Sandy Lane Hotel

This is a review of Sunday Brunch only and not the hotel. You receive a warm welcome and are taken from reception through to your table. The buffet must be one of the best in the world, truly amazing. It is expensive but you can see why, however paying a service charge on top seems excessive when you have to get your lunch yourself. On the flip side, it’s so hot in the restaurant both inside and outside on the deck, started to make us feel ill. As the afternoon progressed it became clear that the team were keen to start packing everything away. As an example my empty wine glass was taken away even though we had wine left in the bottle. Resolved once we realised and queried. We have stayed in the hotel before which is amazing but I doubt we would go for Sunday brunch again, the other major restaurants in Barbados offer more.

This was our second 4 night visit and we were not disappointed. Sandy Lane oozes quality and, in common with other hotels where management has a high visibility, service levels throughout are top notch with lots of personal touches and attention to detail. On this visit we went to Sunday Brunch which we really enjoyed and would repeat. The range and quality of the buffet was first class. The recently opened Monkey Club (replacing L’Acajou) is fresh, modern and vibrant. In common with the rest of the hotel, the food is well-presented and high qualtity. We certainly plan to return and to stay for longer next time.

We visit a Caribbean resort every Thanksgiving & Sandy Lane lived up to its awesome reputation! Beach: Wide & expansive. The chair spacing does not have as much privacy as Jumby or Little Dix but the water is beyond gorgeous like a warm endless pool. The sand is like silk & the sea bed very even. Beach service is excellent & security is always present. Crystal, Rakeem & Baz from beach service were very helpful & Rakeem didn’t have to but went out of his way to help us with a problem. Food, Restaurants: The variety & quality of food at Bajan Blue, fresh wraps & salads, the grill stations & theme nights, were all very enjoyable. There is live music every evening. We did not get to visit the Monkey Bar but heard from other guests that the food is good. Afternoon tea: The sandwiches & scones are lovely but not complementary like few of the other resorts (& understandable post covid) The set up is very nice. Have to mention here Carol, Jackie, Cathy, Tiffany, Keandra, Christon & many others who through their warmth & empathy made our stay a memorable one. We felt we were with family. Would also like to mention here some special people - Asst food & Bev Dir. Mr. Sabari Nair, Jr. Sous chef Peter, Chef Guemon, Chef Raj & Chef Shyam (prepared speacial dishes for my husband) & Guest Services Mgr. Mr. Alpha (who brightened our mornings with his welcoming smile). All these genuinely beautiful people went out of their way to make not only us but all guests feel comfortable & welcome each day. They are huge assets to the resort & many other guests felt the same way. Little touches make you feel cared for. Huge thanks to this amazing team! Rooms: Lovely, spacious, modern, good closet space & modern spacious baths. Very comfortable beds. Nice toiletries but not at the level of Rosewood Mayakoba & some other places. Our three rooms (oceanfront & luxury oceanfront) were beach level with pretty porches & seconds away from the beach but had lots of privacy. Most of these rooms can be connected. Room service & turndown is excellent & all requests are taken care of efficiently, politely & fast. Spa Gym: Large well equipped gym & amazing spa & fabulous therapists. Tennis Golf & Trails: My son played tennis with Mr. Dillon every morning & he was excellent. We have also been going for early morning walks & runs around the super expansive golf course & for wild life watchers & birders there are monkeys & gorgeous birds to watch. Stop by at the cute cafe for early morning coffee or tea! They have a very small pretty library too & an upscale boutique with a nice collection & other boutiques & lots of other amenities …. A special place!

