Sandals Grande St. Lucian

This resort was such a disappointment compared to the other Sandal Resorts that we have stayed. Before we even arrived, we called to verify and were told "yes, all of our plugs are 110." That was a lie. There is only ONE 110 plug in the room and its across the room in a non convenient location. Our air conditioner never dropped below 74. Its very humid here this time of year. We had maintenance come look at it. We were told there was a blockage and it for us to give it about an hour. Of course, maintenance was off within 30 min. That was also a lie. My sons had the exact same problem in their rooms and were told the exact same thing. They eventually had to be moved. The staff, especially the ones working the beach area restaurants were just rude. No one seemed to want to be there AT ALL. There was one friendly face and his name was Peter. He was a bartender at the pool. He was a super friendly guy and wanted to make sure his guests were taken care of. I booked a spa for the next day. A friend told me to CANCEL. Their spa was closed at that time for remodeling and the massage was going to be in a creepy room that was being renovated. Just a very dishonest move on Sandals part. Needless to say, I canceled. Different times we called for room service and asked could we be called back. They never called back. We have the club level package. I had called earlier to ask a question and was told someone would call me back. I eventually walked there to find the staff joking and playing with each other and the one that answered the phone... worked in the SPA! He didn't even work in the concierge office! Only one spot on the beach is nice, the other is very rocky and you will need water shoes. I just can't recommend this resort to anyone to waste your money. Go to Sandals Dunns River in Jamaica. Just no comparison.

Just returned from a week at the Grande, there were a lot of positives but unfortunately some negatives too. For the positives, want to thanks some staff specifically who went out of their way and were wonderful our whole trip. Daisy and Sanjay at the Cabanas, Michelle, Amos and Jackie, our butlers, Francisca who bounced around to different restaurants but was also smiling, Leslie (sp?) at the spa and Kevo at the swim up bar. We started our week in an ocean front room, the other reviews are right, it looks out to a parking lot and public road, then it does have a nice view of the ocean. Our issue was that we like spending time on our balcony and it seems putting speakers on top of your car and playing music so loud everyone in a 5km radius can here is very popular so the noise was ridiculous. On our 3rd day we were able to upgrade to a beachfront butler suite, completely worth it, made all the difference, the room was stunning and the butlers were amazing. The food started in a high note but seemed to decline through the trip, our last night was NYE and we went to Gordons steak house and the steak was so salty we couldn't eat it. We weren't impressed with the Hibachi either. The Sushi restaurant was our favourite, followed by Bombay (great apps), Toscanis and Bayside were also good, although Toscanis was pretty disorganized. The resort itself it gorgeous, although it does need some TLC in a few places. Shade is hard to find unless you are up early or have a butler, we ended up renting a cabana 4 of the days we were there which I would highly recommend, although you need to do it early as they book up fast. All in all it was a great and relaxing vacation, although over priced but I know that had to do with our timing (Dec 25th to Jan 1st) if it were half the cost I would return, although I am anxious to check out other sandals locations now. My last note is if you get motion sick try and take the helicopter, they were closed when we arrived xmas day so we took the hotel transfer and it was awful, I was so sick it was unbearable.

Calling this resort 5* is a joke. Rooms are mediocre at best. Beds are old. Pillows are low quality foam. Pools are old and peeling. They provide liquor in the rooms but searching online all the bottles were available for $5-8. I don’t drink this crap at home and I certainly wouldn’t drink it here. All of the bars have the cheapest non name brand alcohol I have ever seen. The one bourbon they were supposed to have ran out on the 1st night and was unavailable the entirety of a weeks stay Restaurants serve bland meals for an American diet I suppose. I ordered a po boy at the jerk shack and except for being cold greasy and tasteless as well as not resembling anything like the sandwich it was perfect. They say they have a 5* international cuisine program but that’s made up. Do a google search. It’s their own branding. We went off property multiple times for dinner to have some fabulous food. Music blares all night if you face the beach so you can’t even relax. Music is from the 90’s. There’s no thought process at all. Maybe do some Caribbean music? Maybe do something with taste and class? This place might be ok if you’re 20 and want to party or if you want to sit by the pool and drink slushies with alcohol (pina colada/daquiri) and get wasted all day. This prices here are on par or even more than much better on island properties. Do yourself a favor and book elsewhere.

8th Sandals trip, 2nd time to Grande St. Lucian Pros: Lovely property. Very nice beach and view of nearby mountains. Easy property to navigate. Staff was generally quite friendly and responsive. Cons: Some of the rooms have not been updated for many years. Internet could be spotty throughout the resort. Restaurant service could be at times quite slow. Note: If you have special dietary needs, inform the Culinary Desk early and often. Some of the chefs did not clearly understand what "vegan" meant. Overall, a very enjoyable week in the sun, in spite of some rain. Special shout outs to : Remy at the beach bar, Marisa at the Culinary Desk, Lauren at the Pub/Jerk Shack, Travis at security at the beach.

This is our 2nd visit to eeSt. Lucia Grande. We would like to recognize the following excellent staff that made our visit 5 star. Sanjay, cabana. Daisy at cabana, Francis bartender. Incredible people, very caring and attentive. We love this resort. Some areas are showing their age, and hopefully fixed soon. Highly recommend this resort, best beach in the Caribean