Lisa1271

Regarding the kiddy question. We too had traveled to 7 Sandals before finding Paradisus. We have traveled to Paradisus Costa Rica and Punta Cana and loved them both. And the price was about 1/2 of what you woudl pay at Sandals. And although Paradisus is not adults only, we found no problems with rowdy kids running about. Just as a FYI: my husband and I are 40's and early 60's with no children so my tolerance level is pretty low.
Check out me trip report here and if you have any questions, drop me a line.
Lisa S

Knowing

We have done both AI's and non AI's. It sounds like this particular vacation may need to be an AI for you. We have done several of the Sandals - our favorite being Antigua. Nice, but smaller rooms, great daily buffet breakfast as well as other meals. The spa treatments are extra, but sometimes it's worth a little extra for a facial. We also have stayed at Wyndham Sugar Bay in St. Thomas and liked that as well. Easy to get to and the rooms all have great views. They have a wonderful grill right by the pool for hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches and potato chips as well as their restaurants. Very nice at lunchtime.

ejcrowe

Thank you for the vote of confidence, MarionCK. The feeling is mutual.

Bettycrocker: If you and your husband would like a lowkey vacation filled with good service, good food, and lazy pursuits such as swimming, snorkeling, finding a quiet place to read, Long Bay Hotel on Antigua might be a good place for you. It's a small resort with about 18 rooms and 5 cottages, with a good mix of US and British clientele. Very good value overall, as the price of the room also includes water sports, breakfast & dinner, taxes & gratuities for two people. It's a secluded location on a peninsula with water on two sides of the resort. The hotel rooms provide the best breezes and great views of the bay (about 10 feet away). The rooms all have a private balcony and are a decent size, but the bathrooms leave a bit to be desired. The cottages give you much more space and privacy and a full kitchen if you'd like to save money by doing a little self-catering. (Or you can take leftovers home from dinner for lunch the next day and store them in the frige.) If you go in January after New Year's week, but well before Presidents' Week in February, you have a little bargaining power for rates. You won't get off-season rates during that time, but you might get a little money knocked off since it's a down period during the high season. Check out the website at www.longbayhotel.com or read some reviews on tripadvisor. PLease let me know if you have any specific questions.

actran

Royal Hideaway - To Die For.

Kimberly

I am a Sandals Returnee of 8 times, all of our stays have been super. We just booked our Feb stay of 2 weeks at the New Sandals Whitehouse Resort with 4 other couples whom are also returnees.
Sandals St.Lucia Golf & Spa resort has been our favorite. If you have any ?'s about the resorts feel free to email me.

zainab

I have heard great things about the Ritz Carlton all inclusive in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The service and the food is supposedly fantastic!

windsurfer

Sandals Grande St. Lucian - awesome vacation!

psychmesu

Have you looked into the Couples resorts in Jamaica? From what I understand they are more reasonably priced than Sandals and include excursions (that you have to pay for at Sandals). I believe Couples Negril and Couples Swept Away Negril are well reviewed on tripadvisor.com.

kbean

I see that the overall idea here is that AI's aren't all they are cracked up to be.

The thing is that my fiance and I have NEVER been anywhere tropical... well we've never been on vacation period, unless you count trecking over to the other side of Lake Michigan for a weekend...

We never get to travel, so I was thinking that an AI would be great for us, because of this reason. We are not sure how resourceful we would be on our own trying to find stuff to do.

I like the idea of being able to waterski... and a swim up bar... or being waited on while on the beach.

But on the flip side, we have 'advanced palates' if you will. So when people say all these negative things about the food, that is the one downer.

I love the Westin for it's heavenly bed and great service, but seriously, would we be better off finding a Westin in the Caribbean and doing that than say... staying at a Sandals in Jamaica?

Another thing about Sandals is that we want to get hitched on the beach when we do go on this vacation and Sandals sounds very accomodating... unlike Mexico. (Big pain to get married in Mexico)

Any suggestions?

benj

kbean,

If you like the bed & breakfast aspect & want a beach wedding without staying in a true resort then check out Moon Dance Villas in Negril Jamiaca. They do weddings & each villa has its own pool & you have a cook & bartender assigned to your villa. I have seen several great recent reviews of it at www.tropictravelonline.com.

ejcrowe

kbean: I doubt that with your "advanced palates" that you and your fiance(e) would be happy at any Sandals or any other typical AI resort. However, if you just want to plop down at the beach and get waited on, and not worry about venturing off the resort, there are lots of nice places that offer meals plans and all inclusive options without being an AI per se. Blue Waters on Antigua is a nice place that comes to mind. It consistently gets great reviews, it's intimate and gracious, and you could get the AI plan staying there.

Although I have witnessed a lovely wedding at Sandals Antigua, I would not overall recommend a Sandals for a destination wedding. When my husband and I got married in Antigua last year, we met about 8 other couples from Sandals who were all getting married on the same day as we were--I couldn't imagine getting married on the same day as that many couples without feeling like part of an assembly line.

There are other AI places like Jumby Bay resort off the coast of Antigua, or Royal Hideaway in the Mayan riviera, that are several cuts above a typical AI--you might also want to check one of those out if you think that's the way you want to go. Whatever you decide, congrats on your upcoming marriage and know that a Caribbean wedding can be a wonderful, stress-free way to begin your lives together!

emtravel

our favorite is Grand Lido negril. Gourmet food in their French restaurant Piacere. Been there 4 times .
Also, for spa, LaSource Grenada, also great food.
Unlike other all-inclusives, these are less commerical.

beachedbliss

I agree with Benj. Moondance villas is unbelievable. Hubby and I recently returned from there and all I can say is WOW! I posted about it on another board and if you are interested to read it, heres the link:
http://www.tropictravelonline.com/ub...;f=15;t=000038

beachedbliss

PS. Scroll down to the bottom part of that thread to see my responses to peoples questions.