What’s your Sea Island experience?
Sea Island has been a magnet for metro Atlantans for decades.
But the business that owns the resort expanded at the wrong time and has filed for bankruptcy protection.
This recession has not been kind to big dreams built on large loans.
Have you stayed on the island? What was your experience?
Own a home there?
Concerned or relieved about the new owners — investment firms Oaktree Capital Management of Los Angeles and Avenue Capital Group of New York?
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147 comments Add your comment
Cliff Grant
August 11th, 2010
12:43 pm
Chief among the things that drew families for generations was the fact that The Cloister was considered to be “home grown”,and we Georgians took pride in that. Another draw was seeing so many people you knew and enjoyed — other guests and cottage owners. The beach isn’t especially attractive, there’s no surf, and the water is brown, so that definitely was not a draw. Take away the first two items, and my family will go someplace else where the beach is gorgeous and justifies the high price.
dwight
August 11th, 2010
12:52 pm
We loved the Cloister, started going there with my wife and very little kids in 1992, and it was marvelous. Continued going for the next 12 years and loved the attentivenss of the staff, the lovely main dining room and wonderful family dinners at the beach club. Went back in 2007 after an absence of 5 yrs and we were dismayed at the changes, the absence of the staff we had grown to know and love, no more main dining room with Winston to greet us and our kids…..they killed the ethos of the place, we will cherish our memories of what was.
POAD
August 11th, 2010
1:00 pm
I truly hope some of the OLD staff ie. Winston, Chris, and Wanda my favorite Waitress read some of the Blogs. People didn’t leave the Old Staff the new changes chased us away. Your are still in my heart and prayers. I hope all of you have found good jobs in these tough times. Does anybody know if the Eugene O’Neil house was torn down?
tar and feathers party
August 11th, 2010
1:22 pm
ha ha ha, the good old boys have been handed their own fat butts!!!! Ah luvs it, ah just luvs it.
wwr201
August 11th, 2010
1:34 pm
I got a close look at the costs and loans taken out on the Cloister and Beach Club renovations: they would need to be 90% occupied at $600/night for the entire year just to cover interest on the construction loans. Yes, the economy was a stinger, but the real doom occurred when Jones asked for the loan and Synovus funded it. Incompetence does not even begin to describe that ambition….
SSI Native
August 11th, 2010
1:39 pm
I grew up on St. Simons back in the 1950’s. It was a wonderful place to live, and back then we thought of Sea Island as an extension of St. Simons, much richer of course. Everyone knew a Sea Island employee, and we even had elementary school parties at the employees’ beach club….yes, the employees had their own pool and recreation area.
That all changed when the Sea Island membership plan changed, the new hotel was built and “locals” were not allowed to drive onto the island. I miss the old community, but progress never comes without change. This kind of progress is painful, and so I have mourned the loss.
Yepper
August 11th, 2010
1:54 pm
Bobby in Smyrna you’ll never understand – that’s why you’ll always be Bobby from Smyrna. POAD – beautiful write-up. Thanks for the positive memories; many I had forgotten
InvestigationWarranted
August 11th, 2010
2:00 pm
wwr201.
Right on with your comments. I truly think that an investigation ought to be launched into the chummy relationship between some of the Synovus higher ups (Jim Blanchard to be sure) and Bill Jones and the asinine loans that were made.
robert
August 11th, 2010
2:07 pm
Not to sound critical, but why can’t we ‘discuss’ every news posting? The last article that I saw that we were allowed to ‘discuss, was Chic fil a’s new sandwich. What gives..
Beach Bummed
August 11th, 2010
2:13 pm
Sea Island Company, Amelia Island Plantation, and Sawgrass have all gone into bankruptcy in the last year.
