Sandals Regency La Toc Golf Resort & Spa reviews
12428 TripAdvisor reviews
Nice and clean and very large but noisy in spots
pennez1 (San Diego) on Mar 23, 2024
Welcoming staff who are apparently well trained. As all have written, staff smiles a lot and are quite friendly. Great service especially by Marleen in housekeeping ( she made sure the room was spotless) and Charles who is the friendliest employee around. This resort is geared to the younger crowd since loud rap-type music is played a lot and often into the night/10pm. The large pool area seems to be the loudest and youngest. The staff there also seems to be the less industrious especially the young men in the large pool area who enjoy hanging around and joking among themselves. The resort is very large. It’s spread out for what seems like several miles and is very hilly. It would be fun to hike around if you’re young but otherwise you have to take a shuttle to access at least 3 of the restaurants. The restaurants are good and well served by the friendly staff. It does seem like the resort caterers to those that pay for butler service since they reserve chairs early and provide small shuttles for their customers. The rest of guests have to wait for the regular shuttles. It’s not a huge deal, just another way for Sandals to make money. All in all, it’s a nice resort that’s kept very clean. However if you want a quiet vacation you may want to do your research to get a less noisy place away from the main pool.
Overall, positive and worthwhile
Kaitlyn W on Mar 22, 2024
My husband and I came to Sandals Regency La Toc as first time "Sandals people" (and all-inclusive, and international!) and we really enjoyed our trip. Regency La Toc is a beautiful resort, and it definitely fit the bill for a relaxing refresh in the middle of wintertime. As my husband said it well, it's truly a crockpot-style vacation where you can "set it and forget it" :) Length and detail ahead, so here is the TL:DR summary - Highlights: service, view/scenery, relaxation, beach/pools, food Not great: some issues with food, esp. allergies; lack of communication and consistency; resort needs a refresh If you're coming here or thinking about it, here's our experience, tips, and thoughts to consider: -The service here is incredible. Every staff member we encountered was kind, helpful, and hospitable. From our housekeeping team to the restaurant staff, we felt so pampered that it was a little uncomfortable because we weren't used to it :) Big shout out to Germain at the bar, Moise at La Toc, Tammie at Bella Napoli, Danielle at the front desk, and Serekar at the Culinary Concierge! We felt so cared for and even the landscaping crew asked us how we were doingTip: you will probably get asked multiple times about booking something at the spa. Don't be afraid to say no thanks - the staff was understanding and very polite. -St. Lucia is a gorgeous place. It was warm every day, and the different pools + beach at La Toc were wonderful. Water is super refreshing. You will probably live in your swimsuit most of the time! Other reviews are definitely accurate about the difficulty to secure pool chairs in the morning. That wasn't critical for us, so we came every day around 10/11am to the pool and beach area but did find seats off towards the edges (not around the main pool) or on the beach towards the outside. And if nothing was free, there's a lot of other seating around the main area, towards Neptune's etc. where you can enjoy the view and the sun (although not lay out). Tip: the smaller pool and swim up bar below Armando's were much quieter and nicer for relaxing and reading. Make sure to check out all the pool areas! -This is a hilly resort with a lot of walking and hills. While shuttles are provided to restaurants and suites up the hills, be prepared to walk (unless you have a butler golfcarting you around). We stayed in the Honeymoon Hideaway area which was very steep to get to. They were also redoing the bricks in the path up to that area, so we couldn't take a shuttle all the way up there during our stay. We like to walk and it was good for us to work off the food and drinks, but just something to keep in mind. -Our room was SUPER clean. The bed was really comfortable! Housekeeping left rose petals on our bed and restocked fresh towels every. single. day. Big shout-out to them! The bathroom was a little small and a weird layout. I agree with other reviews that the property as a whole feels a little tired and could use some sprucing/reno. Our room was not as luxe as I thought it would be, A/C was a little weak, some of the shared areas needed a touchup especially the bathrooms at the Pavillion. -Regarding noise, it all depends on where you're staying. We had very quiet evenings up the Honeymoon Hideaway hill even if stuff was going on at the main pool. Biggest things were a few slamming doors and staff outside talking in the morning. The pool area/main area was pretty quiet in the evenings unless there was some entertainment going on (check the calendar!) We did get a weird phone call at like 8:30am one of the days about booking again for next year, so that was a little disruptive. -The food was overall delicious, some slight misses here and there, but nothing bad by any means. We thought Soy and Kimono's were the best ones. Excellent steak at La Toc, good pizza at Bella Napoli (we ate here a lot!), and lots of choices at the Pavillion (just watch out for the birds). The desserts were not amazing but we had some good ones. We had some "just okay" dinner food at Armando's but we loved the Pitons restaurant and agreed that Armando's was the best eggs benedict and French toast for breakfast. The bars: it's not incredible alcohol if that matters to you, but we were at the bars more for fun and tropical drinks vs "highbrow" or craft-type stuff. My husband was a little bummed there weren't more beer choices but the local Piton lager grew on him. There are limited options for what I would call afternoon snacks (a few jars of cookies floating around the lobby). There are no 24-hour food places on-site, and no coffee shop, although there is an automatic espresso machine in the Pavillion area that you can use. Hot tip: get a cup of ice from the bar and make your own iced coffee with the machine. -I came to Sandals specifically because of what I read about their handling of food allergies, and for the most part they were able to accommodate me well. Separate fryers for french fries, excellent