Is Sandals worth it?
 

I am planning a Honeymoon for Feb. 2003. I prefer to stay at a high-end resort in the Caribbean but my fiance is pushing for Sandals (Antigua or St. Lucia). It seems to be the exact opposite of what I am looking for. <BR><BR>Am I going to be miserable if I give in???

Stick to your guns. If you do any web surfing, you will find that Sandals and Atlantis generate more negative reviews than any other resorts in the Caribbean. They are over-priced and cheesy, but travel agents make a great commission on them.

We stayed at Sandals Inn Montego Bay Jamaica last year had a good time but I was so glad that I did not pay the price of the Royal Caribbean or Sandals Montego Bay. The beaches, food and service are good but you pay a price that should provide a superior vacation experience. Not alot of bank for the buck. We spent the majority of our time at the Sandals Montego Bay because it was more lively. There are far nicer resorts in the Caribbean for alot less money. You wouldn't be miserable you will just feel ripped off.Karen

How about a compromise?<BR><BR>Sandals have bought the Hyatt Regency in St Lucia and are opening it in autumn this year. It will be called the Sandals Grande St Lucian.<BR><BR>Although I can't confirm it until it opens I think it will be the top-end Sandals resort in St Lucia as the Hyatt Regency was very expensive and therefore I think the rooms and facility will be to a very high standard.<BR><BR>Because it hasn't opened yet we were able to get a very attractive deal for our 1 week stay.<BR><BR>We have booked to go in April 2003 for our silver wedding.<BR><BR>Enjoy whatever you decide.

We have been to many Sandals and really, we have enjoyed all our stays and found food and service tobe very good but it is not for everyone and especially if youare looking for a higher end resort. While Sandals has a high price tag, it is the luxury of not having a care in the world and the name that you are paying food. Food is very good but not gourmet. Top suites are very nice, particularily at Sandals St. Lucia and Antigua but they are very costly.<BR><BR>Sandals Antigua is a laid back, beautiful resort. Grounds are lovely - very lush and tropical. It is very romantic in atmosphere, ona beautiful, long beach with calm waters. Very casual and comfortable.<BR><BR>Sandals St.Lucia is much larger, grander and more spread out. There are tonos of diining choices, a poor beach but very impressive pool. <BR><BR>Sandals does have playmakers that run all the activites but there is no push to participate. Evening entertainment is always good.<BR><BR>Middle road for you two would be Beaches Royal Plantation in Jamaica, which is considered the top resort in the chain and I agree with the last post, one the newer Sandals in St.Lucia. It is supposed to be beautiful and more upscale. There is also a new more intimate and luxurious Sandals opening also in Jamaica that you might want to look into - not sure when it is supposed to open.<BR><BR>

You will not be miserable if you give in but, you will NOT be satisfied.<BR>Let your soon to be wife read the posts.<BR>Stick to your guns and plan something that will blow her mind, because sandals will not.

I personally think Sandals is a poor value for your money. Sandals has high-end advertising and uses glossy pictures (airbrushed), boasts premium liquor when its not, has average food (not gourmet), and average rooms. Will you have a good time? maybe. Can you get much better for your money? Absolutely. Again both Sandals And Atlantis have the most people going but they also get the most negative reviews which may or may not tell you something. Remember Travel Agents work on commission and push them hard. Nothing wrong with that but alot of people are swayed by that and the slick advertising. Good luck on your choice but if your here researching beforehand you'll see many, many posts suggesting a different idea or recommendation which is the purpose of these websites. Good Luck on both your marriage and your honeymoon!

If you already know that Sandals is the exact opposite of what you're looking for, don't go. You won't be happy. Opt for a luxury resort that gets consistently good reviews.

Just returned from two-weeks at the Sandals Halcyon. Given that it was our first trip to the Caribbean and we didn't know quite what to expect, it was a good way for us to go. <BR><BR>Would we go back to another Sandals? Probably not. We found that we had paid five-star prices for a three-star experience. The rooms were good, not great. The food was good, not great. The alcohol was plentiful, but as other posters have noted, was middle of the road, not premium, e.g. Tanqueray gin not Bombay. That being said, we did enjoy ourselves a lot, although in hindsight, we would have enjoyed ourselves at any number of other resorts on the island as well. <BR><BR>My feelings about the Sandals we were at was that we paid a premium for the stability and structure that the resort offered, which was nice as a first-time Caribbean traveller, but probably isn't worth it for a return visit.