Some investor groups have been able to acquire some fine properties at cut rate prices.
former employee
August 11th, 2010
2:17 pm
Winston, who was a captain in the georgian dining room, passed away a few years ago from cancer. I worked under him; he was a great man. Probably fishing somewhere in heaven now.
tar and feathers party
August 11th, 2010
2:18 pm
wwr201 – It was more than incompetence, the executives and Senior managers at SNV were bribed with free vacations at SSI, for themselves and all members of their families. Free golf, free food, free rooms all in the interests of getting the loans approved. Now in my mind that is a violation of Federal law, using what amounts to bank money to pay for free vacations. I hope someone has a list of the people who attended these free vacations, they should at least pay federal income tax on the fair market value of the vacation. They should also be arrested for bank fraud, imho.
markie mark
August 11th, 2010
2:22 pm
wwr201 – not trying to argue your point, because you obviously have seen more than the rest of us….however, do not forgot the loans were not going to be paid back just off room rentals – as the article said “It launched a new golf and horse community whose home sales — on lots priced at $1 million or more — were supposed to help finance the upscale expansion”. When St Simons Island can sell houses/lots on East Beach and by the pier in the millions of dollars (for some years now), its not unreasonable that Sea Island Company could have, if the economy stayed where it was, made this a profitable venture
InvestigationWarranted
August 11th, 2010
2:35 pm
TarandFeathers.
Exactly. I also would like someone to look into whether the SNV family got cut-rate deals on properties owned by Sea Island?
JASon
August 11th, 2010
2:40 pm
90% of the comments on this page were written by one person, posing under multiple screen names. I’m sure that person does not have many friends.
Small Businessman
August 11th, 2010
3:35 pm
JASon apparently can’t handle the truth about Bill Jones III so he’s reverting into fantasy. Sorry, Son, just reporting what I saw with my own eyes.
Bobby in Smyrna
August 11th, 2010
3:45 pm
To Yepper: No, I “get it” and for the record Smyrna is where I live, not who I am. But it seems like Sea Island shot itself in the foot by having overly ambitious plans and turning off (from reading the comments here) many loyal customers. Notice how many people have commented about the arrogance of the place? Who wants to spend that amount of money to feel uncomfortable? And while I’m sure the island attracted people from all over the country, but it’s an obvious mistake to price it out of reach of even the professional class people of Atlanta(an I am a professional). Why would they have not marketed it as a weekend escape for city dwellers here in Atlanta? Sounds to me like they reached for the sky and fell way short on many different levels.
POAD
August 11th, 2010
4:15 pm
Sea Island and Riverside Military Academy never really advertised much before the late 90’s. Both Institutions had big plans and slowly realized they needed a great deal of new money to make the big plans happen. Riverside now cost around $26K a year for school and as stated The Cloister charges like $600/night with no meal plan. People that knew and loved both of these Institutions spread the word about them. The customers came, but now they both spend great sums of advertising money to find customers. These businesses overpriced and over expanded their product in this economy. The product has changed. The clientele has changed. The management focus has changed. Hopefully after a few years of growing pains both of these great southern institutions will return to their former greatness.
Bill Jones II
August 11th, 2010
4:17 pm
Business is Business…The new investors got a bargain…give it five years….they will triple their $..nuff said….as Buffett says, breathe in,breathe out
The Big Guy
August 11th, 2010
4:27 pm
Maybe the font on this blog should be green since much envy is being spread….
Atlanta Guy
August 11th, 2010
4:40 pm
I worked on Junior Staff at The Cloister in the early 90s while at UGA. And after graduating from Georgia, I was a Junior Staff Manager for a Spring and Summer season. I still have full memories of that time and what fun I had. The Cloister and Sea Island’s history and tradition really made an impression on me. The long-standing guests – families who returned year after year, season after season – really spoke volumes about the place. As a Southerner who grew up going to the beach each summer and at holidays, it was such a magical place. After moving back to Atlanta and beginning my career, I’d return to to Sea Island periodically to experience the resort as a young adult. I returned a final time after the old hotel had been torn down and the new one was under construction to stay at Hamilton House (it, too, is now gone). I knew that would be the last time I’d be at what I remembered as The Cloister and Sea Island. Maybe I’m old fashioned, maybe a little bit of an old soul, but the “old” at Sea Island is what I loved.
Mom
August 11th, 2010
4:43 pm
As a St Simons Island land/business owner and former guest of the Cloister, I have to “second that emotion” written by POAD and Charlotte Reader. We too spent many vacations at the Cloister – Nathalie Dupree’s Cooking School included and loved it all. My only wish is that it can return to the real world.
