Eliot VanOtteren
Sea Island 5 Star
From left, Byron Bennett, valet; Michelle Preston, front desk receptionist; Rick Riess, Managing Director; Tim Mann, bellman; and Houston Vissage, chef conciergeWinning a Forbes Five-Star award is regarded as the highest accolade in the hospitality industry. Winning four Forbes Five-Star awards at one time is almost unheard of, and yet that is what our friends at Sea Island have done, for five years in a row. In February, the Forbes Travel Guide announced that a Five-Star award had again been awarded to The Cloister, The Lodge at Sea Island Golf Club, The Spa at Sea Island, and the Georgian Room, at The Cloister. The Lodge has won it since its opening in 2001, and the Georgian Room has received it six times. The Georgian Room, which is open to the public, is the only Five-Star restaurant in all of Georgia.
Rick Riess, Managing Director of Sea Island, gives much of the credit to team members such as those pictured with him here. “Our facilities are exceptional, the setting is extraordinary, and we have literally dozens of engaging experiences for guests and members to enjoy at Sea Island,” says Riess. “While all of those are important, what makes Sea Island so special is the genuine hospitality that our team members provide to our guests and members every day. They have a deep down heart for service that can’t be taught, and yet it is as real today as it was when The Cloister first opened in 1928.”
