We are here now. We stayed here in 2018 & 2019, 2020 trip cancelled. I see why we came back. Booked again for 2024 & this will be one of our favorites for years to come. The entire resort remodeled. Some changes we like, some we don't care for just little things like no table cloths & carpet in the nicer restaurants as very noisy, but we love, love the new Coconut Bar on the beach & the new craft cocktails. There is a food truck that has the best cookies on earth, pastries, crepes, coffee & iced tea. We like to hang out at the tables in that area & listen to music & people watch. The stars of the show are our butlers Nicola & Josephine. We've had the same butlers for years at other resorts that don't spoil us the way these ladies have. I almost have no words. They are the best butlers we have ever had. They are another big reason we will look forward to returning. The GM Adrian Whitehead a very guest friendly approachable man, the hotel manager Delano (sorry for spelling ) someone we met who took great care of us at Emerald Bay years ago. Wonderful to see him again & one of our long time favorite Sandals people Dacia Stewart who the Loyalty & Travel manager here. So it's the dream team. We booked with Nova who is now my favorite booking agent. Might book another trip with her before we leave. We have a swim out room which is small not a suite but very nice & huge patio which I love & nice to look at the swim up pool. Bed is super comfortable. Food is typical Sandals all very good & service in restaurants very good. Our server Welton at Gordons 5 star restaurant type server. The mangers at Gordons Tabitha & Yourea ( not spelled correctly ) super friendly & welcoming. Mikey excellent server at Butch's & Deshane another 5 star server at Tesoro. Our house keeper Dominque a super star & so friendly & fun to talk to. I have no words for how much we love the off shore island & Areilla house is my favorite restaurant. Love the food there for lunch daily. We also like the music they play all day. A 2nd bar was also added that looks nice & now never a line at swim up bar. All new furniture & the landscaping is fantastic compared to 2019. I love everything they did over there & we were delighted to see that Joel the island manager is still there. One of our fav people. Spa is also excellent. Andrea & Kelly are amazing. We also hope to see Kevington again at the spa as he was also very nice to us. We also love the DJ's & entertainment staff at resort. If you get tired of he Miami dance club music, they will play anything you ask them too. Also a big thank you to Alberto in water sports on the island. I almost killed myself trying to dive for a sand dollar I found by the dock. He glided down like a dolphin & retrieved it for me. Very polite friendly young guy. Thank you for your hospitality Sandals Royal Bahamian! Charlotte & Eric room 115…
This was our 4th time visiting Sandals.. 2nd time at this location. I think Sandals just keeps getting better in our experiences. The staff is always so friendly and accommodating. I talked to the loyalty desk manager and she went above to make the trip extra special for a few requests. Dining at Gordon's on the pier was amazing, Kimonos was great and really every place we chose to eat at... The tranquility and relaxation felt at Sandals is really amazing just walking around with a cold Sands beer and listening to the music and greeted by friendly smiles by the staff. The private island, beautiful snorkeling spots of the back of the private island (catch the early boat over and stay all day.. HIGHLY recommended), cabanas on the back side of the private island, hammocks.. and other surprises!!, everything about the resort is phenomenal!! We will definitely be back!…
After 3 years, we were finally able to make it back to the Bahamas for our 6th time. We decided to give Sandals Royal Bahamian a try and we were not disappointed. Our butlers Kevin and Ekron were fabulous! Kevin especially went out of his way in every aspect! We loved the diving there and the dive master Brian was amazing! He was so friendly, patient, and fun to learn from and dive with! Our favorite bar staff members were Philip and Renaldo in the pub and Edwin at the piano bar. We had many a good laughs with them during our trip and they especially went above and beyond to make my birthday evening a blast! We can’t wait to return back to this resort in April to celebrate our anniversary.
This resort had all that we wanted and more. We were picked up in a RR and our driver Keanu was fantastic. He took great care of us and made us feel welcomed immediately. Then our butlers, Terrinque, Z and Dora were all on point for our entire stay. We didn’t have to lift a finger for anything. I would highly recommend this resort and get the private pool with soak tub room and you won’t go wrong.
This was our third Sandals trip (ochi 2019, halcyon 2021) we were again blown away by how beautiful and accommodating this resort was. The staff was excellent and very friendly, getting around was easy. Only complaint would be plumbing in our room.
