TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

What an amazing and romantic location. Beautiful! Clear waters and white sandy beach! Very clean resort. Staff were helpful and friendly especially Elesa at the resort shop. She helped me find gifts for ev...eryone and a few things for myself too! Thank you!

We stayed at Sandals Grande Antigua in March 2025 as part of our 40th wedding anniversary celebrations. This is an excellent destination and resort for your special trip, from the surroundings of the resor...t, the quality of the rooms and the restaurants on offer, all of which were beyond our expectations. One of the key aspects which make this resort is the staff, who go above and beyond to make your stay comfortable and enjoyable. Special mention for Joy at the smaller pool swim up bar who lived up to her name and Sofia at Barefoot restaurant and our room attendant Cherri, but in truth all staff we came across deserve credit for the work they do and their friendliness. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening entertainment which was of a high standard and the excursions we took to see as much of the island as we could. All in all a perfect stay, we will be back!!

Absolutely loved this resort probably best of all so far. Grounds were beautiful , pool and pool bar tons of fun, dive operation top notch, dive masters great! Room was fine. We don't spend too much time ...in it so not interested in anything fancier than we had (Mediterranean side). Def not interested in Butler service. The service was great as was every restaurant we went too! Will be back!

Another wonderful holiday, exactly what we have come to expect from our favourite Sandals resort. The beach is gorgeous and the gardens are stunning and immaculately looked after. Coming from the UK, we ...arrived mid afternoon after a short 15-20 minute ride from the airport. Check in was quick and the lovely Shellon escorted us to our room. We much prefer the Caribbean side and the 500 block is perfect with its small pool outside - convenient for an early morning swim or the last dip of the day. The evening of our arrival was the Returning Guests Dinner which we were determined to attend despite being on the go for nearly 22 hours. We got such a lovely welcome from all the staff we have come to know over the years and catching up with Hotel Manager Leighton was brilliant. That man has such an infectious laugh and we always enjoy his company. We were fortunate to sit with him that evening and again at the Lunch on the Thursday. When we left the dinner we managed to catch up with Kadesha who was working in Mario’s that evening and who very kindly arranged for us to dine at Kimonos a couple of evenings later (thank you Denny). That girl works so hard, we love her dearly. Without exception, staff go out of their way to make our stay absolutely perfect. I cannot fault the service we had at any bars or restaurants. On one occasion, we had just walked into the Med pool and Celestine called my name - I looked over to see there were 2 drinks waiting for my husband and I on the bar. Equally Akeila would bring us both a drink at our sun loungers whenever she was passing. I have to thank her and Vanessa for sourcing some passion fruit for us. Our favourite restaurant for breakfast and lunch is Bayside. The view of the beach and beautiful turquoise sea is stunning (and what we miss the most when we get home). We never seem to shake off UK time so are early risers for a walk on the beach before breakfast and there are always plenty of sun loungers available even a few hours later. The day after our arrival, I paid a visit to Loyalty and Travel to book our return for next April which Sandy kindly sorted for me. It was lovely to catch up with Shemika, Andy, Dillon, Shellon and Tiandra too. We also now have a new friend in Wendell, the butler, after having a good laugh with him and Jackie at Marios one morning. After that he would always give us a big hello and a wave whenever he saw us. I must also mention the team of ladies who work in Eleanor’s who always make us feel special at dinner. Thank you ladies and for the singing. We were able to attend a second Returning Guest dinner the following week and were lucky to be sat with David, the General Manager, who had not long returned from a company meeting elsewhere in the Caribbean. David is very warm and welcoming and a perfect fit in this resort. He was able to reassure me that all is well with Sandals and I got to know a bit about him and his life too which was lovely. We were able to spend some time with David and Leighton after the meal, having another good laugh mostly about Leighton’s career as a ‘Playmaker’. Leighton very kindly eventually told me what his nickname was but not until we were getting on the bus to leave on our final day! My lips are sealed! We have always found the staff here to be friendly and helpful and have enjoyed getting to know them over the years. They have become friends who we love coming back to see. And that’s what makes this place so special. We don’t take anything for granted and appreciate every kindness shown to us while we are there. Thank you for yet another wonderful holiday and see you next year.

First trip to Antigua, first stay at Sandals. Once through immigration it was easy to find the Sandals desk and we were on our way via a small bus with 3 other couples. Journey time about 15 mins, all cou...ples were staying in the Mediterranean side. After filling in everything we needed to we were guided to our rooms. Unfortunately we were met with a pool of water from the air conditioning unit, but the maintenance staff came quickly and that was sorted. We had a walk out room, it was spacious but it was very dated, and feel it needs a good overhaul. I have stayed in better. We had a coffee machine and a kettle and replenished daily, also well stocked fridge with wine soft drinks, also bottles of spirits. Room cleaning was good, towels always replaced. They do a turn down service but no chocolates or flowers or towel art! Stunning location, white sands, not overly a beach girl so we spent our days at the main pool. No issues whatsoever to get sunbeds and they were frequently hosed down. Plenty of beach towels too. Food fabulous, I personally feel a buffet restaurant in the evening would be a bonus, didn’t experience any issue with booking. But some restaurants are closed on certain days, which is fine but Bayside and Ok Corral was the same day!! Lunch was also good Bayside offering different themed buffet, barefoot on the beach and courtyard bistro offering burgers, sandwiches etc. Pizza really good. Drinks great, branded if you asked. My husband is a diver so he took advantage of that, which he loved. We also did a trip of discover Antigua which was also good, and we got to see the island, booked at the desk in the hotel. So overall our experience of Sandals was a little underwhelming, our expectations were higher because we thought Sandals was going to be the bees knees, and unfortunately it fell short on some areas. Firstly, our provided hairdryer worked BUT not in the bathroom socket well the mirrors are, and there was no other mirror to use with a close enough plug. We complained 4 times and was either told the plug in the bathroom isn’t meant to work ( which wasn’t true) or they would provide an alternative mirror. Eventually a vanity mirror was provided but it’s not a great resolve. Then one day we tried the plug again and it was fixed, but it shouldn’t have taken 4 complaints. First day we also experienced a staff member who wasn’t the most welcoming, but I have to say this was in the minority as nearly all staff when they passed you would always say hello. We did however witness a member of staff who wouldn’t serve food in the courtyard bistro because it was raining!!! There was no drink service around the pool which again we think is unusual for this type of resort. Decoration in some of the restaurants should also be addressed, missing tiles in Eleanor’s, Drunken duck smells a bit damp and wallpaper needs to be repaired. All that being said we did have a fantastic time, but we feel Sandals could do better, as it was the most we have spent on a holiday. Although we didn’t rate it very high at the beginning of our holiday, by the end of our 2 week stay, it won us around and we would consider another sandals in the future.