Me and my partner have just arrived back after spending 10 FANTASTIC days in sandy bay beach club. We arrived on the 25th april, the weather was superb, we arrived at the hotel and met with a complimentary drink, our luggage was taken with us which I found a bonus, checking in was simple, we were escorted to our room, our bags were taken up for us as we were on the 4th floor, (it has done wonders for our calves!!) The room was simple, clean and held all we needed. The view from the room was magnificent, straight on to the ocean. The staff at the hotel could not do enough for us! Special mention to Frank who works behind the bar, he was so nice and funny! Learning your drinks and bringing you refills without you asking, little personal touch which we liked! The food was super, and continually flowing. The beach is superb, just as the pictures show in the brochure! The guys continually asking you to buy jewellery and trinkets on the beach did get a bit tedious half way into the holiday but they didn't take offence when you refused. The small but extremely useful shop in the hotel is fantastic and both ladies that work in there are lovely, willing to help you with anything you need! BIG BIG thank you to Gail, our virgin rep, she was fantastic, very pleasant and approachable. We did a number of the excursions while we were there, which Gail organised all of them, highly recommend the catamaran tour, as you get to snorkel with turtles! I did celebrate my birthday while in Barbados and went on the submarine as a special treat, this is a fantastic trip. We were advised to rent a car while on holiday but decided on the jeep safari which took you all over the island, our tour guide (Chris) was brilliant, giving you an extensive history of the island! All in all we had a superb holiday, met some fantastic people, from all over the world, and can not wait to go back!!!!

We have just arrived back from Sandy Bay and were totally happy with everthing we found there.

Rooms
Our room was very small but adequate. We booked the hotel room as there was only myself and my partner and we did not feel that we needed anything more. It only had a shower , hand basin and toilet (no bath) but was very clean. There was a maid service every day and we had plently of clean towels.

Restaurants
We felt the food was of a very good standard, quite basic but very tasty. There was someting different every night and the Al Carte was also very nice. The only thing that I could pick holes with was the fact that you had to book your evening meal first thing in the morning for the buffet and the Al Carte restaurant. I have to say that we did forget on one occasion and it was not a problem. There are birds knocking about in both restaurants but we did not have any problem with them as they do not come near you whilst you are eating and all the food is covered.

The Staff
Most of the staff were fine although some of them were not very talkative. The bar staff were very good (one guy in particular had you another drink lined up before you had finished the one you were drinking)

The Beach
Exceptional! The beach is beautiful and we did not have any problems getting sunbeds or parasols. We had actually taken a parasol with us as we had read the reviews and were concerned that we would not be able to get one but didnt have any problems. We were on the beach most days by 8.30 and usually one of the first there so you dont have to get up at the crack of dawn!

Noise,
This was really only a problem at weekend as the night club across the road did not open every night. Our first night there was very noisy but ok after that. We were in room 405 and you can here the noise of the staff working from quite early in the morning but this did not worry us.

I think the best way to sum up this hotel is to say that it is just missing some TLC and is a little old fasioned but it is very clean and more than adequate if you are not intending on spending all day in your room.

Overall we had a great time and I think that anyone travelling to the Sandy Bay Beach Resort needs to understand that this is not a 5 start hotel but is a good base for the beach and other excursions. If you go with an open mind instead of expecting luxury then you will not be disappointed.

we decided back in January 2007 to go away for the following xmas and New Year so we decided on a carribean island searched the net and found this Virgin exclusive hotel which looked and sounded great. We worked hard all year and was so excited for our first xmas away with our 4 year old daughter however things never happen as you would like.

I was contacted by letter a month before departure our flight times had changed putting then forward 4 hours because we were flying on xmas eve I was concerned any delays may result in us being in the air xmas morning which we didn;t want so I contacted the number on the letter and spoke to the most unhelpful customer service person ever who i believe wasn't situated in the UK and couldn;t understand my disappointment of possibly missing xmas morning eventually after further research and a week I was given another flight a day earlier...
I should have read this as a warning...

The flight with Virgin as usual very good however their choice in hotels is worrying...

