My Wife and I will be taking our long delayed Honeymoon to The Bahamas in about two weeks and we're staying at The Royal Bahamian in Nassau on the private Sandals Resort. Just curious if anyone has ever been to a Sandals and if they had any suggestions or reviews for me. I've already laid down the money, so I'm locked in now either way. It's just exciting and pretty much all I can think about. It's the only thing keeping me getting through work each day right now. Anyone ever been to any of the Sandals locations?
Yeah, I read a lot of those to decide which location to go to. The Bahamas ones have overwhelmingly better reviews than the others. We were originally planning to go to Jamaica before I visited that site.
I've never been to the one in the Bahamas, but I've been to the one in St. Lucia and Antigua. I haven't actually stayed there but b/c I live in the Caribbean but I usually visit friends who are staying at those places. Overall these places are very nice. It's perfect for couples and usually they only allow couples at these places. Almost every time I have been there some sort of celebrity is at these resorts. I've seen people like Usher, Kobe, Jay Paul, Carrie Underwood, Kenyon Martin, Will Smith, Alonzo Mourning amongst others at these places. If you ask the staff which celebrity is there at the moment, you can probably get a nice picture out of it at the end of the day.
Wife and I have been to St. Lucia twice (honeymoon and 5-year). All-inclusive and loved it both times (stayed at Halycon and Grande St. Lucian). Also had the option of enjoying all 3 resorts there. Pros - Restaurants were great. Rooms and staff were great. Lots of activities. Golf course was great. Unlimited food/drink. Cons - Wish I never left.
Chuck, did you book through Sandals.com or elsewhere (travel agent, orbitz, etc)? Just curious to see if you were able to find any deals. Fiancee and I will be honeymooning next summer and I'm leaning heavily toward the Bahamas as well.
My wife and actually went to Jamaica also and we loved it. unfortunately, because of a mistake of the airlines, our honeymoon was cut short. I was PISSED. We really liked the restaurants, the beach was amazing and the employees were unbelievably nice. I would suggest it completely. We also did some of the extra curricular activities on the island. That got a little expensive, but it was still a lot of fun. We went on a little tour of island, did the zipline thing, had a horseback ride and swam with dolphins which was way cool.
I went straight through Sandals.com. My recommendation is to book your reservation during the Fall or Winter (Not your actual trip, but the reservation). They have all kinds of deals like "Companion flies free" and "1 free night on a 7 day stay." Booked in October, so we got a free night and free airfare one way for one of us. And an early congratulations on your Wedding!
Me and my wife went to the Sandals Golf Resort in St. Lucia. It was really nice, but there were some cons: -We had some hamburgers that did not taste like beef. -The liquor, while totally free, was really watered down. -There were only 2 types of beer, Heineken and something called 'Piton' beer(a local beer). -There is a different themed food every evening at the main building...we went to the chinese food night; it was horrible. -They had a basketball court, but no basketball to loan out. (WTF) Probably some other stuff too I can't remember because it was 8 years ago. Overall I had a great time...it was beautiful and there were some really great places to eat even though some weren't so great. I would probably go again given the chance.
The wife and I have been to the Sandals in Nassau and St. Lucia. We enjoyed both resorts. My only complaint is that they will serve you watered down drinks, if you let them. Easy to remedy, just go to the bar yourself and talk to the bar tender. Sandals also runs family resorts (under the moniker Beaches?) and we may check them out again in the next few years.
That's what I've read. Just ask them to make it stronger and they will. And all the reviews I've read of the Bahamas said they've got a pretty large beer selection.
Also, take about 100 1 dollar bills and tip them for each round. And once you find a good bartender who takes care of you, ask him where he's working the next night. Nothing worse than building a relationship with a bartender, then not being able to find him the next night.