r/SandalsResorts

My fiancée and I are planning on going to a sandals resort for our honeymoon. Neither of us have ever planned a trip like this so we’re trying to decide which resort to go to and honestly so far it’s a little overwhelming. I’ve found there are Certified Sandals Specialist (CSS) and was wondering if they actually make it easier for you or just try to up sell you the whole time.

Me and the wife have booked a week for next June and we're trying to be as informed about the trip as possible. This is our first Sandals vacation.

How is Mobay in June generally? Crowds, weather, etc? I find that I'm getting conflicting info from my searches so far.

Thank you all in advance. This sub has been a great source of information to this point.

Husband and I are staying at Sandals Grenada (love it so far!!) and he’s been wanting a club sandwich from the room service menu. We’re in a club level room, but as of now we’ve only ordered breakfast room service off the landline because we like spending our days on the beach.

I’d love to order it on my phone and go up/come back to the beach to surprise him. I can sneak up for a bit to use the bathroom and grab it for him but don’t want to spend a full hour up there waiting.

Basically just wondering if I can order it on my phone lol. Sorry for the stupid question!

Hi all, heading to Grande St. Lucian with my partner this week for a wedding. We really only have 1-2 days of open free time & want to explore the island so any advice & honest opinions are welcome!

Ideally I’d like to start excursions on the earlier side so we can enjoy the rest of the day relaxing at the pool/beach - so I’m thinking booking it through Sandals will be the easiest and most convenient.

We’re both mid-late 30s, relatively active and enjoy nature. We like our vacations to be a mix of activities and leisure time. I’ve been to all-inclusives and have done excursions, so I don’t want to waste half a day on something that is subpar and feels too crowded, commercial/touristy.

Here are the things we’re interested in & are available during our time so please let me know which is most worth it:

-My boyfriend really wants to do the Friday Night Street Party but the wedding is that day (starts at 4pm) so could we realistically head to it after the reception is over? For context the couple and family are very down to earth so I don’t think they’d have any issues with guests enjoying their time outside of the wedding celebrations.

- Soufriere Experience that includes speed boat ride, snorkeling, Diamond Waterfall, the sulphur springs and local lunch on private beach overlooking Marigot Bay

-Soufriere Jeep Volcano Tour that includes Jeep safari ride, sulphur springs, hike to Venus waterfall, meal at local restaurant with Piton views

Thanks in advance!

Hello Travelers!!

I am looking for some help on recommendations for Sandals (or other resorts!). My parents, 60 (mom) and 64 (dad) never had a honeymoon. My siblings and I 2 years decided to surprise them wth a “honeymoon!” A trip that we paid for and they could relax. However before we could ever start planning, my mom had to have a hip replacement. So it postponed the trip. As life does, I am ashamed to admit, it got crazy. Their trip kinda fell to the wayside. They’re very sweet so wouldn’t bring it back up. But my siblings and I realized shoot. We forgot. So we want to book it now!

I was thinking sandals because relatively good priced, my husband and I went to one for our honeymoon , friends have gone & they’re adult only & safe.

Details we must hit:
- safety is #1
- Good one around April-June of next year (2027) so what one is good around that time of year?
- Quiet but also not grandma. We don’t want them to go to the biggest hustling and bustling one. But they do like to adventure and have some fun, so maybe one that isn’t super quiet and small.
- Good quality rooms. As mentioned. Mom had a hip replacement, so lots of stairs or hills probably isn’t great for her.
- one that has a good spa. They’ll both want that.
- best overall for a couple

Internet said Jamaica. But wanted to see others opinions. St Lucia is where we went for our honeymoon, but I want to allow my parents to have a different experience than us. They also neither have ever been to any island so any place will be new and novel for them.

Please let me know! I’ve done some searching on the web but experiences differ by time. I want the most up to date so we can do right by our parents. Budget isn’t a huge factor as it will be split across a bunch of people, but let’s not break my wallet please!!!

We just got home from a 4-night stay at Sandals Royal Bahamian, and we had such a great time! My husband and I stayed in a Butler Private Pool Room, and it was exactly what we needed. A few days to relax, reconnect, and get away from the everyday craziness.

