TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

As with all my reviews, I compare based on expectations set by the price and what’s promised before arrival. Sandals pitches itself as “ultra all-inclusive,” with pricing significantly higher than an avera...ge all-inclusive, so I expected just that and that is why it only gets a 3 star average review because I don't think it meets the expectations of Sandals of a Luxury all inclusive. This review is quite detailed, so here’s a quick summary for those short on time: If you’ve already booked this resort, you’ll still have a good holiday. While there are a few niggles—and if you’ve visited other Sandals resorts, you may find this one falls slightly short—the staff are friendly, the food is mostly excellent, and overall, we had a good time. Many of the issues I mention may not apply to Butler-level guests. For those with more time, here’s our experience in more detail: Arrival We were Club Level, not Butler, and were welcomed with a group induction in the Club Lounge. It was a warm welcome. As we arrived early, we had to wait for our room, but the concierge kindly took us to our preferred lunch spot—the Jerk Shack. We were disappointed that there was no recognition of our Sandals Select loyalty. We weren’t invited to the loyalty dinner, nor did we receive a welcome pack. We only found out on the last day that we could have received discounts on photos and gift shop purchases for being members. Be sure to sign up in advance and let them know when you arrive. Room Our room in Building 11 was spacious, well-decorated, and had a good-sized bathroom. It was spotlessly clean on arrival and generally maintained well, although our sheets weren’t changed for the first 4–5 days until we asked. Once we did, they were changed promptly. It seemed we were at the end of the housekeeping run each day, so cleaning was always late, and restocking of towels, tea, and coffee was inconsistent. For example, towel types and quantities varied daily, and sometimes a hand towel replaced the bath mat. These were minor quirks but didn’t reflect the premium feel I expect at this level. Turndown service was only offered four times in our 12-night stay, which I didn’t really miss. There were a couple of small issues—like our phone being linked to another room, making room service amusing, and the bathroom door not staying shut—but these didn’t bother us much. A bonus for Building 11 is spotting green monkeys in the grassy area behind the fence during the cooler parts of the day. The downside? Dogs in nearby buildings barked constantly in the mornings and evenings. Food / Restaurants Food was generally very good. Butch’s Steak & Seafood and Dino’s Pizza were favourites, with Kimono’s close behind. Be aware that portion sizes have been reduced to cut food waste, but you won’t know this until the meal arrives. Sometimes mains were smaller than starters, but staff were happy to bring more or double up. It’s just harder to judge when you can’t see the portion sizes upfront. Some restaurants require booking, and I was disappointed that the earliest availability when I arrived was nearly a week in. That would be frustrating for anyone staying just 7 nights. One night at the British Pub started great thanks to a brilliant British staff member (I didn’t catch his name), who was managing seating, clearing tables quickly, and keeping drinks topped up. Once he left, things went downhill. We waited 30 minutes to order dessert, only to be told at 10:02 PM that the kitchen had closed at 10. Staff were consistently friendly in all restaurants, although interactions often felt scripted. A major drawback was the wait times at non-bookable restaurants. We never once got a table without waiting—anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour. Worse still, tables were often available but weren’t cleared quickly enough. This was the first area where I felt the resort had too many guests for the facilities. On a positive note, the lady at the doughnut/coffee shop (I believe her name was Azisa) was wonderful—always smiling and remembered our regular orders by the end of the trip. Pools The pools were mostly clean, with friendly staff and well-stocked bars serving good drinks. Loungers, if you could get one, were comfortable and padded. I saw pool staff meticulously cleaning them each morning. Towels were sometimes hard to find as they ran out, but you could locate some if you walked around. We’re not early risers—it's a holiday, after all—but this made finding a shaded pool chair difficult. On three occasions, we couldn’t get one, including one morning when we were out by 8:10 AM. Often, the only option left was the quiet pool or beach. This is disappointing and easily fixed—Sandals, please provide more loungers and umbrellas to match the number of guests. Similarly, we loved the pool floats in St. Lucia, but this resort had only three in total—two in the main pool and one in the quiet pool—most of which were hoarded by swim-up room guests. Another easy fix. Poolside drink service wasn’t great compared to other Sandals resorts. We were only asked if we wanted drinks six times in total—five of those in the last two days. However, Shermano (apologies if that’s misspelled) around the quiet pool in the final days was excellent—polite, attentive, and made a great Bob Marley cocktail. Others could learn from him! Entertainment The entertainment team was fun, and we had a good laugh at the main pool activities. That said, it’s repetitive—so expect week two to be a repeat of week one. Beach The beach has beautiful, soft white sand and always had loungers available. Unfortunately, the sea was red-flagged most days, with only a small yellow-flag section. The water conditions were poor. The breakers seemed to worsen things—trapping seaweed and creating messy wave patterns. The sea was effectively unusable during our entire stay. You might manage a quick dip, but don’t expect clear, calm Caribbean waters here. For a better beach, visit Carlisle Bay—it was stunning. Overall Overall, it felt like the resort lacked sufficient staff and facilities to support the number of guests. I don’t usually compare high-end resorts with budget all-inclusives, but earlier this year we visited a resort for a third of the price with better bar service, consistently cleaned rooms, in-room snacks, a premium minibar, more attentive staff, plenty of loungers, and minimal wait times for meals. That’s also the level of service we experienced at Sandals in St. Lucia. Most of the issues I’ve mentioned are relatively minor and can be worked around, but for a resort marketed at this level, I expected better. If I were booking again in Barbados, I’m not sure Sandals would be my first choice, as it lacks the “special touches” that justify the premium. That said, it’s not a bad resort—it just doesn’t deliver the luxury standard I’ve come to associate with Sandals. If the price were right, I might return, but with adjusted expectations.

