Sandals Royal Curacao: Good impression but room for improvement

Overall, the trip was good. My wife and I have been to dozens of all-inclusive resorts in every country imaginable, and I'll provide a quick primer of what was lacking relative to other top-end experiences. This isn't meant to be critical, but informative so that you know what you're going to get. There is not enough staff at the bars and restaurants. period! This is not to say that staff isn't pleasant and helpful, but you wait extended periods for anything. This is the result of the "no  [... read more]tipping policy" at Sandals, as there is little incentive to speed things up. This also applies to housecleaning and in-room amenity services. On two separate days our room was left without cleaning, and we were at the pool by 8am until 4pm every day. Our AC didn't work in the room, and they sent maintenance to our room 5 times to fix the issue without any solutions. It was disappointing that they didn't even offer to switch our room, as the nights were muggy. Food was good (especially dinners), but they lacked some basic items that other top-end resorts offer. I noticed this most at the breakfast buffet. Drinks were good, but they routinely ran out of premium alcohols, or you had to go to another area of the resort to get "your drink". This might seem picky/snobby, but it was annoying that I was the one travelling to get my drink of choice on vacation. I also noticed that they filled premium bottles with non-premium booze, thinking people wouldn't notice. Not the end of the world, but sketchy. Staff allows guests to reserve pool chairs at the crack of dawn (6am/7am) with towels. The issue with this type of behavior is that many people do not return until 11/noon, which is pretty disrespectful to those that want to enjoy the morning. Gym and spa were good, as was evening entertainment. Don't miss out on the food trucks, pizza and dessert snacks. The trip was decent.

Sandals Grande St Lucian: Definitely worthwhile with areas in need of improvement

This was our first time to a Sandals resort, and to St. Lucia. Overall, we are glad that we went, and there are some different strong points to this resort: * The size of the resort is perfect. It’s big enough that there are places to walk around and things to see without it being too far to walk from any one place to another. *The food was quite good and we had some very enjoyable meals and we liked the combination of restaurants where you don’t need a reservation and a few were you do.  [... read more]*The staff are quite friendly, and for the most part, the service was very good as they always attended to pretty quickly. *We liked that you could go for a walk down the beach next-door and to pigeon Island conservation area. * we like the mini lounge areas, some areas with fireplaces, which give it a good ambiance at night. *we had a basic room and thought it was nice. It had a large TV. *The beach was amazing: nice, white sand, always calm, very clear. Bring a snorkel as many people said this was some of the best snorkelling they could do off of a beach. * The Jacuzzis are nice because they are actually heated and quite hot. we found at most resorts They are the same temperature as the pool so this was nice. For the higher price paid there are some areas that we think are in definite need of improvement: * The mattress was not comfortable. You could really feel the tilt in the mattress and feel each movement every time the person next to you moves. My husband did not sleep well at all every night and would not want to return for that reason alone. * They have 2 basic coffee/cappuccino machines on the entire resort that make a very basic, not great at all, espresso or cappuccino. The machines kept breaking down and one morning couldn’t get one at all. We’ve had way better coffee in Cuba, Dominican, anywhere else we’ve been in fact. If you like a nice espresso or cappuccino, you’ll be very disappointed and if not, then it won’t matter to you. * The lagoon pool is very old and majorly showing its age to the point that we heard people say that they didn’t even think it was supposed to be for swimming. It looks like it’s full of brown algae, when, in fact, it is just the turquoise paint all worn off in most areas now. we did swim in it and it was not nearly as bad as It looked, and it was very large and you had it to yourself because of the fact that most people wouldn’t go in it. * the Main two pools are nice, but are not heated. It looks like they gave up on the older pools as they didn’t even provide umbrellas near the sun loungers for those pools. There were a couple of days where some of the pools have a lot of debris floating and they had to close the hot tub one day because it was cloudy. * Compared to other resorts I been to we found that at this resort there is not enough loungers with good shade and people would get up at 6:30 AM to reserve them and so if you try to find one closer to 8 AM there was limited options left and this took away from some of the enjoyment as you couldn’t sleep in on vacation. * they had a couple of really nice swinging lounger beds, but nobody used them most days because they had no shade over them when this would be a simple fix. * if you wanted to rent a nice lounger bed with full shade They charge $130 US for one day. There’s shameful when they are already charge a premium for you to go there. Most days we noticed that most of those bad sat empty. * they really should provide a towel for in your room for anyone arriving later because it was not easy to find a towel to go swimming around 430 or 5 PM when we got there and the person collecting dirty towels gave us a lecture when we asked for one as she had to go find some. * although, for the most part, we thought the service was pretty good. We found that compared to other resorts at breakfast we sometimes had to wait quite a while to get a table in either restaurant. Our first morning we chose the à la cart breakfast and it took about 45 minutes and they told us that this was the usual weight time. I tried to order orange juice twice that morning and I never came. We ate there on two other mornings and it was quicker, closer to around 25 or 30 minutes. It seems that some days they might be short staffed. Overall at times it seemed like their system for serving was an issue because there would be lots of people around, but they each had individual jobs and things seem to take longer because they would say oh someone else is going to come and get that for you. Likely you’re on vacation and it’s a beautiful spot so you can just sit and relax while you wait to have your order taken or to get a drink or to get your food etc. but relative to an average restaurant it often took quite a long time. * The lobby bar was only open from 4 PM until late evening. For the size of the resort, we found the two open bars, side-by-side near the pool were not ideal as there was nothing on the left side of the resort, if you were laying there for the day. Ironically, the only time we ever had someone come and ask if we wanted to drink was one day when we were laying near the two open bars. Being our first sandals resort, we can’t compare it to any other of their properties. For the price point, there are some things which others might find disappointing but overall it was a very strong resort with a lot of potential for being a top resort, because the property itself is beautiful and the staff were very friendly. If you are going, be sure to book a helicopter transfer, because the ride from the resort is long and can cause motion sickness while the helicopter transfer on the way there was a highlight of our trip!

