St. Simons Island
The King and Prince
A 1941 Spanish Colonial Revival beach hotel on St. Simons Island that the Navy used to watch for U-boats in World War II. It still faces the ocean.
- Built
- 1941Opened 1935 as the King and Prince Beach Club (a dance club); after fire damage the hotel was rebuilt and reopened July 2, 1941. NRHP significant year 1941.
- Style
- Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival
- Architect
- Felton Davis and Laurance Miller
- Type
- Resort
- Rooms
- 146
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Historic Hotels of America member
The story
Morgan T. Wynne and Franklin J. Home opened the property in 1935 as a seaside dance club on St. Simons Island. After fire damage they rebuilt it, and the King and Prince Hotel formally reopened on July 2, 1941. During World War II the U.S. Navy used the hotel as a training facility and radar station for spotting German U-boats off the Georgia coast. The National Register nomination describes it as an excellent and rare example of an early 20th-century seaside resort hotel on Georgia’s coast.
Good to know
- Address: 201 Arnold Road, St. Simons Island, GA 31522
Sources (2)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.