Small Businessman
August 11th, 2010
4:45 pm
To the Big Guy, no envy, just facts, sad as they are. Maybe you should write in Egyptian, since you’re obviously in denial.
markie mark
August 11th, 2010
5:03 pm
Atlanta Guy….amen, brother….I moved to St Simons in 1975….graduated Glynn Academy, I was the last manager (ok, a JUNIOR manager!) of Murphys Tavern under Mike Murphy (when I was 18 and 19, I was the back bartender at Murphys)…most people dont even know there WAS a back bar (it was around the oak tree – double doors to it where the fireplace now is) – I was the back bartender at the Crab Trap when they had TWO bars, and you entered the restaurant from the front door. In fact, I designed the bar in the restaurant that is there now one night in 1980 with Gordy Merrill on a napkin when he told me he and Charley were changing the restaurant….so many changes and so many memories…anybody remember the rock and roll nightclub named “the Lighthouse” across from Poor Stephans? Bartended there with Doug Lampkin, who is today one of the owners of Murphys…when I moved to Atlanta in 1982, there were 7000 people on my little island….The original hand carved bar at the King & Prince…now stored upstairs over the “new” bar….it is so small its hard to believe we partied there….
markie mark
August 11th, 2010
5:06 pm
the fall of Sea Island and the feeling of ” the old island” is just another in a long line of changes that I watched…the only place you will ever get the feeling of the old Cloister is to ask to stay in the “old” section of the King and Prince – it still has that old musty smell of money and the feeling of slow charm….
another former employee
August 11th, 2010
5:14 pm
i worked under Jones Jr – What a great man…When Bill III came in he retired ted wright – which was a mistake and hired management that told him what he wanted to hear not what he needed to hear. They hired several general managers after ted wright and all they did is steal, lie and cheat the company so what did management do then….they retired or fired most of the “old employees” and hired more employees that only told them what they wanted to hear. The Old employees kept that place going and did a great job even when there was mold in the river house or the rooms needed a spruicing up….The guests didn’t care as long as the “old employees” were there to make them happy. I guess all thats shiny and gold is not always the best!
The Big Guy
August 11th, 2010
5:19 pm
Small Johnson,
Facts….on a blog….LMAO.
Island giirl
August 11th, 2010
6:23 pm
Enter your comments here
Island giirl
August 11th, 2010
6:29 pm
This has been a long slow death. it has been like watching an aging parent gradually deteriorate over the years,slowly losing all resemblance to the strong vigorous person they once were.
At some point you accept that death is a blessing. We are in the final stage of grief….. Acceptance.
GRITS
August 11th, 2010
6:36 pm
My husband and I celebrated our 10th anniversary at the new Cloister and everyone was lovely to us. There were few guests, so we were upgraded to a suite at no extra cost. That was nice since we paid a good amount per night (breakfast & dinner included, and full-time butler service). Despite the sad turn of events, St. Simon’s and Sea Island are my favorite places to visit with my family. I am thankful for our beautiful GA coast and the many southerners who live and vacation there whose hospitality is still the best!!!
Joachim
August 11th, 2010
8:40 pm
Its a sad day for all of Georgia. We should have known that inherited wealth is appreciated, but in so many cases, it is squandered away by the intellectual who is not. The Jones should have spent more time appreciating what they had instead of bypassing Georgia millionaires and sporting the international communities billionaires. It was just last summer that I called to get rates at the quarter full Cloister with a price tag for the billionaires. We spent many summer on the island.
N. W.
August 11th, 2010
8:50 pm
Worked on sea island. Everything was expensive & overated and the clients got away with everything. The employees were treated bad, especially if they were of color. Director positions were given to whites only, and during low seasons, minorities were laid off. This is a island for republicans and people who like the honor of treating people anyway they want. I saw this all comming to an end one day, because it was the first time I experienced extreme prejudice.
Marshes of Glynn
August 11th, 2010
10:13 pm
To POAD – the Eugene O’Neil house is still there but the land around it was sold in recent years. The house where Ah Wilderness! was written is dwarfed by big, new construction next door.
Does anyone remember Emma at the Beach Club in the 1970s and 1980s? She was a great lady!
I feel for all the wonderful staff who spent their lives working for the company and have now lost their pensions.
