TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We visited sandals for the first time june end 2022. Such beautiful weather and excellent swrvice. So we stayed 7 nights in the hill side in butler suite. We did not know what to expect from the butler when booking as everyone has different expectations and always wanders what does a butler do. The butler books all your reservations for restsurants. And will take you from your villa to the main reception. They give you a phone and you can call him to collect you etc. Tbh all the service you get from butler is easily acievable without the butler too. You can book your own reservations and other staff will take you from here to there easily. There is no need to pay extra fpr a butler service. Even though both our butlers were really nice we would def not book a butler the next time as this is a waste of money. The food in all restaurants was very good and the french restaurant on the hill side for breakfast was really special. We had a wonderful stay there waa entertsinment on both sides and scuba diving sailing kyaking was all invlusive Would def rate this a 5 star experience and thank everyone especxially our 2 butlers ricardo and jazeen for making it fun and enjoyable. Thank you x

So my wife and I heard about Sandals from a few of our friends who’ve been 5+ times and who say they absolutely love it.So for a few years we had this vacation planned with one of those couples on the week of our anniversaries. Unfortunately our week stay wasn’t the best. I would say about 60% of the employees we interacted with you could tell they didn’t want to be bothered and we’re absolutely miserable working there. Some were flat out rude and condescending when you asked a question. Calling room service was also painful because they always seemed to be in a bad mood. One example was when placing an order for breakfast we asked for one omelet and a couple of muffins. The gentleman on the phone stated back 1 muffin so my wife said no a couple muffins please. He had a problem with us getting a couple muffins so he wanted to know how many people were eating. This was a head scratcher for me because one omelette and a few muffins isn’t a a lot of food. Anyways since it was always uncomfortable calling room service my wife and I would play hot potato on who would call. We did receive great service from some people and it was always refreshing when we interacting with an employee who was actually friendly. Another disappointing experience was at the Redlane Spa. We paid $500 for the 90 minute Neroli Jasmine Candle Couples Massage and sadly it was not good. Not wanting to bias my wife’s view of her experience, after the massage I asked her how she liked it and her response was that it was horrible. I’ve had many massages in my life and this was by far the most expensive and easily the worst massage. I left the massage not even feeling like I got worked on. Although I requested firm pressure most of the time she spent just rubbing me not massaging. After the massage was complete it was EXTREMELY awkward. They told us okay you can go ahead and get dressed now and then just stood in the room waiting to receive a tip. No matter how bad the massage was we believe in tipping so then my wife who wasn’t dressed had to reach in the robe that was hanging on the door to get them money. After we got dressed they then gave us some champagne and tried to sell us some products. After we politely declined she asked us if we were done with the champagne. This was the champagne that I took 2 sips out of and that she just gave me less than 2 minutes ago. Realizing that since we weren’t going to spend more money they wanted us to leave we gave them back our full glasses of champagne and left. The actual property was very nice and there was a great selection of restaurants. The food was good but nothing like 5 star gourmet dining that they try to make it out to be. I’ve had comparable food on cruises. There were plenty of bars and pools scattered throughout the property. We stayed in the Butler Village so we had a private pool which was cleaned twice a day. Having the Butlers was nice and although we didn’t use them a lot they were helpful. We both got sick halfway through our stay so we quarantined to our room and it was nice being able to get dinner from the different restaurants from our Butlers. At the end of our vacation our friends shared with us that they had a similar experience as us, and figured since this was their first time at that particular resort it must unique to Ochi. They felt bad because they talked up how great Sandals was and how once you do a vacation at Sandals you’ll never want to vacation anywhere else. They agreed they would never go to this location again. Prior to our Sandals trip we also booked a trip to Beaches for later this year to bring the kids but after this experience I plan on canceling that trip. Although the customer service was subpar the property is beautiful and my wife and I did enjoy ourselves which is why we gave 2 stars instead of 1.

