have ever been to.

This place has 5 stars, but if I could give it 6 I would. Absolute unbelievable service and attention to detail. You will pay for it, but this is a true 5-​star experience. What a fantastic place for families with kids and a dad or mom that loves to golf. If you get the chance, definitely check out The Cloister at Sea Island.

The Cloister is top notch.
I came with an ex (well he wasn’t an ex at the time) who was part of the Sea Island Club for the New Years Eve party.
The resort is breathtakingly beautiful, but very family friend with kids everywhere. The service is outstanding. Of course, you pay a big price for it, but on par with other luxury hotels. Perhaps it was because I was with someone who «belonged’ there (old money), but I didn’t find it to be at all pretentious.
I dream about returning… perhaps one day!

WOW! That’s all I can really say. This place made even the nicest Ritz feel like the Motel 6. Okay, not really, but the Cloister is in a league of its own. We were upgraded to an ocean villa after our room had two queen beds instead of a king bed. I’m pretty sure we had the biggest room in the resort. It was huge and even had a fire place! This place had a touch of elegance that a lot of upscale resorts have lost. The service as the Cloister can only described as first class.
We ate dinner at the Georgian room, which while pricey, was fantastic. Not the best food I’ve had, but the experience was definitely something to remember.
The Sea Island company owns a massive portion of the island. We went horse riding on the beach in the morning and we were lucky enough to have a private ride. Just the two of us and the guide.
The spa was unlike any spa I’ve visited. There is an atrium inside the spa with large windows that give the place an unmatched relaxed atmosphere. You could spend a day just sitting in the spa and reading a good book.
While short, my visit to the Cloister is something I’ll never forget. By far the nicest resort I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting.

My Vistage group chose this location for our 2013 strategic planning retreat. It was an oustanding success. I think this resort is the swankiest I’ve ever been to. Nicer than Blackberry Farms, my previous favorite.
We had our first function in the Spanish Lounge which had awesome stone work designed by Addison Mizner, The dining was excellent. Staff treated us to a whole roasted pig, a delicious tenderloin, and a number of excellent Hors d’œuvre selections
After dinner, most of my group moved down the hall to the smoking room next to the River bar. Another Mizner fireplace there provided a great room for discussion and socializing. Pecky cypress architecture, inspiring wood carvings and a $ 100,000 wood turning in the center provides an atmosphere of refined opulence.
The next day, we started in the Oglethorpe room which was comfortable and a great venue for business functions (as to be expected).
After our morning functions, we had lunch at the Lodge which is a similar level of elegance. 3 of us golfed the Seaside course ($ 140 green fee) which was meticulously maintained. After an awesome and inspiring round, we made it back to the lodge at around 5:30 to be treated to the bagpipe player overlooking the seascape as the sunset. Heavenly.
The patio area in the back is awesome and impeccable as is the spa. I’m not anywhere close to an expert, but the koi pond at the spa is probably the most impressive I’ve seen in a commercial establishment.
One thing I’d recommend is that if you want to take advantage of the skeet shooting, you need to book that early. We arrived on a Thursday, and they were already completely booked through the weekend, so that was the only disappointment.

You know how when you were little, your mom would get cold and would tell you to put on a coat? My mom still kind of does that, but instead of cold and a coat, she tells me we need to go on vacation whenever she gets stressed. I’m not one to argue with that kind of logic, and that’s how we ended up at Sea Island.
This place is INCREDIBLE. We knew we wanted a luxurious girls’ spa weekend, and Sea Island did not disappoint. We got incredible massages, the best facial I’ve ever received, witnessed newly hatched sea turtles scurry to the ocean, and every meal included bacon. Is this heaven?
Sea Island is very clearly a family-​oriented resort that seems to be an annual tradition for many. I was a teeny bit concerned with the idea of kids running wild through my relaxing vacay, but I shouldn’t have been. We chose an ocean view room in the Cloister Ocean Villas (a room which was incidentally, bigger than my apartment and much MUCH nicer) and didn’t see or hear another guest near our room throughout our entire visit.
The room was fabulous, the spa was unmatched, but what really blew me away about Sea Island was the service. Every single person working here was gracious, accommodating, incredibly friendly, and went above and beyond in every single interaction. Maybe it’s that sweet Southern charm, but this girl was completely blown away. Maybe we’ll have to make it an annual tradition.

The resort here is pretty much the best I have ever been to. The ground are very private and with the way it is all laid out you feel like you are always in your own little paradise. To explain a little better, the grounds keeping is set up in a way that makes it feel as though each building is it’s own little villa with plenty of flowers and trees/​shrubs between them. The staff here is outstanding at customer service and if they do not have a answer for you they will find someone who does. Another nice part is that none of the buildings are more than 3 stories tall so it doesn’t come off as a bunch of tourists crammed in a high rise feel either. A visit to this resort just has a very private/​personal feel about the experience. The pool area/​tiki bar is awesome as well. The pool itself is winding and take a lot of area between the ocean and main buildings so there again it has a private feel to wherever you choose to camp out for the afternoon and its not just a over sized square bathtub with a bunch of people gawking across at each other. Such a awesome layout!
While I didn’t get a chance to explore all of the other amenities some of our friends did stop by the resorts own practice skeet shooting range and said it was a awesome time.
I’d definitely go by this resort again if I had the chance. The only thing is, be sure and save up because it is one of the more expensive places to visit.