gluten free bread, and pizza were my faves! There were some weird miscommunication issues with some of the staff where one person (who took our order) knew I had a gluten allergy but the person who delivered our food gave me something that was clearly not gluten free (there was bread sitting on top). I had to ask multiple times on multiple occasions to double check and make sure something was truly safe for me to eat. It got a little exhausting. Certain staff were definitely more informed than others on the food allergy issue. I did have one incident that put a cloud over our stay. At the La Toc restaurant, I ate part of a dessert that was supposed to be gluten free but the server later came back, very apologetic, and said that the garnish on top wasn't (it was already down the hatch at that point). That's a nightmare experience for someone like me. I understand these things happen, but it was pretty awful. For those with celiac disease, I would be cautious coming to this Sandals particularly if you're very sensitive. At Kimono's, for another example, we had hibachi-style food cooked all together on a large grilltop. The chef used gluten-free soy sauce for the whole party so I could enjoy, and I was given my own gluten-free ponzu and chili sauce which were delicious. However, someone at the table got a side of soba noodles which were cooked right on the same cooking area as our vegetables. Although the chef wiped it down, he didn't switch utensils, etc. I think the allergy protocol is good up to an extent, but if you need strict, consistent cross-contamination protocols you might want to consider an alternative for vacation. -Tip: Go to the culinary concierge ASAP when you arrive to get reservations for La Toc, Kimono's, and Pitons. These three require reservations to have dinner there and they are all so worth going to! I found out too that you can make one dinner reservation in advance of your trip through the app, which we did, so we were able to eat at La Toc on our first night! More to that story below. Tip: the app can show you all the restaurants and their times, daily activities (we went to couples' trivia at the Cricketeers Pub, caught the fire dancing at the main pool, enjoyed live music on Neptune's lawn, etc and it was all so fun!), and more. -On the flip side, the app needs a lot of work. It crashes a lot and doesn't sync up super well with the resort side of things (our La Toc dinner res apparently went through but never showed up on my app as a Reservation, and although the Culinary Concierge had it on her end, it didn't show up at the host's stand. We were thankful he was willing to seat us anyway). The map is not easy to follow either. -Ditto to what others have said about bringing everything with you to the island - the resort shop is well stocked but very expensive. You're going to blow through sunscreen in five minutes so yes, do bring that extra bottle :) Your husband may not have trouble with UV/the heat, but this is the vacation he'll get a sun rash so bring your own Benadryl instead of spending $15 at the resort shop. The sun is a whole different animal down here this close to the equator! -As others have said, I can substantiate: there is not a lot of direction provided about your stay, where to go, what to do, etc. I did extensive research in advance (I scoured TripAdvisor and Google Reviews) and still missed a lot. You need to be ready to ask questions of the staff to find out what you need to. There is a brief orientation when you arrive, but you aren't told much aside from restaurant options and about the spa. No one tells you that you can get extra water bottles anytime from the front desk, or that the housekeeping team doesn't replace them in your fridge (it was another guy who came at random times in the afternoon). Although no one was using the pool or hot tubs at night, you are welcome to use them unless there is a specific sign out for cleaning. Also, the beach chairs under the little shades are for anyone - we weren't sure if they required special reservations but nope, unless there was a sign or a cooler it was all up for grabs! There wasn't initial clarity on how checking out works - we had to ask about that. They slipped an envelope under our door the afternoon before we were supposed to leave with final info. Tip: ask! That was another weird miscommunication thing that happened to us - although I had submitted all of our flight info in advance and double checked everything, they still had the wrong flight info on our check out envelope with the wrong shuttle time listed for our return to the airport. Make sure to double check that so you don't miss your shuttle back to the airport. -The airport shuttle: it is definitely a bumpy, long ride to the resort from the airport. The staff at the Sandals lounge were very nice and really brought the Sandals hospitality right away. Water, beer, and snacks are available in the lounge as well as nice restrooms. Tip: bring and take Dramamine both ways. -Everyone who works for Sandals will have very clear identificati on, uniforms, etc. Don't be afraid to ask if someone is a Sandals employee if you aren't sure. A group of gentlemen were hovering around the airport helping people with their bags and taking them to the Sandals lounge, but then asking for tips which was confusing, as we thought they were with Sandals so didn't tip. The beach is not private either, so there are non-Sandals folks hanging out down there offering off-site excursions. Just be firm and they'll go away :) Tip: if anyone tries to ask for a drink, say no. Another couple got approached by a local guy asking for alcohol from the bar, and they got in trouble with security for going to get him a drink. -Speaking of the beach: it's lovely for laying out, walking, and wading/light swimming. We were thankful that it was pretty calm while we were there, and the staff keep it immaculately clean. The water sports weren't as enjoyable as we had hoped due to the rougher water + lack of "interesting" spots for snorkeling (you ain't gonna see much), so you will need to look elsewhere if you want to see a shipwreck or turtles :) And don't wear your glasses/sunglasses while paddle boarding...nuff said on that. -Tip: research or ask how the duty-free shopping system works before you buy lots of souvenirs. We had to pay an extra tax at the end of our stay before check-out. Hope this helps! Thanks for bearing with me, A couple of Midwesterners
Wonderful experience!
