Sandals Royal Barbados

The positives: The resort including the infinity pool, was kept very clean. Our room was nice and clean. Many of the employees around the resort were pleasant. The food for the most part was good, especially at Neptunes and the Italian restaurant. The negatives: We were a little disappointed with the lack of ocean view from our room. The staff at the welcome room somewhat ignored us when we got there. We didn’t have use of our phone for 3 days to try to make dinner reservations. They messed up our dinner reservation for Monday night. They could be a little more customer friendly. The bartenders could be a little more pleasant. **The exception was the guy at the lobby piano bar at the Barbados resort. He was great, very personable and funny. In addition the bars were not well stocked. One of their featured drinks at the pool bar was a blue drink but they couldn’t make it because they didn’t have Blue Curaçao. To do snorkeling or scuba it was about a 30 minute ride to the docks. **The beach had a lot of seaweed and was not cleaned the entire week we were there. *** we were told that any towels on beach or pool chairs before 7am would be removed. I went down a number of times around 6:30 to try to get chairs and many had towels and butler signs on them. On the last day I went down at 6am to find employees ( not butlers) putting towels and butler signs on chairs. Was VERY AGGRAVATED with that!!

The whole experience with Sandals was brilliant. This was our first holiday with Sandals and the first time in the Caribbean. We booked a South Seas Rondoval Suite with a private pool, a couples massage and a candlelit dinner on the beach. Arrival in Barbados was really easy, a Sandals team member met us at the airport and helped us through arrivals and straight to our waiting car. The chauffer was fantastic and gave us some great tips for places to see in Bridgetown. The resort is two hotels combined so a tour with Daquain (one of our team of butlers) was really useful, it is a fairly big resort with plenty of options. The grounds are well looked after and well maintained. Our Rondoval was a really good choice with its private pool in a quiet location on the resort. The rooms were clean and included everything we needed. One nice touch for UK travellers is the room had both the local plug sockets but also UK plug sockets and USB charging points. The only thing I would change about the rooms is adding some plants to the private areas to add a bit more colour. Dinner reservations were all made via the butler team and there are plenty of options. By far the best meal we had was at Kimonos offering far eastern food prepared in teppanyaki style. The chef was first class and so was the meal. Wasn't too sure what to expect but it turned out to be one of the highlights of any of our holidays. The Merry Monkey is also worth a shout if you are after engligh food, especially the burger. We also went to La Parissienne and the french cafe for breakfasts. Butchs Chop House was also another great meal. In general the food was really good across both hotels restaurants with plenty of options for every taste. The evening entertainment was a little sparce at times with a couple of last minute cancellations however the Sunday evening show was fantastic. Although, if the entertainment is cancelled there are plenty of bars including the Sky Bar which is worth a visit in the evening, especially for the view and the bowling alley (although that can get busy if its wet outside). Special shout outs to our team of Butlers (Shaakira, Daquain Donald and the intern) and Shanelle (from the Spa), they were so friendly and really looked after us both. It's not an easy job and they deserve so much respect and thanks for what they do.

Returned from 2 weeks at the Royal Barbados and we got engaged so what a holiday. We stayed at Club level, lovely room with side views of the sea. Very clean and comfortable, fabulous sharing private bath on the balcony. Loved the Italian, our favourite, Neptunes was good when asked for the food to be "hot", lovely roof top bar with friendly service, Merry Monkey ran by lovely friendly and attentive staff. Incredible Kimonos Teppanyaki is a MUST. Don't forget to wear long trousers (men) at La Parisienne. Lovely morning coffee at Sweet N Salty's. Butch's surf and turf was nice. Neptunes was enjoyable too. Top quality alcohol offered throughout resort. Negatives and not in any order Bowling Alley, out of service for half the duration of our holiday. A very bad damp smell in the seated area of the sports bar with sodden wet carpet. Missing toilet roll holders in several toilets around the Hotel, this is just attention to detail which is over the hotel Service - generally the attitude is not the best, but some eventually do warm to you. Checkout room is a lovely big airconditioned room, set specifically for check outs. No towels, no soap, no shampoo, when I asked the cleaners who were standing outside talking, it was not received in the best manor. 1 guest in the checkout room had asked the same question 15 mins prior with no luck so had to redress and go and get a pool towel. Pool - I noticed a blockage in 1 corner of the swim up bar pool over several days that had foam which changed colour over 2 days, so to me the pool was not maintained, when I pointed it out, they said the foam was sun cream but the next day, blockage and foam disappeared never to return again, so that meant that for 2 days, the pool was not attended to. SUNBED FIGHT EVERYDAY - if you are not paying extra for Butler service then good luck to you. The butlers reserve all the main pool facing sunbeds that have umbrellas and even if your towel is on the bed in the area they want their guests to go, they will remove your towels. 7am is when you can possibly reserve and keep your bed, if you are not on the sunbed after 2 hours, they say that they will remove your things and other guests can use the bed instead. This is NOT DONE so regularly, reserved beds are left unused. Even beds the Butler has reserved are often left unused for the duration of the day - not fair. Pool bar service was at times very poor and the wait was endless, even when it was pointed out to Concierge, the situation did not improve. Empty plastic cups remain for the duration of the day, so very messy. The beach whilst beautiful white sands, unfortunately now suffer with bad seaweed - I know its natural and they do make attempts to remove, but the pile of seaweed then becomes black, smelly and flies. Not good. The main pool area is very loud but there are areas and pools to use which you can escape to We are so pleased that whilst we were there, we hired a car, no help from Concierge tho or any recommendation of a company to use, so researched ourselves. Loved travelling this beautiful island. We think UK potholes are bad - you not seen anything yet, so advice is get a 4x4, but drive with care. Bridgetown go into the centre to see the real Barbados. Oistins Fish Friday is a MUST and to que 1 hour for the recommended Pat's Place was worth it. This is within a 20 min walk from the Hotel, but we got a taxi, Fridays are the most popular night to go but is open all week. Explored the West of the island - The Fish Pot is 100% Explored the East of the island - Lovely Bathsheba Visited St Nicholas Abbey - take a trip on the train, Rum tour, Old sugar plantation - highly recommend

