TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

There has not been much written regarding accessibility at the resort. I just wanted to let affected people to know that the entire resort is fully accessible for wheelchairs or walkers. Ramps everywhere, a boardwalk along the beach (not to the water). You will have no worries there.

This was our first time to a Sandals resort and we were quite disappointed for the lack of "5 star" service that Sandals claims to be. They mislead people by telling them a butler is better to have so you can have beach chairs available and reservations at any restaurant. The butlers do reserve your chair, but you have to "claim it" by 10:00am. Why would I go on vacation only to be told at what time I have to get to the beach by? How about having enough beach chairs for everyone? Also, the butlers had already made reservations upon our arrival without speaking to us. Most of the reservations made were at restaurants we didn't want to eat at. Ultimately the butlers made it right. Upon our arrival we waited over an hour outside at the airport for the bus. Bus driver admitted there was miscommunication. We arrived at the resort at 3:30 and we were told room wasn't ready. Our butler suggested we go grab a bite. We figured why not, we need to eat. Mind you we were in jeans and a t-shirt. Every half hour after we were told our room would be ready. Finally at 5:30, they said they are trying to repair the AC in our room. Didn't get into the room till 6:30. You could have let us in the room to change and then we would have been fine waiting, but instead were offered to cool down in the butler lounge after we were already sweating in hopes the room would be ready. Our room was in the Walcott building, near the entrance to the resort. All you can hear was the cars driving by, employees entering and leaving work, and construction that began at 6:00am. Several employees were flat out miserable or rude. Waitress at Schooners forgot our drink and when we kindly reminded her, she came back and slammed it on the table and walked away. No one ever asked if we wanted another cup of coffee. Several servers at Neptune's looked annoyed that we were ordering food. Not 5 star service. We were given a nice table at La Parisienne only to be forgotten about for 25 minutes. I had to remind the hostess that we were there. Bartender at the Merry Monkey looked annoyed and barely wanted to work. Jack, the manager, was making drinks while the bartender stood back and watched. I would like to thank our butlers Nicola, Aretha, and Denise for doing anything they could do to make our stay better. I know these issues were not their fault. Jack at the Merry Monkey is great. His positive attitude really makes the restaurant enjoyable. I was hoping for much better service for the price we paid. Sandals will apologize as they continue to do with bad reviews from a year ago, but will insist we had a good time. We are very easy going and didn't think some the reviews about service were very true.

Grounds, beach, water are BEAUTIFUL! Food was good, service staff in the restaurants were excellent. Always able to find beach chairs although the chairs with umbrellas were always reserved by the Butler level guests-and frequently sat unused. On check in they said the policy was updated that if chairs went unused, belongings would be removed—never enforced. Needs for improvement- bed is HARD, not firm, hard and frame creaked terrible- maintenance to mostly fix bed frame noise and was offered mattress topper but it never came (asked twice); 99% of bar staff were unfriendly, and seemed put-out by you asking for drinks. Drinks were definitely watered down, everyone was asking for double or even triple alcohol and they still seemed weak. Was able to get dinner reservations, although was always initially offered 8:30-9 time slots first, but was able to schedule earlier. Not sure why reservations seemed challenging as there was typically always many tables open when we ate. Greenhouse is EXCELLENT, Butch’s over- rated.

