Sandals Royal Bahamian Vacations

As someone who pays a lot of attention to reviews, I was a little hesitant to book this resort at first, but I am very glad we did! To be frank, we booked the cheapest option of room at the resort, as we find we're never really in it. The private island was amazing. Lots of varieties of on-site watersports and entertainment and other group activities to sign up for too. We did a wine tasting. It was more of a fun activity to do while there vs. a traditional wine tasking which we enjoyed. All the staff we wonderfully polite and helpful. The gym was just remodeled so that was a pro for us as well.

The only thing "semi-negative" we found was that two of the restaurants requited long pants, which my husband did not pack because were in the Caribbean, and they were stickler about it. Additionally, being from the Midwest I would refer to them as barn cats around the resort, while they're cute and sort of friendly, I found them to be annoying during meals.

Was very disappointed when we got here. There's nothing here to do. The restaurants close at 4:00. There's very little to chose from to eat. There's no seafood at all. There's only a few bars and restaurants. No stores to shop at. There's no beach. There's a tiny beach that's not clean and smells really bad. It's freezing and windy as hell. The temp is 80 but feels like 60. The sandals resort is so small. We're very disgusted for the price we paid. It was a lot of money. All this is is for the rich people to hang out. We came here to get married and there's no where niceon the tiny beach to even get married. We're very disgusted.

Great all around service. The butlers were sometimes cloying and having to keep track or the issued phone to summon the butler could get annoying, but you get use to it. Unfortunately if you want any good snorkeling adventures this is not the place to be in late March/early April - no fish - no turtles - conservative swimsuits (just a joke there).

My wife and I stayed here for 10 nights in late march - early April 2024. I would have given 4.5 if allowed, but that was not an option.

In summary, great holiday, with some really good points and some room for improvement in a couple of areas:

1. Good points:
a) Brilliant animation team, always on the go and encouraging (not over the top) the inclusion of residents. Hats off to Arnold, Jeanie, Giovanni, Mo Jo (Shelton) and James plus a couple I did not get the names of. Done a lot of AI and this is the best team by far!
b) Very clean hotel, excellent rooms and facilities, great setting and lovely beach.
c) Lovely private island, not always directly accessible from the hotel if sea too choppy as its a short free boat ride. See web site for facilities on the island.
d) Great restaurants, with the exception of the french (see later)
e) Very friendly staff (with the exception of the food trucks - see later)
f) Excellent butler service, expensive option and some may consider the service over the top. We took it for 3 days as it was the only room available to match our flight schedule.
g) Great social atmosphere in the piano bar with sing along with the fantastic pianist Dwight.
h) Very effective air con which is a must (for us)
j) Very good evening entertainment with all the team and engaging for residents.

2. Room for improvement;
a) Very poor experience in the a la carte French restaurant. Waited 40 minutes for prawn cocktail, but mains delivered first! Took mains away, brought starter and then mains which I think had just been kept warm. Heard others complaining and I sensed a level of 'chaos' in the french restaurant. We never went back a 2nd time as it was so poor. Not satisfactory for the price we paid, so Sandals need to sort this.

b) Whilst most of the staff are very friendly, the staff in 1 of the 2 small food trucks (the dessert truck) were the polar opposite and this which is out of character with the resort, and again needs resolving.

c) Minor point but the listed animation activities broadcast on the TV did not align with the PRINTED version that is provided and is the one the resort uses. This is poor.

d) The app is not as good as some competitors (Palace resorts) and this is not very user friendly. Such as can only book 1 a la carte - why?

Overall very good, but not 5 star in my opinion and some finer details need improvement.

UK holiday maker.

Sandals in Montego Bay. Very disappointing. Words can’t describe my experience. The pictures are very deceptive. My rating 0. I was there in 2024

WORST RESORT CHAIN EVER. NEVER BOOK A VACATION WITH THEM. HAD AN EMPLOYEE SPYING ON US THROUGH THE SECRET DOOR TO THE POOL- THE MANAGERS DID NOTHING AND WERE HORRIBLE AT BASIC HUMAN CONFLICT SOLVING. BETTER SPEND YOUR MONEY ELSEWHERE! YOU WILL REGRET BOOKING WITH WITH SANDALS.

The staff is beyond friendly!! No wait time for anything. Entertainment excellent. Thanks Kimberly at booking, your the best!! Special shout out to our butlers for making it all so special!!

Shout out to our butler staff, Ms. Jackie, Ms. Paula & Mr. Junior for a great week! We are easy going people and they made our trip just perfect. Helped when we needed it and let us relax the rest. Other call outs to Melvin the bartender at the pool, the bartender at Mr. B's Bar that had just returned back to work (cant remember her name), great service all around...AND Zoey the best entertainment playmaker!

