The Cloister, the historic Spanish Mediterranean hotel that opened in 1928 at the heart of Georgia's Sea Island Resort, has been razed and replaced by a brand-new Cloister Hotel just to the south alongside the river. The original Spanish Lounge, with its pecky cypress beams and stained-glass windows, was dismantled and re-assembled to become part of the new hotel, whose design architect Peter Capone based on Addison Mizner's original drawings for his fabled Cloister. Where the hotel once stood there is now a 65,000-square-foot spa, slated to open in the fall of 2006, bordered by eight brand-new Har-Tru courts, one of them a stadium. Construction of a new beach club is also underway with an anticipated opening date of summer 2007. All of this is part of a $350 million redevelopment designed to bring this historic resort into the 21st century.

Tennis Features

Pro Shop: 912-638-3611, x5168

Meanwhile, Tennessee-born Dickie Anderson, who has been at the Cloister more than 20 years, continues to oversee operations both at the new Cloister complex and the Retreat, an 8-court complex a few miles away on St. Simons Island.

Tennis Staff. Prior to joining the Cloister, Anderson had been coaching tennis at the University of the South in Sewanee. Since taking over as director in the mid 1990s he has beefed up game matching, tripled the number of clinics, added occasional schools during the off season, and tried to generally reinvigorate the program. He's understandably enthusiastic about the opening of the Cloister courts. "It's an incredibly beautiful complex," he says of the new facility. "One of our guests who'd been coming here with his family for 25 years said, 'If God played tennis this is where He'd come to play.'" During the reconstruction, Anderson and all the staff taught at the Retreat complex. "All of us got to know the locals better," he says of that experience, "and that has helped our game matching." There are plans to integrate the tennis, fitness and spa programs and to raise the tennis profile in general, by using exhibitions and Challenger tournaments to emphasize that tennis is a focal point of the resort.
Tennis Programs. During the busy March-April and summer seasons, a typical week's tennis calendar is likely to have a two or three daily adult clinics as many as three age groups of junior clinics (including Tykes ages 4-6) daily, Cardio tennis sessions, and a couple of round robins as well as the usual private lessons.
Courts & Fees. 10 lighted Har-Tru courts. Court fees: $36/court-hour at the Cloister; $18/person/day at Retreat.

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Other Recreation

Beach. Five miles of salt-and-pepper beach extend along the Atlantic Coast of Sea Island, much of it bordered by low dunes.

Golf Courses. The resort has three 18-hole courses, each recently redesigned, and its own golf school.

Seaside Course: Tom Fazio redesigned these 18 holes, 9 of which date to the 1920s, to make the most of its natural setting of tidal creeks, salt marshes and St. Simon's Sound. Ancient oaks and cedars, sandy dunes, and native grasses border the perfectly manicured fairways and greens, while ocean breezes add to the challenge.
Plantation Course: Rees Jones took 9 holes from the original 1927 Plantation course and married them to 9 hole from the original Retreat Course to create a parkland feel complemented by ocean views.
Retreat Course: The last of the courses to be reconceived, Retreat got the attention of the resort's touring pro Davis Love III. He lowered the profile and opened up the fairways to create a course that everyone could love playing, regardless of their handicap.

Spa & Fitness Center. When it opens in the fall of 2006, the new spa and fitness center will have 65,000-square-feet of space comprising 23 treatment rooms, lockers with sauna and steam, an indoor lap pool, a full range of fitness equipment, four workout rooms (yoga, Pilates, traditional fitness, and personal training), and three squash courts.

And ... Among the other recreation is a shooting school, horseback riding stables, bicycle rentals, croquet, and fishing charters.

Children's Programs

Now offered year-round, Sea Island's children's programs divide kids into as many as five groups: ages 3 to 4, ages 5 to 6, ages 7 to 8, ages 9 to 12, and when appropriate teens. These organized activities go on all day and some evenings and include turtle nest patrols, manners courses, scavenge hunts, swim parties, and tennis and golf clinics.

Lodging

There are 100 rooms and suites in the new Cloister Hotel and those are supplemented by 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom suites in the beachfront Ocean Houses. All of that lodging clusters together near the Beach Club and spa. The alternative, and it is an elegant one, is to opt instead from the Lodge at Sea Island, which is not on Sea Island at all but 5½ miles away on St. Simons Island. Built at a cost of $47 million, this 40-room lodge provides a completely different experience, at once quieter, more romantic, and even by Sea Island standards exceptionally service conscious. Its rooms have such refined amenities as large baths with separate showers and soaking tubs, heated mirrors, and linen hand towels. There are butlers to handle special requests, and a vast livingroom-like lobby with a limestone fireplace, fringed Oriental carpets over stone floors, and wood paneling. The men's locker is large enough to have its own dining room. And there's an Oak Bar with dining both inside and outside.

Restaurants

All of the restaurants on Sea Island and those at the Lodge are exclusively for the use of guests and members. Rates no longer include meals, giving guests much more flexibility about where and how often to eat. Options range from the relaxed setting of the River Bar in the Cloister or the Oak Room Bar in the Lodge to the coat-and-tie formality of the Georgian Room.

See Also

Among the other top tennis resorts with Sea Island Resort's history and grand style are:

• The Breakers, Florida
• Boca Raton Resort & Club, Florida
• The Greenbrier, West Virginia

Also take a look at:

• The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel, New Hampshire
• Mohonk Mountain House, New York

Travel Essentials

Seasons. Year-round.

Rates.

Lodging choices are broadly divided in the Cloister, which includes the new hotel and additional rooms on the ocean nearby; the Lodge, and English manor-inspired 40-room hotel on the golf course; and the Cottages, privately owned homes.

Reservations:

Sea Island Resorts
Sea Island, GA 31561
912-638-3611
Toll-free: 800-732-4752
Fax: 912-638-5159
Web Link: Sea Island Resorts

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Book Online: Sea Island Resorts
or the Lodge at Sea Island.

Travel Instructions. By Air: Sea Island is roughly 80 miles from either the Jacksonville International Airport in Florida to the south or the Savannah International Airport in Georgia. There's also the regional Brunswick Golden Isles Airport, 30 minutes to the west.

General Tourist Information. Visit the Georgia Department of Tourism web site or contact them at 285 Peachtree Center Avenue, NE, Marquis Two Tower, Suite 1000, Atlanta, GA 30303-1230 or phone them at 1-800-VISITGA (1-800-847-4842).

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