Villas by the Sea Resort & Conference Center

It’s our favorite place to stay and favorite place to hold a meeting. Our non-profit organization keeps returning to Villas by the Sea to host professional development workshops and conferences because of the excellent management, enchanting location, and affordable costs. Nestled in a lush maritime oak forest beside the ocean, there is no more beautiful place to stay on Jekyll Island! For nature lovers, the ocean views, a short trail to hauntingly beautiful Driftwood Beach, and nearby Horton Pond gazebo make this property irresistible. But we would not be such frequent customers if not for Ryan, who makes Conference logistics a breeze. There are few venues in Georgia that are as flexible as Villas in conference room configurations, equipment and technical assistance options, and variety of caterers that are allowed. Whether we are hosting a workshop for 50 teachers or a conference for up to 200, there’s no place we’d rather be. Having lodging available on site is a huge benefit for our guests, who enjoy the convenience of staying in walking distance and the opportunity for evening socials at the conference center. A very competent and responsive Reservations, Front Desk, Housekeeping and Maintenance staff make it as pleasant to stay at the Villas as to hold a meeting there. Although the property is not new, the units have all been renovated and are clean, well-equipped, and beautifully furnished with comfy living rooms, dining areas, kitchens, and balconies or patios. We enjoyed the new Jekyll & Tide restaurant, lovely pool, oceanside boardwalk and gazebo, and shady pirate ship playground. After our fourth visit in five years, we are still in love with this place and couldn’t recommend it more highly.

My husband and I stayed at Villa‘s by the sea unit 276 over the memorial Day weekend 2025. We made the reservations in September 2024 due to it being a busy weekend. 30 days prior to our rental date I received an email requesting the rental balance-I called Parker Kaufman to confirm receipt of payment at least twice prior to our rental date Imagine our surprise when we went to take a walk on the beach and were met with boulders and NO BEACH ACCESS-when contacting Parker Kaufman I was met with an “attitude” and told they had no control over hurricanes. They certainly had no problem contacting me requesting the balance of my money, and I feel it should have been mentioned that there was no beach access due to the storm I will never use Parker Kaufman for any future visits

I came to Jekyll Island, GA for a conference. I was met by kind friendly and helpful staff. Tae and Johnetta were awesome!! When I had a question or needed assistance with ammenties at the resort, they were more than willing to lend a helping hand. I would come back again.

The scenery was beautiful and the staff were incredibly responsive, kind, and helpful! Everything was coordinated well.

Furniture and appliances grossly outdated and don't come anywhere close to what online photos showed. Toaster didn't work. Dishwasher was disgusting and is decades old. Bathroom sink was clogged and wouldn't drain water. Also we mentioned we only needed one night instead of the two nights due to a family emergency, and would check out prior to 11, which we did. They definitely had no concern in helping or being understanding. They wouldn't allow us to stay our one night without paying for the second night even though we said we couldn't stay a second night. Tried asking for a refund when we checked out at 9am and turned in keys to prove we definitely had to leave and management said we had to take it up with *******, which we did. But ******* has to have villas by the sea resort approve a refund which they refused to do. The price per night does not reflect the condition in which the place is. If we were staying for a longer period of time we wouldn't have even been able to. That's how terrible the place was.

Overall we really enjoyed our stay. Our unit was quite dated and the bathroom was in pretty poor condition. It was usable but it has suffered a lot of wear and tear. The staff was helpful and we loved the easy walk to driftwood beach and the pool area was very nice.