The grounds are beautiful and the location is perfect. Walking around the property, you feel like you're in a beautiful botanical garden; the grounds crew do great work. The place really is right on the beach, and our beachfront room had a gorgeous view. The cleaning schedule is convenient — we stayed for two weeks and got two mid-stay cleanings — and the cleaners did a great job. The door has a code instead of keycard or lock, which is great: nothing to carry with you to the beach! Overall, the Islander was a good deal; the price was reasonable, we loved staying there, and we would totally go back. We have a few minor critiques, though.
The front-desk staff varied in their friendliness and helpfulness. Some were great, others a little cold, others nice but not actually very helpful. It seems like a low-touch kind of place; this is not a concierge-type operation.
The amenity fee was included in the price I saw on hotels.com when booking, so it was not a "hidden fee". However, they justified it with a long list of so-so amenities, of which we used almost none. The one outstanding amenity, which we used a ton, was the endless supply of beach towels.
We stayed in the southeast corner of the property, with the (back) door to our unit facing toward the restaurant next door. Though our door was awkwardly heavy, there was a sizable gap at the jamb and a lot of noise and kitchen smells came through, from early morning to late evening. Next time we'll ask for a different building.