Pilar B.
Yelp
Over the course of many years, our family visited the King and Prince Hotel on St. Simons Island. We were always impressed (please note the past tense)! Beach wasn't overly crowded, multiple swimming pools, and we were able to rent a family friendly villa with private gated parking. St. Simons itself was and is a good place to vacation, because it isn't entirely tourist driven and the restaurants are great. So we came here year after until the kids were adults, usually staying at The King and Prince. Our daughter, now all grown up with a family of her own, wanted to share this special place with her kids. Thus, we booked a five-night stay in a three-bedroom villa.
When we arrived, we were warmly greeted, and the clerk said she had multiple options as the hotel was not particularly busy. I picked a fourth-floor villa, as I remembered that these appear even larger, with vaulted ceilings and a skylight in the living area. Before we unpacked two over-stuffed vehicles, we looked around; noting the worn living room furniture and a naked cable connection for the television, but the youngsters looked glad to be out of the car, so we all decided we could live with any minor issues. Wi-Fi didn't seem to work, but a text from guest services suggested we try an adjacent room's Wi-Fi, and eventually we got intermittent service. There were some cable wires kinda hanging out of the tiles next to the fireplace, and the filter inside the dishwasher looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a long time, so my daughter hand washed some dishes for us to use until we could buy paper plates.
We ended up with seven maintenance visits over our visit: 2 clogged sinks, 3 clogged toilets, and a wonky air conditioner which required 3 tries before the issue was resolved.
The K&P is following industry norms in doing full housekeeping every three days, however housekeeping staffers take away garbage and provide clean towels daily. That was done, but on day 3 I asked about housekeeping and was told I needed to give 24 hours' notice. And one of the papers I got when checking in did indeed confirm that, so they said we'd get housekeeping the next day. However, when we got back to our villa, housekeeping had come and made the beds, but the sheets were not changed. Nor was any floor maintenance done, and when you have 3 kids tracking in from the pool and beach, plus a few dropped crackers, floor care is necessary. There was a broom (but no dustpan) in our utility room, so my daughter swept the dust and so forth out the door. We didn't get new sheets during our visit. No one checked on toilet paper or offered additional Keurig cups, so hubby walked over and got some from guest services, in nice gift bag.
In all of this, I must say that guest services always responded very promptly and courteously. All staff members who spoke English were polite and friendly. But, if you ever avail yourself of this property, be aware that you will have to ask, and ask, and ask. We didn't need a shuttle to the golf course, a tennis court, or room service, but clean floors and a clean kitchen would have been welcome.
The word pauper is not really in current use, but when I think of the what the King and Prince used to be and how much they still charge, I can't help but think that this was a poor man's version of luxury. Oh, how a 4K visit can be marred by a broken-down sofa, 7 visits from maintenance, and sweeping one's own floors. But, hey, the pool where I didn't sleep was nice.