Sandals Royal Curacao: Amazing resort!

It was truly a vacation to remember. The food was the best we ever had at a resort. The staff were welcoming, polite, and so helpful. Did not meet one person that was having a bad day. The weather was perfect. A breeze and sunshine for 7 days. Not a drop of rain. The grounds were maintained daily. Only negative is if you cannot walk far, it is a big resort. Walking from one end to the other was quite a distance. The bakery made the best crepes. It was more than we expected. Can’t w [... read more]ait to go back!!

Sandals Regency La Toc Golf Resort and Spa: Beautiful resort & so relaxing!

Pros: 1. Food was amazing. Water and food didn’t make us sick. 2. Beautiful scenery/greenery 3. Perfect resort for honeymoon/wedding as it’s not too loud during evening/night unless your right beside the pavilion, which is where the party is 4. Three pools is great 5. Staff was so friendly Cons: 1. Beach is rough (was red flag half the week) 2. Hour long drive from the airport makes you nauseous if you suffer motion sickness 3. Beach is open to public so occasionally you’ll get the od [... read more]d local trying to sell you stuff or private vendor/guide that isn’t organized by Sandals Overall, my Wife and I enjoyed the resort tremendously. We didn’t want to leave after our week was up as it was our elopement/honeymoon. The other 2 resorts on the island have their own pros and cons, but we would definitely return to this resort if we went back to Saint Lucia.

Sandals Ochi Beach Resort: Average resort

The resort was beautiful, but we were not impressed with our room. We received an upgraded room which we were told was bigger but the poolside was shared with three other couples which was not ideal. Our in-room beverage service (from coffee to champagne) was not restocked daily as advertised and briefed; we needed to request this from the concierge each day which detracted from the (advertised and paid for) Sandals all-inclusive experience. We will not be returning in the future; no need to rep [... read more]ly. Thank you.