************ READ CAREFULLY ************** This review reflects the complete and unfiltered experience during my milestone birthday stay at Sandals Royal Barbados. I recently returned from a 5-day stay at Sandals Royal Barbados for what was meant to be a milestone birthday celebration. Having stayed at two other Sandals properties in the last five months, I expected a seamless, luxurious experience — especially after booking the Millionaire Suite with Butler Elite service. Unfortunately, this was the worst resort experience I’ve ever had, and I feel compelled to share it fully because I don’t believe Sandals has taken these failures seriously. The Problems Began Immediately: Rolls Royce transfer was late. I had to walk back and forth from the lounge with my luggage and ended up standing outside waiting — not the “VIP welcome” Sandals advertises. Driver pulled into the yard, handed us our luggage, no one was there to take it or help. (This is around 3pm) No greeting, no towel, no welcome, no butler on arrival. We had to find the butler lounge ourselves 2 days later. No assistance with luggage either. Hand luggage and champagne I brought had to be carried through a halfway-tour of the resort. We were not offered a full tour — just shown three envelopes to leave tips. Only when we got to the room, the butler introduced themselves as the butler as they did not have the traditional butler uniform on. I was assigned an all-female butler team, which as a male guest would’ve made me uncomfortable watching them carry heavy bags and trays. This diminished the comfort I should’ve felt requesting service. It set the tone for compromised service. At the front desk: Horrible service, and no offer to be seated at a lounge due to high traffic. Sandals payment machines failed, but instead of resolving it professionally, staff made jokes about our credit card in front of others. We were forced to buy something from the shop to “prove” the card worked. That remained the focus until we got to our room. Requested beach spot, cooler and sign went missing within 5 mins of butler coming to get us. Still never got to see a cooler at a spot for us. Asked to be escorted to sky bar after missing cooler incident, was abandoned at the elevator due to butler prioritizing another guest. Requested fresh ice every morning from the first day, butler just told us where the machine was. Never got the ice. Why have a butler? A completely failed birthday experience: As mentioned, this was a birthday trip, butler promised to arrange a full French breakfast in the room on my birthday, no follow up, no questions, no materialization. I ended up ordering for myself at 7:29am (restaurant. Opens at 7:30) got it after 9:30am. Obviously did not get to eat it. Returned to a decorated room with champagne — but it was one of my own bottles that I brought, used without my permission. No preferential seating for birthday dinner, despite meeting with the supervisor beforehand. We waited approx. 20 minutes for a half-empty restaurant and had to ask for the table to be chucked due to wobbling. Staff was rude to our butler, completely ignoring him throughout our 20-minute wait despite reservations. 5 mins before completing dinner, butler came to check in on us, I simply requested that he wait a couple mins so he can escort us back to Sandals Royal as we weren’t familiar with the path. Walked outside, butler is gone. He called halfway through our walk back. Had to change the entire butler team midway through my stay. That didn’t help. Ended up being lectured by the assistant butler manager and was told, “if you want good service, you have to communicate and keep your butler phone.” Which I did, but they were hardly reachable. And the phone would not work the majority of the time. They said it was service issues. Continued Chaos: Ordered food through butler at 7:15 pm, got it 9:35pm while already dining somewhere else. Was turned away from American Tavern for wearing an armless T-shirt, but saw Caucasian guests in strapless and armless tops seated outside the restaurant dining. Asked butler to place the order and bring it to the room, got asked to go place it myself and let them know the butler will pick it up. Witnessed English guests in shorts and completely bareback and soaking wet in the butler lounge and no discussion of dress code expressed to them. The impression was given that rules differ by race. Butlers usually unreachable from 11am-4pm on most days. But frequently took calls while tending to me in person. Arrived for a 9pm seating arranged by Butler and was told by the waitress to hurry up and order, kitchen closes in 3 mins. Then after being rushed, comments were made by the waitress, “you ordered too much food” as she was walking off. Dishes were served aggressively, and presentation of food was messed up at Greenhouse. Soup was almost spilled on our table. Requested a donut assortment for two guests from the butler, only 3 were brought. The smell of the seaweed and the resort was horrible on most days, outdoor dining was closed a couple times due to this. (Which meant again, my plans to enjoy and experience, if not limited by sandals, was by scent) Photoshoot was pushed to Sandals Barbados, due to technical issues at Royal. After specifically explaining to the photographer the shots I wanted to get done for my birthday shoot, the same generic places and poses were done. Photos weren’t very good either. Out of 52, only 3 were useable. Was promised a case of