Remya P on Mar 22, 2024
We went to La Toc for our honeymoon and had a wonderful experience! We booked the Honeymoon Hideaway room with butler service, so I'll be speaking on butler service as well. The resort is absolutely stunning as was our room. We let Sandals know that we were here on our honeymoon and they decorated the room with cute flowers and decorations to welcome us. In St Lucia, you can visit any of the three Sandals resorts through a shuttle so we went to see Grande and honestly we preferred La Toc because it had some separation between the beach and the resort. The only issue with the beach was that the water is rockier and colder than the beach at the Grande, but we were able to swim in it and had a great time regardless. The beaches are public, so there were people who came up to us wanting to book excursions through them but they were good at walking away if we said we weren't interested. We had three butlers who were amazing - Delia, Barkus, and Gilbert. Each one of them helped us feel comfortable and looked after. We got the most use of our butlers for being able to book reservations for dinner, reserving beach/pool chairs, and bringing us food to our room and when we were on the beach. They were prompt and we didn't have any instances where we couldn't get ahold of them or get what we needed. You can also use them to get transport to other spots in the resort, which is helpful if you're in a room like ours that is a little farther from the main parts of the resort. We wish we had recognized the benefits of using this - my spouse and I like to walk so we decided to walk to most of our dinners and pool days, not realizing that by taking the golf cart with our butler they could escort us to our reservation and be present if there were any issues. The food was as to be expected with an all inclusive, there were some hits and some misses. Our favorites were Kimono, Soy, and Neptune's. Shout out to Myers and Shirnelle at Kimono, you really do get dinner and a show when you get their hibachi! We did the Piton Sunset Cruise excursion. We loved it, it was absolutely beautiful and the perfect balance of relaxing while getting off the island. Just an FYI, the actual excursion is not through Sandals and we had people from different resorts and the community on our excursion which was great, but it's helpful to know in case you'd rather book your excursion directly or somewhere else. The only discomforts we had the entire trip was that when starting our vacation as first timers at Sandals, we felt like we didn't get the best breakdown of how to best utilize what we had, such as our butlers. I wish at check in we had been told directly everything that a butler does, when to call them, when not to call them, etc. Additionally, we had some moments at the restaurants where it was really unclear how to get a seat or start the process. The servers and hosts were so accommodating and helpful, but it felt a little icky at times like when we accidentally took someone's seat at the buffet because we didn't know we had to sign in. There will be staff who are there to encourage you to spend more money on extras like photoshoots, spa services, and excursions. But they're easy to say no to and they will leave you alone and are friendly. Lastly - MAKE SURE you have all the things you need for your trip such as sunscreen, sunglasses, medication. The only place to get those things at Sandals is the gift shop and it is very overpriced. My spouse forgot his sunglasses and the cheapest pair he could get as a replacement was 50 dollars. Could not have asked for a better place to spend our honeymoon, and we can't wait to schedule another visit!!
Kimonos
Secret M on Mar 21, 2024
Hibachi at Kimonos was so excellent! Meyers was an amazing chef and entertaining host! It was so fun and the food was some of the best on the resort. We had an appetizer first and then the hibachi meal that included rice, chicken, shrimp, and steak. So so good!!
Amazing Time for All
Jesse G on Mar 21, 2024
From the moment we stepped into Kokomo’s habachi at Sandals, we knew we were in for a treat, but little did we know just how memorable our evening would be. Chef Myers dazzled us not only with his culinary expertise but also with his engaging personality, turning our meal into a spectacular show. Every dish was a masterpiece, bursting with flavors that left us eagerly anticipating the next course. Equally impressive was our server, Cherylin, whose attention to detail and warm hospitality made us feel like royalty. She went above and beyond to ensure our dining experience was seamless, from her expert recommendations to her timely service, all delivered with a smile that radiated genuine care. Together, Chef Myers and Cherylin created an unforgettable dining experience that was the highlight of our stay at Sandals. Their passion and professionalism are a true asset to Kokomo’s habachi, and we can’t wait to return. If you find yourself at Sandals, do not miss the opportunity to dine here — it’s an experience you’ll treasure.