My fiancé and I were originally planning on a destination wedding but after planning and factoring in the cost for our guests and ourselves we just didn't see it as being feasible. So with that said we have now focused our attention on booking our honeymoon. We have focused in on Sandals Resorts in St. Lucia, Antigua, and the Bahamas. We have heard some good things from our friends that have gone but once you start to read some of the negative experiences on trip advisor it gives us some reservation as Sandals is not a cheap all inclusive.
I know there has been talk about these resorts in the past so I'm looking for any and opinions in regards to this chain of all inclusive resorts.
Thanks!
That said, my co-worker just got back from Sandals St. Lucia (can't remember which one but I know there are 3 there), and she liked one of the ones she visited better than the one she stayed at. You can Sandal-hop and use each facility, so that's cool. I'd personally rather be away from all that though.
If you do opt for Sandals, do yourself a favor and skip that one. Beautiful island, nice people elsewhere, extremely shitty resort.
My wife and I had a a couple of drinks each day, and wanted to enjoy the island we were staying at (Maui in this case). Not trying the local food outside of where you are staying would be criminal in most luxury locations.
Good call.
Due to their advertising budget and typically huge properties with a ton of room options - the place is likely to be very populated and full of "touristy tourists". This can mean a hyper-competitive market for beach chairs, pool real estate and dining reservations. It also means larger crowds that are typically a bit louder. The overall crowd it attracts is pretty specific and there is a hint of established classes on the property (depending on your room level).
Food and overall ambiance is generally good, but generic. Everything is well-kept and clean, its just a "safe" rendition of the island you're visiting to appeal to everyone's taste. That's kind of a snooty comment, but I'd rather experience a little bit of the island I am on vs. have the American-ized version of it (which is why I don't like Aruba much). Their Italian restaurant is going to be on Olive Garden standards, etc.
That's my personal opinion - you're going to pay a lot for a name and get a "safe/generic" vacation on a beautiful island.
For a honeymoon in St. Lucia - look to Anse Chastanet or (if the budget allows) Jade Mountain. Much better location and resort than anything else on the island. However, it will be much more quiet/low-key, so keep that in mind.
I have not been to Antigua, so I cannot advise.
Do not do the Bahamas. Contrary to popular myth, everything is not better there.
Good call.
Weddings in general have become the epitome of self-centered arrogance. Putting it on an island just slightly delays the ability to post the pictures of the ceremony to Facebook and lowers the attendance figures significantly.
We stayed at the one with the golf course :)
It was an absolutely phenomenal trip and enjoyed our entire time there.
This is what I thought originally - at worst, it'd be a mediocre vacation. I was traveling with my wife who was pregnant to our first at the time, and all I wanted was easy, one-stop shopping for a week's worth of R&R.
The entire vacation was a disaster. Our plane arrived late, delivering 100 guests to the resort 6 hours later than expected. The 'romantic beach sunset dinner' we were supposed to receive was a pile of hamburgers and hot dogs, that had been left on a buffet cart with a tablecloth over them and had at this point attracted a bunch of flies. OK, shit happens, maybe tomorrow will be better.
But it got progressively worse. To eat at the 'better' restaurants, we had to pick off hours because they were booked up. The buffet was food that you wouldn't find at a Sizzler's here, and food safety was a major concern (my wife was pregnant, and I was legitimately concerned that she would become ill; it was clear these people had no concept of food borne illnesses and how to protect against bacterial spread and growth).
The alcohol wasn't a big factor since she couldn't drink, but whatever I did have was awful. Forget top shelf, we're talking the worst of the worst of house liquor. The bartenders were all in a really shitty mood, this despite being tipped well several times (I eventually gave up).
Housekeeping did a miserable job of keeping the place clean, there was garbage all over the grounds, and even the one aspect you'd like to enjoy, just sitting on the beach and enjoying it's natural beauty, was compromised by being hassled by beach vendors every 30 seconds (again, not entirely Sandals' fault, but they certainly took no measures to discourage the behavior).
I've done other AIs, and went in with managed expectations, and was never disappointed. Sandals left such a bad taste that they gave us a 50% off coupon as a result of the letter I sent them, and I tore it in half and returned it to them and told them that no amount of money would justify ever returning to one of their properties.
My wife and I had a a couple of drinks each day, and wanted to enjoy the island we were staying at (Maui in this case). Not trying the local food outside of where you are staying would be criminal in most luxury locations.
I can't stress enough how much we would rather stay at an all inclusive even though neither my wife nor I drink.
