Just got back from our honeymoon at Sandals Grande Antigua. We had a wonderful time. We (like many others we've read about) were somewhat skeptical about booking at this resort. Our trip could not have gone smoother though.
We stayed in a concierge level honeymoon sweet, which had a fully stocked bar and turndown service every evening. We ate at all of the resteraunts but enjoyed Kimonos and Marios the best. The new English Pub also had good food, but a limited menu--great place to grab a drink and play some billiards though. The breakfasts and lunches were not spectacular, but what can you really expect at an all-inclusive?

The beach was gorgeous and we spent lots of time there. Even though the beach is public and this allows access for vendors, we were only approached twice that I can remember, and both times the vendors were very nice and went on about their way.

The new pool (mediteranean village) is amazing. It's very large and has plenty of room to spread out. Also the swim up bar is good sized and is large enough for socializing and great for people watching. There were many young couples and honeymooners the week we were here and we enjoyed mingling.

We took a Wadadli Cat circumnavigation cruise around the island and would highly recommend it. The crew was very fun and the trip included an open bar, lunch, and snorkleing.

All in all, our only complaint would have to be the lack of knowledge by some staff members. On the night before our arrival, we had checked with the desk to see what time the airport shuttle left. They told us 6am and that we should be at the front desk at that time. The next morning when the bellman came to receive our luggage he informed us that there was no 6am shuttle, only a 5:30 shuttle and so we were forced to scramble down to get to the airport on time. A minor frustration on our exit day--kind of an important detail that had a lot of people pissed off.

Other than that I would highly recommend the resort for a great Honeymoon or just to get away together.

I will provide photos upon request.

Just got back from Sandals Antigua for a week stay for our honeymoon in the new Mediterranean Village. When we got there we were greated and given champagne and a cold towel. We were then asked to fill out some paperwork and we were escorted to our room. The concierge lady who escorted us to our room started only days before and had no clue where she was going or where everything was. We never got a tour, it took us about 15 minutes to find our room, when we finally found our room we were pleased to see how extravagent and luxurious it was. Until we tried the tv and no television. After multiple calls to the front desk, maintenance finally showed up about an hour later to fix our tv.

Throughout the week we tried to make the best of things. My husband lost one of his bags at the airport and Sandals did an okay job of getting it to us at the resort, only 2 days later may I say. Room was fabulous, staff was very friendly and everyone greeted you no matter where you were on the resort. Food was pretty good, ate at every restaurant except Kimonos. Had a candlelight dinner on the beach, highly recommend to do this! You had your choice of about any kind of food you wanted, burgers, steak, seafood, pasta, gotta say awesome international breakfast at Marios! Ate there every morning for breakfast. We did a spa treatment which was really nice. We did an island safari tour, it was okay but def. not worth the $200 US dollars that we paid.

The pool was awesome, never packed, always a lounge chair to sit on. The main pool bar was nice, overall pretty good drinks. The beach was fantastic also, always a lounge chair there too, never had a problem with beach vendors on the beach, never overcrowed in the water.

The gift shop was nice, we only bought a pair of swin trunks for my husband when we got there because he didn't have any from losing his luggage. Cheapest pair we found was $50 US dollars.

They do periodically come around and snap some pictures. But when we went to check out our pictures to see how they turned out for some reason they couldn't find them in their system...so we didn't get any pictures.

We walked back and forth to the older side to eat and such things. Old side is very nice, lots of lush landscaping, unlike the Mediterranean Village. Nice pools, and very friendly staff as well.

We did receive a letter under our door the day before we left to receive a free week back to a Sandals resort, it has to be used by July 2008, it has blackout dates, and has to be emailed or mailed with three sets of dates on that you would like to travel, and depending on if those dates work for Sandals you might get to travel there.

We were told in the letter our travel agent got that we would receive a free week back because the restaurant Barefoot by the Sea wouldn't be open until the 10th of August. Well, when we left the 15th of August Barefoot by the Sea still wasn't open and didn't look like it would be open for a few more weeks. By the end of the week we were sick of hearing construction that was going on right outside our room door. The power went out about 15 times each day at the end of our stay. Landscaping still needs lots of work. One whole side of the Mediterranean Village wasn't even completed yet and didn't seem like it would be done for awhile. The villas, whatever you want to call them didn't look like they would be open for a while also. The conference center has a lot of work to be done also. Overall there is still a lot of work to be done, I doubt it will be fully operational by December.

We did make the best of everything and we did have a good time. Just wanted to point out some things that us and other couples were experiencing when we were there. We would not stay here again, we don't know if we will even use our free week but if we do we would like to go to St. Lucia, heard so many nice things about those 3 resorts there!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

We just returned from being married at this resort and had a wonderful time. We stayed in the Med Village and although not quite complete the room was great. The new side is certainly five star while the old side is probably 3.5-4 star range. There was construction ongoing but it was never at night and did not bother us in the morning. We were also well compensated for any inconvience with a voucher for a 2 free weeks at any Sandals. We could not have asked for anymore. The staff were very friendly and very accomodating. We had a party of 8 and we were able to get all 8 of us a reservation at Kimonos. The food was generally very good and we had no complaints. The new pool was also very nice and the beach was beautiful and never crowded. The excursions were a little overpriced. We did 3, including the trip to Barbuda, a cruise around the island and the island tour. They did not offer much for the price compared with other islands we have visited. I also golfed the 18 hole course which was okay but pretty brown. They do not water the fairways, only the greens but it was a fun round. The mosquitos were around but we did not bite us much and we did not use any repellent. This was a very good vacation and we are looking forward to visitng 2 other Sandals with our voucher.

Just got back from our week of vacation in the Village. Anyone that is the least bit worried about the construction (even if you're going there tomorrow), you should put all that worry aside. The entire resort, both old and new sides, was fabulous. We stayed in the Monte Carlo on the Village side, which was on the 4th floor of the middle building in the Village Our room was pure luxury ... like an oasis on a beautiful island. Everything is open in the Village except Barefoot by the Sea, but they made so much progress in the week we were there, it looks like it will be done soon. The pool in the Village HUGE! ... and the beach along the entire bay is like a postcard every single day.

The entire staff was genuinely warm and friendly, all the way from the general manager, Franklyn Eaton, and his management staff such as Neils, to the team working the pool bar and the staff managing the housekeeping. They went above and beyond to make sure everyone was having a great time.

As for the construction, they were putting the finishing touches on the last few villas with private pools, and at least 5 of them opened up before we left on Aug 2. Other than that, the only Sandals construction is the convention center going up behind the front desk, which is along the road behind the Village guest rooms. The guest rooms are well insulated, so there was no noise problem, and you don't see the convention center from your deck, which faces the pool and ocean.

We had no problem getting into restaurants, finding a lounge chair, pool float or getting a drink from any of the bars. The food was wonderful at all of the restaurants. They have relaxing evening entertainment outside in the courtyard of the original resort and in front of the Pub in the Village. It's really all so very romantic and fabulous. To all that are on their way there, have a wonderful time. You will truly love it.