St. Lucia Hotel Guide - Sandals Resorts Romantic Hotels in St. Lucia, St. Lucia

First time at a Sandals resort and whilst it was nice enough, there are a few issues we wish we'd known about before booking. The beach is disapointingly small and even more so if the sea is rough - ends up the size of a postage stamp. You'll also have to "fight" the butlers for shade - they get to the beach at daybeak to reserve loungers and more often than not their charges can't even be bothered to pitch up and take their places. Snorkelling is also on the disappointing side - so be warned any budding Jacques Cousteau! Don't be fooled by the numer of bars - they aren't all open at any given time so you may have no option other than the swim-up bar; not a problem if you're a lager-lout wanting to drink your money's worth but if you're looking for civility that's not the best choice. The food was good - if you can find a resarurant that's open (like the bars, they aren't always open every day) and woe betide if you want to visit one of the "reservations-only" venues - unless you had the benefit of foresight to book some time in advance (like before you get there!). The rooms are also a little dated but we understand they may be renovating although we weren't offered a refurbed room. There's also surprising lack of balcony space for most of the rooms so we were one of the lucky ones. That said, the staff were by and large absolutely terrific and will make you very welcome.

My wife and I had tried the Sandals Grande Resort in June '16 by using a day pass while on a cruise ship. Our first views of this resort were absolutely amazing. The grounds are just beautiful and you know the time and pride they put into the flowering shrubs and really all of the landscaping, water fountains, pools, beach, and restaurants that you have just arrived at one of the most beautiful resorts in the Caribbean. The staff is the nicest I have ever experienced in my life and I've been on alot of cruises to many different countries. All of that being said, there was no doubt that we were going to come back for an extended stay. We have for the past four years gone to the Cayman Islands for our anniversary in August. This year, we received an email from that resort that the would be renovating the pools and their lobby during our stay that was prepaid since January. We jumped at the opportunity to cancel our stay and changed our itinerary to go to St. Lucia Sandals Grande and haven't quit smiling since. While there, we booked our anniversary trip for next year to Sandals Grande and plan on this now becoming our annual anniversary trip.

We had a wonderful relaxing time. We are able to visit the other sandals resorts in our visit and were accommodated in the spa to shower and change for dinner; so we didn't have to go back and forth. This is the place to stay if you want quiet generally and still have the option to visit the other resorts as it is right between them; 15 minutes either direction to the next sandals.