Sandals Royal Barbados: Amazing Resort(s): Sandals Royal & Sandals Barbados

We stayed at the Royal Barbados for 7 days in mid August 2023. The Royal resort is right next to Sandals Barbados so in fact two resorts in one, that was fabulous given so many restaurants to go and try, and every one of them are gourmet like (Indian one is the BEST). The morning breakfast buffet is yum yum yum!!!! We found the beach to be stunning, just the right mix of open beach for full sun exposure, and palm trees for some needed shade. The main Royal pool was incredible and the daily [... read more] entertainment & team;top notch (so much fun). The rooms at the Royal are very comfortable (although there are no free munchies in the room, have to buy them, other chains like RIU & Secrets do have munchies), the shower is heavenly and king size bed so so comfortable. The service by the Sandals staff is top notch, very friendly and will go out of their way to service your every wish, a smile every day, they are the main reason why this Sandals is a 5 star resort. The Royal also has a bowling ally which is super cool and great to use if it rains during the day. I loved that there were two gyms, which have updated equipment and not too busy, and a place called Heart & Soul for smoothies, small snacks or healthy lunches. There are areas where Royal Sandals can improve so that to ensure it maintains their 5 star rating (and I will say they are 5 stars no doubts): 1) Towels at the pool are not always available, ugh!! 2) not all restaurants take reservations which means a potential 30 min wait time, 3) Being a "Club" Member, I didn't feel that I was a "club member" for the extra cost, the Secrets Resorts have "preferred" which you can buy and they ensure you always have towels, get preferred access to restaurants, and their check in process is better than Royal Sandals 4) Royal has a donut shop - we went there three times (at different times during the day) and the donuts were not that fresh 5) Royal Beach House Shop - the wait times are excessive to buy just munchies, and 6) the nightly entertainment is no where as good as RIU and Secrets, both of them have Cirque du Soleil type of entertainment versus just singing at the Royal, it should be noted that the White Party / silent party at the Royal was awesome on Wednesday nights. Overall though, we had a great trip and feel relaxed. Trip Central was awesome to work with and are 1000% better than using Air Canada Vacations.

Sandals Barbados: Sandals Barbados

Overall lovely stay. The service was a bit slow at some restaurants. Our room wasn’t cleaned one day. And we were disappointed that they forgot about our anniversary, on arrival they assured us they would do something special.

Sandals Barbados: Hit and Miss

This is the second Sandals resort I have been to and have to say that I did have a lovely vacation. However, the service was very hit and miss. Some really excellent staff to some not so excellent staff. Room service is available however expect to wait at least 2 hours. Bartenders mix drinks completely differently from one bar to another or one restaurant to another. Our rooms TV didn't work very well. A la carte restaurants very good, buffets ok. Entertainment also hit and miss. Same t [... read more]hree singers each night. Often pool activities didn't happen at all. Again hit and miss.

Sandals Royal Bahamian: Nice resort

I liked the size (not huge resort, which was nice!). Food was really good and top notch drinks. They did not clean our room, one day,,but not a big deal. Ninety percent of the staff were friendly and made us feel welcoming.we enjoyed our time and just wished we had booked a little longer. We tried the spa (was raining, so we managed to get in). The massages were good. They did push their products, but we declined. Our favourite restaurants were Italian and French. The crepe truck were so [... read more] good. Overall, a good time.

