Jacqueline V
Google
Our First Family Vacation — A Major Disappointment at The Lodge at Sea Island
My husband and I were incredibly excited to take our first family vacation with our four-month-old daughter. After reading so many glowing reviews and hearing about the five-star luxury experience offered at The Lodge at Sea Island, we were hopeful this would be a peaceful, beautiful, and memorable stay. Unfortunately, our experience was anything but.
The Lodge is undeniably beautiful with its sweeping coastal views and manicured grounds, and we had high expectations for the best of the best in terms of service and amenities. However, from our very first night, our stay was derailed in a way that made it not only uncomfortable but incredibly stressful.
Around 5 a.m. on our first night, the fire alarms suddenly went off. Startled, both my husband and I jumped out of bed—hearts racing—only to find our infant daughter screaming in terror. Just as we managed to calm her and get her back to sleep nearly two hours later, the alarm went off again around 6 a.m., followed by yet another round around 8 a.m. At that point, sleep was out of the question and our entire day began on the wrong foot.
What shocked us most was that no one at the front desk or in management acknowledged what happened. No apology, no explanation, no attempt to check in on us after such a frightening and disruptive night—especially knowing we had a baby with us. For a five-star property, this complete lack of accountability or communication was inexcusable.
The issues didn’t stop there. The next day, we learned there had been a water leak at the resort. Buckets were lined up throughout the front lobby, catching drips from the ceiling. Then came a knock at our room door, followed by staff entering to say our room was the source of the leak and they would need access to it all day. So instead of letting our baby nap and settle in for her day, I had to hurriedly pack up all of her belongings, my things, and leave for the other resort areas. It was too hot to be outside with an infant, so I spent most of the time walking laps around the Beach Club lobby just trying to keep her calm and out of the sun.
Several hours later, my husband received a text saying, “Oops—wrong room,” and that they no longer needed access. But by then, we had rearranged our entire day and I was already far away with a baby and all her gear. Again, not a word of apology, no gesture to make up for the inconvenience.
As if all of this wasn’t enough, on the morning of our checkout, we woke up at 4 a.m. to get ready for a long travel day and discovered we had no running water in the room. No water to brush our teeth, no shower, no toilet—nothing. We had to rinse off and prepare using bottled water. At a five-star resort, this is simply unacceptable. Once again, no apology, no explanation, no offer of any kind to make up for the total failure of basic services.
Even small details felt overlooked. The Lodge has a nightly milk and cookies service—which sounds lovely in theory—but the cookies were cold, not the warm, indulgent treat you might expect from a property of this caliber. The food overall was underwhelming, and the service throughout our stay felt detached and inconsistent.
We left Sea Island feeling disappointed, exhausted, and let down. This was supposed to be a special trip—the first memory-making vacation with our daughter—and instead, it was filled with stress, disruption, and a complete lack of hospitality or care from the staff. We were not offered any compensation, not even a sincere “we’re sorry.”
Unfortunately, we will not be returning to The Lodge at Sea Island. While the property may have five stars on paper, our experience was far from luxury. We’ll be looking elsewhere for our future family vacations—and we sincerely hope other families have better luck than we did.