This was our third time at this resort. First 1999, last 2006. The second time was at the Butler level when they were piloting the program; this time Club level. Overall We got what we came for: a relaxing vacation where we could mindfully unplug and turn down our IQs for a few days. We returned rested and recharged. Very social day and night, but in bed pretty early. When we wanted to be left alone, we were left alone. When we wanted to socialize, we found like-minded folks. If we’d wanted a party this time, we would have easily found one. Lovely, well-managed, clean resort. Nice refresh of the facilities. Online Check-In We checked in online. This resulted in the smoothest check-in that I have ever experienced at Sandals. Upon arrival, we confirmed the last four digits of a credit card and that was it. Super slick. Airport Transfer Very smooth. Lovely new terminal since we last visited, and Sandals has a storefront inside the airport. The driver is an independent operator. Our driver loaded and unloaded a lot of heavy bags (Sandals require cruise wear (no tuxes!) for men in the evenings, no rules for people who aren't men). Most people both ways stiffed the driver. You might plan to keep $20 at hand. Concierge We were a mess when we arrived – the first vacation since November 2019, stressed out from the trip (I’m immune compromised, and the interpretations of “wearing a mask” on our plane varied wildly), and I lost my glasses immediately upon arrival, and we were just high maintenance as you can possibly be. The concierge, Q (she told us to call her that and I forgot to write down her real name, which did, in fairness, begin with “Q”), was awesome – so welcoming, so understanding. She was clearly having a busy day and carved out the time to get us settled, which involved some running around (I promised to meet her at Coconut Grove and went to Calico instead because she said a name with C and I stopped listening). She’s like an obstetrician, only this particular baby that she delivered safely into the world of Sandals weighs about 200 pounds. Facilities Newly renovated this year. Rooms are very clean and well appointed – elegant, not ostentatious. More modern than last time. Lovely. We were in a swim-up room on the resort side of the West Bay Block. The coolest pool in the place at the end of the day. We didn’t use the pool every day, but when we did it was a real treat. The property is spotlessly clean and well maintained - Everywhere you look, people are cleaning and maintaining the hard and soft scape. Special mention for Nadine E. Her job involves keeping the railings between the resort and the beach clean of salt spray. We saw her from the spot where we spent most of our days on the beach. She was (unobtrusively) relentless at what looked like a bit of a thankless job. It’s one of those tasks that you would only notice if someone stopped doing it. She may take breaks, but I never saw it. Restaurants Breakfast Lovely buffet at both Kanoo and Tesoro, with fresh omelet/egg dishes prepared to order. Every omelet I had was well executed – including those stuffed with fillings, and the Julia Child I asked for one day. Special mention to Makell – she’s a great cook and a serious professional with a brilliant future ahead of her. Great team player, and cool under pressure. Raymond (who seems to work in each restaurant from dawn to dusk) supports the servers clearing dishes, bringing hot drinks, etc. He moves with what Thomas Keller would describe as a sense of urgency – smooth and swift, with his head on a swivel. If I was in management at Sandals, I would trust Raymond with any task that he was willing to take on. The Sweets’n’Tings food truck is the only place at the resort to get an espresso drink. They use UHT milk which gives it an odd taste, but the proportions in my cortado were perfect the morning of August 5. No cream for coffee generally. Great selection of teas. Lunch Both Calico and (on the Sandals private island) Aralia House serve a delicious lunch, in shade, with a breeze. Aralia House is the more ambitious of the two. Every bite is delicious at both. Aralia House is worth the trip (even if one doesn’t want to line up for the first ferry to get a shady spot on the island). The Coco Queen food truck has delicious Fisk Tacos (grilled and deep fried), as well as conch salad and conch fritters. Highly recommended – these are the things we ate most during the week. Drinks Most of the hard liquor on offer is rotgut. You’ve never heard of most of the brands that they serve at the outdoor bars. The swim-up bar is a party/frat house/good ol' boy vibe. Never once saw a fight break out though, so have at it! Very slow and surly service as a rule, which I can understand at the swim-up bars (less so at the bar in Coconut Grove). There is a better selection at the indoor bars and some lovely cocktails. Nice selection of wines by the bottle at the indoor restaurants. Lots of debate over how to pronounce “Aix”. I vote for “Yacks” with a soft Y. There is a lovely cocktail selection at the bar between Butch’s and La Plume. It is actually a pretty great scene – comparable to a real bar in the world, and most folks there are up for socializing. The entire team at that bar really hustles, and Marvin is a standout. Reads the room perfectly, and knows how to get the crowd going. Covid has clearly taken the air out of the piano bar – it used to be the beating heart of the resort many