I played golf 3 times while my wife got massages. Just a great great time.
Some great information on here. It looks like I'll be ruling out Antigua!
UConn, my fiancé and I love the idea do not having to worry about anything while on vacation. We have done a couple other all inclusive resorts and we just like everything about them.
In the grand scheme of things all we will really want to do is relax and have a couple cocktails everyday.
I did Sandals once and agree with a lot of what you said, but didn't have the flat-out awful experience that you did. That said, the trip was ultimately completely forgettable and "getting away from it all" was lost due to the constant competition for anything. I equate going to Sandals with going to Disney or Vegas - you're going to get a similar crowd and a similar experience. Its going to be busy/crowded, the specific people there are not in "vacation mode" and its generally not relaxing.
I do think that All Inclusive resorts can be a really great idea if that's exactly what you want (convenience, cost-effectiveness, gluttony, etc.). There are just a lot better AIs out there. As mentioned above, Secrets and Couples are better in Jamaica. The Palace Resorts in Mexico (Cozumel/Cancun/Play Del Carmen) are better. Anse Chastanet/Jade Mountain, Ladera and others are better in St Lucia.
And so on. You can get an awful experience anywhere with bad luck, but Sandals is like eating at Olive Garden vs. going to the joint run by an Italian Family down the street. Only Olive Garden jacks up their prices and costs more and decides to give all of their prime seats and dinner reservations to the people who paid more than you to get in.
For us it was a fun week to drink, relax, play beach sports, swim and enjoy being free of the wedding stress, but now that we are older, it isn't "our scene" anymore. Doing shots with music thumping in the middle of the afternoon was great when I was 25. 20 years later, it ain't all that fun.
If we ever did do sandals, it would be with other couples where we could revert to our 20's again, but I'd rather go to Europe or Hawaii instead.
For us it was a fun week to drink, relax, play beach sports, swim and enjoy being free of the wedding stress, but now that we are older, it isn't "our scene" anymore. Doing shots with music thumping in the middle of the afternoon was great when I was 25. 20 years later, it ain't all that fun.
If we ever did do sandals, it would be with other couples where we could revert to our 20's again, but I'd rather go to Europe or Hawaii instead.
THIS!
I've heard horror stories about the staffs at some AI's, including sandals, but in Negril, everyone was really helpful. I lost my wedding ring playing beach volleyball and didn't realize it until the next day. They had two guys come out and use a metal detector and they found it! The bartenders were efficient, and the waiters were fine.
My biggest turnoff were the other guests. There was a large group from NC, and when they found out we were also in NC, they kept hooting and hollering at us everytime they'd see us. Literally, as in the "Yo Carolina! Drink!" chortle.
LoL -
Fatman, I'm with you I want more world class substance in my vacation now
By the way - my second wife and I did Nova Scotia for our honeymoon - we rented a car and stayed at a 4 star hotel in Halifax for the first leg - then drove up the scenic East Coast and stayed at a 4 star in Cape Breton - the sea food was to die for as was the scenery - and did I mention we ate fresh oysters every where we went - we ended up buying a beautiful handmade wedding quilt there that is still with us - and the proprietor of the shop where we brought the quilt (which was made by his wife) threw in a set of thistle cups when he found out we were newlyweds.
Also we found this tea house off the Dingle Bay that made the most dreamy fresh strawberry shortcake - [[[[sigh!]]]]
You can;t have experiences like that at an all inclusive resort.
Generally, I understand people being annoyed by the idea of destination weddings. But I don't know that I think they're more self-centered than any other wedding. After all, with a destination wedding you know you're likely cutting your attendance way down. Probably to only the people who care the most. We went to good friend's destination wedding in Panama a few years ago. I was a little annoyed by the idea at first. And the timing was terrible. (My current gf and I were moving into the house we'd just bought three days after we came back.) But it wound up being the nicest wedding experience we've ever had. A nice vacation with good friends that happened to be broken up by a little beach wedding. Frankly, there have been weddings I drove 10 minutes to that I enjoyed far less (and found far more indulgent). In two weeks, we're going to a wedding on the Southeastern shore of Maryland. Four hours away. I don't really care about the people (in-laws) and the place will be nothing special. Not too mention its an outdoor wedding in August. I'd much rather be going back to Panama.
They have an amazing rain forest that cool to take hiking tours through. Loved the scenic mountain views that the island is know for called the Pitons. Also some of the cleanest beaches of any island in the caribean.
