Tybee Island is an iconic Georgia beach destination, but local beach goers may be surprised to learn that the sandy shores of one of Georgia’s premier vacation destinations is home to only a single beachfront hotel. DeSoto Beach Hotel is a Tybee Island institution. Recently renovated to welcome modern visitors, the beachfront property offers a relaxing experience that’s focused on providing small town charm.
“At today’s DeSoto Beach Hotel, we strive to recreate for every guest that same experience that the old DeSoto Beach Club was to generations of travelers and Tybee Island, GA locals,” the hotel’s website states. “The buildings and amenities at Tybee’s only beachfront hotel may have been renewed and updated, but our soul remains the same. The magnificent old hotel, all red Spanish tile and palm-lined gardens, was a landmark not just for the Island, but also for the whole Southern coast.”
The DeSoto Beach Hotel was built in 1939, and the beachfront property was initially marketed as a high-end luxury vacation destination that served “elite clientele in from Savannah and beyond while rich terracotta floors were kept eternally spotless by a vigilant army of busboys in tuxedo shirts.”
Today, the hotel is focused on casual comfort.
“Today’s DeSoto Beach Hotel strikes a delicate balance, drawing the best from every era of the storied hotel and adding an exciting, modern spin,” according to the hotel’s website. “It’s not a playground for the superrich anymore, but our staff still works just as hard to kill ‘em with kindness and service.
“People don’t flock here from hundreds of miles around to dance on the shore like they did once, but fun is what a stay at the DeSoto is all about. And the islanders may not congregate in the lounge chatting like the 24/7 neighborhood news station they once were, but the place still drips with local character.”
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