Sandals ResortsReviews of sandals.com

Negril Omg the worst food I have ever eaten checked out and went next door. Also all the security staff are drug dealers. Absolutely disgusting cleaning like a toilet

Sandals Royal Bahamian was the worst resort that I have ever stayed at, I would discourage anyone from going here. This is not a 5 star luxury resort, at best it is 2 star. The service is awful, slow and most of the time non-existent. On several occasions during our stay, the bartenders would look at us and ignore us. Other times, the bartenders would just leave and not return for long periods of time. It got so bad that I went behind the bar and made drinks for the guests. There is no pool/beach server either. The resort is dirty and smells. The beach is always full of seaweed and is never cleared. Not to mention that the beach is actually very small and there is no room to walk on the beach, however the pictures that they display don't show this. The plumbing doesn't work in the rooms, tubs don't drain and toilets don't flush. You also have to lock up all of your belongings as the housekeepers will take your stuff. On the 2nd night there, they went through my overnight bag and stole my expensive cologne. If you have not already booked, please consider a different resort as you will be overcharged and very disappointed. If you are able to cancel, I would encourage that you do so and go somewhere else. This place is not worth the money....

SANDALS LA TOC RESORT IN ST. LUCIA WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE PROMISED COMPENSATION FOR CUTTING OUR 9 DAYS VACATION INTO 2 DAYS! This was supposed to be a Christmas and Birthday present to my daughter an myself. However; this was a very disappointing venture. The following were some of our experiences at this expensive resort: 1. The pool had dead frogs floating in it when we arrived at our suite 815 2. The bottler tried to clean it when we told him about it, but he did not do a good job; the frogs were still in the pool. 3. The food was terrible - all the restaurants we tried the food was bland. 4. There were cats everywhere in all the restaurants. We tried to take our meals to eat at the suite but couldn't because the sanitation of this resort was terrible. 5. There were large cockroaches in the pool and game room. 6. The roof in our very expensive suite had water stains, the doors had rust and some of the edges were breaking off. 7. Our Tours were cancelled; they called us 30 minutes before the tour should have begun to notify us. Because of the constant disappointment what should have been a great 9 days Christmas vacation, became a 2 days vacation. We had to leave the resort because we were both very hungry. The store only sold a few snacks, we were surviving on crackers and bottle water. Our vacation started on the 24th of December we left Sandals on the 26th of December 2019. We are still waiting for a response about the claim we made, which the managers assured us they sent to corporate. I AM VERY DISSAPOINTED! WE WORK HARD AND DESERVED THIS VACATION! SANDALS AT LA TOC SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THIS RESORT! I AM RETIRED US ARMY MILITARY WITH MANY FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO WILL NEVER VISIT THIS DISGRACEFUL RESORT.

I WOULD LOVE to leave -10 review. But unfortunately the rating is not set up for it. Before I go on let me say this. I wanted to come to Sandals for about 16 years, but I could not cause I had a child who I would not go on vacation without. Finally she turned 20 and I figured “Sandals here I come”. And what a MISTAKE. The reasons are as follows. 1) They advertise as an adult only resort LIE. They really need to advertise as a SENIOR CITIZENS only resort. I have been to a lot of different resorts and pardon me my language this place is right along with senior living community. God forbids you play your own music on the balcony. You will get swarmed by staff and senior citizens for playing it. But that is not the worst of it. 2) ABSOLUTELY THE WORST food EVER. Granted I like eggs and bacon as much as the next person, but EVERY SINGLE DAY??? Kid you not. There was nothing else to eat but that and omelettes EVERY single morning? But ok. Just as a side note, been to places that have less stars as resorts go with a lot better variety of food. 3) Now many of you might say this is not a valid point and that we all need to quit smoking and all, but unfortunately I and my wife are smokers. And when I looked into Sandals Negril, Jamaica before spending an obscene amount of money, I wanted to know if we can smoke there. And NOWHERE on their site or anywhere else did it say that we could not. LOW AND BEHOLD!!! We get to Sandals Negril. And as a custom I suppose they give you a person to show you around the hotel ( mind you we had a privilege status for booking one of the more expensive rooms. HAHAHA. Joke is on us). And while on the tour of the resort I SPECIFICALLY asked her as we were walking along “ Where can I smoke?”. And was given an answer that was satisfactory to us. But WAIT. That same day I was smoking in an area that the person giving us a tour said it was ok, when I get approached by another staff person saying “ You can not smoke here!” And that there are ONLY 2 places you can smoke at. And that they are designated. I tell you what. You EVER seen a cattle been herded? That’s what this is. And again A LOT of you can say “Well too bad” but for the obscene amount of money I spent on this vacation and making sure in ADVANCE weather we can smoke or not, to be herded into a stall? I AM SORRY! But HELL NO. If Sandals want to be non smoking resort, SAY SO. It is as simple as that. 4) So to say the least, for the amount of money we spent, it was the WORST vacation ever. And to make it EVEN worse. We had voiced our displeasure to the staff. And when we were leaving the resort we were approached by the general manager who apologized profusely and assured us that he will change our mind about the resort and the only thing we ever got from him is a test email. HAHAHAHAHA.