Once I arrived to my upgraded room I just sat and cried I couldn't believe how old it was it was set out like a self catering room in the 70's delapadated kitchen and bathroom. It had no windows just wooden slats and one air conditioning unit in our room and my daughter didn't even have a bed just a pull down sofa which after complaining a single bed was put in the lounge area making it even more awkward to manouver.

We found out the 3rd night how important it is to have double glazing when the night club opposite woke us up at midnight and continued until 4 a.m. even having it;s own snack attached to the front of it's building.

The hotel was full and obviously wasn;t prepared, they just couldn't cope, the buffet area was always busy with ignorant people just pushing and shoving and the food was'nt very appetising especially for my daughter who struggled to find food she liked.

The staff would win the most unhelpful award if there was one, most of them were miserable and didn't like being asked for anything like sugar etc: The same in the childrens club they were happy if the children watched tv so they could continue eating there food, texting friends or just talking amoung themselves.

The hotel was situated right on the beach which was lovely but getting the sunbeds was a struggle, my husband had a knee operation 3rd December and due to an infection was hospitalised for 10 days he was instructed to talke approx 30 tablets a day and couldn't put a lot of pressure on his knee, so it was down to me to ghet the sunbeds and drag them along the beach to where we wanted to sit, while of course the male staff who were passing me the beds just watched and never offered to help.

There were so many other things but I think I have written enough to put anyone off (I hope) luckily my husband found us accomodation next door and we moved on new years day so the holiday did have a happy ending.

i have Just returned from Sandy Bay, and had a fab time. After reading some of the previouse reviews i had been a bit worried, but went with an open mind, and boy im glad i did as we had a fab time. our party consisted of two adults and two teenagers and we loved it. please keep in mind that it is a 3* family resort you will be fine.

please keep in mind that the sun is bloody hot, i dont normally burn whenever im on hols but the sun there was really strong and there were many burnt people around, we used factor 30 and still got burnt.

rooms: we stayed in an 1 bedroomed appartment which was fab, a bit out dated but very spacious and clean. the room easily fitted 2 adults and two teenagers. we stayed in room 302 which had an ocean view and a lovely large balcony.

Beach, the beach was beautiful, their were plenty of free sunbeds contary to what previous reports said. the beach vendors did try to sell their goods but were always polite, and friendly. if anyone is going soon look out for the aloe vera man and Mr Booogie woogi, both of which were extreamly helpful even though i didnt buy anthing.

Pools: are very small, but kept my kids happy when they wernt on the beach.

The bar staff were always friendly and were happy to make a variety of cocktails for you to try. the only downside to the bar was that they ran out of beer a couple of times, and they were happy to serve anyone from the age of 12 upwards! then again i guess thats the parents responsibility anyway.

Food: this was the only downside for me, breakfast was ok, with a choice if cerals, and pastrys or a full cooked breakfast, however the dinner choices were very limited, the vegitarian choice was almost non existent and there was a lack of any healthy choices in the snack bar.

Entertainment: well we were there for 10 days and there was only really entertainment on for two of those otherwise you just had a cd playing, this wasnt a problem for us as we met some lovely people and it gave us plenty of time to chat. however my children say it would of been nice if there was more entertainment on their point of view. there is a teen room but this shuts quite early, and the pool room was unfortunatly situated in between two rooms which obviously didnt go down too well with the guests staying in them.
however St Lawence Gap is a five minutes walk and has some excellent restrants and night life if you need any more excitment.

the Virgin rep Gail was extreamly helpful and if your planning any trips dont miss the Virgin ahoy, swimming with TURTLES was amazing, if you can only afford one imake sure its this one.

if you hire a car make sure you explore the east coast it was beautiful, where ever you go on this island you will get a friendly reacton from the local, iv never stayed somewheere before where where the llocal taxis and buses stop to let you cross the road! i cant imagin that hapening in britain!!

overall this was a fab holiday, so take the negative reviews with a pinch of salt, as long as you remember it is a 3* and thats what you get, it is also advertised as a child friendly resort so their will be lots of children, you will have a fab time.

Happy holidays