Let me start by saying that my husband and I still enjoyed our trip despite our expectations not being met. We stayed in a butler suite and we were not impressed with the level of service provided. Pros: -dinner for night 1 was already planned for us at the southern table before arriving so we didn’t need to think about it after a long day of traveling. -entertainment at the resort was great! Lady Sashae at the Rabbit Hole and the playmakers (Britney and Ockeif) were great at keeping the crowd pumped and having fun. -the drinks were delicious! And the food was decent. -on our anniversary we had some slight decorations and a bath waiting. It was a sweet gesture, despite the bath being almost cold. Cons: -resort is a bit dated. The rooms could use some freshening up and the pools need to be fixed. There are loose tiles all over, some sharp enough to cut you. - bathrooms do not have a lot of stalls. The ones by Kimonos / the beach have two stalls in the women’s side, one of which wasn’t working at one point during our stay. - room service is incredibly slow. Even when ordering simple things like salads and a cheese plate. It took over an hour - we ended up going to bed since it seemed it would never get there. After putting the do not disturb sign up they still knocked loudly when they finally showed up. -the jitney was often nowhere to be found and rooms up the hillside are a hike. -butler service was not up to par. We had given the butlers a list of restaurants we’d like to go to and they did handle reservations for us. We also asked for snorkeling and the glass bottom boat to be booked when we arrived on Saturday. The butlers didn’t book them until Friday morning (for Friday afternoon and Saturday at 11am. But we had a 225pm flight out on Saturday). We asked multiple times for rum cream in our room and it took 4-5 days for it to finally happen. It also took numerous asks to get a charger for the butler phone. There were no little surprises left for us, cocktails at dinner pick up, etc. We weren’t super demanding, which left room for them to be creative with the time they gave us, but they weren’t. We had a cooler of water most days at the pool though we had to ask for it daily. We got rides to and from our room most days. One time we called the butler to pick us up and after 30 minutes decided to walk because he didn’t show up. One day we asked for lunch by the pool and another day asked him to retrieve our float from the room. Neither butler knew when we were departing. Even the morning of departure he was surprised when we called to let him know our bags were ready to be picked up for the shuttle. After giving him his tip and asking about our bags, he told us to wait right there for a minute and then he never came back - no proper farewell from the butlers or confirmation that our bags were out of our room. For the price of the rooms at this resort, I’d have expected a little more upkeep in the amenities and

First of all, WOW! Ivan (from games/events/recreation) truly knows how to make guests feel appreciated, loved, respected and, most importantly, how to have fun! Not only did Ivan do this for us but I also witnessed him do this for every single couple on the resort. When I first met Ivan, I assumed he was one of the managers based on his interactions with guests. From how he carries himself, his outstanding work ethic, and truly wants to succeed in his job. I would highly recommend Ivan to become a supervisor (or become a manager!) He definitely deserves a raise. Sandals is incredibly lucky to have Ivan on their team and I hope he gets the recognition he deserves!

The resort was beautiful, and the butlers are excellent. We had Peta-Gaye and Romeo. They made sure we had our days planned out, shuttled us around, surprised us with snacks, a bubble bath, or other treat almost every day, and escorted us to dinner to make sure we got right in. The food was incredible, from sushi at Soy, to French cuisine at Le Gourmand, the best pepperoni pizza at Dino’s, and jerk that we kept coming back for at The Jerk Shack, we loved it all. The excursions were also great. Our favorite off-site excursion by far (and one of the least expensive ones, too) was hiking up the Dunn’s River Falls. We also enjoyed the many pools and the beautiful beach, as well as some lazy games of shuffleboard. The only negative (maybe not so much a negative, but something to be prepared for) is that the resort is split, so if you are on the hillside (Butler village), you have to take a shuttle to get to the beach side. But, shuttles run every 10 minutes, and they run from 7am to 2am, so you really don’t lose much. Overall, we really enjoyed our stay.