Not to mention a very cool tour of a walk in volcano that was awesome and an amazing experiance.
So can't comment on Sandals itself but definily 100% recommend St. Lucia.
Quote:
not staying all-inclusive. Unless you are getting absolutely hammered all day long, every day, it really isn't that much of a money savings.
My wife and I had a a couple of drinks each day, and wanted to enjoy the island we were staying at (Maui in this case). Not trying the local food outside of where you are staying would be criminal in most luxury locations.
I can't stress enough how much we would rather stay at an all inclusive even though neither my wife nor I drink.
Obviously to each their own. I just find the whole "not having to worry about anything" leads to missing out on a whole lot.
We like the all inclusive concept, we liked the staff, we liked the service, we liked the choice of excursions, we liked the restaurant choices but we would not go to a Sandals again. Older and wiser I guess.
In both cases I was pretty satisfied with the result. The food is kinda meh, so if that's an issue for you, you might want to look at something else. We ate at the "high-end" Italian place at the Grande and I can say without fear of contradiction that there are a half dozen better Italian joints within walking distance of my house.
But I enjoyed the no stress, no tipping, no worrying about every dollar, vacation experience. You can spend all day out at the resort without anything more than your room key, a towel and a book.
To provide some context on our perspectives, my wife and I are both in our late 20s, well traveled and enjoy many of the luxuries, culinary or otherwise, afforded to those in the NYC-metro area. What I'm trying to convey is that we aren't sheltered individuals that would consider Red Lobster to be fine dining, although I do enjoy their cheddar-baked biscuits and the people watching.
For our honeymoon we both had our own dealbreakers and desires. Cost wouldn't be an inhibitor but I always subconsiously appreciate a good value. To quote Hans Gruber from Die Hard With a Vengeance, "There's a difference between not liking my brother and not caring when some jerk throws him off of a building." Well, for me there's a difference between affording certain luxuries and not caring when I'm price gouged to a ludicrous extent.
For her, she wanted a tropical destination with a nice beach. She didn't want to travel to anywhere either of us had previously been (Maui, Souther Europe). For me, there was nothing less appealing than a 20ish hour flight while hungover the morning after my wedding. I also wanted access to American television (NHL playoffs), great food, and copious amounts of alcohol.
Our honeymoon list had began with the Maldives, Bora Bora, and The Ocean Club in the Bahamas (I'm a Bond fan), but soon thereafter a travel agent had recommended Sandals which we decided to consider.
We began our individual research into Sandals and I happened to speak to a colleague that had been to a Sandals with his wife and had great things to say about their trip. At the end of the day I just could not get over the exceedingly long travel times for our other potential destinations, and my wife and I drink & (I) eat to the extent that I loved the idea of all-incusive. We were also intrigued by the idea of traveling to a resort that had literally just opened so we made the plunge and booked for Sandals.
Now for our Sandals experience...
I found the resort itself to be first-class. The grounds were impressive and I enjoyed the opportunity to explore the resort as if it were my newfound playground. There were two main pools, private infinity pools for certain rooms, a new gym, etc. The staff demonstrated that they were extremely well trained and provided white glove service throughout our vacation. Our room accomodations, albeit not the most spacious, were terrifically appointly with impressive bathrooms, beds, and technology.
The activities built into the Sandals experience were also nice and very convenient. I liked just being able to roll up to the water sports area and sign out kayaks, paddle boards, hobbycats, or head out on deeper sea snorkel trips via their motorboats (jet skis in other locations I'm told). I also enjoyed the scuba experience which is free for liscensed divers or provided at a fee for new divers that would be liscended at the resort. Scattered throughout the day were also the typical activities that you'd expect from a resort, whether they took place in one of the pools or at the beach. Of course there was always some sort of nightly entertainment which was fun enough.
I actually was most surprisingly impressed with the options and quality of our dining choices. I believe that there were seven restaurants in our resort to choose from at any given time including sushi, hibachi, Italian, pizza, American, French, and a steakhouse. Sure, if you went into each restaurent expecting Del Frisco's or Masa or Del Posto or Per Se you're going to be dissappointed. But if you have realistic expectations for a high quality meal with exceptional service, you will be pleased. My wife and I were able to enjoy every restaurant without being rebuffed on account of capacity issues. In fact, within our first few days I developed a routine of heading to the sushi restaurant for a few rounds of fish and drinks (the dinner before the dinner, if you will) before enjoying 4th meal at whichever venue we'd be heading to after. I'll also add that the convenience of having various bars placed all around the resort was exceptional. There is also an English Pub being erected to further support the beverage and nightlife needs of guests (grin).
