Earn cash as you plan. Get a $20 gift card for every 200 points with The Knot Rewards
Honeymoon Discussions
tthurst1
member
All-Inclusive Resorts - Sandals. Vs. Others? Suggestions!
Hello!
My FH and I have been seeking out destinations for our honeymoon and we have fallen in love with the Grande St. Lucian Resort by Sandals and the Antigua resort through them as well(it looks like this is a popular choice too among all the board posts I have read).
I am sure this is a similiar posting theme throughout the Honeymoon Board, but I am curious and really need help/suggestions from those of you who have been on their honeymoon already or are in the same boat as we are!
We love the idea of all-inclusive resort and DO NOT want to go anywhere with families/kids - so a couples/adults-only inclusive vacation is what we are after (hence why we were looking at Sandals first). However, I got discouraged a lot after reading some of the reviews of the Sandals' resorts on Trip Advisor. A lot say food service is slow or not up to expectations, rooms aren't up to par (depending on what type of room you get) and also - that there is a ton of local vendors on the beaches that comb them up and down all day long soliciting your business and harassing you for money - NOT something i want to deal with on my honeymoon. I know that it is inevitable for those areas, I just am not sure that is the type of atmosphere we were looking for on our honeymoon.
So...anyone out there have any suggestions and pros/cons about booking through Sandals (notably St. Lucia or Antigua resorts, as these were our favorites out of all of them)? How about suggestions for other couples-only, all-inclusive destinations in the Caribbean? Private beaches maybe?
Looking forward to everyone's help and feedback! Hopefully we can start narrowing down our choices!
My FH and I have been seeking out destinations for our honeymoon and we have fallen in love with the Grande St. Lucian Resort by Sandals and the Antigua resort through them as well(it looks like this is a popular choice too among all the board posts I have read).
I am sure this is a similiar posting theme throughout the Honeymoon Board, but I am curious and really need help/suggestions from those of you who have been on their honeymoon already or are in the same boat as we are!
We love the idea of all-inclusive resort and DO NOT want to go anywhere with families/kids - so a couples/adults-only inclusive vacation is what we are after (hence why we were looking at Sandals first). However, I got discouraged a lot after reading some of the reviews of the Sandals' resorts on Trip Advisor. A lot say food service is slow or not up to expectations, rooms aren't up to par (depending on what type of room you get) and also - that there is a ton of local vendors on the beaches that comb them up and down all day long soliciting your business and harassing you for money - NOT something i want to deal with on my honeymoon. I know that it is inevitable for those areas, I just am not sure that is the type of atmosphere we were looking for on our honeymoon.
So...anyone out there have any suggestions and pros/cons about booking through Sandals (notably St. Lucia or Antigua resorts, as these were our favorites out of all of them)? How about suggestions for other couples-only, all-inclusive destinations in the Caribbean? Private beaches maybe?
Looking forward to everyone's help and feedback! Hopefully we can start narrowing down our choices!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: All-Inclusive Resorts - Sandals. Vs. Others? Suggestions!
http://www.kristiandkerry.com/HTML/SandalsGrandStLuciaReview.html
and here is the review from Sandals Negril
http://www.kristiandkerry.com/HTML/JamaicaReview.html
through that same link you can get to our photo galleries. I have approx 200 pics from
St. Lucia and I have no idea how many from Jamaica.
HTH and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.
Oh and Cancun is also in the photo galleries (sorry, no review yet) and we stayed at an AI there too.
Sorry...just don't buy it at all.
um, Beth....we have had posts on here before about El Dorado and the lack there of the beach. If you actually read the post, she is interested in a secluded beach. Gosh...
[QUOTE]Sandal's food service is extremely slow. Also, I would only go there again if I was craving mold on my jerk chicken pita (really glad I noticed before I started chowing down). There are other adults only all-inclusive resorts. Others may disagree, but <strong>I wasn't thrilled with Sandals, especially for the price we paid...</strong>
Posted by aecappelli[/QUOTE]
I totally agree with this. Sandals are WAY overrated, IMO.
Also, if you're looking for a secluded beach, Sandals in Antigua is not it. The beach is on Sandals property, but it's a public beach so anyone can come on it. We saw several small children and a ton of cruise ship patrons on the beach while we were there.
As for beach vendors, they didn't let ours on the beach. There was a fence at the far end of the property that serveral vendors would camp out near. They couldn't enter the property though. They did let serveral vendors in but they were kept to a shopping area the resort had set up so you would only have to deal with them if you went over there. We never had any issues while laying out on the beach. But that was Jamaica. I'm not sure if St. Lucia and Antigua may be different.
[QUOTE]Sandal's food service is extremely slow. Also, I would only go there again if I was craving mold on my jerk chicken pita (really glad I noticed before I started chowing down). There are other adults only all-inclusive resorts. Others may disagree, but I wasn't thrilled with Sandals, especially for the price we paid...
Posted by aecappelli[/QUOTE]
Huh...unless Sandals has really changed in 2yrs (our hm in St. Lucia) and 1yr (our anniversary in Jamaica) I can't believe this. We NEVER had a problem with the food and actually the Jerk burgers in Jamaica were the best we ever had.
As for beach vendors. In St. Lucia and Jamica both they do not let the vedors on the property. They hawk there wears right outside the property line but that's about it. The beach at the Grande in St. Lucia is just for Grande patrons (same with Negril Jamaica). We haven't been to Antigua yet (going March 2011) so I don't know about that beach.
I think Sandals is one of those where you either love it or hate it. Each couple has to choose what is right for them. For us Sandals is perfect. We love AI in knowing the price is the price. Plus Sandals has just enough activites at the resort so as not to get bored but also has the beach for the days we just don't feel like doing anything or when we come back from an excursion and just want to lay around.
Secrets Santuary Cap Cana is a gorgeous resort in the Dominican Republic. Their “Unlimited-Luxury” promise gives you endless access to all of their gourmet restaurants, entertainment and activities. They also have some fantastic honeymoon packages I’d recommend looking into!
Good luck and enjoy your honeymoon!
[QUOTE]Sandal's food service is extremely slow. Also, I would only go there again if I was craving mold on my jerk chicken pita (really glad I noticed before I started chowing down). There are other adults only all-inclusive resorts. Others may disagree, but I wasn't thrilled with Sandals, especially for the price we paid...
Posted by aecappelli[/QUOTE]
I just recently returned from a Sandals resort and the food service is extremely slow. Also, I was not impressed with the food at all. Like PP said, for the price we paid, I'd definitely chose an AI other than Sandals.
you are right, locals hound you on the beach every single day. We have several pictures of them that I plan to put on trip advisor! They can't go on the actual sandals property, but it's still annoying.
the food was hit or miss. Sometimes service was great, other times it was slow. You aren't going to the Ritz or the Four seasons when you book a sandals vacation, so go in with the right expectations and you won't be disappointed.