Over the course of 13 months my husband and I were lucky enough to visit 5 of the Sandals Resorts. These include the Grande St Lucian, Montego Bay, Southcoast, Grenada and Regency La Toc. In this post I am going to break down each location for you and explain what I loved and didn’t love as much about each resort.
First things first. You absolutely can not go wrong with any one of the spectacular Sandals locations! Picking these 5 to travel to was no easy task and I have plenty on my Sandals dream vacation list including the highly talked about Royal Barbados and the worlds most romantic resort, Antigua.
As somebody who loves travel and reading blogs about other peoples vacation experiences, I do want to share with you the resorts I have been to ranked from favorite to least favorite. This is not something you will see often and that is because each Sandals is amazing in its own way. Also, just because I rank the resorts like this doesn’t mean you will feel the same way. So here we go….
1: Sandals Grande St Lucian
This is the Sandals that started it all for my husband and I, therefore I feel like it will always hold such a special place in our hearts. We stayed in an amazing Rondoval Butler Suite in August 2020. There was a lot of switching around of resorts due to Covid therefore we got a fantastic upgrade for about 55% of the original cost! I am not going to lie… this is how Sandals suckered us in, we were hooked after this trip!
Things I loved: OUR ROOM! The food and drinks were amazing, no complaints here. The pool was literally steps from the beach. I loved being able to go back and forth as much as I wanted. Also, waterskiing is an option! As a former regional waterski champion/national competitor, I was so excited to ski in the ocean! Our Butlers were top notch. This was our first time ever having Butler service and they made sure to wow us! They gave us an itinerary for our entire stay that included dinner reservations and Butler parties. It was nice to have somebody else plan my vacation for me!
Things that could have been better: Entertainment. This might be my fault though. This was our first Sandals so we partied hard all day therefore we did go to bed early most nights. It was also during the beginning of Covid so I am not sure how much entertainment was being offered. We did love country night though!
Must do things: The helicopter transfer was so neat! It also gets you to the resort much quicker. The drive to the resort is about 1.5 hours depending on traffic. The helicopter transfer was about 20 minutes followed by a 20 minute car ride. GO SEE THE PITONS! We did a catamaran cruise but you are also able to hike them. I don’t care how you see them but its an absolute must!
2: Sandals Grenada
We finally got to visit Grenada a year later than we originally planned! This resort is so updated and beautiful. It is almost tied with the Grande in St Lucia as my favorite resort but the Grande does take 1st place.
Things I loved: I mean… everything? We actually did a split room stay at this resort and we loved both of the rooms we stayed in! Of course the butler service was amazing. We had an itinerary at this resort as well. The beach was beautiful with crystal clear water. The party pool was a lot of fun! There were games everyday. We even played volleyball a few different times. No complaints about the food or drinks. All of the restaurants were delicious. The entertainment was on point at this resort, we made sure to go every night!
Things that could have been better: I wish this resort would have had waterskiing but you can’t get everything! My main complaints about this resort are all due to Covid. We had to take 3 Covid tests in 7 days to enjoy Grenada. Its not a big deal but it is super annoying. We also had to wear a mask when walking into restaurants until sitting at our table. Deal breaker? No. But also annoying when you are drunk and forgot to bring a mask with you LOL. Lastly, there were only 3 excursions being offered, again because of Covid. We did do one of the excursions but I wish there would have been more options! We will just have to revisit when Covid isn’t a thing anymore…. if that ever happens.
Must do things: Explore the beautiful island! Also… Grenada is the Spice Island, make sure you try some Nutmeg ice cream! It was delicious!
3: Sandals Southcoast
Oh Sexy Sandals Southcoast. This resort is just so beautiful and filled with such wonderful employees! This is the only Sandals we have been too so far that we actually have a return visit planned. For those of you that don’t know… I actually broke my foot while we were here LOL. Oops. It needs a proper redo.
Things I loved: Our room. Duh. I always pick out boujie rooms. Do you have to have an awesome fancy room at a Sandals? Absolutely not. Do I want one? 100% yes! Our Butlers were fantastic. I feel bad they had to deal with me and my broken foot but they took amazing care of us. The playmakers were amazing at this resort. Im not sure if they were so awesome because they knew I broke my foot but oh well, they were so kind and fun! The entertainment at this resort is still my favorite entertainment we have seen. Waterskiing is offered but I broke my foot at the beginning of vacation so I did not get to partake in that. Food and booze, top notch. The beach was great, not clear water like the southern Caribbean but it was still awesome! The party pool was always a good time as well!
