Sandals Regency La Toc

Sandals La Toc… where do I even begin?! We stayed here for our honeymoon and it truly exceeded our expectations. It was PERFECT! We stayed in a Sunset Bluff room on the top floor and it was magical. Our room was huge with a separate living room and bedroom, two bathtubs, and the most gorgeous view. We also had three different butlers—Sam, Vince, and Skyler—and I seriously cannot say enough good things about them. These three deserve a raise!! They took exceptional care of us the entire week. From bringing us drinks and food, running baths, decorating our room, picking us up around the resort, and always being just a phone call away, they made our honeymoon so special. I truly don’t have enough words to describe how amazing they were! That being said, if you stay up in the Bluff, I HIGHLY recommend getting a butler. The walk is HILLY! We walked it twice during our stay, and I definitely wouldn’t want to do it 2–3 times every day. There is a shuttle that will take you up and down as well, although I’m not sure what times it runs. The food was great, the views were absolutely beautiful, and we honestly didn’t meet a single person who was rude to us our entire stay. Everyone was so welcoming! I really only have two small complaints, and neither bothered us enough to take away from our experience. We did have some ants in our room near the balcony. I’m not sure if it was because of food or simply being in a tropical location. The other was the service at the buffet. We were always seated, but usually no one came back to ask what we wanted to drink. Again, it really didn’t bother us—we would just go to the bar and grab our own drinks. Before our trip, I saw SO many reviews saying La Toc gets a lot of red flag beach days or that the beach isn’t as nice. We stayed September 1–8 and had ZERO red flag days, NO rain, and the beach was very calm. It was absolutely perfect and stunning the entire time we were there! There are three pools, and we spent basically all of our days at the main pool. We tried the Bluff pool for one day, but it wasn’t quite our vibe. We are more lively people—we love talking to people, listening to music, and joining in on the activities. The other pools seemed much more relaxing and calm, which would be perfect if that’s what you’re looking for! Overall, our experience was easily a 10/10. This was our first Sandals trip and such an amazing place to spend our honeymoon. We would absolutely come back! ❤️

Rendevoul room was really nice and updated. The problem is that it is open air. Our room was full of mosquitoes bc the shudders around the door is open to the outside. We found out 3 nights later that they have a mesh screen to put on the doors. What was this not done before? IDK. Would have saved us a lot of bites. (See picture). Outside of our new room, the resort is pretty much worn down. It looks to be 20plus years old. The floor in the French restaurant, for example, is peeling up, the tiles in pool are missing, etc. the people are mostly friendly, but we had some waitresses in the morning and lunch shifts that hated their lives. They were not real nice and I find that resorts that allow tipping usually fixes this. It is nice not carrying cash everywhere but I also think the waitstaff could be friendlier. The butlers were fine, but it really wasn’t our thing. They give you a phone and one of our butlers tracked us done and pooled up a lot. We were in our private plunge pool and he walked into the backyard. We were not told to put the privacy light on. If you want to have any privacy make sure you put the light on. (See picture) We paid $150 for cabana for the day and it was nice but mosquitoes were bad so we ended up leaving. Massage was nice, but steam room and sauna were not working. All in all, it was okay. Not sure I would return. Definitely wouldn’t stay in the older rooms.

We went to Kimonos restaurant for some hibachi food and our chef Jean Claude was amazing! It was by far our favorite dinner!

Myers was a fantastic chef! Cooked everything amazing!