Who wears the pants in your house? If you let her push you around now, she's going to do it for the rest of your life!

I agree with what everyone else here has said for the mostpart. My husband and I were married (and honeymooned) at Sandals Negril. NOT WORTH THE MONEY!!! As someone else said, *** experience with a ***** star price. Our room was very nice and we got upgraded to a 2 floor suite since it was in Sept (1999) and they were not full. The pool was absolutely pitiful. It was soooo small, and if you didn't get out there at 9 or 10 am, you did not get a chair. and then they set up a volleyball net in the pool everyday, so all the men played volleyball and there was no room to be in the pool to relax. In addition, those nice little Sandals floats you see people on in all the ads......yeah, Negril had 5 total for teh entire resort!!!! You had to be a vulture to get a float. They messed up my wedding (one person to do 4 women's hair), causing it to be 2.5 hrs late, causing us to miss sunset and have no pictures at the beach b/c it was too dark. The food for our wedding dinner was HORRIBLE. We had the worst surf and turf ever. They put mayonaise on little sandwhiches for our reception, after i specifically asked them not to. The food overall was very mediocre, and all had a Jamaican feel to it, which I did not care for. It got boring being at the same resort for a whole week. I would definitely NOT recommend.

Brandy,<BR>I'm sorry that Sandals Negril messed up your wedding. I can't imagine anything worse but I have one question. You said the food all "had a Jamaican feel to it that I did not care for". Honey, you did choose to get married in Jamaica didn't you? What did you think you were going to get?

All im going to say is we Love Sandals and go every year. email me if you like or have any ?'s. Sandals St.Lucia is one of our favorite.

Kim also touts Atlantis highly. <BR>I see a pattern here. Atlantis , Sandals, Dollywood, Myrtle Beach....

<BR>Peggy - what exactly is your problem?<BR><BR>From what I can see Kim's post was totally on-topic and addressed the question posed by Steve at the top of the thread.<BR><BR>Just because you don't agree there is no need to try to belittle her opinion (it makes YOU look petty and foolish).

I can't help it sometimes.<BR>My husband, Al, is a poorly paid shoe salesman who has no taste whatsoever and he forces me to go to all these places which the beautiful people (like me) avoid.<BR>My kids, Bud and Kelly, are socially extreme and a huge disappointment. I can't take them anywhere.<BR>Kelly is a floozy who attracts drunk guys like flies to crap.<BR>Bud is a spineless voyeur.<BR>

What is your fiance's reason? If you scuba dive everyday, Sandals will cover that for you. It can get really expensive to do so elsewhere. If your only interest, however, is laying around the pool, you can do that anywhere. St. Lucia has a very bad beach and is not top of the line in anyway. Antigua, on the other hand, is worth the money.

Trish: the times we were at sandals (6days ea) we got to scuba dive 1 time do to reservations already taken, don't expect to scuba dive but maybe 1 time during your stay or you might be dissapointed.

Its pretty bad when people like so called Peggy has to pretend whom she is in order to post on this board. get a life and you know what they say about opinions. Please next time you post your REAL name whould be nice. Sorry never been to Dollywood or Myrtle Beach and have no fondness to go there.

Ramjet,<BR>A knowledgeable Travel Agent would not push Sandals. I am a Certified Sandals Specialist, because client want you to know what you are selling.<BR>I however only book Sandals, after telling the cient I think they are overpriced and not as good as many other AI's.<BR>Any agent who pushs something solely on price is a bad agent.<BR>I want my customers to book with me year after year for life, this I provide them the best Value for Dollar.<BR>Most good, successful agents with a high margin of repeat customers, who get a lot of referrals believe as I do.<BR>Look for an agent that is a Caribbean Specialist. Ask if they have been to the island, stayed at the hotel and etc.<BR><BR>Steve, <BR>You might like the Hilton Jaloise better, or better still Ladera.

If your interest is in high-end, then you will be disappointed with the cliche offerings of Sandals. It pretends to be sophisticated, but you can expect a bunch of yahoos with beer bellies who think they're at the Ritz. I suggest you give it a wide berth and aim for a well-known resort with some history behind it.<BR>We aren't aficianados of Antigua or St. Lucia, preferring the low-key atmosphere of Virgin Gorda or Tortola, but you can do better than Sandals any day of the week. Sandals is tacky. Forget the ads.

I also have stayed at the Jaloise Hilton and i felt this resort was very over priced. I did not think it was worth the money we spent.