I have never posted on one of these sites before, but I thought this was necessary. What an awful experience with Sandals and their customer service. My wife and I booked a November trip to Sandals Jamaica in early March-- it’s now September. We bought our flights through Sandals because we thought it would be easier for transportation and if necessary, flight changes through the airlines. Worst mistake ever! We planned our flights strategically so we could make the most of all of our days in Jamaica and to help save some money, since we (like most) are on a budget. We went with Copa Airlines. A few months go by and everything is confirmed and purchased with no problems until August comes and I get an email saying my flights have changed. Not much of a big change but now our layover is longer, but I can deal with that. Then, a week later, I get another email and it is the same thing—schedule is changed. But this time our flight coming home is now opposite of what it should be. Our flight from our connecting city (Panama City) to home (LA) was leaving Thursday and then our flight from the Jamaica to our connecting city (Panama City) did not leave until Friday. HOW DOES THAT EVEN MAKE SENSE? What is the point of booking flights through Sandals if they are not going to pay attention to your travel details? Not only were our return flights wrong but they put us on a flight leaving LA a day later than what we planned which would have caused us to miss and entire night of our trip. We also bought flight insurance. I first call customer service on a Monday with my wife. The first person we talked to was not helpful at all. They said there was nothing they could do except give us a refund for our flights. However, since it is now 2 months before our trip the flights are now twice as much as they were back in March when we originally booked our trip. We asked to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor then proceeded to tell us there was nothing she could do but she could have someone call us within 24 hours from the “air desk manager” between 5-7pm. Never got the call back so I call them again a few days later and they tell me the same thing-- I have to wait for someone to call me back. (Btw- These calls all lasted 2-3 hours each because of the hold time and having to explain my story over and over. Also, they said they had no record of me calling previously about this concern, even though they asked me questions verifying my account and the changes we requested during our first call). After we called again, since we did not receive a call back, it was another 3 hour phone call. I finally was able to get our flights changes but ended up having to pay $190. Sandals would only cover half of the difference even though we had travel insurance. They said there was nothing else they could do, and it is not their fault the flights changed. This is not the first time we have traveled to a Sandals resort. The first time we booked our own flights because we stayed in another city before traveling to our final destination. This is the first time we have used the flight booking through Sandals, and we will never again book this way. I would be surprised if we returned to a Sandals after this experience. We have many friends getting married and have recommended Sandals in the past. WE will NOT be recommending anyone to ever travel to a Sandals resort after this experience. The customer service and inhospitality we encountered were extremely disappointing for Sandals and would I expect more from a company who prides themselves on “creating romantic memories of a lifetime…through our outstanding team members”. These “outstanding team members” could have at least answered my questions instead of continuing to pass me off from one person to the next. I understand some of these things may not be their fault directly, but the rude service was unacceptable. I just hope others do not have to go through this experience. Good luck!

