TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Sandals royal barbados did not live upto our expectations. On arrival we ordered room service which arrived cold. The next day we went to the merry pub for food the steak was awful it was chewy and had a strange taste our mains came before we had finished our starter and they just took them away before we had even finished. Dessert didn’t even arrive. The next day we went to butch’s steak and seafood. The service was terrible the food arrived like warm and by the time we received out steak knife 5 minutes later it was cold. Really disappointing. Another day we went to parisienne for breakfast. We waited 30 mins to be seated whilst there were empty tables and also tables that needed cleaning. We ordered our food and it arrived an hour later and both our orders were wrong. The American tavern for breakfast was always slow getting seated and the fresh orange machine was always out of order clogged up waiting for it to be emptied. The service almost everywhere was terrible and it wasn’t the laid back Caribbean style it was like they didn’t want to be there and were doing as little as possible to please you some were rude. Entertainment was almost none existent and what they did have was terrible. There was basically nothing going on in the day either. Drinks service around the pool was non existent A couple of times we had got up at 6.30 to save our sunbeds we stayed with them until 7.30 went to get a drink from the room came back ten minutes later only to find that the butlers had taken our beds and put there box and sign on them. On the last day I told club sandals that there wasn’t a hairdryer in the departure area and I also told the receptionist too they both advised that they would arrange for one to be sent over right away. After having my shower and washing my hair I realised that this wasn’t the case there was no hairdryer so had to travel home with messy hair. We did have a lovely meal at butchs chop house and at Bombay The beach was beautiful The room was nice but I little dated Marlon at the swim up pool was lovely and Heidi at the pool was too when you went up to get a drink. All in all I was extremely disappointed in the Sandals resort and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone and it has also put me off visiting another sandals resort. I have had much better holidays at much cheaper places. I would say that you’re just paying for the brand name. It was the most expensive holiday that we have had and also the worst. Definitely not a 5 star and definitely not 5 star service. There were also lots of other people saying the same things too

Checking out today this is the 4th year we have stayed at Sandals resorts the first was in St Lucia it was a 5 star experience 3 other islands since. It has gone down hill every year this trip we paid for 5 star service and food but had 3 star experience food was average service was poor. It reminds me of when I used to go to Mexican all inclusives except they were fairly priced for what we got. Never again

Whilst onsite in Antigua in 2024, we booked our next trip to Sandals Royal, Barbados. As you can imagine, these holidays can cost a lot of money depending on your club levels. The first half of our holiday was beautiful, and we very much loved the main pool and stunning beach. Our favourite restaurant was Butch's Chop House. Halfway into our holiday, a group of 120 people arrived, which they had won as a corporate incentive. Their first day of arrival changed the tranquillity and atmosphere. Large groups crowded around the pool bar, lining up multiple drinks each and smoking. They took over the pool, shouting and swearing; it quickly became something from a cheap budget holiday or 18- to 30's. For the remainder of our holiday, we couldn't avoid them due to them all knowing each other. They dominated the whole resort, in large crowds across the Drunken Duck, beach and pool areas, and various restaurants. The romantic dinners we had planned were ruined by them shouting across the tables to each other whilst downing shots. The group didn't care about their impact on other guests and proceeded to smoke wherever they pleased, even throwing their butt ends in the flowers and on the floor. On our last day, we decided to spend it round the main pool and picked a corner where we thought we would be away from the groups. Things took a turn for the worse as some of the couples found a few spare beds near us and were then joined by about 10 people who moved beds to be next to them. My husband asked them if they could smoke in the designated areas due to us getting a face full of smoke. One of the men became aggressive and verbally abused us. Due to the amount of alcohol they had consumed, it felt unsafe and far from relaxing. We raised our concerns with the staff in the club lounge and were told that Sandals regularly takes large corporate group bookings. They apologised but brushed us off because there wasn't anything they could do about it. Since returning home, we have escalated this at a senior level. They don't care that their acts of greediness ruin couples' holidays, which they advertise as being. We loved the Sandals brand and resorts, but due to the response from the senior leadership, we will not be returning. Since being home, we have found out that large corporate group bookings are something that happens across other Sandals resorts and that it is a common occurrence. I recommend that you look at other resorts which guarantee couples only.

We had an amazing stay at Sandals Royal Barbados – truly a 5? experience from start to finish. St Lawrence Gap has a lot to offer! The staff were exceptional, the grounds were beautifully maintained, and the choice of food and restaurants was fantastic with plenty of variety. Our room was spacious and had everything we needed for a comfortable stay. We went snorkelling (included as part of Sandals), which was excellent. A special mention to Shaquille – I was quite nervous, but he was so calm and reassuring, which made the whole experience enjoyable. The silent disco was great fun and such a highlight of the trip! A big thank you as well to Larkin in the pub and at the infinity pool – he really went above and beyond. So welcoming, knowledgeable, and genuinely made our holiday extra special. We can’t wait to return!

