The owners of the Jekyll Island Club Hotel, partnering with New Castle Hotels and Resorts of Shelton, CT, have been selected by the Jekyll Island Authority to develop a new 200-room, full-service beachfront hotel that will be located on the village green adjacent to the planned new convention center. Owners of the historic Jekyll Island Club Hotel and New Castle also own and operate the new Jekyll Island Hampton Inn & Suites which opened in January of this year. The new beachfront hotel is scheduled to open in early summer, 2012.

Following an extensive request for proposal (RFP) process, the board of directors approved the recommendations made by the Jekyll Island Authority evaluation committee and announced their selection May 17th.

"We are delighted with the authority's selection," said Bob Krueger, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Jekyll Island Authority. “This is another big step forward, and I am very impressed with the quality of the proposal received.”

The Authority also selected two other companies to join the Jekyll Island beach village project. Phelps Development of Greeley, CO, in partnership with the Chhatrala Group of San Diego, CA, will construct a 140-room, mid-scale hotel which will be located in the beach village one block from the new convention center. The third company, Winding Road Development Company of Scottsdale, AZ, was selected as the developer for the beach village retail space. This area consists of restaurants, shops, bank, post office, a village green for entertainment, and loft residences, all adjacent to the new convention center.

In its announcement, the Jekyll Island Authority said, “These three new projects are important elements of Jekyll Island's overall revitalization program, which also includes construction of a new 128,000-square-foot, beachfront convention center, Great Dunes Park, a beautifully redesigned entry corridor to the island, and many other enhancements. The revitalization efforts are intended to preserve and accentuate the island's natural assets, showcase its historic charm, and ensure Jekyll Island takes its place among the premier travel destinations in the Southeast.”

An Island Getaway That’s Murder!
Watch for this exciting, late-summer package offered at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. Murder Mystery Weekend, Inc. presents a weekend to kill for! Become a super sleuth, expect the unexpected, search for clues, and solve the crime --- all this while staying at the historic Jekyll Island Club Hotel! The package includes accommodations for two nights, welcome reception, group breakfast buffet Saturday morning, group lunch, reception and dinner Saturday evening, and Closing breakfast Sunday…and clues. Please contact the hotel directly to reserve at 800-535-9547 or 912-635-2600. See more here about this package.

The Jekyll Island Club Hotel was honored to host the 2010 Jekyll Island Croquet Invitational May 7-9th. Congratulations to Tournament Winner Richard Brackett of West Palm Beach, Florida and Runner-Up Bill Berne of Sheldon, South Carolina. Each took home an engraved tray recognizing their respective places in the tournament; the championship cup will be on display at the Club. The event was sanctioned by the United States Croquet Association. For USCA information see http://www.croquetamerica.com/.

Welcoming a field of 12 players in contention for the awards was Director of the Tournament Dan Lott of Sea Island, Georgia. “We had beautiful weather for the entire three days of play, and all the players played very well,” he said.

The hotel's greensward, designed and built by landscape architect William Edenfield in 1986, has a layered composition, specialized drainage system and patented grass to provide a close-cut playing surface for a truer roll of the ball.

Competition croquet is gaining popularity in the Southeast and particularly on Jekyll Island. An active local group, the Jekyll Island Croquet Club, plays frequently and gives spectators a good idea of the demands of the game. Hotel guests may try their hand at the sport, and instructors are available to show the techniques and strategies. Croquet equipment use and time on the court are free of charge to overnight guests. The game is fun and challenging for players at every level of expertise.

Congratulations to Del Oehms Hamilton of New Orleans, Louisiana! Her photograph, “A Step Back in Time,” wins for her two nights’ accommodations at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel.

Ms. Hamilton’s photograph will appear on Flickr as well as other social media and promotional publications of the Hotel. Her photographic image was taken January 8, 2010 after she had “partaken of Afternoon Tea” at the Jekyll Island Club. She said, “There just happened to be this amazing car parked out front so we felt like we had truly taken a step back in time.”

You may have some exceptional images in your collection, too. Share your best shot of your Jekyll Island visit with us and be eligible to win a two nights' stay at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. The contest is held monthly, and the winners are announced in issues of this newsletter.

Flickr is an image hosting website, web services suite, and online community. An exciting way to share and embed photographs, it's also a service used by bloggers to host images they embed in blogs and social media.

To enter the Jekyll Island Club Hotel contest is this easy. Email your still image entry to flickrcontest@jekyllclub.com as an attachment. In the email, be sure to include the following information:

Name of the photographer
Contact information: phone number, email address, and mailing address
Caption of still image
Date the image was captured
Permission for the Jekyll Island Club Hotel to use the image on Flickr,
Facebook, and for hotel marketing and promotions.

Contestants may enter one image each month, and the image must have been taken by the
contestant on Jekyll Island.

Visit us on Twitter and Facebook.

Spice up your next Southern Georgia vacation with a little down home flavor! Join our Executive Chef, Pastry Chef, and the culinary staff of the Jekyll Island Club Hotel for its elite 2010 cooking schools at Crane Cottage. Book now; class enrollment is filling quickly.

Cooking School Package Includes:

• Culinary welcome gift and Jekyll Island Club Hotel logo chef's jacket
• Superior accommodations in Crane Cottage for four nights
• Welcome reception Sunday evening followed by a Sunday Dinner Dance with dinner and entertainment in the Grand Dining Room
• Hands-on cooking classes in the kitchen at Crane Cottage over three days
• Patisserie Sessions
• Wine Tasting Monday evening with our sommelier
• Breakfast Buffet in the Grand Dining Room each morning
• Gourmet farewell dinner on Wednesday evening

8/29-9/2/2010
Couple - $1,595.00 Single - $1,109.00

Please call the hotel directly to reserve this package at
(800) 535-9547 or (912) 635-2600.

Please note: All taxes and gratuities on package are included. Resort fee extra. School requires a minimum of 8 packages to be sold 30 days prior to event or we reserve the right to cancel said event. Cancellations within 14 days of event forfeits 50% of package. Subject to availability.

The Morgan Center renovation is progressing according to plans, and the conference center to come is taking form. It promises to be one of the most accommodating and distinctive venues in the region.

Completion of the project, scheduled for September, will be a much celebrated event. The dual-level facility will have 4,900 square feet of conference space on the main level and 1600 square feet on the mezzanine. The spacious lower level will accommodate groups of 400, and the upper level Mezzanine, 120 more. A new, 1,800-square-foot banquet kitchen facility is being constructed on the south side of the Morgan Center building. All catering and conference services will be handled by the Hotel.

Currently, excavation has begun for the Morgan Center Kitchen facility, and construction should begin within the next week or two. Meanwhile, in the interior of the main building workmen are preparing the ground for the interior foundation and floor; concrete plinths are being poured as supports for the vertical supports for the mezzanine. Progress in the next few weeks will show greater definition of the various areas.

For more information about the Morgan Center for conferences, weddings or special events, contact the Jekyll Island Club Hotel Sales Department at 912-635-2600, extension 1070, or email sales@jekyllclub.com.

Jekyll Island Club Hotel is proud to announce the launch of our blog, “Turret Talk”. “Turret Talk” will feature updates on the hotel, events, posts by our General Manager and much more! Stay tuned for what we have in store for you! Did you know we also have a Facebook and Twitter account? Connect with us and receive special updates and offers made only to our followers!

Visit Turret Talk here.