2

5/16/2013 8:17:09 AM

Future bro and sis-in laws stayed at Sandals in St. Lucia and loved. Don't really have much else to say except I think they're a good combo of eaters/drinkers/activity go-ers...and they had a great time.

Almost went there for my honeymoon...but chose Belize instead.

5/16/2013 8:42:22 AM

Quote :

"Went to Sandals Negril back in March for my Honeymoon. We found the food to be really good. I wasn't a huge fan of the room-service food, but I liked all of the restaurants we ate at(think we ate at all but 1 of them). I had never really drank Red Stripe before the trip but I ended up enjoying it, but I basically just drank that on the beach and whenever I made it over to an area with a bar I just tried random drinks until I found stuff I liked. All-Inclusive is great. We had the Butler service...totally worth it. It was great each morning waking up to coffee served on the back patio, having the room decorated each evening to add to the "romantic atmosphere", getting any reservation we wanted(when other guests openly complained to us about not being able to get reservations despite calling 2-3 days ahead and we called the day of), and each morning having beach chairs reserved for us and our cooler packed with whatever we wanted. Plus they'd just randomly drop off food or snacks at your room or your beach chair and give you a heads up. We went for a walk, came back to a nice jerk chicken pizza that had just been delivered for us. Hit the spot."

My exact same experience at Sandals Negril 3 years ago for my honeymoon. The butler service is definitely worth it. That reserved umbrella at the beach was so clutch. I forgot a few items like toothpaste that I mentioned to him and I was going to just go to their gift shop to buy but he brought them to me within the next hour on his own.

The only annoying part to us was the Sandals spa employees that kept asking us if we wanted to try it out, even after we already had.

5/16/2013 9:31:48 AM

how much was that butler service?

didn't realize you had to make reservations for dinners... So having a butler made it easier to get reservations?

great information here.

5/18/2013 8:40:51 AM

Everything I've read makes it sound like the butler service is the way to go. Reservations are probably a small benefit. I think reserving beach huts/chairs is HUGE. I've been to a busy tropical island resort...and getting a good beach spot is like when the Masters opens up in the morning...it's nuts. And getting a bad spot is kinda shitty.

5/18/2013 8:57:34 AM

It depends on the type of room you get. I'd recommend getting the cheapest room that allows you to get the butler service.

You don't have to get reservations and some of them you don't need them. But it's nice having a table waiting for you and their really nice restaurants do get crowded.

^ yes the beach chair/umbrella spot every morning is the biggest perk by far.

[Edited on May 18, 2013 at 9:02 AM. Reason : .]

5/18/2013 9:00:31 AM

Just got back from Antigua Sandals. It was awesome! We stayed Monday-Sunday.

You must do some off-site activities:

We did the zip line tour and the catamaran around the island.

Our room had the concierge service. We were beachfront, full bar in the room, room service. All the booze and food you want. We would definitely go back. The locals are annoying (we got asked to buy tours ect on the beach, and coke/weed everyday).

Also, duty free FTW (fifth of Belevedere for $30, and box of cubans made it through customs).

5/18/2013 12:53:10 PM

I had some friends that stayed at the Sandals Grande St Lucian for their honeymoon and absolutely loved it.

5/18/2013 3:17:15 PM

Quote :

"Just got back from Antigua Sandals. It was awesome! We stayed Monday-Sunday. "

Went to Sandals Antigua 2 years ago. It was seriously fucking awesome. We met tons of people there and actually still keep up with some. Food was pretty good (not the best lobster or steak, but everything else was pretty good). We loved the english pub...we went there almost every night and always got food to go. We did a lot of the inclusive stuff (snorkeling and stuff). We went up a few of the excursions...the canoeing/adventure one was probably our favorite, as you got to see tons of the island and it lasted a lot of the day. Book the excursions early in the week as they fill up somewhat quickly. You can book with people on the beach, but sometimes you gotta be careful. Only small complaints about Sandals Antigua was there wasn't a beach bar, so our time on the beach was somewhat limited. They also "overbooked" us and we ended up getting a shittier room, but they gave us a few extras (free excursions, knocked our total down, and something else but I forget). The flight also wasn't ideal, we took a prop plane from San Juan, PR down there and back, but that wasn't that bad nor was it something that was Sandals' fault.

My biggest suggestion for any of these places is not to spend outrageous amounts of money on the room. Don't necessarily get the shitty room, but really no reason to get the best room. I'm an outdoors person, but most people there don't stay in their room except to sleep and get ready for dinner. We always try to get a room with a view of the ocean but that's about it. My wife is high maintenance and she didn't even care after our first trip. Other advice for these all-inclusive places is find the restaurants that need reservations and try to make them as early as possible (we try to make them in check-in, but not everyone plans as much as I do, haha).

We're hitting up Couples Tower Isle in Ocho Rios, Jamaica in a few days. I'll compare them when I get back.

[Edited on May 18, 2013 at 10:34 PM. Reason : dwl]

5/18/2013 10:31:19 PM

Just got back from Hedo. Going to get my STD test on Monday. Fingers crossed.

