Sandals Royal Barbados All Inclusive - Couples Only

Our first experience at sandals was not great. Due to availability of flight times, we landed in Barbados at 5am. The night manager tried kicking us off the property because our reservation was not until 3pm. When we got to our room we immediately discovered that our room butts right up to the surrounding Christ Church neighborhood. We were woken up at 6-6:30-7-7:30 and finally 8am when we could not go back to sleep from the neighboring dogs barking nonstop. The sound echoed throughout our room. This was not the quiet, relaxing, secluded getaway we were looking for. Meals were average, but our first impression with management and staff was unacceptable and left a sour taste in our mouth the rest of the trip. Customer service was no help. Photos attached show the view from our balcony and the neighborhood outside the entrance to our room where 5 dogs live outside. Definitely will not return to Barbados or sandals again after this experience.

Review: Sandals Royal Barbados (February 9-16, 2024) We stayed in the Royal Seaside Crystal Lagoon One Bedroom Oceanview Butler Suite with Balcony Tranquility Soaking Tub (OL1B). The room was lovely, and we had an excellent view of the ocean. Flights: We flew from Toronto with Air Canada. No issues at YYZ airport on departure or arrival. Dining: We had the chance to dine at all the restaurants we wanted to try. Butch's Steak & Seafood, La Parisienne, Bombay (which was our favorite), Portofino's, and Chi were all fantastic. The lunchtime variety was great as well—we never felt bored with the food. I was thrilled with the drink options and tried every possible combination. Service: We experienced butler service, but we’ve decided it's not for us in the future. 2/3 butlers were great but it wasn’t worth the extra cost. The bartenders were excellent. I wish there was more poolside service. Pools: The pools were well-kept. We spent a lot of time at both the Main Infinity Pool and the South Seas Pool. I never had an issue finding us a spot at either pool. However, we felt that there could have been more activities from the entertainment crew around the pool area. Scuba Diving: My husband enjoyed the diving experience and thought the staff were great! The long bus rides to the boat were hard and took up time from breakfast- we definitely prefer resorts where the dive boat is on site. Gym: I preferred the equipment on the Barbados side of the resort. The air conditioning was great, it was well kept and had enough options for a quick morning workout. Photographers: I loved the Sandals photographers on site. Highly recommend allowing them to take candid photos and booking a sunset photo shot. Overall: It was a very enjoyable trip, and we’re looking forward to trying Grenada in October.

Just returned from our honeymoon at Sandals Royal Barbados and it was the most magical, amazing experience of our lives! This was our first time at a Sandals resort and it definitely exceeded our expectations. We had a pool/ocean view butler suite and it was beautiful! We had a bottle of champagne and rose petals in our room on arrival. All of our butlers were amazing! Shameka King, Moesha and Romero each made us feel like royalty. We really never expected the exceptional level of service we received, and were just absolutely catered to every day. Special shout out to Shameka King who went above and beyond every time she saw us, bringing us special drinks, drawing us a bubble bath while we were at dinner, and just making us feel so special! She's truly amazing! Every meal we had was incredible! Not a single meal was less than extraordinary. I highly recommend the candlelight dinner on the beach. It was so romantic, and quite possibly the best meal we have ever had. We left the resort twice, once for a catamaran sunset snorkel cruise, and once for the local fish fry in Oistins on Friday night. Highly recommend both experiences! Every employee we encountered at the resort was so friendly! The resort photographers were great! We had so many great photos taken we ended up buying most of them. I highly recommend Sandlas Royal Barbados and the butler experience. We hope to go back soon!

This is in two section. What should be addressed and fixed and what is already ‘Sandals Perfect’::: -What fell short - these items are simple fixes to elevate your experience to a perfectly awesome 5. 1. Not raking the beach. Between two co-located Sandals resorts, a daily rake of the sea grass would easily be one of several attention to detail items lacking here. 2. Karaoke - this is an awkwardly wonderful way to let loose one night a week. It shouldn’t be an opportunity for the DJ and entertainment manager to eat most of the time rapping, singing and carrying on instead of the guest performers. 3. General ‘just okay’ in the overtly positive guest engagement among the Sandals Club and the Sandals Travel offices. At other Sandals resorts the folks from these offices in particular embodied the very best of Sandals. Not so much here. One exception was Charise, a young concierge rep who was wonderful. 4. Cleaning the seating areas before the evening entertainment venue. Many are situated under trees that release some dark goopy material that can stain clothing and wreck the experience. 5. Very poor towel availability all mornings and often during the day. Each early morning the ‘butler’ staff take all towels to mark and reserve lounging areas at pools and beaches. That there are NO towels remaining for other guests is unacceptable. The trick until they ever solve this is get what you need the day before, then rise early to claim where you want to be. 6. Cleaning back area pools. The pool just outside of our room (9124) was always littered with debris such as vegetation and poor drowned bees. Other pools were pristine and wonderful. 7. Lack of management curiosity to learn about and fix these easy items to elevate our experience to the ordinary Sandals quality. 8. A last minute entry to La Parisienne restaurant after a one tank dive ended with a possible slow roll of our breakfast meal. From the time we arrived and had to share the actual time with the manager who tried to shoo us out saying the breakfast service was closed, we felt a certain unwelcomeness from our hosts. We ordered soon after being seated. However, our simple (eggs and French toast) meals were served approximately 50 minutes later, long after the last other guests departed. I had to inquire about progress before being served. -What was wonderful?There is very much to be very happy about at the Sandals Royal Barbados resort. 1. All grounds and built in activities. The beaches are massive and the lounge areas are numerous and made for a sprawling and delightful experience on the beach and at every pool area at the resort. That goes for our room. It was spacious and very comfortable in appointments. We enjoyed a massive shower, double vanity, private loo, expansive clothing closet, and ample other storage. We also enjoyed a comfortable private sitting area outside our suite. You will love: Lovers Lanes All bars All of the 20+ restaurants with very different cuisine. Just a few

The grounds are beautiful and very well kept. Pools are nice and clean and we especially enjoyed the rooftop pool and bar. We also liked the service at the Beach House shop. We agree with some of the guests that stated about the towels being hard to come by. Housekeeping was atrocious until we complained to the right people. This aspect was disappointing to us and if they can fix these minor issues I would rate it 5 stars.