Sandals Halcyon Beach

This the review I didn’t want to have to write and sorry for the length of it ! Firstly I’d like to say we have waited several weeks to write this review to give sandals the chance to address our many complaint emails (to the customer service address which is always referred to in their standard trip advisor response). We have emailed that email address 3 times and the resort directly without a response. We even said we would be contacting ABTA yet still nothing . The reason for our complaint could have easily been rectified and we would have been happy to book a sandals holiday again, but now I would never use them again. We arrived in the evening and after the welcome song were taken by a club lounge member to our room. On the way to it she casually mentioned that we couldn’t have the room we paid for (club level crystal lagoon swim up room) as there were maintenance issues. She gave no apology and just said we would be contacted first thing in the morning so we could get the room we paid for. The room we got put in was not an upgraded room it was just a club room in the garden. The following day we heard nothing so we visited the club lounge in the morning and just got fobbed off by a surly male employee who said we would be contacted by Gina (the resort app) when it was ready. At around 4pm 24hrs after checkin we still had heard nothing so again contacted them ourselves to be then told it was ready and a member would let us checkin to the club crystal lagoon finally. Therefore they just didn’t bother to get in touch. So after living out of a suitcase for 24hrs and having to keep chasing any help we were really disappointed. The only people who were on us for that first 24hrs was the predatory spa staff (we had 3 of them knocking the door wanted us to book nearly 200 dollar massages on the first night). The room we ended up in was the crystal lagoon club level, room 609. The room was tired and shabby, the handle on the shower came off in my hands and the cabinets looked worn out. The bath looked old and so did the tiling however as we’d lost 24hrs and we were only there for a week we didn’t bother to ask for a move. Plus points of our stay: Grounds are very nicely kept The bay side restaurant, all the staff we saw were great, but big shout out to Veronica the egg station lady. Mario’s was excellent the food was amazing and so were the staff. All the bar staff were great and really on it, great cocktails and no waiting for drinks. The staff were fun and lively Sushi bar was also good. Crystal lagoon pool was relaxing and chilled out, very nicely designed and cool water. Resort negatives (aside from our personal complaint): Bayside dinner was a let down, the food was the worst we had especially as we booked for our anniversary and the staff were disinterested and looked bored. The ambience was flat. The main pool area is so dated, it looks more-like a butlins type resort than a 5 star hotel. Definitely needs upgrading. The entertainment was hit and miss, better when they stick to authentic Caribbean nights rather than the cruise ship cheesy stuff. Our club room bar was not restocked as sold on the website until you had to go out of your way and ask. Club lounge staff were unfriendly, unhelpful and disingenuous (I’ll explain this shortly) Again the spa staff, they actually harass you, they wait in numbers by the main walkways, by the restaurants and bars and it’s high pressure selling which is not relaxing on holiday. This was a common complaint from lots of guests during our holiday so should be addressed! It’s not particularly romantic for couples as on our stay there were large groups of friends overtaking sun beds. This was particularly around the paradise pool area and a lot of other couples were unhappy with this too. St Lucia is beautiful, but this beech is not, which is not their fault, but if you love a beautiful beach this is not one of them. The tranfer drive was wild (overtaking 4 cars on a bend up a mountain) and very bumpy so definitely needed travel sickness pills. Conclusion At the end of our holiday we asked the club concierge if we could check out of our room later than 11am as we had lost 24hrs in the correct room, but were told no by a male member of staff. His attitude was unhelpful and quite hostile so for the first time we asked to speak to a manager, mostly due to how we were treated by him in the club lounge. We spoke to a manager called Ruth and she gave us a later check out of 3pm. Check out (reason for complaint): We checked out at 3pm as agreed by Ruth the manager on the previous day and surprisingly were clearly told by the male club lounge member that checked us out that we were now getting a refund as we didn’t have our room for the first night accommodation (24hrs), we hadn’t asked for this so it was a nice surprise. The club employee acted like he was surprised we hadn’t been told this already and we said it was the first time we’d been informed of the refund. We thanked him and asked how this would be done and he clearly stated that the refund would go on the same credit card we paid with in a few days time. However, To this day we have received no refund whatsoever and as I said above no response to any of the emails chasing this. We have tried calling their UK helpline and even spoke to an employee in the finance department called Carla. She said there was nothing on the system about this, but she just said to use the same customer service email that gets ignored even after telling her we’d done this already. She would not help any further or put us through to anyone else so we are stuck in a viscous circle of misery, stress and getting nowhere. To be honest if we hadn’t been lied to about the refund we wouldn’t be so angry, but the customer service attitude really sucks and we feel that we were lied to deliberately. Sandals have no interest in their customers at all after they have got your money so if you have any issues once your checked out you are screwed. Note to sandals/response to trip advisor team…. Please do not respond telling us to email customer services We Have They Do Not Reply!! We will be taking this further with ABTA as we stated in our last email to customer service dated 23 July. Booking ref 16944042.