5/18/2013 10:40:39 PM

At the Sandals Negril they basically had 2 restaurants you needed reservations for, an Italian and Japanese place. My wife didn't really plan too far ahead on dinners, so it was usually the morning of that she would decide which place we'd hit that night and we'd just tell our butler what we wanted and he'd make it happen and call us back with a confirmation time and stuff.

So at first we basically thought reservations weren't too bad to get, and then we actually spoke to some other couples around the island and quite a few of them were complaining about never being able to get reservations. Like we called that morning and got reservations at the Japanese place and they had tried to get reservations for dinner their first day there and it was "booked the entire week". I do think they give some wiggle room to butler service people, but as said above, having your chair reserved with towels and a cooler each day was the best perk. Also our butler would go ahead and "hand pick" our table we'd sit at and make sure we had the better seating. Like at the Italian place(on the water) he made sure our table had a great ocean view and it really was a nice touch. Some of the seats were more interior and you missed out on the view.

I was looking forward to the Butler service but wondered if it would be worth it, but my wife and I agreed that we don't think we'll ever want to do Sandals again without the butler service, it really just made everything so much easier.

5/20/2013 8:17:28 AM

Yeah, we did it because it was our honeymoon and we wanted the best experience possible. At first, we thought "this is awesome but I don't think we'd need it every other time." But eventually we realized how much everything is rigged for the butler service - best rooms, best spots on the beach, best tables at restaurants and the preferential treatment for reservations. After having that experience, I don't think I'd enjoy it at all if I went again without it.

One thing I will say negative about Sandals is I was completely underwhelmed with our room. The furniture was generic beach furniture you'd find at an average beach house in NC. We had the loft rooms with living room downstairs, bedroom/bathroom upstairs and it was a little inconvenient. I'm sure they newer rooms like the swim up entrance are better inside but ours was just average.

5/20/2013 8:28:31 AM

Here comes Earl again to shit on other people's idea of fun with his holier than fuck attitude.

Some people like all inclusives. Some people like cruises.

Get fucked.

5/20/2013 11:29:43 AM

Quote :

"One thing I will say negative about Sandals is I was completely underwhelmed with our room. The furniture was generic beach furniture you'd find at an average beach house in NC. We had the loft rooms with living room downstairs, bedroom/bathroom upstairs and it was a little inconvenient. I'm sure they newer rooms like the swim up entrance are better inside but ours was just average."

I think we had the same rooms at Negril.

But I agree, the rooms were less than impressive. We literally NEVER spent anytime downstairs, just in the loft area and on the back patio. Only think we did downstairs was hit the mini-bar/fridge. So if we go back to Negril we're definitely getting the Butler service but avoiding that style of room. I thought it sounded neat, but the reality wasn't worth the extra money. Plus going up and down the stairs was more of an inconvenience, esp. since they were the spiral kind.

5/20/2013 11:35:54 AM

^ yep. Those stairs were a bitch after you'd been drinking all night. We mostly used the downstairs when we were waiting for the fruit, cheese and cracker platters that we ordered from room service like 2 times a day. I think the loft suites are one of the cheaper options for butler service though, right?

Anyway, if we ever go back to a Sandals anywhere else, I'm picking the cheapest room with a butler for sure.

[Edited on May 20, 2013 at 11:42 AM. Reason : room service]

5/20/2013 11:41:25 AM

The cheapest room with a butler for 6 nights is $4821 at the St Lucia La Toc resort. That's after the one free night, the $355 airfare credit and includes taxes, etc.

You add in 2 round trip flights and I'm looking at almost $7000.

I feel like I could definitely piece together a honeymoon for less than that and still go to St Lucia or another awesome tropical place. I guess I'm being cheap but damn 7000 would do good things for wifey's student loans.

Help talk me into throwing all this cash at this thing.

5/20/2013 10:36:09 PM

yah that seems a tad excessive ...

5/21/2013 3:14:46 AM

Yeah, Sandals isn't cheap, but you're getting 6 nights, I'm not sure how much mine was, but they were running like a 45% off deal or something at the time and I got a free upgrade to the Butler service with the promotion, that's how I ended up going with the Butler service. But we also only did a 4-night stay.

So yeah, you're looking at about $7,000 for a full week. I'd recommend pricing around to other resorts to see if you can find something for a better price, but take into account the amenities and all-inclusive aspect. You can usually find cheaper options, but it really is based on what you want.

If you're looking for a honeymoon filled with excursions and sight-seeing, I don't think Sandals is really the best bang for your buck. If you're looking for more R&R with the occasional excursion or activity, then it might be.

There are quite a few free things to do on the resort grounds to entertain yourself during the day and at night, but if you're looking to do some type of "off site activity" each day, then you're not really getting your money's worth at Sandals and I'd recommend looking elsewhere.