Afternoon tea to celebrate a birthday. Booking was easy and I advised on the booking form that it was a birthday celebration. Overall it was a pleasant experience. We rated it 4 out of 5. The positives were the service by the maitre d and our servers, especially Jackie. Most of the food was excellent. We were offered tap water as well as bottled. When I asked for a cushion to raise me up, I was immediately brought a seat top and bottoms, which made the seat very comfortable, I was also offered a small cushion. The table was decorated with colourful birthday and celebration glitter. A nice touch. A fan was brought over without us asking. We had a nice view of the central area, the trees and it was a cool and comfortable in which to eat. The staff offered to take a photo of us both. We never felt rushed and ate at our pace. My husband was presented with a birthday cake with candle and the staff sang Happy Birthday, which was a lovely touch. We asked to take home this and it was presented in a Sandy Lane bag. The minuses. We drove to the entrance gate and were ignored as the sentry was on the phone. He continued on his call while we waited. When he finished his call, no apology, we said we had come for afternoon tea and he directed us to the font. Where we parked behind a taxi that was collecting someone. There was a leaving party of the maitre D, a guest, and two valets. We waited in our car and ignored until the taxi left. Not sure why we couldn’t have been acknowledged. First impressions were not positive and the importance of fist impressions is basic customer service stuff, isn’t it? When out of the car, the valet took it away and the maitr d directed us to the staircase. We descended and looked for staff. There were two tables for 2, one decorated with birthday stuff so I guessed this was ours. The staff didn’t seem to know though. The food was OK. Most was excellent, in particular the fruit cake, the tart with alcohol, the tomato and mozzarella savoury, the lemon meringue pie. But the egg sandwich on white bread was poor. The macaroons were unexceptional. I would have preferred more savoury and less sweet. I’ve eaten in the restaurant and the sweet trolley was fabulous so I was underwhelmed by what we were offered to what I know is produced. We wanted to leave a tip on the credit card but that wasn’t possible we were told. Why? We left and went to pick up the car. The valet took the wrong keys and had to return for the correct ones so it took longer than expected to get the car back. This seemed to sum up the service quality ‘detail’ issues. Perhaps we had too high expectations of Sandy Lane, in terms of the service and food quality. Just a few tweaks in either or both food and service could make visiting a wow experience.

We stayed at the Sandy Lane for 9 days in November. We had a glorious time. From the minute we arrived at the airport, to arrival at the property to the minute we left everything was wonderful. The way you are greeted once you arrive at the airport, driven to the hotel, greeted upon arrival by the staff, refreshing hand towels and delicious drinks along with the warm and welcoming staff is 2nd to none. Shanice checked us in right at our room, so ingenious. She made us feel so welcome and guided us beautifully on all the awaited us during our hotel stay. The first night as we arrived late we went to the beach bar for a drink and there we met Petra, a master hostess and bartender. She greeted us with a bright, warm smile and welcomed us. We chatted with her and enjoyed the wonderful cocktails she made for us. Every time we saw Petra she asked us how are day was and made our favorite drinks without even asking. She made sure each and every time we were perfectly taken care of. She not only did this for us but for all the hotel guests she was serving. I can say that Petra for sure made our vacation the trip of a lifetime with her warmth and professionalism. It was not only her outstanding attentiveness and professionalism but her smile and making sure each and every day was fabulous for us. We met Jackie our first full day. We missed breakfast but she made sure that we were served breakfast anyway.She was so warm and welcoming and fun. There are so many employees at this fine hotel that insured we had a most wonderful stay-Dwayne at the pool bar is the best, smile as big as the sky serving us great drinks inthe pool bar. Steve and Mike at the pool insuring we had lounges when we needed them. Shennese, Deeshion, Arantees, Dwayne and Larry took care of the minute they saw us walking towards the beach. They knew that was our favorite part and they made sure we had lounges where we wanted them each and every day, so kind and professional. Shane, Jeremy and Jared@the beach bar all get honorable mentions-everyone knew us, knew our drinks, gave us bright, big smiles and always asked us how are day was. They all made our trip so enjoyable. We cannot forget Ja'van and Latoya at the front desk who insured all our activities and dinner reservations were taken care of-suggesting great things to do and great places to eat. I have to say that all the employees are awesome. They make the vacation awesome along with the gorgeous surroundings-the beach, the pool, the country club, the golf course and the great music be it the dj at the beach bar of the music every night. Let's not forget the luxurious hotel rooms. Wonderful managers like Alpha also give great joy and service. I and my husband cannot recommend this hotel enough. We will be returning in 2025.