Weddingbee boards

Has anyone ever been to a Sandals resort?

Mike & I want to go for our one year anniversary since we won't have the $ to go immediately after the wedding.

All of the locations look beauuutiful and I'm drooling at my desk right now. LOL.

I was really liking Grande Antigua, but Mike said maybe Royal Bahamian, because we'd save money on the flight. (Flying out of Orlando, FL airport).

Anyone have personal experience? Is it *really* worth the butler level room, or will we not even spend much time in our rooms? Neither of us are cave-dwellers, we will be out and about as long as there are activities going on.

Mind you, I will have to save pretty much the whole year to afford this, but it looks worth it!

I looked into Couples, but I had never heard anything about it until yesterday when I was looking around online.

Good to hear the review, I'll look into it.

Now I need more reviews. :P

Oooh, Thanks Rebecca!

I was wondering about the plunge pools. I liked the idea but I like the idea of being closer to everything (beach, food, lol) better. :)

Wa are going to the Regency La Toc Sandals resort in Saint Lucia for our honeymoon.  I had been to a beaches in Jamaica (same chain of resorts just for famiies) and loved it.  We are going with just a slightly upgraded room that is close to the beach and all the action.  In most cases, the butler rooms with the private pools are far away from the pool/beach/restaurants.  If you are looking for privacy, i think it would be worth it, but if you want to be on the beach everyday, I would just do a regular room close to everything.  All the rooms are the same quality of furnishings, just smaller or bigger.  The free food/drinks/watersports are awesome because once you are there, you dont have to think about money for the entire time.

My husband and I honeymooned at Sandals Antigua last September and had a wonderful time. We stayed in  the brand-new Mediterranean Village area and the rooms were gorgeous. I am super picky about the rooms and the interiors, decor, etc., and was very pleased with what we got. I think I would have been disappointed with the older, smaller rooms in the other section of the resort, from what I saw of them. We did not splurge on the butler service, but saw others who did and knew  that we would feel weird having someone wait on us hand and foot. I loved the all-inclusive nature of the resort and the no-tipping policy - we didn't have to think about money, etc. all week.

I agree with missopie in that it depends on the type of traveller you are and how you envision your vacation. My husband and I wanted a honeymoon where we could relax and rest without feeling pressure to explore our surroundings, and that's exactly what we did! 

My FI is an avid traveler, been to all sandals, taking me to the Regency La Toc St. Lucia for honeymoon.  Booked the premium honeymoon room with ocean view.  With all his travels, he states you are hardly in your room and St. Lucia has 3 Sandals that you can play at all within 15 mins so you get more for your buck.  Tip, use a travel agent, you don't save much $$, but it won't cost anymore either and you get better flights, fly into the airport that's only 30m mins away because the other airport is a looooong bus ride and no fun at all.  Also, I've been told by many many people, no matter where you go, brag that you are on your honeymoon, they seem to cater to you a little more.  We decided against the swim up or the butler rooms as we want to venture out more at the other 3 resorts than just stay in the room.  Have fun where ever you go, but we recommend any Sandals resort.  Ours is in Jan. '09, just before the busy season hits (feb) and after their construction/re-decorating season (oct-dec).  It was a bit cheaper to go in Jan vs. feb-april. 

thanks for the advice, girls! I'm definitely a laid back vacationer. Give me sun, sand, drinks, and watersports and I'm happy!

And thanks, Candi1024 for the advice about tripadvisor. I checked it out today and found a wealth of information, just like you said!

i don't know what i'm doing on weddingbee on the morning of my wedding, but i came across your post. we're going to the sandals grand bahamian for our honeymoon this week and i could tell you how it goes. just send me an email. 

we just had our honeymoon to the sandals in the bahamas and we decided we could have done a lot better for our money. it was fun and it is definitely what you make out of it, but nothing was quite to the caliber in quality that we'd hoped. while there were 9 restaurants, the food wasn't the best. since there is a no tip policy, the service isn't the best either. our rooms were decent, but those who stayed in another older building said the rooms were in poor condition. a lot of the website is misleading because it says it includes a bunch of watersports when in actuality, it does not and you have to go outside sandals to get the experience. we also met a bunch of other couples who seemed to have the same impression as us about the resort - that it was ok... however, one of our good friends had his honeymoon at the sandals in antigua and raved about it. he and his wife had a very different experience, in terms of the crowd that antigua attracted, the food selection, and the service. so, it might just be a difference in location rather than sandals in general that we weren't so happy with. anyhow, i hope this information helps!