A huge shoutout to our butlers, Sterling and Dalton! They were amazing and took such great care of us. They were always one step ahead, super friendly, and really helped make our vacation feel effortless.

Before we left, I had read a lot of negative reviews and honestly wondered what we were walking into. I'm so glad we didn't let those reviews change our minds. Was the resort a little older and smaller than some of the other Sandals resorts we've been to? Sure. But it was also beautiful, clean, and had everything we needed.

The best part was the people. Every staff member we interacted with was smiling, kind, and genuinely wanted to make sure we were having a good time (especially Mack at Tesoro) . That kind of hospitality really makes a difference.

If you're on the fence because of some of the recent reviews, don't let them scare you away. We had a wonderful experience and booked a return trip for next year! It was the perfect little escape for us, and we left feeling refreshed and much more connected than when we arrived.

I think we are settling on Grenada due to the small nature of the resort. What did you guys do for excursions? Book there or ahead of time and with who? Our TA recommended https://www.islandroutes.com.

We are interested in the Grand Etang forest, waterfalls - not hiking though.

Heading to Jamaica Dunn's River. My husband and I got pretty sick from the food and drinks from a different resort in the Dominican. We're worried that we may get it again with this trip. Does anyone know how likely this might be?

Hi all,

My fiancé and I are currently planning our honeymoon to the Caribbean in Jan or Feb so peak season. We settled on a 2 week trip to Dunn's River one and it'd be our first start at Sandals. We started to get concerned about the pool towel game after reading multiple reviews and we're a bit put off by this. We prefer spending time at the pool over a beach, usually go around 10-11am and need to stay under the umbrella as my partner sometimes gets heat strokes / rash.

A room with a butler is out of our budget as it's double the price we're planning to spend. The last thing I want to do during the honeymoon is to wake up at 5 or 6am to reserve a set of 2 chairs by the pool each day.

In reality, how much of a problem is it in the Dunn's River resort? Would we have a challenge each day and stress that we won't be able to spend time by the pool? Anyone that can share experiences during the peak time?

I am arriving tomorrow at St Vincent . I'm just curious as to whether or not they're showing the games especially since there are so many British visitors who will definitely want to watch them in real time .

Does anyone know if they have cider at Royal plantation? Going in a few months for our Honeymoon and I’m not a beer drinker so I’m hopeful that they have cider in the pub. Otherwise I’ll be exclusively on cocktails the whole week, which isn’t the end of the world but would be nice for the odd cider.

FYI there is a complimentary t-shirt in the new Island Insider Club Shop! (Need to pay shipping still)

https://islandinsidersshop.myshopify.com/

Has anyone ever visited Montego Bay or Negril Sandals Resorts? There are 5or 6 to choose from and I was wondering if anyone had any first hand experience with any of them. I’d like to visit in December 2027 and was hoping to get some feedback here in terms of accessibility and how accessible they are.Thanks!

Staying at Sandals Ochi next week and looking at excursions. Some of them the tickets on the excursion websites are way cheaper than booking through Sandals. But we would need a taxi to get there. How do we book one? I’ve heard the front desk can book it for us but is that an extra fee? About how much would a taxi be for like a 10 minute ride? Do they charge per person?

We’re going here for our honeymoon the end of October. A lot of the excursions almost look like they’re the same but just a tad different. So really just wondering if there are suggestions for certain excursions that are worth doing??

My wife and I visited Sandals Dunn’s River for our honeymoon October 2024 and had an amazing time. We booked using a travel agent. We’re looking at booking another trip, potentially to Curaçao, St Lucia or St Vincent but looking for advice on booking our next trip. A few questions:
Do you book your trip through a travel agent or by yourself?
Any tips, tricks if booking yourself?
Do you book your flight through Sandals or by yourself?

