kathy

A SEARCH didn't give me the info I need about this place. Is it an island, or just on the coast? Weather-wise, it is like Hilton Head or more like northern Florida? What is the closest airport? How far away? Is this an area that three generations (youngest, pre-school)would enjoy for a week. Golf and fishing will amuse the men, did I read shopping? for the daughters and me, and beach and sun for everyone? Sounds like a neighborhood area for eating - no chain restaurants or hotels. Am I correct or way off base on my assumptions? Thanks for any tidbits you share. One more, cost of hotel and King and Prince particularly. How big is that hotel?

Brian in Atlanta

I can't help you with all your questions as we haven't been yet (we have a trip planned for a wedding in Sept.)

Closest airports are Jacksonville and Savannah. JAX is a tad closer than SAV, but I'd go with the one with the best airfare/flights. Rental cars are usually cheaper at SAV than at JAX.

We are staying at the King & Prince since the wedding reception is there, but boy is it expensive. We're going after Labor Day and the cheapest rooms are $160. A friend who's been there said that it was really nice, but was a bit put off by the fences that keep non-guests off the property (as if it were Jamaica).

Most of the lower-cost hotels and motels are nowhere near the beach, limiting your options.

Good luck.

Mary Sue

To me, St. Simon's has a small town feel. There are no high-rises, not that many hotels and a lot of residential areas. I don't remember there being any fast food restaurants, chain restaurants and just a couple of strip malls. The restaurants where we ate were really good. I think the shopping is pretty limited. I really liked it when we were there several years ago, also for a wedding.

We stayed at the King & Prince, and let me warn you Brian, we got the cheapest room too (it was $130 then) and it was TINY! My husband and I still laugh about it. There was a king size bed in the room, and it took up the whole room! You could barely open the door wide enough without it hitting the bed. And once we had the suitcases in the room we had to crawl across the bed to get to the other side of the room. My friend the bride stayed in one of the oceanfront villas and they were really nice and spacious. If I ever go back I will spend the extra money and get a bigger room.

There are only a few hotels that are on the beach, and the King & Prince is definitely the nicest. It's an older hotel but the pool areas are great - I think they have 3 pools. The beach is pretty narrow - it's not like the wide beach at Kiawah (haven't been to Hilton Head). I liked it because it still felt like an old-timey resort town and wasn't overly developed.

Diane

My brother-in-law runs a very nice restaurant on St Simon's Island -- Allegro. Hope I don't get flamed for advertising, but it really is quite good. And as Mayor Richard Daley once said: "If you can't help your family...who can ya help?" That aside, SS is a cool little town. We had a lot of fun on a fishing/site-seeing boat trip along the coastal waterways (there are all kinds of inlets, etc.) You might want to rent bikes -- there are good paths and the beach for riding on. I believe there is outlet shopping nearby, but it's pretty much the same stuff you find all along Rt 95.

Kathy

Thanks for the quick replies. Brian, did you get to Paris/Bugge this May too? Hope you will postagain when you return in September. Curious about the size of the rooms. Mary Sue your caution about the room size is appreciated, particularly if the kids play musical bedrooms. Diane, I have only read good things about the Allegro on this forum. You must be proud, and for sure we'll follow Mayor Daley's advise. Thanks all.

JIll

It is an island. It's an hour to Jacksonville so weather wise it's like northern Florida. Closest airport is Jacksonville although there was a local airport in Brunswick with commuter planes to Atlanta (not sure if this airport is still open since I don't live here anymore). Brunswick is the closest town. The beach is good for preschoolers since there's no waves. SOme gift type stores but very limited shopping. OTher than the King & Prince there's only one other hotel on the beach and I can't remember its name. You don't say you're looking for rooms but you might want to consider Sea Palms which has golf courses and various types of rooms/condos. No chain restaurants but quite a few really good restaurants for such a small area. My favorite was Blanche's.

Mary Sue

Kathy, if you are going to stay at the King and Prince with a family I would highly recommend getting one of the 2 or 3 bedroom villas. They were really spacious and had a full kitchen, even with a dishwasher. Don't know how much they run now but you would probably end up saving money since you could have breakfast and/or lunch in the villa.

Harriett

Kathy,
I've lived on St Simons for nearly five years -- we're among the fortunate few who actually get paid to live here! It's a lovely place to live or vacation, and there are other options for a place to stay, depending on when you're coming -- there are many condo rentals; one of the largest companies is Trupp-Hodnett, on the web at ResortQuest.com, and NO, I don't work for them or any other real estate company. There are also many houses for rent, obviously much less expensive out of seaason (before Memorial Day or after Labor Day) than in season. There are several new non-beachfront hotels (Hampton, Holiday Inn Express), but wherever you are, beach is no more than a 10-minute drive even with holiday traffic. Unfortunately, we do have the usual run of fast-food restaurants and now have an Outback Steakhouse which draws lots of folks off I-95; we also have numerous locally-owned restaurants in every price range (check out Gnat's Landing or Wine & Cheese Shop for less expensive, J Mac's, Halyards for upper-end but worthwhile). Shopping also is a wide range, from your standard bikini-and-T-shirt places to elegant clothing for women, men & kids, excellent galleries and gift shops.

Hope this helps -- if you have other questions, e-mail me direct. I'll try to locate the web address for the convention & visitors bureau and post it here. Enjoy!

PS -- another entertainment option: There's a new 58-foot'pirate ship' replica called The Raven docking here now, which does daytime 'pirate' cruises for kids, sunset cruises for all ages. Haven't been out on it yet, but getting a group together for next week.

kathy

Wow! You guys are great! Many thanks for bringing me up to speed about St. Simon. Thank you, thank you. Good information, just what I was hoping to get. Merci to all.

Harriett

Kathy, I picked up a St. Simons travel guide when I was out today -- it has lots of websites and info on restaurants, rentals etc. I tried to e-mail you direct but the mail was returned - let me know if you want more specific info.

arjay

We day-tripped to St. Simons in March, during a Savannah stay and thought it was someplace we'd like to return to spend more time. I picked up several rental brochures while we were there...A realty company called Parker Kaufman seems to have quite a few rentals on the water, many near the King & Prince. They don't seem to have a website, but the toll-free #is 888/227-8573.
e-mail: [email protected]

Good luck...and be sure to come back and let us know how you liked it...