Gone with the sea breeze
August 11th, 2010
11:20 pm
Grandbuilds it. Daddy runs it. Grandson kills it. happens to many times…
Alan
August 11th, 2010
11:34 pm
I went on my honeymoon there, and again for my 1st Anniversary. Then again for years as a single Dad with my son since he was 2 years old. I remember one night when one of the upper staff was at dinner and saw me and my son alone together in the formal dining room when he was about 3 years old and she thought he was so cute.
The treatment we got there was phenomenal, old world class-wise, and the next thing I know I can’t afford to take my son there anymore. They wrecked our little haven, and like a few others I’m not a big money patron. But, it was well worth the expense for the experience we had there while we could do it.
I don’t know what it is about human nature, but this is a good example of it. You have something so good, so right, but you can’t leave it alone. This gilding the lily example has led to ruin, and embarrassment, and I’m afraid it has started the downward journey of a very special place to a lot of us.
There’s no telling where this will lead but there is no doubt in my mind that the Sea Island of old is gone forever.
saw it coming a long time ago
August 11th, 2010
11:46 pm
Spent a few vacations in the early 80’s on Sea Island. Had young children and were not considered overly-wealthy….actually from a very small town in north Georgia. We bought a place on St. Simons because as our children grew, they enjoyed the ambiance of St. Simons over the elitism of Sea Island. (They actually attended public schools and I’m sure folks like us would not be allowed on the island now.) A few years back some members of the Sea Island Club invited us over for drinks. We were stopped at the gate and had to give our life history, all the while a security guard was circling our car and making notes. It was one of the more humiliating experiences I have had in a long time.
I do not know the Jones family but do know several long-term families on the Island. It seems to me that the Jones’ management forgot the millionaires and started targeting the billionaires….and now have lost their shirts. When they quit allowing non-members (us common folk who actually do have manners and know what a finger bowl is for) to make reservations for dinner, I knew the end was in sight.
Lot of folks living “beyond their raising” and are now paying a royal price. So sad. Can’t help but think of the phrase “keeping up with the Jones’”….glad I never felt the need to try.
Chris H.
August 12th, 2010
12:27 am
Emma, Percy, Big George, Legs 11, Mrs. Gallagher, and Mr. Gallagher!, Robert at the GC, A Coupla Ducks, Jeep Train, Oyster Roast, Island Singers, Gazebo/pingpong/pinball, crabbing at north end (we had a key). What was the name of that fellow that ran the snack bar at the beach club back in the day when it was just a single counter in the back? Made the best milkshake ever!
If only BJIII had listened when SunTrust said “no”. Bingo!!
POAD
August 12th, 2010
1:07 am
SKIDOO under the G 62. Did I hear BINGO. Hold on Folks we are checking 1 card.
Terry S.
August 12th, 2010
3:49 am
Been going to Sea Island for many years. For us it never has been about the facilities anyway. We love the community and the people. It never became over commercialized like so many beach towns do. So sorry this has happened but really nothing has changed the things that make St. Simons and Sea Island special from our perspective.
I disagree wholeheartedly with the earlier comments by N.W. that the employees (minority in particular) are treated with disrespect. In many cases these folks have worked for Sea Island for generations and believe me these people are well-loved and in most cases appreciated very very much. N.W. is just completely off base with these comments.
The people make the community and that won’t change. We intend to keep it as a part of our lives for a long, long time.
Ex-employee
August 12th, 2010
5:22 am
I worked there in the mid 90s. Waited on the Jones and can tell you many saw this coming. A valuable lesson for parents. Put SI into a trust and send your kid off to wherever. I liked most of all my fellow employees. But management turned a blind eye to most any infraction. Low wages , paternal attitude and a free laundry and meal – Southern hospitality aint what it used to be. !
beach lover
August 12th, 2010
10:00 am
I’m with you, Atlanta Guy. My parents went to Sea Island throughout the 70’s and 80’s for meetings. I have been to Sea Island every year since 1982 and I have seen the changes in motion. Change is not always bad. The old hotel and the old beach club (while they were fine with me) had been patched up over the years and needed to be renovated and expanded. We were just shocked at the level of change that all had to happen at once. Yes, the economy tanked at the same time. But, despite all of the talk about how Sea Island would change but it would remain the same was just impossible..