evenings (although I must say, not hearing Piano Man eight times a night is a bit of a relief). Nonetheless, the singer there was very talented, and Valentino keeps the smaller crowd engaged and has great energy. And he knows how to make a drink! Dinner Food at Butch’s, Tesoro, and La Plume is continental. I would say very (perhaps very very) good hotel food. The T-Bone at Butch’s was beautifully charred. Otherwise, most steaks (though perfectly medium rare to order) were on the gray side. Lovely greens and salads at all times. Excellent escargot at La Plume. Very smooth and attentive service at all three restaurants. Jon runs a tight ship at Butch’s. Mikey is a standout (she says she’s new at fine dining but you wouldn’t know it – she could work anywhere). And look: there’s Raymond again! Gordon’s on the pier was a real treat – a nice breeze, lovely sunset. Service appropriately laid back but attentive. “Dinner on the Pier” Dinner on the Pier is actually dinner on the beach, in one of several cabanas. Wayyyyy to hot until sunset. Offering this at 6 PM in summer is crazy. And calling it “on the pier” is misleading. Our server (his name begins with an O – Oswald?) was great – we had pre-ordered a bottle of champagne, and he brought it out ice old to us on the actual pier – ended up being a lovely night. Beach We reserved a cabana for $150 for several days – well worth the money, with excellent shade. The servers were all great – Racquel (Racuel?) was the standout. Where on earth did she find coconut water for my favorite drink? There are not enough shady spots for everyone. I think a few more of those thatched-roofed round things would be in order. Island Worth a visit – we went once, and lots of people seem to go every day. Nicely appointed; seems to be a shaded spot (in various configurations) for everyone who wants one. Lovely pool, nice restaurant. Overall: as advertised. Activities Lots of fund scheduled activities during the day – a great team of activity staff. Saturday they were in and around the pool getting wet, dancing, and showing guests how to have a great time. Dennilee was a great MC for a bunch of events including TV theme song trivia. But follow her rules or you’ll have to give an impromptu dance recital! DJ Morada is truly inspired – he spun a great mix throughout the day, with something for everybody. Lots of deep tracks from popular and dance music across genres. You know how sometimes you just have to jump on Spotify and play a song you haven’t thought of in years (or a new song that you can’t get enough of every day)? DJ Morada did that all day, every day while we were there. In conclusion No reductions in star count for any of the quibbles above. Lots of folks there work really hard in the heat so we can relax. I have some pretty classy problems. Highly recommended if you’re for the beach.…
Came to celebrate my wife’s Birthday. Very enjoyable relaxing time. Weather was beautiful, all the resort staff friendly and attentive, fun food and drink options. Secure safe environment we are looking forward to our last 3 days and exploring the nearby Sandals island.
We stayed at the Sandals Royal Bahamian in May 2022 We arrived at the immigration hall at 3.10, there were still passengers from a previous flight being processed. It took about 25 minutes to be processed and get to the luggage reclaim, by which time our flight’s luggage had been delivered and removed from the belt. From the Sandals lounge in the Arrivals we were taken outside to wait for the minibus. It arrived in a couple of minutes but we had to wait 15 minutes in case more passengers arrived, one further couple arrived. At the Sandals entrance at 4:20 we were given the usual cold towels but there was no welcoming party that we have had at other Sandals (not that we necessarily wanted it). Into the Club Lounge and, having previously checked-in online (so we didn’t have to go through the laborious iPad based check-in system), we were given our room card and waited to be shown to our room. There were only us and the other couple and yet, as always, there seems to be a compulsory long wait between checking in and being taken to your room. Our room was 1214 (type HG) in the West Bay building. It overlooked the Tesoro restaurant which wasn’t ideal, also most of the rooms on the level 2 (1st floor to Brits) had palm trees at balcony level so there was very little view. The room was a reasonable size for a Club category, about 25 x 15 feet including the triangular balcony and excluding the hall and bathroom. The bathroom was small with moderate clothes hanging space and safe opposite the wash basin. The shower and toilet were separated from the rest by a door. There was a lot of drawer space, each bedside lamp had a USB charge port but there was no British 13A socket and the standard sockets were not very accessible apart from the ones by the minibar/coffee making area. The air con was very noisy even on the lowest fan speed so couldn’t be used at night. There was no ceiling fan. The air con in the corridor was very noisy but was barely audible in the room. The resort grounds are kept immaculate by a large team of gardeners. Despite the pool water looking a bit cloudy, the pools themselves looked very clean (clean tile grout and no tide mark around the edges). We had arrived on Thursday which was Foam Party day, extremely loud music and a lot of noise and we wondered if we had come to a Club 18-30 revival. However, after