Sandals Reviews

We stayed at sandals antigua from the 11th to the 18th of May this year, before going to the BVI for a week, it was our 20th wedding anniversay.We booked with kuoni and travelled with BA upon arrival one of our cases did not turn up for 3 days which was a bit inconvienient. We booked a grand luxe beachfront concierge room in the caribbean village side.The room was ok but nothing to write home about the minbar was good as was the bottle of champagne we had every night.One minor point that annoyed us was that the room should have had robes supplied, at the meeting on the first day several people pointed this out and the concierge said he would see to it 3 days later with 3 phone calls still no robes it is the little thing like this that you remember .The location of the room was the best thing it overlooked the beach and the pool for this block of rooms.The pool was great hardly every anybody there and if you wanted the beach you just walked through a gate.We went to most of the restaurants apart from the cricketers.They were all ok but again nothing speacial, you always seemed a bit rushed especially in the Japanese.We did the candlelight meal on the beach which was good. We used the spa for a double massage which was expensive but I would recommend as it was very relaxing. All in all we enjoyed the hotel but for the money you pay I think you expect a little bit more.

On first reaching Sandals we were greeted with a welcomed refreshing face towel and a cool drink of our choice. We were then informed that we had been given a free upgrade, whether this wass because we are Signature guests or not I am unsure!! However, we were very pleased with the upgraded room which was very clean, spacious and has an awesome view. The mini bar was very well stocked although re-stocking sometimes did NOT happen and on several ocassions we had to phone for drinks and also sugar, coffee etc. The service itself was definately on go SLOW. We felt that due to the new building etc and the increase of rooms the Staffing levels were very inadequate and certainly not trained to the "usual" Sandals standard. Waiting times for Breakfast, a Pizza and The Beach restaurant was too long and became annoying. The restaurants themselves were good and the food was nice but again booking a table was a pain in the A*** and in the end we gave up on the 2nd week. The pool area was very nice but if you were not down at the crack of dawn the beds were taken, there were not enough beds or Shaded areas on the beach and some beach sellers were ok but others were too persistant and became rude. Beware the Aloe Doctor Man as he ripped us off and was not a very nice person. The beach itself was clean and the sea pleasant but not very clear if you want to snorkel.

It seems to be a bit strange that many of the poor reviews for Sandals Antigua have gone missing. We went on a wedding/honeymoon in March last year and it was awfull. We did get some money back for our troubles and persistant complaints but it will never replace the awful memories that will stick with us forever. When we got back I was told about this website and there were lots of poor reviews for Sandals in Antigua, they would have put me off from going and with good reason as I eventually found to my horror.

Now they have all gone missing???????

I kept a copy of them but they will not fit on the allocated space on this page. I have attached some phrases from them though.

Sandals - Antigua Operator and Date: nov 2006

Opinion submitted in December 2006 by : mandy and mark 34, 35

Resort Rating: Poor

Accommodation Rating: Poor

My/Our Holiday Opinion: this place is a dive to say the least. we booked to have a wedding and honeymoon here what mistake!! the furniture in all areas is shabby and stained. this is a classic 5 star hotel more like a 2 or a3 star and thats being kind. building is on going and can be heard from 7am till 6pm so dont expect a lay in. please look at all other hotels before choosing this one. Book this Hotel Direct Package Holidays Holidays Direct Last Minute Sandals - Antigua Operator and Date: (Virgin Direct) Virgin Holidays - August 2005

Opinion submitted in May 2006 by : Tracy & Richard - London (44, 42)

Resort Rating: Good

Accommodation Rating: Poor

My/Our Holiday Opinion: We arrived in Antigua after a 5 hour delay, consequently this meant we arrived late evening rather than the afternoon. Tired and rather deflated after journey we took to our beds. We were woken at 7.30am by machinery noise. When opening the front door, we were horrified to discover that we were adjacent to a building site! This continued throughout the week from 7.30am to 5.00pm (not Sunday). We were more than happy to pay for a further upgrade but were apparently in an upgraded apartment already. Having been shown the room we would have had, which were shabby to say the least and were definitely in need of refurbishment, not what we would have expected from the 'Honeymoon grand deluxe suite' that we originally booked. Customer service were very dismissive and extremely unhelpful. The Bay View restaurant was incredibly filthy and unhygienic. Constant visitors included Gulls, Lizards, Ants and Blac

Having read the reviews on this site we were a bit aprehensive and our initial thoughts were that we agreed it lacked the 'wow' factor. In fact this was most people's opinion at the welcome meeting.

However, the more the holiday went on, the more we discovered we had choosen a perfect location for our honeymoon. We were upgraded to concierge service, but to be honest that didn't really make much of a difference except we had a fully stocked mini bar. Our room was adequate (we had good air conditioning) but it was towards the back of the resort so we didn't have much of a view.

The food in the OK Corral was not fantastic but it was OK, the Italian was our favorite. The lunch buffet in the Bay was very good. We are not Japanese food lovers so we only tried this once towards the end but it was great. We had Dr Love and he was very entertaining.

Water Sports were great, and the entertainment wasn't bad at all. The staff were very friendly and very helpful.
You must do the 'Sandals only Treasure Island' boat trip on the Friday - we had a fantastic time. Don't bother to go to St John's we were bored after half an hour.