Went for a work trip of 40 and expected a great, luxury experience. Got an average to below average experience. Pros: Beautiful, well maintained grounds Clean, spacious, modern rooms *Friendly staff Cons...: Unacceptable wait times everywhere Staff friendliness is totally performative Food ranges from average to bad Mostly American bar food Bars can make simple drinks only Servers regularly forget about you Long waits at restaurants (both to get a seat and to get served Staff is on "island time" until it's closing time Room service never came Beach was rough and muddy Premium (alcohol) brands included didn't seem genuine.

Pit stop visit, we stayed only for one night here on our way home from St Vincent, so I don’t feel I can properly review the full hotel but here’s our comments. On check in we were greeted by Dexter, his ...customer service was exceptional from start to finish. Without even asking he arrange for us to get our room early when he realised we were there for one night, he arranged late check out the next day for a small feel and out room was perfect. We were both really really impressed with his service. We had a reservation for the butches steak and seafood restaurant for that night, thankfully Dexter had given us a reservation slip, as on arrival the girl on the door was rude, it was literally no, no reservation for you, explained we had arrived that day leaving the following and it was like no, still don’t see your name!! Literally couldn’t have cared less, then i remembered the slip of paper from Dexter and the whole attitude changed, Boom the manager appeared and he was like this is your golden ticket. Our waitress was Annette, she was brilliant and to be honest loves her job, loves sandals and should be front of house, completely different attitude to the girl on the front desk. We found a quiet pool near the spa, little monkeys in the trees, lovely restaurants close by, the pool girl I want to say her name was Tanisha or similar, she was expecting a baby soon, she was a ray of sunshine, great service, lovely to chat with and happy to talk about Barbados, a credit to the sandals brand.

