Our stay at Sandals Halcyon was absolutely wonderful. There is no highrise hotel there. There are just quaint villa style rooms with beautiful flowering vines growing over them. All rooms have either a garden view or an ocean view or both. Our room was right on the ocean and we could hear the waves crashing all night. It was heaven. Mountains were also our view. You could even see Martinique off in the distance. The island is teaming with hummingbirds. There are hardly any insects there that I noticed. The nights chirp with treefrogs. We zip-lined in the rainforest for the most exilerating time of our life. St. Lucia is known for their banana plantations. Fresh fruit is always available. The food at any Sandals Resort we have stayed at is out of this world. All dinners are gormet. You can even have seafood at any meal. The entire resort is clean and there is always something to do. If you don't want something to do, there is always a hammock or place out of the way to relax and do nothing. We met several people that come back to Halcyon year after year. One couple from England was on their 14th visit and they were staying for three weeks. We hope that will be us someday. We will return. I have no pictures on the computer yet but if you contact me, I will send some. I also have some video.

If this is your first time in the Caribbean you will probably think this hotel is good. A lot of people did. However it was our 6th time in the Caribbean, and believe me there are far better places, at much better value.
At this place you are paying for the Sandals name but not the "Dream" as the adverts would have us believe.
First of all the resort is right next to a very busy road, so if you go there and your room number starts with a 7 or an 8, you might want to request a move. These are the deluxe rooms. We were kept awake most of the first night with heavy traffic, and just as heavy music pounding out until 3 a.m. However we got a move next morning to a block with rooms starting with a 5, and it was much quieter there. This was sorted quickly and efficiently.
The room is the worst we have had in the Caribbean. It was small and cluttered with very "tired" furniture, and there was no fridge. A small point I know, but everywhere else we have been has had one, and this WAS supposed to be Sandals.
There are 3 restaurants and the first one we went into was the Pier. No reservation are needed, but if you don't get there for 6:30 p.m. and queue, you might find yourselves eating at 8:30 at the earliest. Out first night in the Pier was disappointing. We didn't get seated until 8:45 and we had finished at 9:15. The staff were miserable and obviously it was getting towards the end of their shift and wanted us out. Another visit later on in the 2 weeks proved to be a lot different, and the staff and service was very good. The food excellent, or we thought so. The Italian restaurant needs the same early start but again the food superb. The Bayside resaurant is for breakfast, lunch and if you choose, dinner. It's all buffet, except for some "theme" nights when there is a waiter service.
The bar is situated close to the Bayside restaurant, but when you go for a pre dinner drink, there isn't enough staff to serve the number of people wanting a pre dinner drink. If you like playing pool you will be fine as there are two tables in the bar area. Can be noisy when people are playing, not our scene but it may be yours. One thing about the bar area was that it seemed to us as though they had wiped the bar top with a dirty cloth, as there was this awful smell most of the time.
The entertainment is zero and what there is, is not good except for the odd artist.
If you want different food and a different experience, you can catch a courtesy bus to the other Sandals resorts situated a 15 min bus ride away. Have a look at the timetable as they don't run all day, so you can get caught at the other resorts and have to wait to get back. Most people catch the bus for an evening at the other restaurants, the buses are at hourly intervals at this time of the day 5:15, 6:15 and 7:15. It's also very busy at these times, but they lay two buses on to cope. We found going to the other resorts a novelty at first but soon got fed up with the clock watching, going and coming back. The other resorts will upset you as they are FAR superior the Halcyon Beach. FAR pricier as well. Try the French La Toc at the Regency very good, and try the Italian at the Grand, also very good though we heard mixed opinions about this restaurant. The piano bar adjacent to the Italian smells in there too. Same dirty cloth ???
The beach was also the worst we have been on in the Caribbean, and ignore the photo's, the sea is not blue. Only four sun shelters, and a very narrow beach.
A bit of a let down is the if you have a late pick up for the airport you have to vacate your room by 11:00, and if there are no courtesy rooms ($50 US is a rip off) it's a communal shower in the gym. You would have thought at Sandals prices that courtesy rooms or a free late check out is a given.
The overall experience was not what we were expecting for a Sandals Hotel. We will probably not bother with Sandals again as paying this amount of money for this level of comfort and service is poor value in our opinion. There are much better places places and much cheaper. If it's your first time you'll probably love it, a lot of people do having returned 15, yes 15 times. Once was enough for us.
St. Lucia?????? It rained EVERY day, only for short bursts, but if you didn't take cover you got soaked.
Give this one a miss.

Loved the holiday and the staff couldnt do enough for you.Situated in the right place as it only took 15 minutes to reach either the Grande or the Regency. Sampled all the restaurants and could not find a fault with any of them as all the food was a pleasure to eat.
The only thing that let us down was the night life . This was ok if you were only on a weeks holiday as they did the same thing the second week.I am sure this could be acheived by exchanging the evening entertainment with the other two hotels.
So would i recommend this hotel the answer would be yes.

Steve
United Kingdom

We returned on Saturday from our first stay at the Halcyon and booked another week in March for next year before we left. After 3 years in Negril we went looking for something different and found this wonderful place. We had a beachfront concierge room. Great location, wonderful beach. It is a small, extremely friendly resort. Service in the restraunts was a little slow, but it was reunion week and the food was very good. Our favorite was Mario's, but we liked The Pier also. Internet service is $14.99 for 24 hours. We went on the Soufriere Adventure Cruise, the two way catamaran tour. It was great. The botanical gardens are a must to see. We flew Delta, missing our connection in Atlanta due to a computer problem on the plane, so we spent a night in Atlanta. I would be interested in some help finding flights from Chicago for next year, if anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate it. We did not have to pay the $26 departure tax, but I bought our tickets after Jan. 1. The van ride from the airport only took 1 hour on the way back. It is an adventure! Very curvey and narrow with beautiful sights. I like St. Lucia much more than Jamaica. The people are wonderful, very friendly, helpful and relaxed. The staff at the Halcyon is wonderful. Melissa, Marvin and the entire team can't be more helpful and nice. Oh and we did play with the two pet cats. They are planning on starting the remodel this summer and I was told it would take 1 1/2 years. They are starting on the side where the sand volleyball court is. I can't wait to go back.