The vendors on the beach were not much hassle at all but there were no umbrellas available and neither was there waiter service so you had to get your own drinks (this is where the husbands came in handy!). Most couples were on honeymoon so the atmosphere was great and we met loads of new friends - even went to 2 weddings. The spa is very nice but a bit pricy. The grounds in Sandals are kept immaculate but there was building work going on. Don't be fooled by the word 'ultra' it doesn't mean luxury it just means watersports and premium drinks included.

However, the place grows on you and we couldn't have wished for a better honeymoon.

We booked this holiday on the internet back in February 2003 after returning from a Sandals holiday in Jamaica - Virgin were knocking £600 off of online bookings which is a hefty chunk out of a £5,000 holiday.

Our holiday costs included cheap National Express coach tickets (£44 return from Bristol to Gatwick instead of £71) and passes for the Virgin Clubhouse Executive Lounge at Gatwick (£20 each).

First of all, *do* prebook the Clubhouse. We arrived at Gatwick almost four hours before our flight was due and were informed that there was an hour delay because of industrial action by baggage handlers. We just went and whiled away the time in the Clubhouse being served excellent food and lots of alcohol, reading newspapers and my wife went and had a manicure, pedicure and her hair done! Internet access and local and national phone calls are all included in the price as well.......the Clubhouse is definitely a mandatory requirement for anyone booking a Virgin holiday.

The staff in the Clubhouse certainly couldn't have been more welcoming and friendly.

The flight to Antigua takes 8 hours but this flies by as Virgin Atlantic planes have individual television screens for every passenger with 8 video channels. My wife watched Love Actually which, she tells me, has only just been released in cinemas here.

Upon arrival in Antigua, expect the customary Caribbean delays whilst going through passport control. We were there about an hour, nothing rushes or flusters the Customs people out there, they are very laid back - it's just frustrating when you've been up for hours and just want to get to your hotel.

Transfer time from airport to hotel is 15 minutes, exactly as quoted in Virgin's brochures.

The hotel itself isn't a patch on the Sandals one in Dunns River falls, Jamaica and I would think it's probably due for some renovation fairly soon.

Our room (in the Flamboyant section of the complex) was about 50 feet from the service/delivery entrance and one side of the front of the room contains just wooden slats and a mozzie net, no glass! This is common in all of the rooms in this block and it does mean that unless you have earplugs (which, thankfully, Virgin provide in their holiday pack) you won't get much sleep as delivery vehicles are coming and going all night.

We know of at least four couples in the block who asked to be moved to a quieter part of the hotel.

The beaches in Antigua are public which means you will be approached the moment you set foot on it by people selling you horseback rides etc etc. It's not a major deal but more of a nuisance, especially at 7a.m when you fancy an early morning stroll along the beach before breakfast....hassle at 7a.m on a holiday is not what you need, we all get enough of that at home!

We had a strange letter pushed through our door halfway through the holiday....apparently, Sandals were overbooked and so they were asking for volunteers to fly to the Sandals resort in St Lucia to finish their holiday off there! We thought about it and then decided against as we'd probably lose a day of our holiday travelling.

There are plenty of things to do on the complex although we did wonder how people staying on non all-inclusive resorts managed as there is very little to see and do in Antigua, it certainly is a relax-in-the-sun-and-do-nothing type of place. We did a shopping trip to St Johns on the Saturday but within an hour you're through!

The locals are probably the friendliest people anywhere, we wandered around and didn't feel intimidated at all.

There are four restaurants on the Sandals complex serving Japanese, SouthWest US, Italian and a Bayside diner. All except the Bayside have to be prebooked which is a pain although the food in all of them is excellent.

There are several wild cats that wander around the Bayside diner, particularly at breakfast time.......this didn't bother us but it may concern others.

I would say the hotel guests were probably 60% British and 40% USA/Canadian......the Yanks have an annoying tendency to be loud, of course, but you get used to it. Almost all of the British guests were young people getting married on the complex.

One final recommendation - if you're going to book a taxi, make sure you ask the resort to book a firm called Willie's Cabs. Taxi prices on the island are Government regulated (so, theoretically, you should never get ripped off although we were warned that it does happen) and a return fare from Sandals to St Johns is fixed at $14US. My wife had to visit a doctor in St Johns as her eye was playing up.......Willie took us into St John's, waited around for her to be examined etc etc (over an hour), then took us to a pharmacy to pick up the prescription (another 25 minutes) and then, when I told him I was interested in cricket, took us on a detour to have a look at the Antigua Recreation Ground before taking us back to our resort.

How much? Not a penny more than the standard fare of $14US!! We must have taken up two hours or more of his time and he didn't expect any more for it......try that with a taxi driver in England!

When we asked him about all the waiting around he'd done for us he simply said ";the lady's eye needed looking at, her sight's important, it's no problem";. What a gent! We gave him a massive tip as he could have ripped us off big time but he didn't.

An excellent holiday all in all but we'll probably try another Caribbean island next year......if all you want to do is lounge around the pool then Antigua is for you but after ten days of doing that we were ready for home.