Where to stay Jekyl Isl vs. St Simons Isl (Savannah: oceanfront, rentals)

[momof2dfw]

Which one would you stay on for 3 nights? Jekyl Island or St Simons Island? Where to stay and where not to stay? No large high rises either but on the beach. Thanks

[pinkmartini]

Jekyll Island is much less crowded than SSI, but you might like the touristy feel of SSI. What price range and hotel quality are you looking for?

[momof2dfw]

We don't have to be in the most touristy areas at all. This will be the last stop on our vacation for about 3 nights so some down time is a good thing. We will be flying out of Jacksonville, FL on a late afternoon flight so we have time for some driving. Hubby likes lighthouses so we want to see the ones we can for sure along the way. Normally we stay in 1-2 bedroom condos and if we are at the beach we like to be ON the beach and not a walk or drive away. As for quality we do not have to stay at the MOST expensive places, like family friendly w/ the kids but not places overtaken by kids either. Not into highrise places either or ones that people get up at 5 in the morning and go put towels out on all of the good lounge chairs and never use them all day. I hate seeing large developments and then their pools are no bigger than your backyard hot tub, lol. Price range - we will pay for something well worth it.

[TakeAhike]

You might find condo rentals there. You could also Google--'Golden Isles', motels etc and possibly find something that way.

St Simons has one exclusive resort and a few other places to stay with beach access, IIRC. The Queen's Court might be an option. The problem is that most of the motels would not be 'on the beach'--its a small island.

Queen's Court>>>
Queens Court (broken link)

You could drive an hour further up the coast and stay on Tybee Island/Savannah--more places to stay with beach views and they have a lighthouse.

hth

sls

[haidozo]

My family vacations at Jekyll Island every year. Like an earlier poster mentioned, Jekyll is less "touristy" than SSI, but SSI has better restaurants overall. Even though we stay on Jekyll, we usually hop over to SSI at least once during the week (about a 30 minute drive). But we do enjoy Latitude 31, a restaurant on Jekyll located on the back side of the island on the Jekyll Wharf. I'm not saying there are no good restaurants there, but SSI has a LOT of them.

On the back side of the island is the Jekyll Island Club Hotel property, which is a 4-star hotel, but it's not on the beach-side of the island. This is the historical location of the Millionaire's Village...in the late 1800's/early 1900's, a group of millionaires purchased the island for the purpose of a very exclusive club...people such as Astor, Vanderbilt, Morgan, Pulitzer, Gould, Rockefeller and Macy all had a cottage on the island. It is very interesting to tour some of their old homes. The servants' cottages have been converted into different shops, and it really is a very nice area of the island. You could spend an afternoon walking through that area and just browsing through the shops.

Jekyll also has a Water Park, but it's very small. I'm not sure about the prices because we haven't been in several years. There are terrific golf courses on both islands. There is a pretty good Putt-Putt course on Jekyll with a great (but fairly small) playground attached to it.


We stay in a rental house. They have a wide variety, based on amenities (some houses have pools) and location (several are right on the beach).

Here are the main two realty companies that offer rentals:

Jekyll Island Realty: http://www.jekyll-island.com/

Parker-Kaufman: http://www.parker-kaufman.com/rent.htm

(Parker-Kaufman offers rentals on both Jekyll and SSI)

Let me know if you have any other questions!

[pinkmartini]

I know you want "on the beach", but truly consider the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. It's on the inland waterway and has it's own marina. There is a very short shuttle ride to the beach and the hotel has it's own beach pavilion.

Most of the hotels on Jekyll are run down. But if the beach is your preference and you just need a place to rest your head, there is the Days Inn and the Buchanneer. The Jekyll Oceanfront Resort would be a little nicer choice *I think*.


On SSI, the hotel chains that you might recognize such as the Hampton, Holiday Inn, etc. are not anywhere close the beach on SSI either. If you want beachfront on SSI, you'll need to rent a house, go to a B&B, or go to the King and Prince or the Cloister......both of which are quite pricey.

Personally, I'd choose Jekyll and drive over to visit SSI, but I like a more laid back setting.

Lighthouses: definitely don't miss the lighthouse on SSI. If you have time, the lighthouse in St. Augustine is nice also.

[momof2dfw]

TOTALLY forgot about the St Augustine lighthouse, THANKS! That is only 38 miles south of JAX so while we are that close we might as well go and see it. How doable would leaving Jekyl Isl in the morning, driving to St Augustine to the lighthouse, seeing it and then getting back to JAX for a 4:00 flight be? We are the type that is pretty use to being in places that are not right by where the airport is. For instance last year we flew in/out of Sacramento and stayed up in Lake Tahoe. Or a few years ago we flew in/out of Ft Lauderdale and our last few nights were spent on Duck Key and left from there the day we flew out and that included time to find the lighthouse on Key Biscayne and see it. As long as it is not a LONG drive that wears you out before you even get to the airport for the beating there, lol.

Jekyl Island is starting to sound more like it. I was not aware that the Millionaire's place was on the backside of the island (I knew it existed just not the exact location). Will have to go tour that for sure. On the beach rentals for the houses on the beach, do they have min. night stays? We are only going to be there for 3 nights and sometimes they have 7 nt min..

You guys have given me a TON of info already, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

[haidozo]

About the rentals, it would depend WHEN you are planning to go. I THINK they offer 3 night stays, but maybe only in the off season. OR maybe if they don't have a particular house rented out, they may be willing to take a 3-night rent rather than no rent at all. I guess you'd have to contact them (numbers should be on those websites) to find out their policy.

Otherwise, you'd have to choose a hotel.

I would think you could leave Jekyll in the morning, go to the lighthouse in St. Augustine and still make your flight at JAX, but maybe someone else who actually travels that route (I-95 South) can be more definite.

Hope it works out!

[pinkmartini]

It'd be very doable to see St. Augustine Lighthouse on your last day. You might need to add a little extra travel time as there is a lot of construction going on in JAX on I-95. It'd probably be 1.5 hrs. from Jekyll to the Lighthouse.....you could judge the construction as you head south.

[mnacct]

Does anyone know about the Villas by The Sea resort? I've been on various websites (like Yahoo travel and hotels.com) and I've seen they've gotten mixed reviews.