Sandals all-inclusive

erinlin25 · December 2012

Anyone ever been to the Sandals resorts in Antigua or St. Lucia? We are loving the idea of it and are torn between the two. Any feedback would be awesome

[Deleted User] · December 2012

We've been to both the Grande in St. Lucia (2xs once being our hm in '08 and the second being this past March) and the Grande in Antigua (March of '11).

I have reviews and a few hundred pics in the link above my siggy pic.

HTH and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

jessica290 · December 2012

Hubby and I went to Sandals Grande St. Lucia and loved it! You get to go to the other 2 resorts on the island but Grande is the best. We were going to go to Antigua instead but it cost a lot more money. Nightlife isn't super busy, it's pretty mellow with a lot of younger couples around 20's, 30's so you meet a lot of nice people. They have some different night activities as well. We did find ourselves in bed by 10/10:30 cuz it gets pretty quiet.

erinlin25 · December 2012

Thank you! I will definitely will look into it more and will touch base if I have more questions

sunshineinne · December 2012

We went to Sandals Grande Antigua in October for our Honeymoon. We LOVED it. Very nice grounds, a very romantic setting. The beach was clean, clean, clean, and the water calm (most days!) and blue. We loved the food...we are already talking about when we can go back!!! I would highly recommend it.
We stayed on the Mediterranean side in a Venetian Oceanview Suite, and the room was lovely...we were able to sit on the patio each night and watch the sunset, and drink our tea in the AM, looking out over the ocean.
We had the same dilemma you did - Antigua or St. Lucia?? We agonized, but heard great things about both from people who had been there. I'm sure whichever you choose - you won't be sorry.

Amanda1443994 · December 2012

We went to the grande in St. Lucia for our HM this past July and absolutely loved it! One of the best vacations I have ever been on. We stayed in the private Rondovals and the suite def. exceeded my expectations. I thought for an all-inclusive, the restaurants were surprisingly good and offered a lot of variety. Since we had our own private pool and hot tub, we did not use the public pools (they seemed more of a party atmosphere) and we stayed near the beach by our Rondoval. If your budget allows, I would def. splurge for the Rondovals, but if not, at least do the butler service. I think its worth it.

OwningAHome1981 · December 2012

I can't stand all-inclusives, but my fiance loves them and I was considering going anyway b/c I knew that's what he wanted- but is it just me or are the reviews online for sandals terrible? I have had friends who went and loved it but apparently everyone else online hates it.

There are other all-inclusives that I feel are probably nicer. I don't like the feel of feeling "trapped"... as they generally don't recommend taking a visit to the outside world unescorted.

dazyabbey · December 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_sandals-all-inclusive?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:7c75fef0-1342-497e-87cc-faa954c601a2Post:556a017c-822e-4134-8a33-f107fccd43cf">Re: Sandals all-inclusive</a>:
[QUOTE]I can't stand all-inclusives, but my fiance loves them and I was considering going anyway b/c I knew that's what he wanted- but is it just me or are the reviews online for sandals terrible? I have had friends who went and loved it but apparently everyone else online hates it. There are other all-inclusives that I feel are probably nicer. I don't like the feel of feeling "trapped"... as they generally don't recommend taking a visit to the outside world unescorted.
Posted by OwningAHome1981[/QUOTE]

I think it depends on where you are going. Many people dislike Sandals because they feel they are overpriced compared to other resorts and they are a little over-hyped if that makes sense. You can go to many places and not need an escort when you leave the resort. I am not sure about this specific location but we stayed at an All Inclusive Resort in Playa Del Carmen Mexico and it was gorgeous, We left the resort every day on our own, we took public transportation and local buses and never felt like we were stuck at the resort or forced not to leave. One reason I never really want to go to Jamaica is for that reason. Many people that go there say it is not safe and all of the resorts tell you to keep with a guide or on a tour if you leave, and to me that is not something I would want to deal with. We had a great time at our AI and we never felt stiffled or stuck. The food was great, and alcohol for free all day was awesome even though we aren't huge drinkers.

I think you should check out other locations and don't just assume that all resorts are the same. Many of the ladies on here recommend Secrets resorts or Couples resorts. Both great and in many locations. I have only been to a RIU Palace and it was awesome but apparently not up to snuff with many others. But I do think that you should check out an AI before you say you 'hate' it.

erinlin25 · December 2012

Thank you all for your insight! The feedback is still making it hard to pick haha. Nice to hear positive experiences from both places, so hopefully we can't go wrong. Our orginal plan was Hawaii but then we started thinking that our honeymoon is a once in a lifetime exoerience and so we just need to go big now! And now that I've seen these two places i'm obsessed with them both. Our hardest part is we are small business owners so we have to be smart about planning our trip around a convenient time to close our shop for a week. We think we narrowed it down (and don't want to wait too long after the wedding, but we will need to spread it out for it would be impossible to close to the shop for 2 consecutive weeks for wedding and then honeymoon right after). We are getting married June 7th, and looking at our honeymoon week to be after the 4th of July since that is typically a "slow week" for business.

SuMmErKuTiE · December 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_sandals-all-inclusive?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:7c75fef0-1342-497e-87cc-faa954c601a2Post:c7e33a19-a704-42e3-9f7f-c6aba768d58a">Re: Sandals all-inclusive</a>:
[QUOTE]Thank you all for your insight! The feedback is still making it hard to pick haha. Nice to hear positive experiences from both places, so hopefully we can't go wrong. <strong> Our orginal plan was Hawaii but then we started thinking that our honeymoon is a once in a lifetime exoerience and so we just need to go big now!</strong> And now that I've seen these two places i'm obsessed with them both. Our hardest part is we are small business owners so we have to be smart about planning our trip around a convenient time to close our shop for a week. We think we narrowed it down (and don't want to wait too long after the wedding, but we will need to spread it out for it would be impossible to close to the shop for 2 consecutive weeks for wedding and then honeymoon right after). We are getting married June 7th, and looking at our honeymoon week to be after the 4th of July since that is typically a "slow week" for business.
Posted by erinlin25[/QUOTE]

Since you're looking to "go big" now for your HM I highly suggest scrapping the Sandals idea (it's overpriced, overhyped, and just plain over-done) and go to Hawaii. The Caribbean is right there and much more affordable/accessible for future trips where as places like Hawaii or French Polynesia are more "once in a lifetime" big trips.

In my opinion, Hawaii will be much more romantic and more of a once in a lifetime trip. You won't be at an overcrowded resort with their "Sandals" name branded all over everything.

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