Sandals Grande Antigua: Great time at Sandals Grande Antigua

We went to Sandals Grande Antigua from April 3 to 10, and stayed in the Mediterranean Club Level walk out room. We are a couple in our late 30's. Here is the great, the good, the okay, and could use improvement in our experience! AIRPORT: we flew on Air Canada Rouge, and arrived half an hour early. Unfortunately, that was the same time as 2 other planes, and there seemed to be not enough immigration employees at the airport, so there was quite a line up. We spent an hour and a half in line, but [... read more] at least our baggage was definitely out on the carousel by the time we got through. We made a good time of it by people watching, planning what we would do when we got to the hotel, being grateful for the air conditioning, and just having a good attitude about it. We're officially on island time! We did have to walk through a line of porters asking us if we wanted them to carry our bags, which we politely declined. There was a man holding a Sandals sign as soon as we exited the doors, which seemed a little suspect, so we crossed the road over to the outdoor vacation desks, walked down to the Sandals desk, and gave our names to the nice person that was there. Shortly after, we were loaded onto a van headed for Sandals. TRANSFER: it was a very short duration to get to Sandals, maybe 20 minutes tops. The road seemed to be in good condition. We met some very nice people during the van ride, who we bumped into while we were at the hotel. The scenery was great and the weather was fine. We tipped the driver since they are not Sandals employees. HOTEL FIRST IMPRESSIONS: We were on the Mediterranean side, so we drove past the first entrance (which was for the Caribbean side and lobby) and pulled into the Med. entrance. It was impressive, as usual. I find most of the these resorts have fantastic entrances. We were led into the Club Sandals lobby, where we were given cold towels, a welcome home drink (yummy!), and our bags were whisked away. We had to sign our names and a waiver of some sort on an iPad, as well as put a credit card on file for incidentals. The lobby is beautiful - open-air, large, very grand feeling. The Club Sandals lobby staff were all great to deal with. The grounds were well kept and you could tell the groundskeepers took pride in their work. The hotel is very spaced out, imo, but I liked it. I really enjoyed walking around the different areas, and figuring out shortcuts. I averaged 18,000 steps per day! the paths are pretty accessible and smooth, so people with limited mobility shouldn't have much trouble getting around. We just really like to walk and explore. Since we got to the hotel at around 4:30 pm, we were given room access right away. The lobby also has a TV that shows departure flights and info on there. They also offer a currency exchange, but it is pricey. ROOM: since we were in a walkout room in the Med building (Almond, room 5002) we had a larger patio area with 2 loungers, small table, and a drying rack. This came in handy for drying out swimwear. TBH, we didn't spend much time on the patio. The patio doors could be locked from the outside, but the lock was a bit weird, so we just kept it locked all the time. We were closer to the end of the building, so we had no issues just walking out the front door instead. The view was garden. Higher up in the building can provide sea views. On the seventh floor of the Cypress building, there are great views of Dickenson Bay, and also of St. John's. You can see the giant cruise ships docked in the harbour. We liked our room. It was spacious, well-stocked, and nice &cool thanks to the AC. You do need to keep a card in a slot by the door in order to keep the lights on, but you can set it up so that the AC runs continuously. The bathroom was a great size, with double sinks, large walk in shower, and a big soaker tub (also handy for washing out swimwear). I found the decor to be a little dated, but still tasteful and elegant. The counters were a bit too high for me at 5'3", and I thought the water closet was a bit tiny. The shower door would also stay slightly open when we showered, which caused a lot of water to leak out. We used towels to dry that up, and reported it on the Loop. The room came stocked with top shelf bar, water, beer, soda, juice, coffee, tea, kettle, coffee machine, mugs, glasses and spoons. Room service from 7 am to 10 pm was also included. Lots of towels, 2 robes, 2 large umbrellas, iron, ironing board, hair dryer ad extra pillows and blankets were provided. The bed was a little on the harder side for my liking, but not bad. Houekeeping is done everyday you want it, with turn down service as well, which was nice. We were pretty pleased with both the room, and the location. BEACH & POOL: We are definitely beach people, so we spent our entire vacation there. the beach is gorgeous - definitely the reason why we chose this Sandals! Powdery white sand, beautiful turquoise water...it was amazing. We had no problem getting a lounger with shade. I will add that I usually get up at 7:00 am even at home, so I could get a "premium" spot, meaning centrally located in the middle of the beach area and the resort. However, one day we did sleep in, and still had no access getting a shaded lounger. I never saw any fights for loungers. Looks like Sandals has heard the feedback and put up extra beach umbrellas to accommodate visitors. There can be some sharp rocks in the water, so if you are doing any sporty activities like we were, wear water shoes, just in case. They can also come in handy on excursions. It is a public beach, so vendors are everywhere. Also, tourists and locals will stop by and use the beach. It was great to people watch! I found a polite no worked with all the vendors, even the ones that wanted to stay and talk for a bit. I'd listen, smile and then end with "no thanks!" I did end up buying a nice straw hat from a wonderful lady named Merleen. It was much better priced than what you would find in the resort shop, and Merleen had the biggest smile after I bought it. Because the beach is public, there are security guards who will ask for your room # and name to confirm you are a guest. We chatted with most of them, and after a while they started to recognize us. We had no problem giving them our info, as most of the time we were washing off from swimming in the sea anyway, so they would check their list while we did that. Lots of towels were available, but they seemed to vanish at around 3-4 pm. If you are an early riser like me, I recommend grabbing 2 fresh towels to take back to your room for the next day, since sometimes the towels by the beach aren't out as early as I was. Sandals offers water sports, including snorkeling, so I went on one of those trips. It was great! I also did paddle boarding, which was fun, even though I kept falling. My partner got some great videos of me, lol. While we were there, the beach was completely open and swimmable. 2 days had super clear water that you could see down to the bottom - the other days it was a little cloudy, but still great to swim in. Very warm after the first initial cold jump into the water. We brought snorkel sets, but there wasn't much to see. I definitely recommend the snorkel trips. I also brough a beach float, and a water frisbee, which were fun to use. We didn't use the pools at all, except for the hot and cold plunge pools by the spa area. Those, and the whirlpool next to them were amazing to use at the end of the day. People really seemed to have fun at the different pools though. The Med pool is the party pool, and the largest pool in all of Antigua, I heard someone say. There are other smaller, more quiet pools sprinkled around the property if music and activities aren't your jam. Sandals branded pool floats are available to use at the pools, but can't be used in the ocean. Bring your own. RESTAURANTS & BARS: We ate at all the restaurants, except Kimono's. I thought all of them were pretty good. Presentation was fantastic. What I really appreciate is that you can order all the appetizers, and none of the entrees, or 4 different desserts, and none of the servers bat an eye. Wait times weren't bad at all while we were there. I think the longest wait time was at the Barefoot by the Sea (Seafood) after placing our order, and Soy (sushi) to get a seat. Soy doesn't feature a dessert, so you can visit Cafe de Paris for ice-cream or a brownie afterwards. Yum! I enjoyed Mario's (Italian) a lot. The lasagna is great! That Antipasto buffet was also amazing! The 2 restaurants we went to that required reservations were okay. We weren't blown away by the food, like when we went to Sandals Barbados. But it was was still pretty tasty, with some delicious options. We also went to the loyalty dinner on Tuesday. I'd give the menu a 7/10. At the loyalty dinner they gave out large bottles of rum, which we ended up bringing back. Bayside for lunch buffet was actually really nice, with Antiguan inspired menu day being the standout favourite for us of all the themed buffet days. We had good service at the bars. However we don't drink that much, so we mostly got ice cold water. SERVICE: Service was good all around. We found employees to be friendly and helpful to us. Granted, we didn't make a lot of requests, so YMMV. Housekeeping was on point. If you wanted extra water or towels, they did their best to accommodate. Since we were Club, we were invited to some special activities like a martini evening, a cocktail party and a wine tasting, but we ended up not going to any of them. We were always too late coming back from the beach. There are also Club organized snorkeling and shopping trips if you want to participate. Club Sandals also offers a Holiday Tour of the property, where they take you around the resorts, answer questions, and point out areas of interest. There was one instance that my partner observed where the service wasn't good, or even adequate. Apparently there was a power outage over on the Caribbean side and a guest had concerns about being able to take a shower, or charge their devices. Instead of simply reassuring the guest, or even try calling her manager to see if there has been an update, the lady at the front desk over at