Sandals ResortsReviews of sandals.com

Booked with Sandals and their no worries guarantee. Gave me free insurance in case of COVID interruption and extra costs. We booked for Antigua in January but tested positive a week before so we had to reschedule. The Sandals agent said no problem we can reschedule for February but now it’s going to cost additional $3,000 but we could claim on our insurance policy and get reimbursed. We paid the additional and tried to claim it on the policy. After 4 months of back and forth fighting we give up. They claim the policy only would have reimbursed us for original trip. So much for no worries. Be worried!

I will start this review by stating this was our first stay at Sandals. We have many friends that have stayed at different locations and have really spoke highly of their time at a Sandals resort. Our experience was very different. The only reason we choose to go to a Sandals was because it was the closest way to stay in a Over the Water Bungalow. I will say that the Bungalow room and our Butlers did not disappoint. That is all that did not disappoint. As far as Sandals as a resort, it was mostly a disappointment. I had many conversations with Staff at the hotel before we even left for our Honeymoon. One of the conversations was about the Transfer from Airport to Hotel and Back. I was told that this would be done in a Royals Royce being part of the OWB room and butler package. This did not happen. What did happen was we checked in at Airport. The Sandals rep had our info, and our hotel and sent us with a driver. NO Royals but moving on. We just got off property when from a quick conversation we were told he was heading to the wrong Hotel and we then had to turn around. Put into new car and off once again. During stay we had asked different questions about the Hotel and grounds. Was told all rooms have been redone sense they bought out from the Hyatt. If that was true than it was a long time ago. We spoke to many guests and the rooms they were in were very dated. Last day while waiting to leave asked a front desk staff where can we wait in Air conditioning. I asked about the pub. No there is not AC in there. (I went in pub and got cooled off, it was nice and cool inside) We went to eat lunch at Bayside one day, and the waitress was extremely unfriendly and very RUDE. My wife ordered a side Ceasar salad, and we weren't sure if she heard us or not because she gave us no indication. When I asked her if she got the salad, she said "DID I SAY I DIDNT". This was brought to one of our butler's attention, and she took charge immediately and apologized and went right to the restaurant. My wife was then approached by a manager, and he also apologized and said that someone would be reaching out, but no one ever did! The Sandals Web is well written when it comes to talk of Gourmet food and Premium drinks. This all inclusive was no different then any other named hotel I have been to for All Inclusive. We had one great meal and that was Sushi. The rest was sub-par with not great taste and sometimes cold. The beverages were a huge disappointment. I wanted a nice margarita for Cinco De Mayo and the top shelf was Jose Cuervo. Really? Many meals when ordering the waitress would write all our order down but then half would come out. We would have to remind then 20 mins later rest would come out. Again not 1st class service. Our second day we requested a beach structure that had the large area for laying down . Was told $130 a day. I reminded we were in the OWB and still. I was floored at this. The cost is so high for that room and you still are paying for things onsite. Asked about dinning on Beach, was a $200.00 charge. When it came to Covid and Masks onsite. They could not get it figured out. Yes mask inside, No inside, at restaurants. Then boom no mask anywhere but the whole hotel did not see that memo. We went to look at our professional photos and did not have our mask so they turned us away. Again, mask or no mask-resort should be consistent. So now at end of stay, I have written notes of things I have been disappointed about. We are checking out at the front desk. No lie not one time were we asked how our stay was. We are 1st time visitors to Sandals and the Island of St Lucia and you don’t ask how our stay was. We paid for the most expensive room in this hotel and you don’t ask how our stay was?. This really capped it off for us. My wife took care of the last piece of bill which was just the Tips for the Butlers. She signed we get in car and on the way to hotel, the driver gets a call from front desk and now they have forgotten a 3rd signature. Need to go somewhere at airport. My words before hanging up was this does not bode well for Sandals. 5 Mins later a call came to driver again. I am now speaking to front desk and I bring up some of my concerns. She then proceeds to tell me after speaking to management that they are waiving the final charge which was the tips. (are the butlers getting their pay???) that was our main concern. I hung up phone after saying thanks for that. Home two days later and I get wacked for the whole charge!! I want to again state that the OWB was extremely nice and our Butlers were amazing, friendly, energetic and really helped to make our honeymoon special. Sandals as a Hotel did not!!!!! Truly a one and done vacation with Sandals Resort Grande in St Lucia or any other location.