We recently returned from a seven night stay at Sandals Barbados. 5-12 April to be specific. This is our third all-inclusive and to be frank, the least impressive of the three. Not trying to sound like a Karen with the view, but here goes...... The room was well appointed and the view to the beach was amazing. We stayed in room 1504. The bed however, was hard as a rock and like sleeping in a parking lot. Very uncomfortable. Everything else about the room was nice. The bed was the only issue we had. It was just not good. The beach was gorgeous, and chairs were not terribly difficult to find. Though waiting until the early afternoon could be problematic, we never had a problem. The water was beautiful and the temp soothing. Really nice overall. Sometimes you had beach service bring drinks, sometimes not. Bars-Average at best. Many said they opened at 1000 but would not be up and running until 1030 or 1045 so be prepared to wait...additionally be prepared to get a nasty look or conversation if you ask when they will be ready for serving. Not the friendliest bunch of people. Seems like they were doing you a favor instead of providing something you paid for. I would like to thank Hidie at the swim up bar near Chi's. She was an absolute gem. She was exceptionally friendly and made spending the afternoon there well worth it. Try her Mudslide and thank me later. Really represented the property very well. Awesome person and I miss her already. Too bad she is the only one I can give thanks to. Dining-I know they say that only five restaurants require reservations but found this to be far from the truth. Seems like the butlers for those who pay for the additional service block things for clients. We went to several places that had open seats only to be told there was no seating because of reservations. To say we were frustrated by this would be an understatement. It sucked. Not to mention most of the restaurants are small and ill equipped to handle more than 40 or 50 people at a time. Sandals can do better than this. Just a terrible business model. Only all-inclusive I have been to that required reservations in any capacity. Food-Breakfast was generally average. Nothing to write home about. Same with lunch either in the buffets or from the beach location. I will say the Jerk Shack had a really good chicken and sausage lunch. Sausage was freaking amazing. Dinners were mostly good but not memorable if you know what I mean, Butch's was supposed to be the best on property but we found the food to be good but far from great. Everything else was just a bit average and not very special. This said, Kimonos was really good and the Hibachi chef "Jerwinn"? did a fantastic job. He was funny, personable and entertaining. Really good experience. Excursions- We went on Cool Runnings Catamaran and had a fantastic time. Great crew, good food and beautiful water. I highly recommend this specific excursion. Tom of fun. We also went to Harrisons cave and did the underground tram which was amazing. Highly recommend that as well. As I mentioned earlier I don't want to come across as a complaining Karen but for the money we spent this was far from meeting our expectations. I'm not sure if another Sandals will be in our future, For those who are considering this location, I hope your experience is better than ours.

Hello All. I’m going to report on our trip to Sandals Barbados, 3/30 – 4/6. Two resorts previously visited was SMB and SGA. We arrived a day early (3/29) and stayed not far from the Sandals entrance. We decided to go to the fish fry and will say we’re glad we did this for the experience and glad we did this on a non-Sandals night. Lots of food for the money, but not the best for us. Saturday, we walked over to Sandals to check in and all went well. Time for beach, sun, food and beverages. Our room was ready at 3pm. We booked an OPT room (Royal House Building) and requested 3 room numbers, we didn’t get either of the 3. No big deal because 1516 was perfect. A/C worked, room clean and comfy and the view is what we hoped for. In simple terms “PARADISE”. FYI-The only rooms that may have some tree obstructions are the rooms to the far left if you are looking at the building from the beach. Is it a 5-Star room? My guess is no. For us, all good. Moving on to the restaurants. Not going to say too much regarding the quality of food, we all have different expectations and tastes. We enjoyed all the restaurants we visited but enjoyed Kimono’s the best and dined twice. No issues with reservations at all. What is mind boggling is all the restaurants had plenty of open seats. Kimono’s table seats 12 people, night one only 6 seated, second visit only 8 seated. I do believe there is a flaw in the Sandals reservation system. Not sure if spots are held for butlers and then not used, or maybe no shows. Dress Code, we were told by a manager at Butch’s that men can where dress shorts (She said Barbados resorts only???), no beach shoes or flip flops. My guess is the policy will officially change down the road. This was our 3rd Candle Light Dinner and we were disappointed with Barbados. The service and food quality did not compare to our previous experiences at the two other resorts. PRO-TIP- Grab a drink prior to being seated. Bars. We found service slow, some employees pleasant and some not so much, drinks inconsistent from bar to bar, some bars had Makers Mark and some didn’t. For us, a different vibe compared to the two other Sandals we visited. Exception- Infinity Pool, loud and bartenders very energetic. The dreaded beach/pool chair topic. I usually went down between 6:00 and 7:00 and found plenty of chairs available. We would come back around 9:30 and still had plenty of chairs available. The one day at the infinity pool, at 10am we did witness a butler removing reserved signs since no one had showed up. Most days the beach was windy and the water rough with no hobie cat or kayak use. The rock barrier installed by Sandals makes the water enjoyable when the seas are rough. Remember, Barbados is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, not the Caribbean Sea. What would be helpful if guests removed the towels when finished for the day. This will clearly tell others the chairs are available. During the 7 days, on the beach and at the pool, we occasionally saw an employee taking drink/snack orders, no consistency. Tipping- I personally witnessed this once at the piano bar, I don’t think he received better service. But this guest now felt he owned the place and what songs should be played. Overall, like all the resorts, the grounds were well maintained and clean, and of course tropical looking. Our favorite is Antigua, then Montego Bay and we would not return to Barbados. This is just our opinion based on our likes and experience. My biggest issue was asking specific questions at Club Sandals and not getting an answer. Questions regarding the fire pits not on the entire week and pool float policy. The customer service associate didn’t seem to be concerned. ISLAND TIME IS REAL.