We stayed in an huge ocean front room in 1990 for $300 a night. That included 3 meals a day. During the summer “Family Festival” it included all meals for kids – up to age 17, I think. When the new hotel was finished, the published rate was $700 a night no meals. Please. Not even on the ocean? We said then, if they would drop the rate some and throw in some meals, the place would be full. The new beach club is NOT the same. It’s huge, the food isn’t that great, there is minimal service. The new Main Dining room is not that at all. From what I have seen, no one even dines there. I miss the dressed up kids, the piano playing, the 7 course meals (!), the servers who had been there forever. Yes, it was fancy, but still comfortable. It was still a beach resort. Not worrying about sand in the room. Now the rooms are covered with Turkish (?) rugs.
Yes, we still go. We keep going because it is close to home and it is sometimes hard to break from family traditions. We don’t stay in the hotel anymore. We don’t even rent a house anymore. We are usually guests of a member and are able to visit. But, we are so saddened but all of the changes, the debt, the sale, etc. Sorry Bill. It’s NOT the same.
Oh well..
August 12th, 2010
10:52 am
Pigs are cute, hogs get slaughtered.. All Billy Bob had to do was steer the ship and keep it on course. Bill II was a great business man. Bill III had no clue. Anyone who looked at that deal knew it could never work. Shame on you III!!
Sasser
August 12th, 2010
11:03 am
One word—GREED!!!!!!
LHCL
August 12th, 2010
11:19 am
Man, you folks have some serious pent up anger issues… glad to see you can vent it somewhere.Thank goodness Bill didnt sell the land Frederica sits on to some of our fine Atlanta developers at the height of the real estate market when it was zoned for 6,000 home sites. Otherwise, SSI might look like Atlanta. But hey keep up the “he’s an idiot” blog that’s a good one. Goes well with AJC talking about the Gary Player Group being one of the finalist. They don’t even know where Sea Island is…might want to check your sources on that one. Get it all out folks, rush hour is closing upon you.. He did the best he could, no one is hurt more by this than him. He personally has done enough for the local economy and state, maybe now we should do something for him and just give it a break!
Disgusted
August 12th, 2010
12:32 pm
I think there are plenty of people who are hurt more than Bill, LHCL. Are the long time faithful employees going to be getting their pensions? My anger will subside when I can get through the gate with ease, get through the beach club bouncers with ease, and be able to use the spa with ease…even when I leave my stupid card at home!!!
POAD
August 12th, 2010
1:22 pm
It is easier to drive around the Hamptons and look at all the Huge Beautiful Homes than it is to get a look at a Sea Island cottage. When the tide is out can you still ride a horse or walk to Sea Island or have the added a gate on the beach too?
LHCL
August 12th, 2010
2:27 pm
The pensions are fine, so are the members deposits. Bill took care of that, even though he didnt have to but it was the right thing to do so he did it. Read the bankruptcy filings. The gate is there for alot of reasons, but when a couple of folks go in and do what they did to those good people that night just to get into a gang I would put a gate up too. The cards suck but they became a necessity. Epworth gets to keep their land Sea Island donated, the Land Trust gets to keep their land that Sea Island donated and all the other charities and good minded organizations that propered for years with Sea Islands assistance will continue to do well. The local high school golf teams in our area public and private get use of the finest facility on the east coast at no charge STILL… if the employees didnt like working there- quit! I can tell you because I am a business owner how hard it was to hire here because Sea Island took care of it’s own. I worked there, I have business relationships there then and now and I can tell you with out a doubt Bill stood up for his people. All of them, too a fault. Read the entire bankruptcy document that has been filed publicly then say otherwise.
smart dawg
August 12th, 2010
2:52 pm
I certainly do not condone rape, home invasions, or violence of any sort. When I first mentioned the gate, I assumed state funds were used to build the causeway to Sea Island and that is still my best guess. If so, what gives them the right to deny access to the masses?
Also, someone earlier likely included me in a group they named as “blue collar”. Just to set the record straight, my surgical scrubs don’t have a collar.
LHCL
August 12th, 2010
2:59 pm
Sea Island paid for the gates, no one else. Fact not a guess. County Commission voted and approved it. After the unfortunate incident.
smart dawg
August 12th, 2010
3:01 pm
Who built and paid for the causeway?