Sandals Grande Antigua Resort & Spa reviews
10553 TripAdvisor reviews
A fantastic holiday experience
andrew w on Mar 24, 2024
It was our first time in Antigua and our first Sandals experience but one we will definitely repeat. We were in our hotel room an hour after getting off the plane - very nice after an 8 hour flight. A good big room and then down to the beach which was white sand, very clean and cared for with a beautiful calm turquoise sea. There was a great choice of restaurants so you could go to a different one every night and the grounds and gardens were very well looked after. Although the complex had a very high occupancy whilst we were there, we never felt crowded or had to wait long for a dinner table and never for a drink. Lastly, the staff were very friendly and happy - a special mention to trainee Tequancia who couldn’t have tried harder on several occasions to make our stay perfect. Next time we will come for longer!
Shanique K is awesome.
Ryan C on Mar 23, 2024
We are here for our honeymoon and will be sure to report fully with good words for loads of the team. We just wanted to make a special little mention for Shanique K who has really gone above with making us both feel special over the past few days. Keeping us hydrated, making us smile and generally bringing a wicked vibe. More love to follow soon! Mr & Mrs Carey (Robin Hood & Dancing Girl)
Somewhat Disappointing
rossp735 (New York, United States) on Mar 23, 2024
To begin with, the transport service to the resort was seamless. When we arrived, the concierge was quite helpful, giving us some tips on where to eat etc. All in all, the hotel management was very professional. The room was very nice and spacious. We were in the high rise part of the hotel. The housekeeping was good, but failed to restock our mini fridge and coffee. The time of day that they did the room varied from one day to the other, which became annoying. The air conditioner was quite noisy and we ended up shutting it off to sleep. Another thing that bothered me is the fact that the toilets are very low and there are no grab handles in the toilet room. Since this property caters seems to a fifty plus clientele, that should be addressed. The shower was nice, but there are no seals around the door and the tile floor became very slick when it was wet. The restaurants were plentiful and there are a number to choose from for each meal. The wait staff was very inconsistent. A very annoying part of getting seated was the fact that there didn't seem to be a designated hostess to show you to your table. At times people would stack up ten deep waiting to be shown to a table, even though there were plenty of tables available. Then when a "hostess" would show up, they gave you the third degree of asking for your name and room number while they checked it on their list. When you were finally seated, they would try to upsell you on their overpriced wine list. Since it was all inclusive, we'd go for the mediocre house wines. I wasn't going to pay for their expensive upgrades. The waitstaff in all of the restaurants were very inconsistent. Some were very pleasant and accommodating, while others were downright rude and nasty. Now for the food. Disappointing is my summation. When you pay a lot of money for an all inclusive that touts their restaurants, you expect an upgraded culinary experience. My wife and I aren't food snobs, but we do expect an above average food experience. You will be disappointed if that's what you're expecting. Some of the selections were good, but most were just average to below average. Mario's was probably the most consistent for decent food and a well stocked breakfast and buffet. Our second choice would be the Bayside restaurant. They had a good breakfast and lunch buffet. We ate dinner there one night and that was pretty good. The worst restaurant was the OK Corral Tex Mex. We had to make reservations to eat here and totally regretted it. I know Tex Mex after living in Texas for thirty years. This was total garbage. We ordered fajitas, which were absolutely awful. The chips were soggy and the "salsa" appeared to be ketchup with something mixed in with it. We got up and left after taking a few bites. The next night was Eleanor's, which also was disappointing. I ordered the "pan seared crab" as an appetizer. What came to the table was a commercially prepared, deep fried crab cake. The lamb chops were dry and very tough. It was not worth waiting until eight o'clock for the reservation. We had reservations for the Japanese restaurant the next evening, but decided against it due to the other two experiences. The Barefoot restaurant was a decent place to grab lunch, but once again, not outstanding. The pool scene was not very enticing. To even get a place to sit, you needed to be up at 6 am and reserve a chair by leaving towels and a personal item on the chair. There were some nice "cabanas" around the perimeter that would provide some shade, but these were an upcharge to reserve, not first come, first serve. The music they played at the pool was loud and obnoxious for the most part. There was a swim up bar that always seemed to have the same drunks sitting at it. One thing that was notable was they didn't seem to get out of the water very often to relieve themselves, hence we didn't go in the pool. There seemed to be a shortage of visible rest rooms despite the amount of drinking going on at the bars, restaurants and the beach. Now for the beach. The water was nice and fairly clear but the way the beach transitions into the water, it creates a trench that is difficult to see. We noticed several people tripping on this going into and leaving the water. Like the pool, if you don't get down there early in the morning to reserve chairs, you're out of luck. If you don't leave some personal items there with the resort supplied towels, someone will take it. Leaving the beach area, security will stop you and ask for your room number and name. Some of these people can be very rude also. Will we go back? The short answer is no. For the amount of money we spent, it just wasn't worth it. One big recommendation I'd make to Sandals is to provide wristbands to identify if you belong there or not. Then they could stop the constant and annoying requests for your "credentials". If they are going to tout their restaurants as "world class", then make them that way, not mediocre. So much of the food seemed to be pre made, commercial quality offerings, not gourmet at all.
A Honest Review
Vince H on Mar 23, 2024
Let me start by saying that the staff is excellent. Friendly, helpful and attentive. The resort is older with the "Caribbean" section built in 1990 and the "Mediterranean" section built in 2020. Think really old or relatively new. As context, remember that this is supposed to be a 5 star resort. It isn't. More like a 4 star. The rooms are fine but not luxurious, the pools are good but not excellent and the entertainment is just OK. What is not 5 star is the food. When you compare this to other 5 star resorts, the food quality and service is generously a 4 at best. Our opening meal at the pub they had was a terrible introduction to the resort as the service was poor and the food was inedible. We were looking forward to clear water at the beach and good snorkelling. The water was churned up with sand and you couldn't see the bottom at all, while the corals are dead and bleached. A one hour snorkelling trip was a waste of time. Better to rent a car and go to the beaches in the South where you have coral that are actually alive. To finish on a positive note, the Antiguans are awesome people and our interactions with them were a definite highlight.
Sticking with Secrets, this was our first and only experience with Sandals. I have to say the grounds were beautiful
cincin01 (Algonquin, Illinois) on Mar 23, 2024
There were 5 restaurants that needed reservations for only got one since all the rest were booked faucets all leaked balcony is so small average people don't even fit we had rm 7501 very noisy with fans outside no organization at pool bar....