I would like to start by saying that this is a honest review from us, a couple (age 43 & 36) who had the most amazing wedding day at Sandals Royal but parts of the holiday were extremely disappointing. Having never visited the Caribbean before, we took advice from friends and our absolutely amazing Independent Travel Agent and Barbados came highly recommended, especially this resort from their personal experiences. The room: We stayed in a ground floor, South Seas Club Level Junior Palm Suite with Outdoor Tranquility Soaking Tub on our terrace. The room (9132) was close to the Club Lounge but not on the main walkway so it was quiet. We had nice views of the gardens. It was lovely and modern, spacious with plenty of storage (hanging space, drawers & cupboards). Mini fridge was re-stocked daily (beer, wine, brut, soft drinks, juices & water) there is also a kettle, coffee machine with replenished supplies plus a selection of spirits. The bathroom, in particularly the shower was huge!! Nice toiletries are supplied (shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, moisturiser & hand soap), plenty of towels plus robes but unfortunately no slippers. Have seen negative reviews about the air con but personally, this wasn’t an issue for us. The resort: It is massive! You can use the facilities across both the Royal Barbados and Sandals Barbados regardless of which side you book to sleep in. All pools & restaurants are available to all guests. The grounds are really well kept with pretty gardens. The hotels are situated on the beach but the sea is not always accessible due to the conditions but regardless, it looks stunning. We were lucky enough to watch turtles from the beach. Despite the number of restaurants, only 4 of these require a restaurant for dinner. The rest are available as walk-ins. There are two buffet restaurants across the whole resort, one is open for breakfast only and the other the other offers breakfast & lunch. There are also a selection of al la carte restaurants available for both breakfast & lunch. Service: We unfortunately experienced some poor service in a number of restaurants & bars. Our worst experience was in Portofinos (Italian). We were informed there would be approximately an hour wait so advised to go and have a drink at the bar and they’ll come and collect us once the table is ready, which we were more than happy with. After an hour and 15 minutes, we’d heard nothing so we headed back to the restaurant to where there were a number of empty tables and it soon became clear that they were never going to come and collect us. We were quickly seated and provided with menus, table water and a glass of wine each. After this, it went downhill. After finishing our starters, we were left with our plates meaning we had to clear them ourselves when the mains were brought to us. We asked for more wine which we never got. This left us having to share one glass of water, between us whilst eating our mains. We promptly left the restaurant out of frustration after finishing our food. The positive was, the food was really good. What we found extremely frustrating was that despite this restaurant being a walk in those with butlers still got preferential treatment and were able to queue jump. On a number of occasions, the bars that we used in the evening also offered poor service. Taking a long time to be served, being ignored and allowing queue jumping on a regular basis. But again like the food, never an issue with the quality or variety of drinks and you can ask for anything you want and the staff will make it. The sunbed situation: Quite frankly, horrendous. Sunbed saving begins at 7am and if you don’t join in with this absolute madness, you cannot get a sunbed around any of the pools, and one particular day we couldn’t even get one on the beach! This issue really does need addressing. On the odd day during our 10 day stay, the pool staff would remove towels from reserved sunbeds from approx 10am. This then caused frustration for those people who eventually arrived to their sunbed after lunch, putting the ‘new’ occupiers in a difficult situation when being confronted. We really didn’t want to join in the ludicrous activity but when we have spent this amount of money on a holiday, we should be able to find somewhere to relax during the days we are on resort. Activities: We took advantage of the free snorkelling trip offered by Sandals. This does get booked up quickly so I recommend booking when we you arrive to avoid disappointment. We were picked up from the resort and transported to the port (approx 15/20 mins traffic depending) to board the boat. There were approximately 20 people on this trip. A short boat ride to Carlisle Beach (where the shipwrecks are) for a guided snorkelling trip. We were then in the sea for approximately 40/45 minutes. Equipment including life jackets are provided. Whilst there, we went on a paid trip with ‘Captain Larry’ who can be found on the beach. This was $400 USD and we were able to pay by card. The tour was private with a very knowledgeable guide. We were picked up at 9.30am and returned to the hotel about 3.30pm, we did go on a Sunday so didn’t experience traffic but were informed if it was any other day of the week, it can take much longer. We travelled North via the west coast passing through Sandy Lane to the Animal Flower Cave and down the east side of the island with various stop offs to admire the views. We also visited Oistens on Friday evening, this was $40 BBD each way in a taxi, we ate at the famous Pat’s Place and was not disappointed. Although cash is preferred, you can pay card. There is a cash machine situated in the Petrol/Gas station just over the road. Wedding: We had the most amazing experience at Sandals for our wedding. We chose a beach ceremony followed by our cocktail hour, cake cutting and first dance in the garden. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. Overall, we won’t return to this particular Sandals but I would like to experience a Sandals hotel on a different island. From talking to other people whilst there, everyone was experiencing what we did with the service and the sunbed frustrations. This made us feel better and confirm that we were not being picky. To us, this was an expensive holiday (appreciate to some people it might not be) but we have experienced much better service elsewhere for a fraction of the cost. This hasn’t changed my opinion on Barbados and we would return in a heartbeat but now we have been, we would do things differently and probably wouldn’t choose an all inclusive. Barbados is full of amazing beaches that are further up the east coast with calmer water and lots of restaurants, bars and beach clubs.