My husband and I stayed at Sandy Lane for 10 days in September. Although we had been to Barbados several times and had visited the Sandy Lane spa before this was the first time we had stayed at the hotel.

There are so many things to compliment the hotel on - generally it is a fabulous place to stay and its reputation and high prices are well deserved. Our bedroom was excellent with a very large terrace both of which were probably of the highest standard I have stayed in for a long time. The rest of the hotel is beautiful with a good range of shops and amenities. As a guest you are made to feel like an old friend and part of an exclusive club.

Most of the staff were very good: the managers, pool and reception staff were very friendly and professional. They know you by name within a day and genuinely go out of their way to help.

However the hotel's reputation and prices do also make you expect the highest standards consistently and unfortunately this wasn't always our experience.

Unfortunately the old dirty car that the hotel sent to meet us at the airport didn't give us the best first impression. In hindsight, this was the first warning that we had arrived (in what the hotel calls their) "low season" and that may not get the full Sandy Lane experience. Whilst the prices are very slightly lower at this time of year it is worth checking what repairs they are carrying out and whether all of the amenities at the hotel are open before booking. For example, building maintenance was carried out during our stay - whilst it didn't disrupt us too much there was one day we tried to have a quiet day on the beach but had to listen to the constant sound of an electric drill and hammering at one of the beach huts 100 yards behind us.

When we tried to book their signature restaurant l'acajou we were told it was closed for the entire month – apparently this happens every year. This meant we only had the choice of the more casual restaurant Bajan Blue – we found this fine for breakfast (and the wonderful Sunday brunch is a definite must) but the very hit and miss service and fairly basic menu meant that we ate outside of the hotel most evenings. The hotel offered to cook something from the l'acajou menu for us but as we needed to give them at least 24 hours notice this wasn't really conducive to the relaxed and fairly unplanned holiday we wanted. There are plenty of excellent new and established restaurants nearby including Daphne’s and The Cliff which provided far better service and food.

We used the spa several times during our stay. Whilst the treatments themselves were very good, the spa pool was quite dirty and not all of the jets worked. Not really what you expect from a 5 star hotel.

Ultimately, we would both return to this hotel in an instant as the negatives are easily outweighed by the positives. However, I would need to be persuaded to go back in what the hotel calls ‘low season’ again as I feel some of the Sandy Lane experience was lost behind all the maintence work going on and a sense that the hotel was not quite running at its full potential.

I was expecting perfection at $1200/night and received it. Sandy Lane was wonderful, from the friendly airport pick up to the fantastic room and food. I can not wait to return!

My fiance and I just returned from a 3 day stay in Sandy Lane.
We were told that this is the best hotel on the Caribbean. We've traveled to 11 different islands so far, and stayed at luxury properties on most of our trips. In our opinion, Sandy Lane is NOT the best one, it's definitely above average by far, but not the best.
Hotel is very nice. Rooms are awesome. Everything is automated, you don't even need to get up to change temperature, turn lights, etc. You can browse internet right in your room, as well as watch DVDs. Bathroom is amazing, beautiful, huge. We had an ocean view room on the first floor, so beach was literary a couple of steps away, which was very convenient.
Now, I personally value beach a lot on vacations like that. I've seen breathtaking beaches, however, this was nothing to write home about. Average at best. Beach was white sand, but not the best "quality". If you want to go for a swim, it'd become deep literary after a few steps, which was probably why the water was not that warm at all. The ocean floor was also not smooth. When you lie down and sun tan, you hear everything your neighbours are talking about - you are that close to the other cabanas. Was a big draw back for me.
Service was nice, but not on par with the price that you have to shelf out for the hotel. You definitely feel like people are nice to you because they're getting paid to do so, and it's not genuine. I guees hotel is full of stuck ups who can not be treated any other way.
Food was great. We went to the restaurant 'the Cliff' not too far from the hotel - it was amazing, situated on a cliff, food can rival the best restaurants in North America. It's not cheap at all, but definitely worth trying.
Gold course is beautiful to say the least. A joy for the eyes. And there are monkeys on it!
Overall, we had a nice stay. But, we won't be back any time soon.

Spent five nights at this resort and although the accommodations were fantastic, i was disappointed on several occasions with the service. I selected this hotel because I heard such great things about it and it did not meet my expectations. The service was spotty. We had great experience with certain staff and not so great with others. The rooms are great (large and clean). If you are not too concerned with the spotty service, give it a try and see what everyone else is talking about...