The resort had great food and plenty of it to choose from. The one tower was still closed for renovations while we were there so it wasn't as crowded which was nice. Another great thing was the distance to the airport; only 15 minutes- so our transport back allowed us to stay on the resort and enjoy until the last minute.

A little disappointed the island ferry was closed each day due to weather, however they did offer a shuttle to get you there from a different location.

Overall a great stay!

They say its all inclusive, but basic things like tooth paste need to be bought in a gift shop. Very average for the price you pay.

We were so excited to come to this property and to say we are disappointed is an understatement. I am always cautious about negative reviews but wish I would have booked any other property for the money Sandals charges. We were not told their gym was under renovation so you had to book a time to be taken off site - extremely inconvenient. They were 20 minutes late even when a time slot was booked. The spa was closed, again with no return of money for half the amenities being unavailable. I called and asked six months ahead if the renovation was going to be complete and they assured me it would be... The worst part is they closed the island every day except one for the entire week we were here. If we wanted to sit by a mediocre pool we could have done so for a fraction of the price. The quiet pool wasn't heated while the extremely loud pool was?.
We have been to many resorts so were expecting the price to reflect the quality of the resort and this fell so short. The only saving grace is some of the staff are clearly trying... DO not waste your money - you are better off at a Secrets, Royalton etc .... we could have gone elsewhere twice for the price. Seriously, don't do it.

Folks that we will like to recognized.

Kerry Ann and Maxine were amazing as we used a couples massages and we had met Kerry Ann at the pool area

At Kanoo Brittney Tabitha and Christopher were amazing and was one of our favorite places to eat.

Genoshia at Butch was very good and my wife enjoyed all her recommendations

Genie in a bottle and Gio were sooooo much fun and really loved the entertainment was super fun.

Sandra manager was able quickly help me out with some additional towels we needed in our room.

Michele front desk was very accommodating upon arrival and very nice.

Kimberly in loyalty well yes she got us to book again and first time to beaches. She was so much fun.

Kevin Clarke I think GM working on a Sunday told him he needed the day off he was very attentive and I really notice the small details as someone that is also a GM he always made a point to speak to someone as he walk the resort. I was very impressed.

Last day we met a tennis instructor while we played shuffle board and she spoke to us very organically and we love the interaction.

Overall amazing visit and can’t wait to be back.

We had to cancel our trip and the refund process has been a nightmare. They refunded the wrong credit card, double charged us for the candlelit dinner, and for some reason “can’t find” my credit card which $6800 was charged to. We have called numerous times and been given the run around. They told us to email an accounting dept which I have, 3x, with no reply. We’ve been waiting two weeks now with no resolution in sight. We will never rebook with Sandals. The customer service has been awful.

Extremely disappointed with our stay. My husband and I booked this trip for our honeymoon and my birthday. Trip dates 02/27/41-03/03/24. We booked an ocean view room and to our surprise when we opened the sliding doors to the balcony we were hit with a view of what looked like a junk yard or construction site? We did not have an ocean view. I expressed our concerns to multiple hotel employees. The only resolution they provided is they could switch us rooms but not until Friday 03/01/24. We were so disappointed as we had planned to order room service and have breakfast and coffee on our balcony while enjoying the ocean view. We had to avoid our balcony for the entire first half of our trip. On top of the awful view there was extremely loud construction which woke us up multiple times during our trip. I recorded videos to show as proof because it was so extremely loud it was unbearable. Another issue is we had to put our swimsuits on the balcony chairs to dry after the pool and our balcony was covered in small bugs. From the roof to the floor. We could not leave the balcony door open as the bugs would get close to the door and we did not want them to come into the room. Lastly, it was a very big inconvenience for us to have to pack up our entire room to switch rooms on 03/01/24. The hotel required us to be out of the room by 11:00 am and advised we could not access our new room until 2:30pm. (This was 3 1/2 hours without any room access or access to any of our personal items) The hotel advised that when we checked into our new room our luggage would be moved for us, to our surprise our luggage was not in the new room. We had to call the front desk to have someone bring our luggage which was another 15 minute delay. All around this was a very disappointing and frustrating experience which is not what you want your honeymoon to be. For my husband and I, this was a big splurge we saved up for a year to take this trip. For the price we paid the customer service we received was not acceptable. We feel that we were falsely advertised. I have submitted my feedback to sandals twice with no response or follow up. My advise is do not book your trip at this location.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We were celebrating my birthday for this trip. The staff were warm and very helpful! In particular, our Butlers were the best. They had prepared the room for my birthday very nicely. Also, our driver (to/from the airport) was very professional and helpful. The service at the restaurants and bars were also excellent. We had a swim up room facing the garden which was quite nice but could use some minor updates or tweaks. The bar space in the room was cramped and would suggest double vanities given the nightly pricing. We enjoyed the location and took advantage of the private island for a day which was paradise. In addition, we had a beachside candlelight dinner which I would give a big thumbs up and also went on a sunset cruise which was a party! We also enjoyed the entertainment and festivities at the party pool. We are not kids by any means but we liked the energy around the pool and beach. Also, the food was very solid but not a showstopper for us. We have had the opportunity to eat a lot of different cuisines and enjoy many restaurants in our past, so we are considered fairly discriminating diners. Overall an enjoyable get away and would do back. We have stayed at Sandals before and this was a positive experience. We are now we booked at Antigua next!

