Historic King and Prince Looks Back, Then Forward - June 2010 - Delaware Cty., PA
The Highwayman: Historic King and Prince looks back, then forward
Monday, June 07, 2010 - Delaware County Daily Times by John Plaisant
First of two parts.
The more things change the more they stay the same. And such is surely the case on beautiful St. Simons Island in Georgia, one of a group of coastal barrier islands known as the Golden Isles. The regular ebb and flow of the unusually high tides, the crashing Atlantic surf on the sea wall, the translucent Spanish moss hanging from great rows of stately live oak trees, and the busy little village nestled in the shadow of the old lighthouse evoke a timeless quality. All that ever changes is the calendar.
Bearing witness is the elegant King and Prince Beach and Golf Resort, which is celebrating its Diamond Anniversary this year. One glance at this low-slung, Mediterranean-style historic hotel, its bright yellow exterior and red tile roofs glistening beside the beach, and you might assume that nothing has changed at the King and Prince over those 75 years. And you would, of course, be very wrong, because in fact, change has been the one constant over the resort’s 75 rich, sometimes turbulent and distinctly quirky years.
Don’t be fooled by the aristocratic name. The King and Prince is a slice of pure Americana, a champion of American democracy and the entrepreneurial spirit, where the rich and famous have rubbed elbows with regular folks, dined on fresh shrimp and blue claw crabs, danced on the beach, and huddled in the dark when German U-boats prowled offshore. It is a place that didn’t even start out as a hotel, an enterprise that was destroyed by fire and rebuilt — twice! — and spent World War II serving as a radar station.
Quirky? Indeed ... and most charmingly so. The spectacular Delegal Dining Room, with its ornamental stained glass and panoramic picture windows, displays restored portraits of King George II of England and Prince Charles Edward Stewart. But they aren’t really THE King and Prince.
No, the King and Prince really got its name from its original owners and developers — Frank Horn and Morgan Wynn, who were known to their friends as ... (that’s right!) the “King & the Prince.”
Going up? The glass elevator in the main lobby only goes to the second floor, so if you’ve got a room on the third floor like I did, you’ll have to walk down the hall to change elevators. But you wouldn’t have it any other way, because strolling a corridor filled with original art work, past the two-story Governor’s Suite with its spiral staircase, is all part of the “royal” experience at the King and Prince.
The place started out in 1935 as a private dance club — a 1930s era nightspot where romantic characters out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald tragedy wined and dined, gambled and gamboled. And its early history was not always so elegant. Destroyed by fire in December 1935, it was rebuilt in only 60 days. A couple of years later, it was gutted by fire again. Both fires were believed to be cases of arson, but since there was never any proof, no charges were ever filed.
The King and Prince didn’t have its actual birth as a hotel until 1941 ... just in time for World War II. It was soon taken over as a U.S. Navy training center and a radar station, and didn’t get back into the hospitality business until the war ended, re-opening for business in 1947.
And since that time, a lot of things have changed.
St. Simons Island has been a popular Georgia family vacation destination for decades.
“The King and Prince was at the center of it all,” said historian Curt Smith, who began coming to the island as a child on family vacations. “It had a swimming pool that you could sneak into, and the best hamburgers in the world.”
Well, today most visitors come to the hotel to dine on something more than just hamburgers. Perhaps, you’d like to try the delicious “Shrimp and Grits” prepared by Chef Robyn Gomez and his crack culinary staff. How about crab cakes with chili lime cream sauce, hush puppies, grilled Florida Black Grouper, or some good old-fashioned Southern Jambalaya? Just leave room for Chef Gomez’ marvelous Bananas Foster for dessert.
And, of course, there’s always the Sunday Brunch or the Friday Night Seafood Buffet. Steamed crab legs, oysters on the half shell, chilled Wild Georgia Shrimp, Teriyaki Atlantic salmon, almond crusted Tilapia just for starters. If you like fresh seafood, you’ve come to the right place.