For our Honeymoon, we wanted to book a 5* luxurious location that would allow us to unwind from the stresses at home. This is not what we got! We paid for a 5* service, and only received 3* at best! When I pay for a product I expect to get what we pay for, not something else. We did not receive what we paid for in the slightest! These are the reasons for our complaint: No room service (not 5*) Out of all of the 3*, 4* and 5* hotels I have ever been to on this planet, there has always been Room Service. Sandals claims to be 5*, yet does not even offer Room Service at this resort. This is not good enough. What if we fancied ordering a BLT and coffee at 4am gfor example? There is no way of getting that. A 5* service would offer this at all times. Sandals Halcyon does not even offer a basic room service! I have stayed at 3* hotels before where Room Service is available! Bars not open before 10:30am (not 5*) If I get up at 8am and want to go for some breakfast, followed by sit by the pool at 9am and order a beer or a cocktail, I expect this to be achievable in a 5* resort - this is one of the reasons we booked 5* for our Honeymoon. The first bar that opened was at 10:30am - this simply is not good enough, it is not service and it is not 5* (which is what we paid for). Attitude of bar staff was extremely poor and rude (not 5*) On numerous occasions, we received poor service and attitude from members of staff. I have listed a few of the most poignant below to show how this is simply unacceptable: -Bar staff by the beachside pool. -Often no people serving behind the bar and when they do come there they seem almost reluctant to even serve you a drink. -Rolling eyes, huffing, puffing and short sharp answers is very bluntly absolutely disgraceful. No service. No respect. Not 5*. Bar staff at the main pool (next to the Japanese restaurant). Our first visit there saw 4 bar staff behind the bar. One was serving, the other three were just chatting. Nobody approached us to serve us. Finally, the lady who was serving finally offered us a drink. It should not take any customer having to wait to be served by 3 staff who are simply just chatting away amongst themselves. This is not 5*.... in fact, it isn't even 2*! Photo shop. We walked in to view our photos and the lady asked for our room number, we told her Room 302. It then went silent and she appeared to just carry on at her computer. Little did we know she actually was searching for our photos but for all we knew she either didn't hear us, didn't understand us or was just ignoring us. A simple "just one moment please" would have been absolutely fine. The staff cannot even seem to get the basics right. Again, 2* at best! Definitely not 5*. Cockroach and bugs in the shower (not 5*) One morning we woke up to go and use the shower, only to be greeted by a horrible bug in the shower and a massive cockroach in the corner of the shower. I was almost sick! We then made this known to the staff via the online reporting system. 7 hours later nothing had been done. This is not good enough. This is not 5&. It took us having to physically walk into the club house to speak to a manager to get it sorted. Not good enough at all. Not 5* Powercut (not 5*) Not great for a 5* hotel. Sitting in our room and the power just goes off. Surely, a 5* would have had better protection. Just not professional at all. No snacks/food at the bars (not 5*) Really? 5* and no food or snacks at the bars? I have never heard of this.. anywhere! No matter what country: England, USA, Australia, Greece, Spain, Portugal, UAE there is always light snacks at the bar. Nothing here though? I didn't understand it. Again... not 5*. Not absolutely outstanding service like a 5* should be. An absolutely let down. Being told by Bistro Staff that they close soon when ordering food 30 minutes prior (not 5*) My wife and I went to the Bistro at 5:30pm one evening for a light snack and a quick drink. We were told by one of the staff "we are closing soon". I am sorry but this is totally unacceptable. We were then told by her assistant "we close in 15 minutes". I looked at the time and it was 5:30pm; so I replied saying "no, you close in half an hour". To this they persistently tried to deter us from ordering food. I have never felt so unwanted in all my life. I really do not care what the time is... if you are open; you're open! I should be able to order food at 1 minute to 6 if I wanted to. They close at 6, not a second early, so to be told basically that we cannot order is an absolutely disgusting outrage. How dare they? I go back to my initial point... 