TL,DR: Yes!^(*)

Read on for the full (long winded) asterisk nuance:

One of the reasons we chose a Sandals resort is because we liked the all-inclusive approach. We could have stayed in equivalent properties for less and paid "a la carte" for food and drink. But for us, the value is that we don't have to worry about anything at the resort. No waiting for a check after dinner, no calculating tips or carrying cash, no tracking how much we spent on extras to avoid any unpleasant surprises. We were willing to pay the Sandals price in exchange for what we perceive to be a more pleasant experience.

REVIEW (Grenada June 2026)

Butler service extended this worry-free concept to the next level! Our butler team (Alex, Antonio, and Shane) was amazing! They anticipated our needs even going so far as to change our dinner reservation time so that we could make it to the beach party. This wasn't something we thought about or asked for, we just casually mentioned that we hoped to go to the party and they took the initiative to make the necessary arrangements. They were so good at planning out our activities that we left all the decision making in their hands. They set our schedule for the week and they did it better than we could have on our own, tailored to our own needs and wants. After one moderately late evening dinner we commented to our butler that we were exhausted and not used to eating so late. The team changed all of our remaining reservations to earlier times (which we greatly appreciated!).

No request was too big or small. Pizza and wine by the pool, special snacks in the room, scheduling excursions, and so much more including frequent pleasant surprises in the room.

We enjoyed having a butler walk us to dinner. That gave us a few minutes to casually chat with them and get to know them a little. We were seated immediately and they brought us our first drink, no waiting for a server to come by.

We had one point of contact for all our needs, wants, and desires at the resort. Housekeeping forgot to refill the shampoo or leave washcloths, just mention it to the butler and it's taken care of. Special dietary requirements? The butlers worked with the restaurants to make sure our needs were met. Want an excursion? The butlers can book it.

It was really nice to have one point of contact (well, three over the course of a week) that was easy to contact and who knew a little bit about us personally.

TIPPING

Butlers are one of a very few exceptions to the no tipping rule and are allowed to accept tips. We did tip our butlers at the end of our stay for their exceptional service but we had anticipated that cost up front. We calculated the amount we thought was appropriate in advance of the trip, allowed extra for exceptional service (which was earned!), and considered that just a part of the cost of the resort.

We made sure we knew when the last shift would be for each butler and tipped them then. We tipped between $30 and $35 USD per shift worked, with the $35 going to the butler who showed the most initiative. In retrospect I personally feel we should have tipped higher. Next time we will target around $40 USD per shift. Some tip significantly more than that, some less. This is just the number that feels right to me.

SUMMARY

Butlers provide single point of contact for housekeeping, restaurants, excursions, and much more.

If you like the all-inclusive nature of Sandals, butlers take that a step further.

ASTERISK

The asterisk, of course, is for cost. This is a calculation everyone has to make for themselves. Is Sandals worth the cost? Are butlers worth the added cost? Not everyone will come to the same conclusion. One really nice thing about Sandals is you are treated the same as everyone else on the resort regardless of your room level. You get access to all the same amenities. But if you can tolerate the cost, butler service is a really nice indulgence.

EDITED for formatting.

i love to snorkel so that’s the most important factor. I’ve already been to curaçao so I would prefer not to go but I am open to it. I really need the ocean clear when I go. I want to go preferably the first week of november and not break the bank. 9k for 10+ days

Hi, fellow Sandals and Beaches fans!

We’re heading home from our very first Sandals vacation, and we’re already planning our next one! This time we’d love to bring our kids, so we’re looking at Beaches for May 2028.

Our family will be 6 people:
4 adults
2 kids (ages 14 and 8, with our oldest being 20)

We’re really interested in Beaches Emerald Cay in Exuma, Bahamas, when it opens in late 2027. The travel desk recommended booking Beaches Negril now and then transferring the reservation to Emerald Cay once bookings open.

For 5 nights (with the current 1-night-free promotion), we were quoted about $11,300 for a Tropical Oceanview Concierge 2-Bedroom Suite (BCC category).

For those of you who travel to Beaches often:

Does this seem like a good price?
Do you think it’s worth booking now to lock in pricing and then switching to Emerald Cay later?
Have any of you transferred a reservation from one Beaches resort to another? If so, how did it go?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and any tips for first-time Beaches planners. Thanks!