Sandals Grande Antigua

lhaben1

We booked our honeymoon to Sandals Grande in Antigua in April. We are debating on whether to get butler service. (It's about $2,000 more!!!!)  Is it really worth the extra money??

kristinanddan

We didn't have the butler service when we were there, but I can't imagine it being worth 2k. We talked to a few people about it while we were there, and those that had it found it awkward, and those that didn't have it thought it looked awkward and like a waste.

sunshine_day_dreams

We just returned this morning, actually, from Sandals Antigua.  We went on the trip as a "comp" from crappy service at Sandals Montego Bay last year.  The comp included butler service or we never would have paid for it, and it was amazing.  At first it was a bit awkward, but it was so nice not having to stress over all the little details we'd had to stress over in MoBay.

The biggest perk of the butler service for us was having priority for reservations in the restaurants.  When the resorts are busy - as we found out the hard way in MoBay - only butler guests are given reservations in the restaurants.  This piissed us off to no end in MoBay and we didn't want to have to eat in the same restaurant for six days straight again this time, so we were absolutely delighted to have someone else deal with that pain in the azz this time around. 

From the minute we got off the plane in Antigua we didn't lift a finger.  As opposed to the Sandals bus, we were given a private taxi to the resort.  Our butler met us there with champagne and took care of check-in for us.  He escorted us to our room where he had a cold bottle of champagne and fruits and cheeses for us.  The first thing he did was schedule all of our dinner reservations, excursions and spa trips.  He even got us a discount on our spa services.

Without us even asking, they (there are two bulters working on shifts) would serve us breakfast in the room each morning, and bring us frozen drinks and coolers of beer out onto the beach every afternoon.  Each morning people get up around 7am and reserve all the beach chairs, so our butlers would take towels and books out to our chairs before the rush to reserve us spots under the umbrellas.  Pretty nice since the first day we went out around 8:45am and couldn't find chairs...

They also decorated our room every night with towel animals, flower petals, candles and chocolate dipped strawberries. 

I realize reading this it sounds pretty snobby, and I thought I would feel totally uncomfortable with the service, but honestly it was just nice to be pampered for a few days and not think about anything.  We weren't super demanding, and they were so helpful and fun.  Your HM is a once in a lifetime thing - if you can comfortably afford it, I would go for it.

Another thing I would consider - upgrade to butler service but stay on the Caribbean side.  It should be cheaper.  We stayed in a rondoval with private plunge pool (an upgrade once we arrived) on the Caribbean side and it was perfect.  The Caribbean side is a bit older, but honestly, I liked the private, quite feel of the Caribbean gardens much better than the high-rise hotel feel on the Med side.

lhaben1

That sounds absolutely WONDERFUL!!  The only problme is that it's about $2,000 more for the butler service!! Is it worth $2,000??  We're torn

sunshine_day_dreams

Yikes... this is going to be long, but I wanted to give a detailed, honest answer.

I hesitate to give my opinion on whether things are worth $xxx or not because any amount of money can mean completely different things to different people based on individual situations. 

A few things to consider to help you decide:

1) I don't mean to scare you or give you a negative view of this place since I know that you're excited about going there for your HM - as you definitely should be - but have you read any reviews on TripAdvisor?  The vast majority of the 1-star ratings cite not being able to eat in the restaurants and/or no chairs available at the pool or beach as their number one annoyances.  If this is something you feel like you can't deal with, you might consider the annoyance factor vs. cost for a butler.

One way to gauge this might be to go back to Sandals site and check the availability for the time you're planning to go.  If it appears that there are still a lot of rooms open, you may be in low travel season and it won't be overly crowded to cause problems.

Maybe consider a travel agent if you haven't already.  Let them know you've booked already and you'd like an opinion on butler service.  Maybe they can help you with a deal.  Honestly, I've never used a TA before, so I'm not sure how much help you'd be looking at there...

2)  A lot of the things the butler did for us were awesome, but not necessary.  We were perfectly capable of checking in and out ourselves, as well as booking our own excursions and spa treatments.  It was just nice that we could spend that extra time on the beach rather than waiting in line.

3)  If you're okay with walking off the beach up to the bar for drinks, or with standing in line for a pizza in the afternoon, a butler might not be worth it.  We were totally capable of walking up to get our own drinks, but it was kinda nice having a butler who is friends with the service staff and can get prompt service out of them.

4) If you're in at least a concierge level room, you will have your own mini bar and can bring your own drinks down to the beach with you.  This is a lot more convenient if you're on the Caribbean side since the Med building is pretty far from the beach and drinks don't stay cold outside for long.  In this case, you may not care to have the butler surprise you with fruity drinks and beers on the beach.

5) Most of the butler level rooms are the nicer rooms.  If you're picky about your accommodations, a butler level should be much cleaner and bigger with better views, amenities, etc.

6) We were told by staff that your best chance for an upgrade is on the Caribbean side b/c everyone wants to stay on the Med side.  You may luck out and get an upgrade to a butler suite...

Sorry this is so long, but I hope it helps you a bit with your decision.  Good luck! :-)