5*. Is this? No Cocktail Glasses I do not understand how this next point is even being mentioned. You go the Caribbean, you go to a 5* hotel, you get a cocktail, what do you expect? A glass with a delicious cocktail, fruit in the rim, a straw and an umbrella. What do you get at Sandals? A dirty looking plastic cup with no decoration, no extras, no fancy fruit, no umbrella, no straw. In Dubai, they serve cocktails in a Pineapple - now that is 5*, that is service, that lives up to its name. Sandals...plastic cup? Nah! Staff shouting at my wife We went to the main restaurant for lunch one afternoon. The queue to get in was tiny, just one couple in front of us. Staff were in the restaurant serving and saw us. There were loads of spare tables and chairs. We wait approximately four minutes and yet nobody had even approached or acknowledged the couple in front of us, or us ourselves. At the point, my wife had really had enough of waiting around we went to sit at an empty table. Immediately, the staff came running towards us shouting "you need to wait until we get you". Firstly, in a 5* resort, we should not need to wait 4 minutes to be approached. Secondly, nobody even had the decency to acknowledge us and thirdly, it is totally unacceptable to shout at any paying customer once, let alone three times! The member of staff's service was absolutely unbelievable. Imagine walking into The Ritz London, Wynn Las Vegas, Five Palm Dubai, Primus Sydney - you 100% would not get this lack of service and extreme arrogance in any of those resorts. They are 5*... how does this compare to what we received? The resort looks tired For a 5* resort, it really looks tired and out of date. The pool looks dirty, the bars are dirty - mould, stains, dirt, marks all over the tiles and the grouting. Again, this will be done by comparison. Any other 5* in the world would have spic-and-span bars, pools, architecture. It would look clean and tidy, it would look polished, it would look well looked after and inviting. Just take a day to go down to Halcyon and look in detail at the bar and the pool areas. They are very much below par. Again, if this was a 2* or a 3*, it would be absolutely great... but it's not, it is supposed to be a 5* and when paying $2,475.90 it really is not good enough at all! On our final full day, we thought we would visit another Sandals Resort: The Grande. We could not believe the difference, the attention to detail, the service, the attitude, the smiles, the features, the food, the drink. All, absolutely incredible! How on earth is it that just next door the service is so poor that it would be amazing if it even reached a 3* rating. Ever since a child, it has been my wife's dream to go to Saint Lucia for her Honeymoon. We booked this resort as we thought it would be absolutely perfect and everything she ever dreamt off. Sadly, this just was not the case. The lack of manners, the poor attitude, the terrible service, the bugs, the powercuts, the lack of 5* amenities, the food and drink service: it all was just so disappointing. And do you know the most upsetting for me? The day before we left, she turned around and said to me "we should just have gone to Dubai". This is my wife's childhood dream shattered, ruined. Never again will we go on another Honeymoon, never again can we have this opportunity. All we have now is a memory of a 5* resort that was nothing but 3* or less. I am so hugely disappointed and upset by this. We paid for 5*. Based on the above, we got 3* at best. And that is why I requested a full refund, only to be told that their average is very much better. I'm sorry, this is not about the average, it is about our experience!. You would not go to buy a new BMW and get a second hand Fiesta. If you did, you would want a refund. This is the exact same. I went to another hotel for our first anniversary and were greeted with Champagne, rose petals and towel animals. For our honeymoon, we got cockroaches, powercuts and rude staff!

