Anyone been to a sandals resort?

Hubby and I are thinking of going to the Carribean and we have our heart set on a sandals resort. Only problem is how to choose. Any recommendations opinions would be most appreciated.

It has been several years since I have visited Sandals resorts.
Visits to the 2 St Lucia properties, 1 in Antigua & 1 in Jamaica were all very enjoyable. However having visited other hotels in nthe West Indies since I would say that Sandals resorts are expensive & you can find equal & better quality elsewhere for several hundred £'s less per person. If however
it is important to you to avoild children the premium to be paid may be money well spent.

Good luck with whatever you choose.


oldboy

My fiance and I spent a week at Sandals Antigua in September and it was amazing! The hotel and staff were fantastic, as it was hurricane season the hotel was quite quiet which I think made it all the better as I could imagine at peak time it being really busy. It is expensive but I think its worth it and would recommend if you stay at the Antiguan Sandals that you stay in the Med Resort part.

Just thinking about it now... I wish I was back there... hmmmm might have a look at prices now!!!

It's a marmite sort of thing. I was subjected to a contract with them for 7months and visited most of their beaches and sandals properties. I would say the standard if accommodation varies from site to site, some are beautiful and others need a little TLC. There is plenty of good quality food, premium brand spirits and a well maintained watersports facility group wide.

I find them big, brash and totally not my idea of a. Caribbean getaway. I'm more a Sandy Lane type of guy, well at least try to be.

My favourite all-inclusive in the Caribbean is La Source, in Grenada.
Actually, it's the only one I've been to, but still...

Hubby and I are thinking of going to the Carribean and we have our heart set on a sandals resort. Only problem is how to choose. Any recommendations opinions would be most appreciated.

Have a look on trip advisor and the other hotel review websites. I'm sure there will be reviews of the resports that will help you narrow things down.

Am sure there are other resport companys out there too.

I've never been tempted by a Sandals mainly because as others have said, I think there are better hotels out there for less money.

I'd recommend Galley Bay in Antigua its wonderful.

As others have already said, Sandals is VERY expensive when you compare what is available at other resorts.

I can recommend Couples resorts in Jamaica (http://www.couples.com). They rate very highly on TripAdvisor, deliver great value for money and deliver a truly all-inclusive holiday - when I was there in March this year and hardly needed to spend anything extra.

The other benefit is that, as the name suggests, it's a resort for couples only so you can enjoy a romantic beach holiday without lots of screaming kids.

VH can book you to Couples, but I found the best thing to do is book the flights direct with VS & use http://www.lowcostholidays.com to book the accommodation (cheaper than both VH & booking direct with Couples).

Enjoy!!!!

Mmm, where to start.
Firstly can I say that I am basing my views solely on one visit to one resort of one of the caribbean islands. We stayed at the Sandals Grande St Lucian in January 2009 for two weeks and boy did we have a hoot! There are three Sandals resorts on the island; Sandals Regency, Sandals Halcyon and the Sandals Grande. Not just because we stayed there but in my view the Sandals Grande is the best one of the three, followed closely by the Regency then the Halcyon(my view based on extensive research during our stay making use of the free shuttle transfers offered between resorts 8D )
Just checked on Tripadvisor and the Grande is showing 1696 reviews with 1400 either good or excellent (976-Excellent &424-Good), speaks for itself really.
Yes, the stays are a little pricey, ours came in at just over £2000 per person but in my view well worth it. Staff are great and work very hard to make your stay enjoyable. Accommodation is excellent and very clean and the food is fantastic, especially in the Al a carte restaurants. Breakfast may be taken in your room using room service or if you fancy a little something more formal you can have breakfast in a really nice restaurant and dine away on eggs benedict with champagne. There is a strict dress code in this restaurant of shirt and trousers(and something equally suitable for the ladies) as a minimum which for some may be a little off putting but we really enjoyed it.
As someone has already commented, there is a wide variety of watersports on offer which ofcourse is all in with the price. The resort operates a strict "No Tipping" policy which effectively means that other than a few gifts to take home you spend nothing at all whilst you are there.
Yes I am sure there are better islands with better resorts for better value out there but for me I was more than happy with our choice.
y)

NOC

Thank you so much for suggesstions for sandals and other resorts. Looks like I have a lot research to.

I can concur with sealink and leanne, La Source Grenada was spot on and also Galley Bay in Antigua was faultless.

Never really fancied Sandals.

We are trying Couples Sans Souci next week booked through Kenwood travel, after reading the superb reviews on TA, got a fantastic deal with them £500 return upgrade to UC.

Good luck with your research and hols.