The panoramic Delegal Dining Room (2,655 square feet) was originally a ballroom known as The Bamboo Garden, where Big Band orchestras played and the patrons danced on a terrazzo floor, which is still intact beneath the carpet. The stained glass archway windows, which depict the history and beauty of St. Simons, were installed in 1938 by a North Carolina company that purchased its glass from the same supplier as Tiffany.
Before World War II, there was also an outdoor palm garden and dance floor known as the Oldeander Patio, as well as a beachfront boardwalk. “It was true romance,” Smith added.
The resort has seen a number of major multi-million dollar renovations since that time. The first massive restoration was in 1972, when the old ballroom was transformed into the Delegal Dining Room and an English Colonial decor theme was established throughout the hotel. In 1980, and again in 1983, the facility was virtually changed inside and out. Rooms were enlarged and modernized, an indoor pool and whirlpool became part of the beautiful atrium lobby.
The Solarium, site of the hotel’s original lobby, became a quiet retreat with a fireplace and overstuffed sofas and chair. It’s adjacent to the Retreat Dining Room, used for group meetings, luncheons and dinners.
During the restorations, architectural features of the original structures, hidden by previous remodeling efforts, were discovered. Among the finds were a set of three additional arches along the north wall of the Delegal. They were restored and integrated into the room’s design.
In 1983, the North and South Villas also opened, featuring apartments with full kitchens, spectacular ocean views and other exclusive amenities.
Today, the resort has a multi-purpose, campus-like feel to it. There’s the historic main building, the Oceanfront Building, the Beach Villas and six resort residences (entire houses for the ultimate in luxury). Scattered about the property, they include small beach cottages and private residences with up to five bedrooms. The house called Famila Meadows has a widow’s walk which has been transformed into an open air game room/patio with fireplace.
The 18-room Oldeander House as well as two luxurious suites in the Tabby House were completed in 2001-02. After eight months of additional renovations, the historic main building was re-opened in May of 2003.
The King and Prince tennis courts are just a short walk from the main building, as well as a fully-equipped exercise room and The Royal Treatment Cottage, a spa which offers a variety of massage therapies and treatments, both traditional and customized.
In 1996, the resort joined the prestigious Historic Hotels of America, and in 2005 it was named to the National Register of Historic Places on its 70th anniversary.
The buildings, however, aren’t the only things that have been restored, modernized or improved. The King and Prince Golf Course, home of the Hampton Club, which first opened in 1989, was closed for six months in 2009 for a total makeover by golf course architect Billy Fuller. When it re-opened on Oct. 10 last year, it was spectacular. Everything was different — even the grass. The technological age has reached the golf course. But more about that next time.
The tides on the Georgia coast are the highest on the Eastern seaboard of the United States — between 8 and 12 feet. At low tide, there’s a wide, beautiful beach. Large sandbars pop up about 200 yards out. But it all completely disappears at high tide. The ocean covers it up right to the sea wall.
The weather on the April day that I arrived at the King and Prince had definitely not been approved by the Chamber of Commerce. Rain showers poured out of a brooding, gray sky. Blustery off-shore winds sent menacing waves thundering into the sea wall. From my third-floor balcony in the Tower Room, with its grandiose view of the ocean and the crashing waves just below me, it was wonderfully atmospheric.
And when the skies cleared the next morning, bringing sunny days and moonlit nights ... well, the Chamber of Commerce would have approved. All the better to appreciate the golden hues of this landmark hotel on the Golden Isles. The Sherwin-Williams paint company reportedly named a shade of yellow for the King and Prince, but I couldn’t find it in the catalogue. Let’s just say it’s somewhere between “Fun Yellow” and “Friendly Yellow.” Or maybe it’s “Optimistic Yellow?” “Glisten Yellow?” ... “Daffodil?” .... “Daisy?” ... “Lemon Twist?”
Hmmm ... this may take a little more research.
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