Sandals Grande St. Lucian

Just finished our longest Sandals trip (8 nights) at Grande St. Lucian, so here's my correspondingly long review. We absolutely loved it, from the moment Jacqueline welcomed us at the front desk like we were family. GSL probably has the best pool/beach combo of any we've been to (La Toc, Curaçao, Negril, Barbados, Antigua, Grenada, St. Vincent). We spent the majority of our time soaking in the water and drinking a few too many delicious cocktails. Staff were all super friendly. Shout-out to Neville, the life of the party every time we saw him! Major renovations closed the west side buildings (Bonne Terre, Cap Estate, Pigeon island) and the pools in front of them, but that section was screened off so thoroughly that we hardly noticed. The main pool was in full swing, and our building, Massade, looked sharp with notable upgrades to the rooms and the hallways making them look new again. Low-season scheduling and half the rooms closed meant most restaurants were open only 3-4 nights a week for dinner, so that required some planning, but we managed to eat every place we wanted to. They also had several outdoor lunch and dinner popups in gazebos etc. throughout the week. We were grateful especially to Tiffany at Toscanini's, who minutes from closing hustled back to the kitchen to check the ingredients in my wife's dessert to avoid an allergic reaction. I also ate at Buccan one night at La Toc; it and Bombay are my favorites. (The worst was the Tuesday loyalty dinner, baked salmon or chicken, a mistake we won't repeat on future visits.) The local mustard-based hot sauce, Baron, is my favorite in the Caribbean and welcome at The Jerk Shack and really everywhere, especially on fries. I've dived at each Sandals I've visited, and the scuba team here was excellent, particularly Ken, a super friendly guy who taught us to spear lionfish and then how to clean it after we returned to the dock. He then had the chefs deep fry the filets with a dipping sauce -- they were fantastic and could easily have been mistaken for Chick-Fil-A tenders. The crew was very attentive about safety checks even with experienced divers. Every dive was great, but Superman's Flight at the base of Petite Piton was magical. And our boat at GSL consistently had only 4-8 divers on board. We rented a car a few nights so we could drive to Castries harbor for the La Toc/Halcyon boat for the two mornings they went to the Pitons to maximize our time diving in the best spots. That boat was much more crowded -- 20 or more divers both days -- but our divemaster, Martin, was one of the best ever, leading 8 of us including a novice he held onto for much of our time underwater. He pointed out so much, including the eye of an octopus staring at us from its hidey-hole, and even let us hold shrimp, a sea cucumber, a conch, and a cute bony trunkfish he caught with his hands. Caution to would-be drivers: St. Lucia suffers for its beauty, with the worst roads we've experienced in the Caribbean. The main two-lane road is jammed to a standstill at morning rush hour, and the few spots where it widens to four lanes is white-knuckle time, driving on the left with narrow lanes and a concrete median, roundabouts etc. We took the helicopter to and from the airport to avoid the mountain road, which we had experienced when we last visited St. Lucia. It was a worthwhile splurge. Speaking of worthwhile splurges, the spa was under renovation, so we got massages in a beachside cabana. Perfect, with tranquil surf sounds even more relaxing than the usual New Age soundtrack. Dwayne gave me a deep tissue 60-minute massage, and Bertha gave my wife a lavender light-touch 60 minute treatment; both were expert professionals and friendly too, and left us feeling fully rejuvenated. We never made it to the Pigeon Island hike next door -- just too hot for the climb, and too perfect at the resort. The island actually blocks sunset views from the beach, but if you walk out to the overwater chapel, you can see it from there. An unforgettable trip. Highly recommend it as one of our favorite Sandals resorts!

My wife and I are foodies we stayed for 11 nights Breakfast at Toscanini was just average but always piping hot Jerk Shack & Mariners for lunch is bomb everything and I mean everything. Get the mahi Gordons we went twice first time the lamb chops were burnt and the filet mignon was like a NY strip as far as tenderness went it was trash. We went again and just got lamb chops and they were good but not great like Dunns River where my wife cried because they tasted identical to her moms before she passed Tosconni for dinner was good, eat inside if you don’t like cats Bombay 🔥🔥🔥 must have for sure get the signature dish and every appetizer Kimonos was good it’s a lot of food and well seasoned Soy was fresh very fresh all around we would hit it for appetizer then go to dinner Crepes were amazing the apple one and blueberry just wow Pizza was meh just average I wouldn’t waste a meal on it on a short trip. The pub had a decent fish and chips for that late night snack but absolutely stay away from their desserts they all suck! Room service nachos, cheese & meat plate were ok not great out of this world but ok enough when hungry. Chocolate cake was decent the others were mehhh They need a coffee place and they are getting one soon. The coffee from the machines is straight trash if you want something sweet. Get hand blended pina coladas not out of the machine it taste 10x better and ask for Appleton 12 don’t take the house rum we pay $1000 a night for a reason 😂 Beach is plush sand to the left of the pier like literal pillow sand you can see your feet shoulders deep. No seaweed No Sargassum no rocks until it’s probably 10 ft deep. To the right of the pier it is a little rocky. Staff is very friendly EVERYONE and I mean everyone greets you in passing Chocolate making class was a lot of work but very fun and free saved us from doing the overpriced chocolate making tour At Regency La Toc we went to La Toc got the filet and it was the best filet of the entire trip. and kimonos as well which again a lot of food. Armando’s for lunch was out of this world good. Highly recommend getting a cabana (if you book you next trip with island insider they give you $100 resort credit, ask them to get approval to apply towards cabana, they can and will) the cabana is $130 plus tip and worth EVERY PENNY. We did it twice because it was just peaceful, comfortable and convenient ask for Heather to be your server and when she serves you tell her Mr Champion said hello. 🙏🏻 Hope this helps you enjoy your stay JJ’s speed boat is the only excision I would do if I was going for only 4 days, you’re back by 3 to enjoy the rest of the day on the beach and have a late dinner. You see the pitons and snorkel at the legit best snorkel spot I’ve been to in my life, it’s how Negril used to be before all the hurricanes over the last decade. They pick you up right from The doc and drop you off and includes lunch

Taking to TripAdvisor now as my numerous attempts to reach SGSL leadership have been unsuccessful. Hoping someone will contact me as requested to resolve the issues we faced during our 25th Anniversary trip in July. I don’t need to share all the details and failures with the world but I do require someone of authority to contact me to attempt to address it appropriately. No need to tell me I should have done that at the time. I tried. Even the paultry goodwill gesture was never even honored. This is not a 5 Star experience.

We went to Sandals Grande St Lucian as part of our honeymoon and we were very impressed! The resort is situated very nicely on the beach, which was our favorite part of the resort! The food and drinks were great, and Laurin and Lance both provided excellent service. It was also great to sample the local cuisine at breakfast, and we enjoyed the Caribbean entertainment at night.

Came here on a presidents club trip. The staff are fantastic and can do everything for you. The resort itself is lovely but it is feeling a bit dated tbh. It probably needs a revamp in some areas. The food is great and the restaurants on the beach and the pier are great. The beach is unbelievable. The swim up pool is great but the service at this bar was slow. We played golf on the included resort and this was a fine course to play. If it’s busy you can ask to start on 10 which helped as we were just a 2 ball. The evening entertainment wasn’t great except the one night that had a beach party. There is an English bar inside that opens late but it needs updating. It looks far too old and lacks atmosphere. Overall a good trip. But could improve to get better ratings.