We really wanted like 90% R&R and 10% seeing the sights/excursions. So we could take advantage of all the alcohol and food throughout the day and participate in various activities and stuff. Plus the all-inclusive and taking care of everything was a nice touch. Enjoyed that they had my flight stuff taken care of for me, than we had a Sandals welcome center on arrival with food and alcohol, and that they took care of getting us to and from the airport to our destination. Plus the staff was very nice and friendly, and you can't tip so I never felt like it was insincere and just tip-driven.

But when looking at other resorts to price-compare, I would definitely check to see if they allow singles/kids, because that was one huge perk of Sandals for me.

I can't try and talk you into spending $7000, because I know that's a lot of money for one vacation, but I went into my honeymoon with the mindset of, "I'm doing this once, and I want it to be memorable and great." And it was, and it was at Sandals. And even though I dropped a lot of money on it, I would do it again, and plan to go back at some point.

5/21/2013 8:44:36 AM

Sandals Montego Bay is nice, my wife and I honeymooned there. Also, Sumfest http://www.reggaesumfest.com/ is July 21. Even if you dont like reggae it would be an eye opening cultural experience. They also have tours / activities. We swam with sharks and went mudding on ATVs.

6/3/2013 12:53:30 AM

Quote :

"The cheapest room with a butler for 6 nights is $4821 at the St Lucia La Toc resort. That's after the one free night, the $355 airfare credit and includes taxes, etc. You add in 2 round trip flights and I'm looking at almost $7000. I feel like I could definitely piece together a honeymoon for less than that and still go to St Lucia or another awesome tropical place. I guess I'm being cheap but damn 7000 would do good things for wifey's student loans. Help talk me into throwing all this cash at this thing. "

So you're saying the flights would be $1000/person? Geez. Unless you're talking first class, that's a little absurd.

6/3/2013 10:18:07 AM

Just got back from Couples Tower Isle in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

It was as good as, if not better, than Sandals Antigua. I think the resort sponsored entertainment was better, I think the food was 10x better, the staff was friendlier and most importantly, it was cheaper. And maybe the entertainment at Sandals in Jamaica is different from Antigua. We liked the age range at Sandals better. Tower Isle also had a Piano bar where they served Heineken and the wife loved the Martini's. It didn't feel like a club like the English Pub in Antigua did, but they were certainly comparable. There's also the option of topless/nude sunbathing at Couples. Didn't participate, but hey, if that's your thing then by all means. Honestly, the only thing at Sandals that I liked more, other than the age range, was the snorkeling.

Couples also gave us more free shit to do. We went to Dunn's River Falls, which was awesome. Catamaran Cruise and a few other things. We heard the shopping trip was sketchy and Margaritaville felt like you could get robbed at any point, so we avoided those. But that's part of Jamaica.

No kids are allowed at Couples, either. But the age range was certainly different from Sandals. I'd say we saw some people in their 60's, while the oldest people we saw Sandals was probably 45.

We also went to Couples San Souci for a day, which is a bad ass resort. It's a lot bigger, more tranquil of a resort, but there is a lot of walking to do around there. The wife didn't like it nearly as much as Tower Isle, but they're different resorts.

6/3/2013 8:43:42 PM

So I went to a travel agent (maupin for inquiring minds) and they got a ridiculous discount. We booked it and can't wait now.

6/6/2013 10:43:45 AM

^^that sounds like a great trip.

6/23/2013 11:12:52 PM

Late to the party, but are there circumstances where the butlers will accept tips?

10/12/2014 6:35:15 PM

we tipped ours throughout, we heard some people say they waited until the end.

It was our understanding that butlers were the only ones that were even supposed to accept tips

10/12/2014 7:41:47 PM

Butlers are indeed the only ones who are allowed to take tips. I believe you can tip either way you'd like, but we had 2 butlers throughout the week, and we just left a tip for both. Seemed easier that way, plus I didn't often carry cash on me when at the resort.

10/13/2014 8:41:00 AM

We tipped ours at the end.

10/13/2014 9:52:31 AM

Planning my 10 year. Anyone have any recent experiences? I know they have updated alot of the resorts.

Looking to go to Whitehouse( South Coast now)?

Anyone stayed at any other All Inclusive resorts beside the big ones Couples,Sandals etc?

3/30/2017 11:46:10 AM

We stayed in the Excellence in Cancun last year and had zero complaints, I loved every minute. I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did (I previously had been on 8 cruises and thought I would prefer cruises). We went to Excellence because my friends had done Excellence resorts 4 times previously and pushed hard for us to do it again.

3/30/2017 1:53:20 PM

We did the Excellence Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) a couple years ago for 4 days and it was very nice, except for the food. That may have to do with being on an island, or maybe we were just unlucky, or maybe they don't care too much about food, idk. Everything else was great.

We also did Secrets Silversands Cancun a few months ago for 10 days. It's not quite as nice as far as the actual resort, but it was a little cheaper, and the food was better.

3/30/2017 5:10:17 PM

Another vote for Excellence both Cancun and Playa Mujeres. Going back for a 3rd time at the end of the month. We love it.

[Edited on April 3, 2017 at 10:57 AM. Reason : .]

4/3/2017 10:56:24 AM