My husband and I recently stayed at Sandals Regency La Toc and spent approximately $11,000 on our vacation, including a Rondoval with Butler Elite service. I really wanted to love this resort, but unfortunately, our overall experience did not come close to what I expected for the price. I understand that no vacation is perfect. If we had experienced one or two minor inconveniences, I wouldn't be writing this review. The problem was the sheer number of issues throughout our stay. SERVICE & ENTERTAINMENT Late-night room service never arrived on two separate nights. Lunch delivery took approximately 90 minutes. My salmon at Armando's was so overcooked I needed a steak knife to cut it. Numerous scheduled activities were canceled. The Sandals app directed us to the wrong location for karaoke, and after finally figuring out where it was supposed to be, we learned it had been canceled anyway. The Sunset Bluff Pool had no music because the speakers were broken. One night, we arrived at the Cricketeer's at 9:45 PM for a DJ scheduled from 10 PM–midnight. He didn't begin until approximately 11:10 and attempted to stop around 11:37, telling us he was tired because he had worked all day. Another guest actually gave him $20 to convince him to continue playing. BUTLER ELITE EXPERIENCE This was one of our biggest disappointments. As first-time Sandals guests, we didn't know everything our Butler Elite service included. Nobody explained that our butlers could reserve pool chairs, have a cooler stocked with water, soda and beer waiting for us, or serve us lunch poolside. We didn't discover these services until our last pool day. We paid a premium for Butler Elite but missed out on these amenities for almost our entire vacation simply because nobody explained or offered them. Before booking, I also informed Sandals that I needed later dinner reservations because of a medical condition requiring me to space my meals throughout the day. Despite this, several dinners were scheduled around 5 PM, leaving us trying to rearrange reservations after arriving. One evening, our butler specifically instructed us to meet him outside Buccan before dinner. He never showed up. We eventually went inside ourselves, and he didn't arrive until we were already eating our soup. RONDOVAL/AIR CONDITIONING After returning from an excursion, our Rondoval was 82 degrees and quickly climbed to 85 degrees after the A/C stopped working. It took approximately two hours to repair. I checked the A/C filter, and it was covered in dust and dirt. Our butlers brought us a fan, which we appreciated, but it took the rest of the evening for the room to become comfortable again. This was not what I expected from premium accommodations at this price point. TRANSPORTATION The Sandals shuttle from the airport took approximately 1½ hours. The A/C barely worked, and the driving made me so nauseated that it affected my first day at the resort. Because of that experience, I requested a helicopter transfer back to the airport. On Tuesday, our butler told us it had been arranged and even gave us instructions for departure day. The DAY BEFORE we left, we were informed that the helicopter had never actually been booked. By then, there was no longer availability. To be fair, the Butler Supervisor responded to our complaint by arranging a complimentary private car to the airport. I appreciated that effort, but it was still extremely disappointing to spend several days believing our helicopter transfer was confirmed only to discover at the last minute that it had never been booked. MOST CONCERNING: MY FOOD ALLERGY This was the issue that bothered me the most. At La Toc Restaurant, our server specifically asked about food allergies. I told her I am allergic to kidney beans and watched her write it down. I ordered the duck. When it arrived, I happened to lift the duck and noticed several different white beans underneath it. One looked like a white kidney bean, so I asked our server whether it was. She said she didn't know and went to check. The next thing I knew, the restaurant manager came to our table, removed my plate and told me, "Do not eat that." Thankfully, I had checked before eating it. I ordered the Seafood Bowl instead, which was actually delicious, but my husband ate his meal while I waited for mine to be prepared so his food wouldn't get cold. We ended up eating at different times during what should have been one of our nicer dinners. What disappointed me even more was Sandals' response after I complained. Their written response stated that their investigation found no reports indicating that I was served or consumed an allergen and that there was no evidence I suffered an allergic reaction. I never claimed I suffered an allergic reaction. Thankfully, I DIDN'T. My concern was that I specifically disclosed my kidney bean allergy, questioned an ingredient on the meal I was served, and the restaurant manager subsequently removed my plate and told me not to eat it. The fact that I caught the potential problem before eating it should not make the incident insignificant. SANDALS' RESPONSE TO OUR COMPLAINT I tried to resolve these concerns directly with Sandals before posting public reviews because I genuinely wanted to give the company an opportunity to make things right. Sandals offered us 25,000 Sandals Select loyalty points (approximately $750 in value). However, accepting the points required signing a Compromise Agreement/NDA. After spending approximately $11,000 and having this experience, I honestly don't know whether we will ever stay at another Sandals resort. Therefore, loyalty points have very little value to me, and I was not willing to give up my ability to honestly discuss our experience in exchange for points I may never use. I asked Sandals instead to consider crediting the $1,387.37 we additionally spent at the resort on spa services and excursions, or offering a complimentary future stay that would give Sandals an opportunity to provide the luxury experience we originally expected. They declined. I want to be fair: not everything about our vacation was bad. The property itself is beautiful, we had some enjoyable moments, the Seafood Bowl at La Toc was excellent, and there were employees who genuinely tried to help. I particularly appreciated the Butler Supervisor arranging the private transportation after the helicopter mistake. But when you're spending approximately $11,000 for a luxury Butler vacation, service, communication and attention to detail matter. It wasn't one bad meal, one broken A/C, one missed activity, or one Butler mistake. It was the accumulation of problems throughout the vacation that made us feel we simply did not receive the experience we paid for. After attempting to resolve our concerns privately with Sandals and receiving no resolution I was willing to accept in exchange for signing an agreement restricting my ability to discuss the experience, I decided other travelers deserved to know what happened. Would I spend $11,000 to stay here again? Unfortunately, no. If you're considering booking Butler Elite at Regency La Toc, I strongly recommend researching exactly what your Butler service includes and asking your butlers to go over every available service with you on your first day. We didn't know what we were missing until our vacation was almost over.