We went to Ohco Rios in Jamaica. Transportation between the two resort sides was always slow but existent. We stayed on the butler side where the restaurants were limited. Didn't think the food was bad. Drinks tasted differently everywhere and most times were not very good. Everyone kept trying to sell you something (wine at dinner, spa packages, your next vacation) at crazy prices! It was amazingly annoying considering how expensive this trip was. Worst part was we payed for Club MoBay to fast track arrival and departure but they screwed it up and we never got our promised money back. Excursion was a ridiculously long ride for an extremely short horseback. They take you to their shop first for people who didn't have appropriate shoes so you can buy products from them. A big gimmick and a long ride in a van filled with 15 people and no air-conditioning or windows. Do not waste your money on excursions. Would honestly not go back. Not worth the money or the stress. Will pick a different all inclusive if I ever have that desire again.

Giving two stars ONLY for the beauty of the resort and location. I’ll give it to them that the resort is big, the restaurants are pretty and the beach is beautiful. However … all resorts have those things to offer. This was our first (and last) time at a sandals. We have been to numerous resorts but got so many nice reviews from friends to go to a Sandals because they said it’s the best of the best. This was the worst resort experience we’ve ever had. Got to the resort and were told we wouldn’t be able to use the Royal side pool or beach for a couple days because they were shooting a photo shoot and we’d have to go to the other sandal side to use the pool or beach to stay out of the models way. So everyone was crammed to the other side scrambling to find spots to sit. Payed extra for “ocean view” with no ocean view in sight when we told them this shouldn’t count as ocean view they agreed and said they should probably update the website but did not offer to give us our money back for a basic room price. Payed extra for club sandals guest services and the staff members were in terrible moods due to their AC not working and were overall not helpful or nice. They would give vague answers, act like you’re bothering them and act uninterested in problems. It was extremely hard to book things such as massages, reservations for dinner, etc and they would say they’d get back to you to see if they could get one eventually but time slots were usually full. A lot of the better restaurants you had to make reservations at and time slots were hard to get but when you did get a table there would be barely anyone there eating? Food was the WORST part of the trip. Horrible food. Cheap ingredients and long wait times. Not sure if they were just short staffed due to the pandemic but worst resort food I’ve ever had. No lunch buffet and wait times in restaurants or lunch options were at hour at the minimum so getting lunch was the most difficult to find. “Panini” on stale pita bread with one slice of prosciutto. “Bruschetta” on stale HOT DOG bun with soggy lettuce, tomatoes, and shrimp … how in the world does that classify as bruschetta. Disgusting. Dinner spots also had poor tasting food. Only decent restaurant was the sushi place. We paid 7,000 for this vacation more than we’ve ever spent on a vacation. Spent thousands less to go to the RIU in Jamaica and the food was excellent the staff was so nice and the resort was still very beautiful. Will never make the mistake of spending money for a sandals again. We spent a majority of our wedding guest money on this place only to be majorly disappointed. Public bathrooms not clean at all toilet paper all over the floor, smelled horrible and toilet paper roll holders falling off the wall. Last comment was the biggest problem we encountered and that was with room safety and privacy - staff members let themselves into our room without knocking on THREE different occasions and we complained to them that this was not ok each time with unapologetic answers each time saying they’d speak to housekeeping. One night I’m pretty sure it was someone coming to check to steal our belongings because it was 8:30 at night (housekeeping had left hours earlier already). Luckily we had the door bolt attached but heard someone swipe to get in and hit the door bolt and swiftly close the door. We went to open the door expecting someone needing something and the person had booked it down the hallway. If we hadn’t been in there I’m scared what we would’ve ended up missing due to our safe’s battery being dead and them not offering to fix or replace the safe when we brought it up earlier in the trip. So to summarize please don’t waste your money and book elsewhere. You will regret coming to this resort.

