Just returned from Sandals Halcyon. Visited the Sandals golf resort too. Questions?
 

Just returned. We stayed at one, but visited and used both facilities. All in all a good trip, though we found the food very disappointing. Some was simply cafetaria quality. (Breakfasts were the best meals). They were out of Chardonnay for at least three days at Halcyon. At the Spa/Golf Sandals, the Mexican restaurant was out of guacamole and bacon for at least two days. Seemed like poor planning to me. Lots of odd food combinations too. I think they are trying too hard to appeal to so many different nationalities that they end up with a mediocre hodge-podge of food.

Did you play golf? What was the course like? Is it 18 holes?

Sorry, we didn't play golf. We mostly swam at the Golf Resort. We found the surf at the Golf Resort to be larger and more fun than at Halcyon, if you like body surfing... Definitely visit whichever Sandals you don't stay at. They are very different and both worth seeing and dining at.

We went almost 2 yrs ago for honeymoon and LOVED the Halcyon resort, & found the food VERY good....... I hope things haven't went downhill. We plan on returning someday & I've heard only good things of the resort till now. When we were there, the food was great & plentiful & they never ran out of anything we wanted/needed. At one point (at the buffet restaurant)I ordered a cappacino from waiter -they didn't serve it at the buffet restaurant but he went out of his way to go to the italien restaurant & get me 1. Great service & nice people when we were there. Sorry you weren't happy with SAndals.

Liz, We are going to Golf in May. I have been in alot of travel forums (TOO MANY) and negative feedback (TOO MANY) there is but I have not read anything about the food. Was is all restaurants that you found? Which restaurants did you dine in? How did you find your accomodations, staff, service, beach, pools, etc.? Is this your first Sandals and/or St. Lucia trip. My travel agent told me to stay out of these forums because I am driving myself crazy, if we have chosen the right island, if we chosen the right resort, things like that, but our agent assures us that we have. Any thoughts would be most appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Trish, Your travel agent is probably right. You can drive yourself crazy second-guessing your choices. All in all, we had a good trip. Maybe my dining standards are too high. We dined at Marios, Bayside, Kimonos (where they were out of saki), the Pier, Arizona, and Pitons. We were going to go to La Toc on our last night but we couldn't motivate ourselves to get dressed up for what I was afraid would be a disappointing meal. The food wasn't bad, it just wasn't anything special, except for the breakfasts, which were very good. The presentation was always pleasing. I had a good green fig soup at the Pier. The chicken was generally good. The service was fine. Water glasses were frequently filled, waiters pull out your chair before you sit, put napkin in your lap, etc., at the fancier restaurants. At Kimonos, the service was poor, the atmosphere very loud. You sit with other couples around a table where the cook prepares the food. Basically, the "chef" just grilled the food in front of us -- nothing fancy or interesting to watch as you may have experienced at Japanese restaurants. This was our first trip to St. Lucia and Sandals. Our room, which I think was just the basic room, was very very nice and comfortable. Most of the staff were really wonderful warm and friendly -- a few couldn't be bothered. The pools are very nice. We went to both resorts and enjoyed the pools. (At Halcyon, if you don't get up early in the morning and put a towel down on chairs by the pool or beach, you will be out of luck. I thought this was odd and competitive, but it didn't bother me.) The beaches were also nice and we enjoyed various watersports. I took a couple of good tennis lessons. I think you'll have a wonderful time, and I might be the minority view on the food. I'd be interested to hear what others have thought about the dining. I hope I answered your questions.

We will be traveling to Halcyon in May for the first time. Did you rent a car or just take tours ? We usually like to explore on our own but I keep reading about the horrible roads. Did you attend the friday Night Jump Up Party in Gros Isle? Thanks for the info.

Didn't attend the party. Did go on a jungle safari to the rainforest. Enjoyed that. I would not rent a car, especially if you are not used to driving on the left side. Really, the roads are curvy and treacherous. I liked the shuttle to the other Sandals because you get to see a little of Castries.

I am reading in alot of other forums about room upgrading upon arrival. Any thoughts on this?

We asked our travel agent to request an upgrade, which he did. I believe our room was one step up from the "lowest" room (the lowest is called Deluxe). I don't even know if this assignment was as a result of an upgrade or not. Regardless, our room was very nice. It was on the second floor and had a vaulted ceiling and a balcony. I didn't really care about a view because we're not interested in sitting on our balcony or looking out the window. Maybe the first floor rooms don't have vaulted ceilings, but I don't know. I personally wouldn't pay more for a "better room." My feeling is if they are full up, you are not going to get an upgrade. They'll give those rooms to whoever will pay. If you aren't going during the busiest time, maybe you'd get one. Sorry if this is a wishy-washy answer -- I just wouldn't count on an upgrade, and I don't think it is that important.