the Caribbean side basically dismissed her concerns, saying "There's nothing I can do". To me, that is a poor example of customer service. Obviously the guest didn't expect the front desk person to actually fix the problem herself, but some reassurance, and even making a token attempt to help would go a long way. AMENITIES & EXCURSIONS: There is a gym on property, which my partner used while he was there. I went once, lol. I figured all the walking and swimming was enough. It has a decent amount of cardio machines, some free weights, weight machines, and mats. It is air-conditioned, but not that well. We didn't go to the spa, even thought the spa employees tried their best! Organized workout activities are offered and there is a schedule. Personal Training is also offered for a fee. We bought an excursion through Island Routes. The Eco Adventure tour. It was $290 for 2 of us. The weather was piss poor that day, but we still made the most of it. It was the one day with bad weather for the whole trip. I wish the tour was explained to us in more detail. I was under the impression that we would be driving in a bus for part of it, and a boat for the rest. Nope, it's all by boat. I think I was confused because it mentioned hiking, but it wasn't hiking like I'm used to - it was just climbing the rocks around hells gate. We did enjoy ourselves and have fun, but I thought it would be a bit more interactive and hands on. Instead, we spent the majority time on the boat, listening to the captain talk about the eco-system, turtles, mangroves, and the different resorts around the island. The snorkeling was great, but way too short. ENTERTAINMENT: Since we usually stayed at the beach late, we often missed the entertainment. What we did catch seemed to be a little on the older, dated side. Sandals Antigua should consider freshening up the entertainment. In terms of guests, there was a mix of ages and races, but it did lean a little older. So keep some of the golden oldies going, but sprinkle in a bit more modern. There were couples as young as mid-twenties there, so I'm sure they would appreciate it. ANIMALS: I made a special section here because visitors to this resort will notice something. Cats. A lot of cats. Personally, I ADORE cats (most animals, really), and we have 2 kitties of our own, so I was happy to meet so many new fuzzballs. Sandals has 2 cat cafes on property (which are really just covered open air shelters) where the cats are supposedly fed and given fresh water. During our time there, I never saw an employee feed or give water to those cats. Other fellow cat lovers said the same. Full disclosure, I totally fed them while I was there. There was the cutest, friendliest little tuxedo cat, who we named Ophelia (or Fefe) who would greet us every morning with soft meows. She would run up to us, and roll over on the ground in front of us, so naturally our hearts melted. That area of the hotel around our room is clearly her territory (she shares it with an orange tabby who we named Sir Marmalade). I hope the next visitors to those rooms say hi and give her pets and treats as well. Most of the cats are fixed, but there are some young cats (kittens actually) who were either pregnant, or had a litter. It was really sad to see. I hope Sandals fixes the rest of them. I reported one young mom who had a bad cough to the front desk to hopefully get treatment, since she was so little, and she was sick, with 3 kittens to take care of. If other guests see any other sick cats, please let the front desk know. Sandals does have a responsibility to the cats. If you are not a cat lover, don't worry. Sandals warns guests not to let cats into the rooms, or feed them in restaurants, so there are areas where you will be safe from the furry terrorists. DEPARTURE: There is a departure lounge on the second floor of the Med building. We had a later flight, so this came in handy. Here's a tip! Check if your carry on fits in the lockers. The front desk told me it wouldn't, but when I checked, it totally did! You can pack your change of clothes, your personal toiletries, and anything you might need in there. There are fresh towels, showers, hotel toiletries and a hair dryer to clean off from swimming or spending the day at the resort before leaving. Our flight was at 4:50 pm, and we were scheduled to depart at 2:00 pm from the resort. Checkout is at 11:00 am. The employees do a very cute good bye song/dance. it was pretty cute! But when we left, there was a massive crowd of people, so it was a bit confusing figuring out which driver to go with. OVERALL: We had a great time at this Sandals. Beach 10/10. Food 7/10. Entertainment 5/10. Service 8/10. Overall score 7.5/10. The beach and swimming there is the deal breaker for us that really made our stay fantastic. I'd rather visit another Sandals before coming back to Antigua, but we had a great time. Maybe Dunn's River Falls next! JANET: Our travel agent, Janet Merrill, was fantastic to work with. She was very responsive, diligent, and worked really hard on our behalf. We have booked 2 trips with her so far, and we would definitely book with her again

