Thinking of going to SL ? Do you enjoy swimming ?

A word of advice.

Check whether the owner (that prefers to use the hotel pool rather than his own pool) is staying during your intended stay.

I'll tell you the story.

So it's my partner's 50th birthday and we thought "let's check out SL to see what all the fuss is about".
Great entrance, lovely local staff (not European management staff though) nice welcome, room OK, price is high but so what, could'nt get into resturant upstairs (needed to book at time of booking hotel room !) so we were left withe buffet.
Buffet standard less than average and loads of kids. Decided to eat out every night at loca; beach restaurants which were great (and no kids).

So the morning after first night, my partner goes down to the pool at 7.30am, nobody about, perfect. Then a couple of staff appear awkwardly shifting towards her and sheepishly mutter something about cleaning the pool. "OK, I'll swim opposite end and we will circle around one another". Then she was informed there was no life guard. "Dont worry". Then she receives the bombshell; the owner wants you out, our jobs are at stake, he wants to swim alone. "You cannot be serious". They were and terrified by the owner. So she left.

We complained directly to an odd girl calling herself the assistant manager who came up withe even more excuses, our favourite was "we have had a lot of children and the pool's acidity is dangerously high !". To which we replied, that if it was good enough for the owner, then it was good enough for us.

Return to pool in the evening; same thing. Next morning; same thing but this time cones barricaded entrances.

So, have a great holiday if you can bear that the staff are terrified of the selfish, rude owner (Irishman in his late 60's); we couldnt and yes it really spolied our stay, well it would, would'nt it ?

As we speak, we're at Sandy Lane. This is our sixth day here, and there has been absolutely no air conditioning since we arrived. The whole system has broken down, and not a single part of the hotel has air con! It's 30C and very, very humid! More on our return home....

Checked in when it was 87 degrees outside at 4pm, and NO AIR CONDITIONING in the entire resort, and not going to be fixed until "early June". For USD 1,300 per night, rent a cabana for the month, and lose weight while saving money

Sandy Lane - a first class hotel absolutely worth the price! We have stayed in several Carribean hotels on several islands (including Anguilla, Turks, St Maartin, Martinique, St. Barths), and absolutely none have compared to our experience here. Others have their strengths (Anguilla and Turks have some of the world's top beaches - stunningly beautiful!) but the overall package here is great.

No detail is overlooked - the luxury ocean rooms are beautiful and spacious with a gorgeous balcony and a great view. This property has the best beach in Barbados with a vast swimming area. Food was excellent and the staff were exceptionally friendly and accomodating, and they went out of their way to make us feel at home.

The fitness facilities and spa amenities are some of the best Ive seen. Only one disappointment - the spa services were not worth the price and could use much improvement (coming from a spa owner).

In the end - this hotel is at the high end of the price range, but you do get what you pay for. We will definitely return within 12 months.

p.s. after reading the reviews, I had to submit this. I cannot understand how anyone could have had a bad experience here. It doesn't seem possible. Enjoy!