TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

This is a really big resort and made even bigger as it is right next door to Sandals Barbados, so we went back and forth between pools and restaurants. Lots to choose from. Lots of excellent staff, starting with a couple of the more visible managers, Bruno and John Patrick, such nice gentlemen and Samire (not sure of the spelling) he always seemed to be around. Some outstanding staff that we interacted with, Zebe, Rina, Crystle and the two Shakeras at the pool in front of Sandals Barbados, which we really preferred as we did not have to get up at the crack of dawn to secure chairs. I hate having to play that game. I didn't care about some drilling and hammering at the front pool on the Barbados side..... it's not me having to work! Other outstanding staff members, Aretha, server at La Parisienne, a little sweetheart. Jen at the sky pool bar and Marquite, usually at Portofinos. Housekeeping staff were awesome. Room was always clean and well stocked with towels. Mini fridge attendant was awesome also. We never had to ask for anything. The groundskeeping staff were extremely busy keeping the grounds looking amazing every day, it shows! Thank you to you all, you are amazing!

We went to Sandals Royal Barbados for a week in March. It is a beautiful resort. We had a butler level room which was fabulous. I can't say enough great things about our amazing butler team. The team knew what we wanted before we knew what we wanted. They spoiled us with bringing me coffee every morning, surprises in our room after a hot day in the sun, cookies every night for my husband and fresh fruit for me, arranging dinner reservations every night and escorting us to dinner, surprise bubble baths prepared after hot sun days, making sure I had cherries in my drinks(my favorite), a bag of macaroons for my flight home(another of my favorites), drinks delivered hourly by the pool, and a private island tour... I could go on and on about this amazing team. All of our butler team was amazing. However, Shanna Kay was our absolute favorite! I wish I could have taken her home with us. She was so attentive, sweet, and just a wonderful joy to be around. She made our trip amazing!! We will be back and will request her! She made our vacation!!! Sandals is the best!! Service is fabulous!!

I booked Sandals Royal Barbados to celebrate a milestone 40th birthday, and as a repeat Sandals guest, I expected the level of quality and service the brand is known for. This was my third Sandals stay, after previous visits to Sandals Royal Caribbean and Sandals Royal Curaçao, so I am not speaking from inexperience. Unfortunately, this was by far my most disappointing experience. The problems started with our initial room, which had such a strong mold smell that I requested a room change. That alone was not what I expected from a property marketed as luxury. On top of that, we dealt with a leaking refrigerator, which added to the maintenance issues already affecting the stay. What made things worse was seeing a roach in the tea and coffee area. That was especially disturbing because this was a guest refreshment area, not some hidden maintenance space. It immediately raised concerns for me about cleanliness and standards. The issues did not stop there. I also experienced a serious laundry service failure. I inquired about my laundry before departure, was told they were working to have it delivered in a timely manner, and then later received notice that my items would need to be shipped back to me. For a luxury resort, that level of inconvenience and disorganization is simply unacceptable. What turned this from disappointing to truly frustrating was that I did report these issues during my stay and followed up afterward. I documented the concerns, gave the resort and corporate team the opportunity to address them directly, and still ended up feeling like the response did not match the seriousness of what occurred. When guests pay premium prices, they expect premium standards. A room that smells like mold, maintenance issues, a roach in a tea and coffee area, and laundry that has to be mailed back home is not the luxury experience that was advertised or promised. I am leaving this review because travelers deserve transparency. Based on my experience, Sandals Royal Barbados did not deliver the level of cleanliness, service, or accountability that I expected from the brand.

We stayed at Sandals Royal Barbados for 5 nights in late February. We were on the island a few days before our stay, so we did not take advantage of the airport pick up. Once we arrived we sat down to wait for our butler (would have been nice to get a welcome drink and some people got cold wet towels, but they missed us because we did not come on resort transport) Wait was not long and she gave us a resort tour and took us to our room. There were snack and champagne waiting for us, and our mini-bar and fridge were stocked as we requested. We had room 7405, a Lagoon One-bedroom Oceanview Butler Suite with Balcony Tranquility Soaking Tub – OL1B. This room was as far from the ocean as you could be in this class, it was not even a pool view but was very pleasant to sit out on the balcony. The room was as advertised. Our main issue was a musty smell in the room…seems like a common thing here. We left our balcony doors wide open except when we were sleeping, and it improved greatly. Cool feature, the room had a sliding wood divider and two large TVs in case one person wants to stay up and one wants to sleep. This was our first butler experience. We had three butlers during our stay and two were great and one was good. They made all our dinner reservations for us, walked us over to dinner right to a table and got us our first drink. They also arranged to have some light snacks in the room each afternoon and we woke up each morning to coffee and pastries delivered to our room. They reserved our beach chairs each day, socked a cooler with our favorite drinks and came by to take bar drink orders during the day. One day they brought our lunch to the beach chairs. We ate all our dinners at the specialty restaurants, and all were good. Kimonos was fun. These venues were small so only some guests are able to get in. Breakfast and lunch were easy to get and I never felt crowded. Staff were mostly friendly everywhere. Big place so lots of areas to explore. Coffee is better at the Café de Paris than at Sweet and Salty. The beach is very nice, but the water is pretty rough. The included snorkeling tour was completely booked and even our butlers could not get us slots. The beach is public but people selling stuff are not that pushy and there are not that many of them. Couple shows were good…reggae show, beach party…some were not as great. Gets quiet at night. Check out was easy. One hitch was they scheduled us for a bus that was later than what the airport recommended us to get there. Then the bus was ½ late leaving. If we had not had fast track service at the airport we would have missed our flight. The security line was 3 hours long on a Saturday afternoon. Overall, we liked our stay but the couple hiccups and being a beach resort that has restricted ocean activities is driving the 4-star rating. Overall, we enjoyed ourselves.

My husband and I went to Sandals Royal Barbados to celebrate our birthdays. The resort is beautiful, our room was excellent, the landscaping is gorgeous, and the people who work there are amazing. We especially enjoyed dealing with Morris, Oshin, Hidie, and Cheyanne. This was our first time going to a Sandals and it is not going to be our last.