Lovely holiday… but 5 star? I'm not so sure! We stayed at Sandals Halcyon in St Lucia for 10 nights from 27th August. Overall, we had a fantastic holiday, met some lovely people and made some great memories. St Lucia itself is absolutely beautiful and we really did enjoy our time here. BUT… and it's a fairly big but… I'm not convinced this is a 5-star resort. For us, it's much closer to a 4-star experience. Arrival We arrived at the airport and made our way to the Sandals lounge, where we were promptly seated and offered refreshments. We had around a 30-minute wait for our shuttle, which was absolutely fine. Once we arrived at the resort, we were greeted by staff singing the welcome song and then taken into the Club Lounge to check in. And then we waited… and waited… 😂 We were in the Club Lounge for around an hour before a small group of us were finally escorted to our rooms. Not exactly the quickest check-in, especially after a long journey. We had booked a Club Crystal Lagoon Walkout (WPL) and we had room 607. The room The room was spacious and, on first glance, looked clean. Unfortunately, closer inspection told a slightly different story. There was quite a lot of dust built up on the bathroom door — and I mean enough that I actually wiped a section of it myself, partly because I couldn't help myself and partly in the hope that housekeeping might take the hint and clean it properly! 😂 There was also mildew starting to develop around the grout and sealant in the bathroom. Again, not something I'd expect to see in a resort that's marketed as 5-star. The room was otherwise well equipped with two bathrobes, slippers, umbrellas, a hairdryer, iron and ironing board as well as usual toiletries. The walkout was lovely, a few steps away and we were in the lagoon pool. We had two sun loungers, a small table and two chairs outside. The food We tried quite a few of the restaurants during our stay and, thankfully, the food was generally very good. Kelly's Dockside – Lovely food but, oh my goodness, the service! 😩 We went several times for both breakfast and dinner and it was painfully slow every single time. I really think they need more staff. We weren't in any particular rush while on holiday, but there is slow… and then there's Kelly's slow! 😂 Bayside – We went here for breakfast and managed to walk through the wrong entrance. We were promptly chastised by one of the servers. We genuinely didn't know we couldn't go in that way, so a simple "Sorry, guests enter this way" would probably have done the job! I also wasn't particularly keen on the birds landing on tables and around the food-serving area. I appreciate it's an open-air restaurant, so I know they're difficult to keep away, but it wasn't particularly appealing. In the evening, Bayside serves French cuisine. Mario's – Lovely Italian food and the chef was very accommodating, happily tweaking dishes when asked. Definitely worth a visit. Pizza Truck – Yummy! 🍕 Who doesn't love pizza on holiday? Kimonos – The food was lovely, although I did feel the chefs could have put a bit more effort into the "show" part of the teppanyaki experience. We were expecting a little more entertainment and interaction. Beach Restaurant – Great for a snack during the day when you can't be bothered getting properly dressed and sitting down for a meal. 😂 Bombay at Grand St Lucian – WOW. Absolutely amazing. One of our favourites and definitely worth the trip over. Cricketers Inn at La Toc – Pub grub and exactly what you'd expect. Nothing fancy, but sometimes that's exactly what you fancy. Bucaan at La Toc – Superb food. Another definite highlight. So… would we go back? Probably! Despite the niggles, we genuinely had an amazing time. We met some lovely people, enjoyed the resort and its beautiful setting and came home with some fantastic memories. But would I call Sandals Halcyon a 5-star hotel? Honestly… no. For me, the slow service, the housekeeping issues and a couple of experiences with staff just don't match what I'd expect from a genuine 5-star resort regardless of time of year (we were low season). Maybe I'm expecting too much, but when you're paying 5-star prices, you expect 5-star attention to detail too. That said, none of the above ruined our holiday. We still had a brilliant 10 nights and St Lucia has definitely left us wanting to come back. Would I recommend it? Yes. Would I return? Probably. Is it 5 star? For us, it's a 4-star with aspirations! 😉 And ultimately, we came home relaxed, happy and with some wonderful memories — so I can't complain too much. ❤️🇱🇨