Perhaps most constructive to our honeymoon experience at Sandals were the people that we met and relationships that we forged. After our first day or so of arrival at the resort there began a noticeable socialization and bond forming between guests. Couples were branching out to meet others and social groups were forming. I'd estimate that approximately half of the guests at Sandals were indeed on their honeymoon so naturally many folks were happy to share the euphoria of their special day with other couples that just shared a similar experience. This sort of socialization I knew that I wanted from my honeymoon rather than the isolation I'd expect from a trip to Bora Bora or the Maldives. Listen, I love my wife to death but over the course of 10 days I'd really appreciate contact with other people to keep me sane.
For us the result became a very close knit group of six or so couples that often shared in the activities at the resort, excursions off the resort (deep sea fishing, hikes, sunset cruises), and nightlife. Some of the best memories my wife and I took from our honeymoon were the new friends that we met and the fun that we had together, whether that had been in the pool during the day or at the bar at night. Heck, by the end of our honeymoon all of our couples were already plotting on booking a subsequent trip to another Sandals next year.
So ::tldr:: in summary I found my Sandals experience to have been terrific. The food was great, the service was great, the convenience of AI was great, and the ability to socialize with others was great. Now there may be dispersion in the experience at one Sandals against that of another, especially on a totally different island. That being said, my wife and I will most certainly be back to a Sandals soon enough and I thoroughly recommend the brand for those looking to limit travel distance for their tropical vacations.
I thought this particular property was clean and well kept and they maintained their property lines to exclude the "vendors". But, right at the edge of the property and just outside the swimming ropes in the Caribbean were dealers who really do harass you non-stop.
I now find all inclusives, in general, a tough choice. With kids, we are considering it for our next big vacation simply because our kids have trouble with transition. Having all the dining options on property may benefit them. But, we also enjoy going someplace and seeing the locale and dining where the locals do. In Negril, an all inclusive makes sense because Jamaica really isn't all that safe off property. At the same time, why go to what is supposed to be an exotic locale if you are always on a private resort? It's 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.
Does anyone have experience/thoughts with Beaches, which is owned by Sandals?
booze was decent.. not too watered down. the food was actually better than I expected. 18 restaurants on site.
they have a good size waterpark. in the park is a Pizza / burger joint and an ice cream shop. the kids just order their own food. there was also a small take out pizza shop that was open most of the time.
for me... Scuba was included. woke up early every day, got in a 2 tank dive then met the family in time for lunch.
I would definitely go back.
The second week we went to Sandals. I cannot emphasize how much we HATED it after LeSport. Cheezy weezy lemon squeezy. My wife cried the first night and we ended up moving to Renezvous, a sister resort to LeSport. Wasn't as good as LeSport but still great and WORLDS better than Sandals. All subjective though.
Personally, as I said, we had a really good time at Sandals. But, when it came time for honeymoon planning it was never a consideration. Neither of us felt it was special enough to serve as our honeymoon. But, we have friends who honeymooned at Sandals resorts and raved. Others, not so much. Nobody hated it, though.
all I can say is I would return to Beaches Turks and Caicos tomorrow if I wasn't staring down the barrel of paying for college!!
Sandals was massive, and there were probably 1000x the amount of people there (and half of them were getting married at the gazebo stationed pool-side... there was actually a line of brides/grooms waiting to say their vows). Our first clue though, When we drove up they were having a serious septic issue, and it STUNK to high heaven. When we walked through the Lobby it was incredibly loud and overlooked about 10,000 people all eating and sitting at the HS cafeteria looking food court, and beyond that the pool. It was sort of like being on a cruise ship from the view of the lobby. The beach in that location was pretty much unusable (and empty of people) due to rocks, hence all of the guests were pool side. Our room was marketed as having your own private dip pool... which it did... but everyone above us could look right down on us. Everything in the room had a big, bold "Sandals" label on it, including the pillow cases, the sliders to the deck and the bottom of the private pool. Our room was so far away from the Lobby and restaurants that it was like a 15 minute walk down some hairy terrain to get there. That's just what I remember off the top of my head... we could not get out of there fast enough. It was super cheezy, and a complete letdown after being at LeSport for a week.
Not surprisingly though, my wife's step brother and wife? They LOVED it there... go figure. And as I said this was more than a few years ago, it may be different now.