Sandals Grande St. Lucian

We stayed with friends for the first time in St. Lucia. Our main resort was Sandals La Toc. We also went twice to the other resort - Sandals Grande St. Lucian. Ya' pretty incredible. We loved our resort. This one had a different vibe completely. That is so fun. I just wanted to say that again, the staff were amazing and helpful. When we were trying to find one of the restaurants, one of the photographers actually walked us to it. She was so wonderful and I am kicking myself for not remembering her name. But thank you. Also, Tarriq in the Club Sandals lounge. So helpful! He was great, stored our stuff for the day and organized guest rooms to get showered and changed after our day at the beach and pool. The manager - Michael, I believe, came by, chatted with us, asked if there was anything we needed. This was also such a fabulous experience and we just loved it. Sandals - you do an amazing job of providing beautiful resorts, wonderful food, but your staff makes it exceptional. We will be back.

We had another wonder week diving in St Lucia. The reefs were vibrant and healthy. There was abundant marine life. Even in January the water temperature was 82 degrees. The locations is perfect for divers of any level, but the staff is truly what makes us come back year after year. Terrol Compton is the Water Sports Manager and he runs a pretty tight ship in between telling corny Dad Jokes. Marcus, Kerwin and Ken are experienced Dive Instructors who know these waters like the back of their hand. Capt. Fletcher and Capt. Denell got us to and from the dive sites and took excellent care of us during our surface interval. While diving is our main motivation for going to St Lucia, the resort never disappoints. We spend our afternoons at the pool drinking free tequila and watching the games and entertainment. A little nap before supper and off to enjoy a great meal and the evening entertainment. A special shout out to Mary Ann in the gift shop, Lydia at the Italian restaurant, Jessie the world's best pre-dive omelet Chef and Minerva at the spa.

Overall, a great stay at Grande. We have stayed at 4 prior Sandals. From our initial check in where Raquelle was AWESOME, we found the staff to be friendly and helpful. The beach is stunning with calm waters, soft sand, comfy water hammocks to hang out. My husband really enjoyed the included wakeboarding in the bay. Service was great at the swim up and beach bar (Denson, Claudia, Matthew, Imran, and Lucie took very good care of us! And Andre even came to the chairs offering to take orders when he has time!) as well as at Bombay and Soy. The entertainment staff were friendly and engaging but sometimes had a hard time getting participation in activities. My husband lives for beach volleyball and the court/net here were quite poor and only 1 day, could they get 1 other couple to participate so we could have a beach volleyball game. Even pool volleyball was not consistent. Compared to prior Sandals experiences, there were more activities and prizes which maybe would help increase participation? But regardless, Leana, Lemonade, Neville, and Cardius (sp?) were lovely, funny and tried to engage the guests. The beach party with fire dancers was a high point, and the talent of the singers at the Burlesque show was AWESOME. We also enjoyed the piano bar for evening entertainment. The building we stayed in was a bit dated, but clean. We had an ocean view room on the back the building but actually quite enjoyed the ocean view/sounds as opposed to looking at the resort grounds. Last, but not least, Elziko was the wonderful security guard who always remembered our names and took care of us when we walked along the beach and off the resort. All in all, the resort is a bit dated (compared to our last stay in St. Vincent) but still clean and well maintained. The staff was very friendly and probably the best service I can remember from the bartenders at any Sandals. This is one of my favorite Sandals beaches (maybe 2nd only to Antigua?). A little off topic, but definitely recommend the ferry or helicopter for airport transfers. This resort is FAR from UVF and they are windy roads not for the faint of stomach.

We recently stayed at this beautiful property and were blown away. The location is superb, the food is delicious, and the staff are out of this world! Every single person we encountered was friendly and kind. I was especially impressed by Lorina, Nyah, and Kishamka. Kishamka always made sure we had what we needed and left us little notes in our room each day. I worked out three times with Nyah. She was a great fitness instructor, but also a wonderful human being. Lori a was just so friendly, bubbly, and warm. When I told her I wish I could have soursop somewhere, she brought me some from home! The room we were in is getting a little tired, but I understand it is slated for renovation this year. Gordon’s on the water was a fabulous experience. Dinner at the Italian restaurant was wonderful. We also ordered room service for breakfast three times. It was quick and delicious every time. I never thought I’d book another Sandal’s stay during our vacation, but we loved it so much, we did just that (thanks Glenda)! St. Lucia is a very special place. If we go back to visit, we will be staying at a Sandals! One other quick note…I really appreciate the no tipping policy. It was very nice not to have to worry about that during our stay.

This is the 1st place I am ever reviewing in my life. Went on a family trip last month with a large group. From the start it was a disaster. The 1st room they gave us was very clearly used and not cleaned. The last guests belongings were still there. The tub was moldy and the drain was pulled out sitting there covered in hair/mildew (will upload pictures later). I went to the desk and politely told them the problem. They told me to sit and the manager will be out in a few minutes. The manager walked out and looked at us and then returned to her office not sure why, we weren't even upset or rude. We were happy to be there at this point not knowing what lied ahead. After about 10 minutes the very polite girl that took us to the 1st room apologized and said shes taking us to a nicer building. We got our luggage and brought it to a new room. 2 minutes after we got to the new room another couple showed up and asked what we were doing there! Went back and turns out she brought us to the wrong room. No biggie, stuff happens (she was cool). Next room we walk in there are rose pedals and a birthday cake with someone's name on it and their paperwork in the room. I let the from desk know and they said don't worry about it (our 3rd used room) that cake sat there for the next 6 days. Room was unserviced, impossible to get water you can call all you want. No room service no matter what time of day/night you called (if they eventually did answer, they just said it's not available) My main concern is you are on an island in the Caribbean, people are drinking all day and you have to beg for water. Called 20 times and visited the front desk. The restaurants don't open/close when they say they are. Especially the fast service ones. Pizza opened 45-60 minutes later than posted every day and closed early. All that freaking money all I wanted was a damn crepe. We tried every night. 1st night 15 minutes before close they said they're done (understandable I guess, I don't like holding people up) next night 45 minutes before close they turned away everyone coming in and were super rude to people. 3rd attempt about 90 minutes before close they said they were out of everything I wanted and I said ok no problem. My friend walked in behind me, ordered the same thing and handed them $20 and they made it within 5 minutes. So that's what we did moving forward. You could not get anything in any timely manner at all unless you tipped. You will get your drinks immediately, they will actually come back when you order by the pool, they'll make your food faster, I mean anything they said no to, you throw them $10 and they will do it. If they're out of something, throw them a few dollars and it will magically appear so the whole "they don't accept tips" thing is BS. We take an all inclusive with about 8-10 couples 1-2 times per year and this was our test run of sandals. Everyone in the group was upset and was happy to leave by the end of it. I promise we are not difficult people. As annoyed as I got I was still polite to everyone even though a good amount of them were rude and you could tell did not want to be there. Truly, do yourself a favor and go to secrets. Same kind of food, drinks WAY less watered down and they treat you very well. Service is much better and it is much less expensive. We paid more expecting top shelf liquors and amazing service but I was no the case at all. Everything was poor quality and the drinks were very watered down. I am leaving this review because I don't want people to book this with high expectations because you will be disappointed as we were. The worst part is it was my idea to go here and they made me look very bad. They asked me about my experience and asked me to do a survey and I told them honestly all the things that happened while we were there and received no response. I'm sure there will be some kind of "owner response" here after I post this but I'm pretty sure they just do that to make it look like they have good customer service and nothing comes of it because I already reached out and received no response.