Also everything was broken the jet bike was broke the clear boat all the water entertainment was broke… also sandals said it comes with snacks and that was a lie no snacks suite. Sandals resort never disclosed dress code. We were at the beach at the Sandals Royal Bahamian resort and they harassed us about our dress code when we wanted to eat at a five star restaurant called Butchers on the resort that we paid that we already paid for all exclusive no one never disclaimed that there’s a dress code to us and my husband was harassed about our dress code by a black Manager woman who was very rude and disrespectful don’t go to the butchers restaurant they are rude and disrespectful I am not happy with their service and there was nothing good but one meal. We paid for the experience and the already rub us the wrong way

Just came back from Sandals Royal Bahamian and we had the best trip. Loved the convenience of the quick flight and the resort being near the airport. The resort was beautiful and loved having the private island to visit. The food was great, especially La Plume. The service was exceptional. Our butler Lajesh was fantastic and took great care of us, bringing snacks and lunch before we even asked for it. Highly recommend!

A must visit location. Calm waters and great staff.

An ideal location for the new beach Float’n pillow by Float’n Thang - oh, and they feature two convenient holders for you water bottles, favorite beverage and mobile device; or better yet, tanning lotion. Take on your next snorkeling trip.

I've been to numerous Sandals resorts, but this in one of my favorite. It has an exotic off shore private islands, we spent most of the times there because it wasn't as crowded. The foods here is Amazing, 10 world class restaurants & 8 Bars. So many activities at the resort and around the island. Day & Night Entertainment and Live shows as well. The room & service here was amazing, top notch service. We can't wait to be back!

It’s really a shame how much of a disappointment this resort was for the price. I was there for a wedding and while the other buildings (restaurants etc) were nice, the rooms and hallways of the hotel rooms were very musty smelling and outdated. My “ocean view room” really was overlooking a torn up parking lot. If I strained, I could see the ocean a little through some trees. The worst part is my credit card info got stolen in my room. Thankfully I had my cash and things in the safe but I had left my regular purse out. One day, I came back to the room alone to grab something and the woman cleaning was very startled. She kept saying I was just moving your things to clean. I didn’t think about it at the time and figured she was just startled when I came in. A few days later, all my banks were calling that I had unauthorized charges in the Bahamas. None of those cards were used at any time during the trip. They stayed in my room during the duration. The few things I bought, I paid in cash. Really such a shame for all the money it costs for the trip that the hotel itself was unpleasant and then the kicker was the stolen credit card information. I would highly recommend going elsewhere.

We just returned from our vacation and we’ve concluded we just don’t think we’re Sandals people. The location was very pretty but other than that we paid a lot of money for an experience we found to be subpar for the most part. Our ocean view room did face the ocean, but also faced a construction zone which was loud during the day. The elevator next to our room made the loudest vibration sound every time someone used it. There were ants in our room if we ordered any room service. The shower hot/cold was backwards and took about 15 minutes to warm up in the mornings. And the biggest disappointment was the food. The only good meal we had was from Soy, the sushi restaurant. Everything else was just bland or overcooked.
The butlers were extremely nice, and for the most part the rest of the staff was as well. We had a few experiences at the coconut grove bar where we were very blatantly ignored which we couldn’t understand. Also, the drinks were so inconsistent.
We expressed our concerns to the booking department since they bother you about rebooking numerous times, and all they did was say they’d “pass it along to management”. We had issues at a different Sandals for our honeymoon and were also assured our issues would be addressed by management…we never heard from them again even after reaching out numerous times.

At the end of the day, you’re spending a lot of money ($5k+) for four nights, and you expect everything to be top notch. We were underwhelmed. After reading other reviews it seems that negative feedback is just met with “we hope you give us another try”. I don’t think we will again.