a week of getting used to the pool environment the next Foam Party was hilarious to watch even though we didn’t take part. Every day around the West Bay pool there was music playing, sometimes unnecessarily loud but on the whole ok. For our first week it was easy to get sunbeds by the West Bay pool all morning but later on in our holiday it became more difficult to find sunbeds after 8am. We liked a particular spot so joined the few that were up at sunrise to reserve our sunbeds. There were large numbers of sunbeds on the beach (without shades) so never an issue to find free ones but only a small number had shades and most of these were reserved early by the butlers. Restaurants -We always had breakfast in Kanoo as we prefer a buffet breakfast. It didn’t open until 7:30 despite the website saying 7:00, and there being a demand for it to open earlier. Lunch times we eat at Calico or Kanoo or Tesoro (pizzas only). Evenings we prefer to eat about 7pm and were able to make reservations fairly easily for Butch’s and La Plume for 5 of our 9 nights, eating at Tesoro 3 times and Gordons once on the other nights. There was an issue with an incorrect booking at La Plume which was dealt with by La Plume’s manager so check that bookings are made correctly. There were still only two of the three food trucks, Sweets n’ Tings was open all day from 6am for drinks, snacks, crepes and cakes. It was very popular. The other opened later and had predominately seafood dishes. All the food in all the restaurants was very good (breakfast, lunch and dinner), though on one occasion there was a large piece of grisle in the meat at Tesoro. Service was also very good in all restaurants apart from our first visit to Butch’s when our server didn’t seem to know what she was doing. When the manager did the rounds we let him know and he was surprised and apologetic. Our following visit to Butch’s was excellent. A guest wore a cap into Butch’s which was contrary to the evening attire policy but nobody challenged him. Service at the bar by Coconut Grove was generally good and quick. Only once did I see a queue and I never had to wait more than about a minute to be served. Service of drinks around the pool was a bit random, one day you may not see anyone and another they would come round many times during the day. Entertainment - A daily program of daytime and evening activities was published and displayed by the concierge desk and elsewhere. Many of the daytime activities did not take place, predominantly due to lack of support, but the activities team could do more to promote some of them. Evening entertainment was varied with a main event in Coconut Grove and side events of singers and musicians elsewhere, all were good. COULD DO BETTER- Isn’t it about time Sandals were more generous with the “Luxury Included” wine, offering only a handful of red and white (no rose) house wines, if you want anything else you have to pay for it. Other all inclusive hotels include extensive wine lists an no extra charge. They say they have “top shelf” spirits but these are very limited. There were times in our room that we didn’t get the towels we were meant to and we had to ask for more shower gel. On our arrival there was a patch of black mould on the shower ceiling (about 6 x 4 inches), it didn’t bother us so we left it to see what happened, it was still there when we left. One afternoon the West Bay fire alarm went off but was only audible in the corridor. If it had happened at night I suspect a large number of guests would have slept through it. There was no staff direction or assistance apart from the security lady who directed us back though the building to get to the other side! If a member of staff spots something is wrong but it is not part of their duties they seem to ignore it, e.g. overflowing rubbish bins by the pool, many staff walked passed them but nothing was done about it. Sandals encourage guests to use the Loop system to report any problems. We used it a number of times, each time it was acknowledged but there was never any further feedback. I reported a faulty lock on the Coconut Grove toilet, it was never fixed. Overall a good holiday and would have no hesitation in returning but it’s a pity they can’t put right the things that would make it perfect, things that other reviews also often mention. Finally, there seems to be a shift in the ages of the guests. Five years ago it was unusual to see many guests in their twenties or thirties. This year we have seen a greater proportion in their mid to late twenties and thirties, (is this as a result of the introduction of things like Foam Parties and more lively entertainment or is this why they have introduced more lively entertainment)?…
We stayed in the East Bay with a beautiful ocean view room. The staff were all extremely kind and welcoming, food was fantastic, and the water/beach was stunning. They did have entertainment every night on the resort that lasted late and was loud but we didn’t have trouble sleeping with where our room was.
This has been an amazing wonderful experience! Sandals a 10/10! No complaints at all the most caring and amazing staff ever! MRS.Q ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, ENTIRE SPA STAFF AMAZING, ENTIRE RESTAURANT STAFFS, THE ENVIRONMENT AND VIEWS WAS EVERYTHING! We Will be returning! Thank you sandals my 30th birthday was the best thanks to you guys
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