water to my room, it never came. Daily afternoon snacks, came once on the last day. (This was a 5 day trip) Needed help to find the last-minute change in location for a photoshoot and spa treatment, butler unreachable. Had to go find a supervisor and let them take me. Texted the butler at 10:38am after they were unreachable, no response even after 2:30pm. Some Butlers and staff just barging in the room despite the do not disturb light being on. Room not cleaned properly two times. Other frustrations: After telling 2 butlers and a supervisor that my check out date is wrong for 3 days straight, room key still stopped working on second to last day while a taxi was waiting for us. Caused us to be late and we missed a tour. Staff constantly having loud conversations right in front of guests and not being customer service oriented. Bartenders not friendly and hardly pay attention. Butler lounge was frequently dead and no one really catered to us if we went in. Once 3pm hits, practically little to no options other than jerk shack in the afternoon for sandals royal. Otherwise, it’s room service which is a 2 hour wait. I witnessed so many other butlers with their guests, dressed properly and focusing on their party making that true personalized experience a reality, and we definitely did not receive that. Usually, assistance would be offered, and someone would reach out the day before departure to plan a smooth transition, but this was never done. No one reached out. Departure transfer was for 10:30am, rushed to the lobby on time just to be told it’s switched to 11, after I checked out. When the Rolls Royce arrived, the driver scolded my partner because she had a latte in her hand and said they have strict rules. That could have been communicated much more diplomatically instead of barring her from entering the vehicle and speaking to her that way. Because he was late, he also sped and drove somewhat recklessly. This is not luxury. Compensation Attempt — or Silencing? After complaining to guest services, I was offered a complimentary pedicure and a massage for my partner, but there were consistent changes in communication with the spa, and trying to reach our butler to confirm where it would take place and the time, was futile. We had to walk over to Sandals Barbados to meet Kimberly (supervisor) who sorted it for us. (That was also a wait as we arrived when she left for lunch) After complaining again to the supervisor on the last day of my stay, I expressed that I basically lost the entire day running around trying to get confirmation and service from Sandals. I never got to enjoy my afternoon. I received no proper butler service, no personalized experience, and none of my reasonable requests were fulfilled. On checkout morning, I was offered a one-night credit on a future booking, but with a list of restrictions such as but not limited to: -Only valid for a lower suite category. -Only valid for one year. -Includes a clause preventing me from posting any review about this stay without Sandals’ written permission. -I was told I could not take the form to review it before signing, despite the document stating otherwise. For the sake of all innocent travelers hoping to get what they paid for and that need to know what happens here.. I refused to sign. And even with that, No apology. No follow-up. Just silence. Positives (because credit is due): Kimberly (guest services supervisor) did what she could, but this was well beyond her scope. I thank her for still trying nonetheless. DaQuan and Melissa (butlers) were still always pleasant, despite the chaos. The spa team was excellent — the only true reflection of luxury here. Shenice, you are wonderful. The Club Lounge team displayed the kind of service the Butler Lounge completely lacked. The girl at the donut shop, was wonderful. Final Reflections: This was a physically, mentally, and emotionally stressful experience for a milestone birthday. I feel like I should’ve done a cruise instead. Trusting sandals was a mistake. Despite all the assurances from Sandals, nothing was ever done to meaningfully address the severity of what happened. I unfortunately predict that Beron Hurst may respond to this review with the usual generic apologies and assure this is not the standard of sandals and feedback will be escalated to save face for the brand. But to who? I’ve escalated for days. Sending feedback to sandals is only met with silence. Posting publicly is the only time you get any acknowledgement. This wasn’t a five-star stay. This was a failure at every level — systemic, cultural, and operational. To guests: Do your research before booking Sandals Royal Barbados. To Sandals Corporate: You owe guests more than silence and a free night with strings attached. I can afford my nights. But I refuse to access compensation, by spending more with you to do so. I didn’t ask for extra. I asked for what I paid for, and I did not receive it. Res Non Verba. MT.

This is delayed but that’s life with children. My husband and I came back in March for a week at Sandals Barbados. Upon arrival, we were upgraded to Sandals Royal Barbados. A complimentary upgrade… so glad they did because when we come back that’s exactly where we’ll be going. Our butler team was Jabari, Archi and Jeremy. They were fantastic and provided everything we needed, and then some. We’re so grateful for their dedication and service and look forward to our future stay. 2 resorts in one is definitely the way to go. Thanks for everything!