Sandals Grenada: Beautiful ground, amazing food

We had a very large beautiful room with plenty of light coming from the the skylight in the washroom. They are maintaining this place nicely and the gardens are full of flowers. The food is what makes Sandals amazing. The food is the highlights. The beach on the left had more than 20 types of fish, be sure to bring your snorkling equipment. Everyday we took one of the catamaran out for a great adventure on the Caribbean sea. Beautiful scenery.

Sandals Royal Bahamian: Amazing Resort

The hotel was beautiful and well kept. Easy access to restaurants, beach, bars, pools. Very well balanced between the 2 towers. Restaurants were amazing. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful and would always say hello when you passed them anywhere on the resort. They were determined to make your stay perfect! Can't say enough about this place. Only complaint is that our room was in the West tower and we expected a room facing the pool or tropical garden and it faced the public a [... read more]ccess to the beach and a parking lot. First time to the Caribbean and won't be the last to the Bahamas. It was a very clean resort! Didn't really notice any particular Covid protocols other than the cleanliness.

Sandals South Coast: Great place

The hotel was lovely everyone was so kind, very friendly and respectful as I am in a same sex relationship. The resort itself does need a little updating as some tile around the main pool was cracked, loose fixtures and our sink stopper where not functioning. My wife scuba divers and had no issues dive master was friendly and knowledgeable. I had a wonderful massage lady and understood what I needed No issues regarding Covid, the staff didn’t seat people to close together, everything els  [... read more]was up to people’s own decision

Sandals South Coast: Fantastic Resort

This is probably the largest sandals we have visited so far. European atmosphere was well replicated.Property ,service and restaurants were all top notch. The Dutch and Italian villages were renovated recently,but the French sadly was not and it shows. It is scheduled for renovated April 2023.

Sandals Grande Antigua: Amazing resort in Antigua !

Grounds were meticulously looked after. Everything was very clean . Staff very curious and well spoken . Only issue was getting a spot on the beach , if you had a butler it was taken care of , but if you didn’t you would have to be up very early to save yourself a spot .

Sandals Barbados: Great Resort physically, Poorly Managed in certain aspects

Great features, great staff mostly, although signs of " quiet quitters" among the younger staff members. Many of the older staff that remain after mass lay-offs due to Covid are very customer oriented but a lot of the younger staff have less fire in their eyes compared to previous visits pre Covid. No Air Canada Vacations rep on site, also no other Airline reps for assistance or dialogue for clients. Of particular irritation is the lack of enforcement of dress code in the restaurants that cal [... read more]l for it. WE get dressed up for a nice dinner ( following the rules of the resort ) and then sit next to some slob, wearing a baseball cap sideways or backward, and in swim shorts. Either you have a rule and enforce it or discontinue the rule. WE lost a lot of respect for the Sandals brand this trip, and will probably pay far less to stay at a competitor brand next trip. Small touches like turndown service, pillow chocolates, towel sculpture, shower caps, vanity kits etc absent. This is no longer a 5 star resort in our opinion or our checkbook

Sandals Royal Bahamian: Not what I'd expect from a sandals

Every resort I've been to has poolside service and beach service, so I figured sandals would be top notch... nothing, not one person going around serving drinks/food, maybe if you had butler service it would be better

Sandals South Coast: Great resort, crappy airline

Hotel is impeccable. However issues at Pearson caused my girlfriend’s luggage to be left In toronto. Mine made it. Spending $12,000 on a vacation with no luggage for a female is a nightmare. And compensation is pitiful based on what needs to be spent to ensure she has make-up and cloths