Things that could have been better: Not breaking a bone on vacation LOL. Seriously that’s it. I can not wait to go back to this resort! I guess if I had to say one negative thing it would be that the resort is a little bit of a drive from the airport, about 1.5 hours. There is also quite a bit of seaweed on the beach. The employees do keep it cleaned up pretty well though!
Must do things: We did a catamaran cruise to Floyds Pelican Bar. This place was so neat! Its a bar in the middle of the ocean. The water is not deep at all, I am short and could stand on my tip toes. Some people snorkeled while others grabbed a meal or drink at the bar! Also, you have to watch a sunset at the over the water bar at the resort. It is beautiful.
4: Sandals Regency La Toc
We loved St Lucia so much the first time that we had to do a redo visit! La Toc was actually the first Sandals resort to catch my eye due to its beautiful views. Unfortunately, this was a very short 4 night get away. My husbands job would not give him more than 3 days off to renew our vows therefore our vacation was short, sweet and to the point!
Things I loved: The views. Oh my gosh the views from this resort are just spectacular. Even the sunsets from our room were breathtaking. As always, the food was amazing! The nightly entertainment was also a blast! There was a piano singer every night for sing alongs, karaoke or to just sit back and enjoy listening to.
This post is mainly going to go to the Sandals Wedding Department. They did such an amazing job with our vow renewal. It was simple since it was just a renewal but I don’t think it could have been any more perfect (unless we were less sweaty lol). The location was amazing, the cake was delicious and of course there was yummy champagne to enjoy! We even had a special wedding dinner that night at a restaurant of our choice, we decided to enjoy it at La Toc, the French cuisine restaurant. We picked our menu beforehand and there was a cute spot set up for us once we arrived to dinner and we never even had to order a thing because it was all taken care of already! I highly recommend getting married or even doing a vow renewal at a Sandals. It was an unforgettable experience.
Things that could have been better: I was not overly impressed with the cocktails at this resort. The drinks were just not as top par as the other resorts we have been to. Did I still get drunk? YUP! But I stuck to ordering rum and coke or champagne most of the trip. Also no surprise but this resort is older than the other resorts we have visited. It wasn’t a bad thing, just different for us! This resort is also a bit of a hike from the airport, the transfer time is about an hour.
Must do things: Same as last time we were there. Again, we did the helicopter transfer. It was just as awesome the second time! We also cruised to the Pitons again, they are still just as breathtaking! I will add, if you like to golf there is a golf course at this resort.
5: Sandals Montego Bay
Lastly we have arrived to #5 on my list. In no way shape or from is there anything wrong with the Sandals that started it all. For some odd reason it is just last on my list. There isn’t anything in particular that makes it last it just simply ranks last on my list.
Things I loved: It was sooooo close to the airport! The transfer time was only about 10 minutes. It was also so close to the airport that when a plane took off it was pretty much right above your head if you were at the resort, make sure to get a video of this! As always, no complaints with the food and drinks here! All of our dinners were fantastic and the drinks were very yummy. Make sure to try a Bob Marley when in Jamaica! Or room was also awesome. We had a tub outside and we were steps to the beach. We were also at the resort right after Christmas and the resort was beautifully decorated!
Things that could have been better: The way the resort was laid out was just not my favorite. We were very far from the main lobby which is where the entertainment and a lot of the restaurants were. This was our second Sandals so again I feel like we skipped out on the entertainment a lot. The beach was verrryyy long. We stayed by our room the first few days but eventually ventured further to the main beach area which was much nicer. There is all of that famous seaweed in Jamaica but of course the workers would clean up the beach daily. This part is 100% our fault but we were at this resort for NYE. Unfortunately we missed the party because we fell asleep and somehow an alarm did not get set to wake us up from our “nap”. Oops!
Must do things: I always love a good catamaran party cruise! We cruised to margaritaville and got to enjoy a marg and a fun slide while we were there. Of course it was a party on the way back with lots of shots. PS: nobody comes back sober from one of these cruises LOL. If you have never been to Jamaica before I do suggest going to Dunns River Falls. It is a beautiful waterfall that you can climb near Ocho Rios. It is pretty far from Montego Bay and I have been a few times on cruises so we opted out this trip. If you go to Sandals Ochi this is a must do as its much closer to the resort!
All right, that wraps it up! I do have more detailed information in each individual blog post for each resort if you have a resort that you would like to know more info on. If you have any questions please reach out to me, my contact info is also on my website 🙂
We do have some upcoming trips planned and I am planning to update this post once we go. We are doing our Southcoast redo in June 2022, Ochi in December of 2022 and Royal Barbados in June 2023 for my dirty 30 birthday so keep an eye out for me adding these resorts to the list. Thanks for reading and happy vacation planning!
Sunshine and booze with the Dempsey’s 