A STELLAR SWEEP
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ou’ve probably heard the news by now that Sea Island has been awarded four prestigious Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rates for a remarkable TENTH consecutive year. Forbes Travel Guide’s annual list of Star Award-winning establishments worldwide once again included The Cloister at Sea Island, The Lodge at Sea Island, The Georgian Room restaurant and The Spa at Sea Island as Five-Star designated properties. Sea Island is the only resort in the world to accomplish the feat of earning the four coveted Five-Star ratings for an entire decade. What a way to put the icing on their 90th “Emerald” Anniversary cake! Since opening in 1928, the resort has added various accommodations and enhanced amenities, and continues to achieve esteemed accolades. The Lodge at Sea Island, an intimate 43-room
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ELEGANT ISLAND LIVING
hideaway surrounded by stunning ocean views and two of Sea Island’s three championship golf courses, has been recognized as a Forbes Five-Star property since its opening in 2001. The elegant Georgian Room was first awarded the Five-Star rating in 2008, and is the only restaurant in the state of Georgia to carry this distinction. In 2009, Sea Island’s iconic resort, The Cloister, and the 65,000 square-foot oasis known as The Spa at Sea Island followed suit and were also honored with Forbes Five-Star ratings. The Georgian Room, The Cloister and The Lodge are also AAA Five-Diamond award recipients. In this 90th anniversary year, The Lodge at Sea Island is currently undergoing a $25 million enhancement project that will include six new cottages, a new state-of-the-art Golf Performance Center, an oceanfront pool and pool house, and a new putting course. The project is slated for completion in November.
Forbes Travel Guide has been publishing the Star Rating Awards for 60 years, recognizing the world’s finest properties and rewarding gracious, intuitive service. In 2018, there are only 199 Five-Star recommended hotels in the world, and an elite group of just 13 properties earned Five-Star awards for their hotel, restaurant and spa – including Sea Island. The other member of the Sea Island resort family, The Broadmoor, in Colorado Springs, is the longest consecutive winner of the Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond awards. EIL reached out to Sea Island’s President of Operations/Hotel and Golf, James Gibson, to discuss Sea Island’s stellar accomplishment and impressive history. EIL: What does it feel like to set a world record as the only resort to receive four Forbes Five-Star awards for ten consecutive years?
JG: This is the 60th anniversary of Forbes