So I thought I'd treat myself and my other half to a week in Antigua on a great deal at a Sandals Resort through Secret Escapes. Booking seemed so easy and straightforward and I even got to add in premium economy flights for extra legroom for the extra long man in my life! Issue number one came when my ATOL certificate had me down as Mr instead of Miss. A simple mistake I thought, easy to rectify. WRONG. Firstly, all of the contact details Secret Escapes gave me for Sandals were wrong and my messages kept bouncing back, making me think I'd been scammed. Then when I finally found some contact details that were correct neither Secret Escapes nor Sandals would change it, each citing the other as the person responsible for the amendment. I spent weeks writing emails and making phone calls before it was sorted. Kind of. So this week rolls around and its time for my final payment! I've got the reminder email from Sandals, but hang on - that just says economy flights when all my other documentation says premium.. I'll just call them and check before I pay... So Sandals have NO Record of our request for premium economy flights, and in a toneless 'i-couldn't-care-less' voice said go back and check with SE. I said I'll forward you all of the documentation that clearly states our request for premium flights because I have had enough of this mess and now I am in tears. I am not a tearful person but this has truly got me at my wits end! I'm so disappointed. They sell dreams but the people on the phone have no customer service skills, no empathy, solution solving, no patter to even try and make you feel like a valued customer. All they want is my money for a holiday that isn't quite what I booked. Not good enough. It's not a budget holiday, I do not expect budget service. I'm not even sure what to expect if we ever do get there now :(

We just wrapped up a week at this place and we won’t be back to this place or any Sandals property. It was our second time at Emerald Bay and our fourth Sandal’s experience. With our experiences elsewhere over the years where we have seen what true “luxury” travel can be we now know Sandals comes well short of what they want you to think you’ll be getting. For what they charge and what they tell you will be ‘luxury” is irresponsible. When we arrived we had to get housekeeping to come and clean our room - dust in the corners, dust on the shelves, MAJOR dust under the bed and when we wiped one of the floor tiles with simple water and a tissue, it was filthy. There are a few good things about Emerald Bay for sure (most notably the golf however CAUTION - they post no warnings whatsoever regarding Poison Oak on the course) however not a lot of it is better than you would get at a 3-star+ or 4-star place for a lot less money. This is a classic case of a service provider promoting an image and then skirting the lowest boundary on delivery. Of all the restaurants the Indian and Sushi were by far the best however you don’t want to eat that all week and they are only open for dinner. The “French” restaurant is a joke. The bread basket that we asked about 3 times and were told “its coming” arrived just as we wrapped up our meals. The main buffet restaurant for breakfast and lunch is a high school cafeteria on steroids. The food is unimaginative and boring. Muffins are goop scooped from a mass-produced bucket of commercial slop. It takes 1/2 an hour to get a pizza. The service throughout the “resort” is, to be kind, poor. We learned they turn over about 40 employees a week which goes a long way to explain that. Apparently they engage in the paying their employees the least they can get away with rather than the most they can and in the end it is the patrons that pay the price for that. They tell you they will be having a Chocolate Desert Extravaganza one night - when you get there you find nothing special at all and what they do have includes such items as fruit to dip in what is no better than cold Hershey’s syrup and marshmallows, like you buy by the bag in a grocery store, with the bottoms dipped in chocolate!! Our grandchildren would like that however that is not "luxury". The sand flies or sand fleas or no-see-ums....whatever they were - they were brutal. Sandals offers to sell you spray at the gift shop. Most if not all mornings a loud tractor drives around the property hauling a machine that pumps out a fog of what I was told is a pesticide to try and reduce the number of these annoying biting flies or fleas or whatever they are. The first morning I walked into a cloud of this fog at the main entrance, unaware of what it was. The next day I encountered the fogger on the pathway - he kindly shut the fog off as he went around me however it still left me breathing this in as I made my way along the path. No way to avoid it. So the pleasure I get from early morning walks was sidelined. They don’t tell you they are doing this much less tell you what this fog is. They have a large main pool where the thump-thump music plays all day and they play silly games in which few people participate. The “quiet” pool area is nice however the lounge chairs are few and what are there are dirty and very uncomfortable and more often than not they do not have any fresh towels. There is no pool service at the quiet pool - you have to walk over to one of the restaurants and order a meal and if you don’t want to wait a long time for it and if you want to ensure the order is right (a good 70% of our meal orders came not as ordered) you have to wait for it and take it back to the pool yourself. They say they have a yoga and Pilates studio. There are, however no yoga sessions at all and only one yoga mat that was badly worn and filthy. This is luxury? No, this is a complete farce. I have to mention the water cooler at the quiet pool, the cooler that didn’t usually have ice in it. They put fruit in the tap water that goes in the dispenser - the oranges they put in still had the stickers on the rind so you know they DON’T WASH THE FRUIT BEFORE THEY SLICE IT AND PUT IT IN THE WATER!! The airport that services this resort, GGT, is Third World. There are many many places that are easier to get to and that provide far better value for true “luxury” experiences. Don’t waste your money and any of your life at Sandals Emerald Bay.