The location was wonderful, the beach was amazing, with beautiful sunsets every night. Pick-up from the airport was efficient, A quiet room to wait with refreshments for your transfer to the resort. Driving on the right side of the road take time to get use to (one and a half hours ) to arrive at the resort. Welcome to Sandals Halcyon, friendly personnel Jazzam and Sharon Fagan, the General Manager ( friendly and caring person ) .Cold, moist wash cloths feel great . Pick-up room key and arrive to an open patio with outside plunge tub and cover drapes for privacy. The room is already cool and comfortable; off to the pool. The bar tender is WaWa, friendly and ready to mix your favorite drinks. Breakfast at Bayside, Delores welcomes you, and selects your location for breakfast. Fresh fruit, cereal cold or hot, pastries, main dish of bacon, sausage etc. are cooked to order by Veronica, the Chef. The items were changed daily and always delicious with a good selection. Friendly, Wonderful. Early morning boat tours at 9:00 AM. Friendly and warm atmosphere everywhere , that’s wonderful. Ten romantic restaurants, each with friendly atmosphere and wonderful food selection. Day trips to diving and snorkel or city tour to the volcanic area for mud bath and pictures. Thinking about another booking, look for Kadishia or Ava in the bookings area. The Concierge is a cool office for many refreshing items, and planning many great options with Delores. Bristol Cafe has great wings, just off the beach, and Mario’s for wonderful Italian pasta, steak, and salad bar. Kelly’s for dinner and perfect sunset pictures. Please book a massage on the beach or outside, or in their quiet room, as you will enjoy the personalized massage with Vanessa and her team. We also were invited to a tribute to Michael Jackson evening show of dance choreography which was amazing. With many married young couples celebrating their honeymoon or wedding, we as seniors, it was a perfect place to enjoy our anniversary. In fact, we reserved St Lucia again!

Lovely hotel with the friendliest staff I have ever had in a Sandals resort. The hotel is set in tropical gardens which was very picturesque. It was a bonus that you could dine in the other 2 Sandals resorts in St Lucia. This was our second visit to Sandals Halcyon and our 7th to a Sandals resort and while we love this resort, we are starting to find the food quite repetitive. The menus don’t seem to change much. However, there is still loads of choice - especially if you go to the other 2 resorts as well. Didn’t think much of the Indian restaurant at the Grande this time as the curry was very watery (lamb rogan Josh) and we were disappointed with the French restaurant at La Toq as they didn’t have the duck or the sole - and that’s why we went! Entertainment wasn’t really to our liking but still had a fab time. Our room had a private plunge pool but there were so many mosquitoes we didn’t get to use it much.

was put on wrong bus to airport then brought back after blaming myself and my spouse they charged us 5oo dollars a night because we wee stuck for 2 more days they tried to charge us 1000 dollars had butlers, dont bother go get your own drinks never ever going to a sandals resort again esp this one