Steve -- Why does your fiance push for Sandals? Is it the "all inclusive" experience of having all meals & activities included without having to leave, or buy dinner? If so, there are plenty of high end places that have all-inclusive options without the extreme cheesiness of Sandals. Since you mentioned Antigua and St. Lucia, Jumby Bay on Antigua and Ladera (very romantic) on St. Lucia come to mind. Also, Caneel Bay, Little Dix Bay, Biras Creek, Petit St. Vincent (that last one is in the Grenadines) Take your fiance to one of those resorts and you will never hear the word 'Sandals' out of her again.

Travel Professional: Correct me if I am wrong but I thought Sandals offered more incentives such as free stays and other spiffs? Thank you for I am sure you take your job seriously and with respect toward your clients but I have met a lot of travel agents otherwise...

I think what Travel Professional is saying is that he/she has a broad perspective on things, sees that Sandals is perfect for some people but not for people looking for a higher end experience. Thus, if the client isn't happy with the first trip he/she books, they won't be back for a second try.<BR>A good travel pro looks for what makes the client happy. More important than making one sale, even if the commission is big, is having repeat clients, which assures many future sales. Plus, once you know a client's tastes, it's easier to book a trip they'll be happy with.<BR><BR>Given Travel Pro's comments, I'd bet he/she wouldn't be all that interested in the comps from Sandals. I'm sure they're not the only comps available.

If I were you I would look into going to Casa de campo in the Dominican Republic. The web site is www.casadcampo.com. My husband and I went for our two year anniversary and had a fabulous time. Beautiful beach, two golf course, tennis facility, horseback riding facility, spa and skeet shooting. It is an all inclusive but very high end. We went at the beginning of December and our travel agent got us a great deal including air fare for $1500 each including everything from airfare to room to food and drinks and golf for seven days. There are also nine resturants ranging from Mexican to Italian to French. Hope this may help.

Sandals is owned by thesame personwho owns the Beaches chain. Can't speak for Sandals but I sure do wish I had listened to all the negative comments about the place before I went there. It's ALL TRUE!! Medicore service, average liquor (Absolute rather than true top shelf Grey Goose), so-so food with lots of buffet style dining, surly service, limited equipment for snorkeling, floats, etc., scuba is a joke (9 to 18 slots available for a resort that holds thousands), the plunge pools in Turks and Caicos is filthy with green slime growing in it (worse than a bird bath). The list can go on and on. If by what I am reading Sandals has comparable problems, I certainly would book elsewhere. Check out the Fodors Rants and Raves-Hotels for opinions about Sandals/Beaches. Sure wish I had before I spent by hard earned $$$$$ on such a place.

Just returned on the 10th from beaches negril. before I went i had read all these post on jamaica,negril,ocha rios etc. I was actually worried walking out the door with some of the stuff i had read. We had a wonderful time,scuba diving we got 4 dives in after our certification and 3 were fantastic dives, the first was ok but because of some idiots it was cut short for safety. The food was great,may not meet some peoples expectations though these same people would be hard to satisfy anywhere. it is jamaica! The pool (they were two) was 150' length (had to swim it 6 laps from end to end for certification)and 90-120' in width w/nice swim up bar.over 30 floaters and never was a problem getting one. The rooms were all we needed, no they were not 5 star but that was the reason for going to jamaica which is not over influenced by commercialization. It was worth the money for us. If you are looking for 5 star hotels with the ritz then cancun may be what you are after. your vacation/honeymoon will be what you make of it. Seen 4 wedding while there and they all seemed very happy to be where they were. good luck

But other than that, dtour, how did you like it?

Those were the good points

ttt

"The rooms were all we needed, no they were not 5 star but that was the reason for going to jamaica which is not over influenced by commercialization"<BR><BR>tony,<BR>I find that statement really ironic as you picked what is probably the most commercialized chain in Jamaica to stay in. If you really wanted something not overly influenced by commercialization wouldn't a small hotel or possibly locally owned inn be more appropriate?

Patty: You hit the nail on the head with that one. What the hell was he thinking?

Stupid broad says that<BR>"The food overall was very mediocre, and all had a Jamaican feel to it, which I did not care for. " Well, Jeez, you dumb broad you WERE IN JAMAICA weren't you eh? God you people are so asinine it hurts my eyes to read this crap.

Yes it is so funny to read these nit picking posts....these people should just vacation at the local Motel 6 and shut up their cry baby mouths....this really pisses me off