In short never again!

Just returned from Sandals Halycon this past week and it was definitely the worst Sandals I've been to. I've been to 8 different facilities and by far this is very subpar resort. From the day we got their I felt like was in a standard hotel. Don't get me wrong the people were very friendly and hard working but really understaffed. It normally took us 15 to 20 minutes to get a beer at the swim up bar. There was only 1 bartender there the majority of the time. Two of the restaurants were very good but the rest of them we visited it was awful. Cold and undercooked food was consistently served. I love going to Sandals and I try to talk it up to other people so they know about the service they normally bring. This past week was no where close to the other Sandal resorts. Normally there are managers walking around asking how you are and is everything ok, trying to get involved. Not once did I ever see a single person from the management team walk around and mingle. I would highly recommend that you don't waste your money going to Halycon when there are so many other beautiful facilities that Sandals has to offer.

My last visit to Sandals Negril was on January 24 2020- January 30 2020. My husband and I were celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary. We had gone there a year earlier and had the most wonderful vacation. Before we left we stopped into the Loyalty office. We were told that if we booked our next Sandals Negril vacation right then, we would be guaranteed the same room. I use a wheelchair and we had a beautiful ground floor suite which opened up right to the beach. This made it very accessible for me to walk just a few steps. The room also had a walk-in shower which was also very accessible. I loved everything about it and was expecting the same experience this year to celebrate our big anniversary. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The room I was given was on the second floor, which I obviously couldn’t use. It seemed the Sandsls representative who sighed us up last year had signed us up for the wrong room. Of course we had no way of knowing this. That representative no longer works there. I asked to speak with the manager who very rudely told me Too bad. Even though it was Sandals mistake they no longer had any first floor ground level rooms at the Club level. We were placed in a much lower class ground floor room next to the pool ,overlooking a parking lot. The room was bare and lacked any charm at all. I was unable to go to the beach because it was too long a walk and not wheelchair accessible. I reached out to the manager and Loyalty office many times.We never received any support or apology. I cried every day. The best The could do was refund th financial difference of the rooms. They were unable to even do that. They kept telling us that we will be told how much Sandals owes us at checkout. Big surprise, even that didn’t happen. We left feeling cheated and miserable. Our plan had originally been to make this a yearly trip. A Sandals Resort at club level every January. This won’t happen. After the despicable way we were treated, We will never return. We are still waiting for the compensation owed to us. Edward and Debbie Genalo

I thought I would share the good and bad of my recent visit to Sandals Antigua. If like myself you are about to invest 10K dollars on a holiday, maybe worth considering The Good Staff and the service were second to none, nothing was too much trouble and we were always greeted with a smile. Room was always clean, tidy and well stocked. Food and drink. The Bad Sandals advertise this ‘As one of the worlds most romantic resorts’ - day one at the pool we were greeted by a beer chugging competition. More in the style of 18-30 than what we expect from Sandals. Little respect for folk wanting a quiet holiday. Resort entertainment is over powering and really only entertains very few people, with constant narration and music at unbearable levels. Even when we visited the quiet pool which is generally frequented by older couples we were invaded daily by the entertainment team, removed from the pool so as little as 6 people could play volley ball. Resort constantly touting for extra revenue - photo’s, spa, cabana’s - never stops!! Beach was very small, you cannot sit on it without being bombarded by folk trying to sell something for more than 3 minutes. Resort not enforcing its own policy regards to sun bed reservation. 2 days during our stay we could not get sun beds even though we were at the pool no later than 0900hrs daily. Cleanliness of outside areas - one day we found half a chicken in the pool, patrons allowed to smoke and eat in the pool!! Cabanas not cleaned with broken glass and bottles. Smoking - the non-smoking rules largely ignored upsetting many patrons. ALL IN ALL, not a terrible holiday but it certainly does not warrant the hefty price tag. Visited far superior resorts for less than half the cost. Sorry Sandals we would certainly not be visiting again.