This was our second stay at Sandals Royal Barbados. We learned a lot of on our first trip that greatly increased the enjoyment of our second trip. Sandals Barbados and Royal Barbados are next to each othe...r. You can easily walk between the properties giving you access to all the restaurants, amenities and pools on both sides. It is like one big resort. There are things that appeal to both people who want a more party atmosphere and ones that want a quieter atmosphere. The huge infinity pool on the Royal side has a DJ most of the day with a large bar. If that's not for you, you can go to to one of the quieter pools. There is another large pool with a swim up bar near the Royal check in that is quieter and various smaller pools on the other side. The rooms are spacious and beautiful. No complaints at all. Here is what you need to know. If you want a swim up room and don't want to be near the infinity pool with the DJ outside all day (loud, people walking by, difficult to nap during the day), request a swim up in building Starfish or Loggerhead. These are further away from the pools and much quieter. We stayed in Starfish our first visit and requested and got a room in Loggerhead for this visit. Both rooms were excellent. There is also what we called the "hidden pool" attached to the Loggerhead building which is small pool and a nice place to relax. During our first stay, housekeeping came in the middle of the afternoon. This was when we were usually back in our room taking a break from the sun and it was uncomfortable to be awkwardly sitting there while the room was being cleaned or having to go find something to do. This visit we requested an earlier cleaning and that worked out much better for us. They are happy to accommodate this request. Some room notes here: There is not much to watch on TV. There is a lot of HBO, a news station and A & E. Most streaming services do not work in Barbados (Netflix did). If you like to watch TV to wind down before sleep or while getting ready, make a note. This visit we downloaded a lot of TV shows and movies before we went so we could watch them. We brought an HDMI cable and hooked it up to the TV so we could watch on the larger screen (Lesson learned from our first visit). This worked out incredibly well especially since there was a lot of rain! We also brought an electric clock so we could easily tell what time it was. There are no clocks in the room. I love to drink champagne, so I packed a champagne topper. It was extremely useful! The bar cart came around early afternoon, our fridge was always very well stocked. The food. We did not do any reservations because we did not want to be tied to a schedule. There were long waits at the non-reservations restaurants. Usually even if seated quickly the wait for food was long (45 min to 1 hour). We didn't mind but I mention it here in case it is important to others. I do love trying the signature drinks. Breakfast is amazing! It is at the American Tavern and features anything you could want for breakfast. They open at 7:30am and the place runs exceptionally well. We dream about this breakfast all year round. Here is our big shout out: The Merry Monkey. We went there the last three nights of our visit. The staff was hands down the best we saw all vacation. Even though they are at work, they seemed like they were having the time of their lives. Jack greeted us and pulled out our chairs. He assisted the staff and kept checking in on all the guests. All the staff - not just the server - knew what everyone was drinking and made sure the glasses were never empty. Their energy was amazing! Thank you to Jack and team! We also enjoyed Lovers Lane. While we did not bowl, there is a bar featuring beers from around the world (you can get cocktails too) and they have tables with screens to play games. We played many hours of BlackJack on those electronic tables. Sometimes we would bring cards and sit in the comfortable chairs and enjoy the atmosphere. It was a fun place to hang out. The beach is rather small and often covered in seaweed. It is also close to the loud infinity pool so you can hear the music from the DJ. We have not been to any other Sandals properties to compare, but there were not a lot of people on the beach either time we went to Barbados. We enjoyed sitting in the chairs and watching the water. We are assuming the reservations for chairs are the same at all properties. We get up early so getting a chair at the beach or the pool was easy for us. The butlers do reserve early and there are some popular places, but we didn't have any trouble getting a seat where we wanted. If you are not an early bird, it might be harder to get a seat later if you don't have a butler. I will note here it rained every day we were there and getting towels was a challenge. They were hard to find and people tended to hoard them once they were put out, worried there wouldn't be more later. We didn't have this problem the first time, I think it was because it rained so much this trip. I did use the gym facilities most days so I will mention those here for those that are interested. There are two gyms, one on each side. They were pretty equal in what they had to offer. Treadmills, bikes, various weight machines, one weight bar, free weights. They also had kettlebells, medicine balls, a bosu and a few other smaller pieces of workout equipment. We did not do any excursions or leave the property. That's just what works for us. Most of the excursions are not on the property and you have to shuttle there. We will be visiting a different Sandals in 2026 but will definitely be returning to Barbados in the future.

Currently at this resort. Be warned unless you have a butler you have no chance of a getting a sunbed by the pool. And are treated like a second class citizen! Have been getting up at 6.30am to try and get... one and then someone else takes them. The staff do not enforce the 7am rule or if not used in 2 hours rule. When mentioned to the club sandals concierge they really don’t care. Such an expensive holiday for such dreadful service and experience. Would NEVER do sandals again.