We have recently returned from The Sandpiper. We stayed in a one bed suite #19. The suite was as detailed in the previous posters review so I will not add any more details. The food was very good, the cocktails wonderful and the grounds and rooms kept very clean. The only annoyances I had was that we were unlucky to have babiies crying constantly across the way morning and night, people smoking at the beach bar tables during lunch and as previously mentioned sunbeds being reserved very very early in the morning. Seemed to be the same people most of the time and then people reserving and not turning up until hours later!!!! Also I am not really an early riser and the people looking after the gardens were sweeping up the leaves from 6.30am. So we generally had a poor nights sleep. On top of all this the staff were very friendly and it was a very nice hotel. Great guides on the boats.

We just returned from a two night stay at the Sandpiper. We had just disembarked from a 7 night cruise on the SeaDream Yacht Club and had never been to Barbados before. To get our land legs back before going home we booked a short stay to experience the island. We arrived before 11 am and was pleasantly surprised to find our room available. We booked a 1 bedroom suite for our family of four. It was suite #19 which was on the second floor overlooking the courtyard to the beach. We were so thrilled with the accomodations after being couped up in a very small room on our cruise. The suite had a large living room with a pullout couch and they put in a rollaway as well. There was a fully equipted kitchen, large bedroom with a king bed and TWO bathrooms (very important when you are traveling with teenage girls). But the best part was the balcony. It was very large with a dining table for 4 and two chaise lounges. Very relaxing. A full breakfast (excellent!) was included with our rate as well as the watersports and tax. I felt it was a very good value considering the size and the amenities. The unit was updated with lovely furnishings and very clean. A/C worked great in both rooms. The only (slight) disappointment was no TV.
We had lunch at Harolds Bar and ordered a room service lunch the day we were departing. Drinks and food were good though we heard that dinner at the restaurant was great we did not try it. We also had lunch one day at the Coral Reef Club (sister resort). We were told the price for the lunch buffet was 125 BD!!! We were shocked at the price. We only wanted salads or a light lunch but were told we had to pay for the buffet ---no ala carte. As we were about to leave the host said he could cut the price to 50 BD so we stayed. It was only on leaving that we noticed half the patrons in the restaurant had ordered ala carte and did not do the buffet. We were mad that we were treated this way and taken advantage of since we were staying at a property that was owned by the same people. So beware if you dine at the Coral Reef.
The beach in front of the Sandpiper hotel was very small. Unfortunately this led to people getting up at the crack of dawn to reserve beach chairs---which we hate but when one starts everyone has to. We enjoyed Barbados for our first trip and look forward to returning soon. I would highly recommend the Sandpiper Resort.

A fantastic week hiding away from post christmas blues and the uk winter. Stayed in a well appointed garden room in this small, personal family run beach hotel just on the edge of Holetown.
A warm welcome at reception is followed by some of the best food on the island (we tried the cliff and lone star, only to be slightly dissappointed).
Harold's Bar, right on the shoreline, is superb for lunch.
The staff, to a person, were friendly and professional at all times.
I will be booking for January 2009 shortly.

RG
Northern Ireland

Went to the Sandpiper for a week, following a recommendation from a work colleague. Wasn't too sure what to expect as this was our first time to Barbados but the general feedback from this site was very good. Pleased to say it lived up to its expectations. We were met by a couple of wonderful and helpful receptionists and the Asst Manager personally showed us to our room, via some of the main hotel attractions. We only ordered a Garden Room as this was all they had so close to us departing - in fact it was because the had a cancellation that we were able to get in at all. They have a vrey high repeat rate of guests so book early to avoid disappointment. The room was spacious and clean with an excellent sized bed, well appointed patio furniture, useful fridge and average sized bathroom. We were in Room 24 so quite close to the main rod through Holetown but the noise wasn't intrusive. Overall hotel grounds and facilities were excellent - small and intimate but not claustrophobic. Beach is a little small, especially at high tide, but enough room for those than choose to spend the day there. A little higher up the beach (closer to the hotel) is a little more breezy so some people preferred it there. Watersports fantastic - lasers, catamarans, snorkelling, jetskis (booked for you), nothing was a problem for them. The bar and restaurant were great - food fantastic though you wouldn't want to eat there every night, the main restaurant is quite pricey and food is very rich. There are plenty of good, local, touristy restaurants around - Groots is great bar area, Ragamuffins does great curry, The Mews has great bar/ courrtyard restaurant area and open late, Spagos does great italian food. Best meal we had there was at Daphne's - try the tuna with lentil salsa! Pool area looked ok but didn't really venture there as most of the time was on the beach. Hotel had good gym with modern equipment. Computer room useful for checking in online and TV room had great sized TV but the weather was so good we didn't see anyone venture in. Our only slight criticism was the aferage age of the guests there - we're in our early 30's and the average age has to be between 55a nd 60. It felt a bit like we were away with our parents! Though the post-dinner dancing was worth watching for all those mid 50's hip swingers on the dancefloor. As a result of this the hotel is tranquil and quiet after about half 10/ 11pm which means the bar shuts early so we tended to stay out later and eat/ drink in town then come back late. There is certain a micro community there and a familiarity amongst returning guests - not the hotels fault - but as mentioned before, they have a high return rate and clearly a lot of the guests had been going for years. A previous post calls it cliquey - I wouldn't say that, more a friendly fammiliarity. After a few days, people would nod and say good morning so not snobby.

Overall, a great hotel and would I would recommend with the above few considerations. Definately will go back, but not every year - there's too much else in the World left to see first!!