Sandals Ochi Beach Resort: Sandal’s Ochi - bring ear plugs

Very desappointed in this Sandal’s resort in particular but also in Sandal’s in general. We selected this resort for what we thought would be a trouble free and relaxing vacation so that we could rest and enjoy ourselves but we’re we wrong. The first thing we noticed arriving there is that the wifi was down. It stayed down for the entire week. I had set up cameras and various systems at home that I wanted to monitor but couldn’t do it unless I did it over the cell network which I had [... read more] not planned on. Sandal’s with thousands of employees and multiple resorts couldn’t fix an issue that affected all of its resorts. No wifi, ok. Let’s relax then. Oh wait, the pounding music. You can’t really escape it unless you go to the ‘hidden pool’ ( that’s the real name). It is very small and well hidden, you won’t see a server there. And by the beach? Well you can still hear the music but you need to get up early to ´reserve ´ your spot. 8:00 is too late. But hey, we came here also for scuba diving. Not a great experience here either unfortunately. Basically, on most of the dives, the guides were with people getting their certification. So, we went to the bottom and waited and waited for the guide to arrive with the students. Then we had to end our dives because the students air supply reached 1000 psi which is to be expected with people who have no experience diving. The food. The Italian and French restaurants are quite good and the Jerk Shack is also noteworthy. The rest are not at all at the level of a 5 star hotel. After our second day we complained to the appropriate staff member who took notes. She said someone would contact us in the afternoon. The next day, no one had contacted us. Back to the Customer center, they said they tried to contact us. I responded that there was no note under our door, no message on our room phone. They apologized and said to come back the next morning to talk to the manager. That would be the day of our departure. But, apparently the manager was not present that day. Our first experience with Sandal’s was at the White House a few years ago which was great. And that is why we returned but needless to say, no more Sandal’s for us. Good luck. Oh, get ready for a 2 hour drive from the airport.

Sandals Royal Barbados: vacation from hell

Here is a breakdown of what our holiday was in Sandals Barbados It started when West Jet ( we were in Premium) rand out of hot breakfast. All they had was fruit. We had to wait for our luggage for 1 hours at the Barbados airport – our bags were tagged premium – should have come off first. Got to the hotel and they gave us a room at the back of the hotel by the stage. We booked Oceanview and there was none. We even asked the club level person to see if he could see the ocean and he [... read more] could not. We asked about why no Oceanview and they said they were full. They we not. That night we could not sleep do to the music on the stage right by our room. Next day we complained and the supervisor told us they could give us a room in the other Sandals, not the royal, but it would be with a butler and would cost us 3100.00 USD more. We finally settled on 2200.00 uSD. – Still this is wrong. We also wasted 3 days complaining. Butlers were useless, we got our own chairs by the pool each morning. The swim up pool was closed due to water and then one day the whole pool bar was closed due to electrical problems. This meant you had to go and get your own drinks at another bar . When you were in the pool by the swim up bar there was an awful smell of sewage. First restaurant we went to , recommended by the butler was schooners. When we got there at 6:30 we were seated and there were only 2 others couples in the restaurant. We ordered in about 10 minutes. We received our appetizers in amount 15 minutes, then we waiting for 1 hour and still not food, other people came in and got there food before us. Finally called the butler as no one in the restaurant would give us an answer, all employees did was roll their eyes at you as if you were a burden to them. 1 ½ hours later our food came just as the butler came to the restaurant , food was cold, even got the butler to feel it. We went to bed with no food. Next restaurant was Bombay , my husband had a beer in a glass that broken in his hand and mashed all over the table and myself. Glass was all on the table, we used our napkins and the table next to us gave us their napkins to clean up the beer. No employee came to help us. They just brought us our dinner and placed it on the table on top of the glass. We complained for 4 days and finally Barbara ( Manager of Customer Services) said she would credit us the 2200.00 USD for all the problem when had. I believe this is still unacceptable for a sandals resort. We paid 10 thousand for one week of hell. Please reach our to west jet and sandals and explain all of this . This was the vacation from hell and you know we have been places before that were great and cost less money. Also the extra we paid for the lounge at the Barbados airport – All they had was cookies, chips, and sandwiches that had the smallest tuna on the bread you have every seen. This was a waste of money too. Joanne