My now wife and I stayed at Sandals for our honeymoon, we were also married at the resort in the first week of February. For the wedding part, it went flawlessly. The resort took care of all the fine details with the Antiguan government, and made a great ceremony on the beach, they even gave us a room upgrade when we arrived.

The service was good one the first day, and spectacular by the end, which is one of our travel tips to this resort. There are a LOT of folks who go here and treat the staff poorly, it all inclusive after all, but if you're nice and polite, the staff will return it 10 fold.

The booze flowed and the room and resort was beautiful. Be sure to take excursions, the Resort can get a little tiresome, unless you like drinking constantly and lying on the beach. It's hard to get a real feel for the country if you don't venture out of the walls. However if you stay within, they'll keep you entertained with nightly music and games.

We have just returned from Sandals Antigua and were bitterly disappointed.
1.the construction work was audible at 3 of the 5 pools. The cranes are also visible.
2. They were repairing the pavillion roof at pool bar with constant hammering and electric sawing (8am-7pm)for the 9 of the 10 days we were there and it was not nearing completion when we left. The pool bar roof itself looks like that could be next.
3. Our room was at the construction end and opposite the work at the pool bar. Guests were requesting to be moved and their rooms were refilled as soon as they left with other unsuspecting guests!
4. We chose Sandals because of their impressive reputation and decided to spoil ourselves this year. We take 2-3 vacations a year (many long haul) and have stayed in many 4+-5 star hotels previously. This did not shape up to any of them:
a) No drink service. You have to queu up for drinks at the bar even if you're sitting around the bar area and rarely get offered drinks at the poolside. Okay this is fine for 3 star - but not when you're paying extra to be pampered.
b)The service in the main restaurant was apalling (tea often arrived halfway thro breakfast if at all)
c) One male and female toilet for the main complex of 3 restaurants, 2 bars and courtyard hosting the main evening entertainment (and only one urinal in the gents, boys!) Guests were frequently going back to their rooms to visit the bathroom.
5. I note the positive reviews of guests in concierge rooms/honeymoon suites. However, we noticed a big difference between having a concierge package and a regular package (such as ours). Let's not forget that even for regular room rates you are still paying for Sandal's 5 star service - so we expect great service too. 1/3 of the tables at the specialty restaurants are kept open for concierge and other special guests so frequently it is difficult to book them if you are on a regular package (and then we frustratingly see that each sitting there are many unused tables going to waste). The Japanese is very good but serves the same mixed maincourse everytime so there is a limit to the number of times you want to visit. Many agreed the Tex Mex was poor and the Italien was the best, so if you were in a regular room - booking the Italien was near impossible unless you wanted to eat at 9pm!
The menu in the main restaurant only changes weekly so choices are therefore limited there.

It appeared that Sandals were living off their reputation rather than providing it.

Cathy and Wayne

We spent a week, January 15 - 21, 2006, at Sandals and had a great time! The food was great, the staff was very pleasant and the grounds were exquisite There were only a few only complaints. It took 5 days to get someone to fix the in-room safe, and there were a few areas (walkways, gazebo by the poolbar) that could use some maintenance. Other than that, the rooms were quite nice and the wait staff was great! Expecially Neil and Jacqueline - they were the best. Just a warning to those who don't drink a lot of alchoholic beverages - they don't skimp on the alchohol! Very good and accommodating! We hope to go again!

We loved it here! I've never been to a more relaxing resort (and yes we've traveled in the Carribean before). Super friendly staff who were also lots of fun, beautiful grounds, the resort itself is not overly large so it's a bit more intimate. I do wish the beach was a little better, it was not very big. Very romantic place to stay, we'd highly recommend it!