Sandals Royal Bahamian

LONG REVIEW AHEAD :) We just returned from our Wedding at Sandals Royal Bahamian. We checked in on Tuesday March 10th & stayed until Thursday March 19. Our wedding date was on Friday March 13th on the private island with our welcome event being Thursday March 12th. We did do the test drive last year (absolutely recommend if you can, it helped us visualize everything and made it easier once we arrived). We had Brandysha and Waynette, they are absolutely exceptional. I could go on for hours about just how amazing, attentive and compassionate they were. They made us feel so special, and did everything to ensure we had everything we needed. Even after the wedding, they made us feel like celebrities, taking the time to come up to us, give hugs, well wishes, you name it. I cannot express how wonderful they were. We brought quite a bit of our own decor which they set up for us no problem (I think with the amount we had it was around $200?). We had our welcome bags for our guests, custom napkins, drink stirrers, I made floral arrangements for the cocktail hour tables, aisle chair decor, personal letters to our guests, table numbers, cigars for our cigar station, custom matchboxes, name tags, a post card guest book and luggage tags for our seating chart. They set all of it up for us. I did show pictures of my idea beforehand and they executed it perfectly. For our welcome event we were supposed to have it on the front beach area but due to rain, they decided to change the location. I believe her name is Leesa? She was exceptional. She reassured us it would all be ok and they were gracious enough to change our location quickly to the chapel and it ended up being beyond perfect, more than I could have even dreamed of. We had the most beautiful sunset and double rainbow at the chapel as the rain stopped. The team thankfully placed our guests welcome bags in their room before the event as they checked in so nothing got wet! They even sent out an itinerary so everyone knew where to be and at what time. The wedding day itself was picture perfect. My bridesmaids and I got ready in our room (West Bay Ocean View Penthouse). I did hire an outside makeup and hair artist so I did pay the 300 vendor fee for that. My husband and I did a first look, and eventually the boat to the private island took 3 trips. One for my husband and his groomsmen, one for our guests, then one for maid of honor and I. For our ceremony, we did write our own vows, and the rev also did generic ones. We hired the violinist to play during the wedding ceremony, and it was perfect. For cocktail hour we had the rum bar, passed appetizers & used the rented speaker to play a Spotify playlist. We did our first dances with our families then started dinner. We opted for the buffet style dinner and it was a hit, everyone loved the food! The DJs were fantastic and made everything so smooth and fun. The staff even joined us on the dance floor a few times which made us so happy. I did give the DJs a playlist of songs that absolutely had to be played to get everyone on the dance floor. We also had a fire dancer for entertainment. The fire dancer was INCREDIBLE and SO MUCH FUN, our entire group had a blast. Once the night ended, we took the boat back over to the resort which was so fun & we ended up all jumping in the pool in our wedding attire then hanging out at the Queen’s Pearl to celebrate. A truly magical weekend with the best staff we could ask for. It was beyond perfect in our eyes and we are so grateful. Only one small issue being the bugs. Obviously being on a tropical island, sand fleas/mosquitoes/bugs are going to be present, especially at dusk. There was a moment where everyone seemed to be getting bit and you could see them swarming to the lights by the DJ booth. All that aside, our wedding team made several trips for extra spray which we were so thankful for. There’s not much to be done about it since you’re in a tropical climate & it’s essentially out of our control but just beware anything sand/sea related at that time you’re definitely going to deal with them! We split our room stays so the first few days we were in the West Bay Oceanview Penthouse Club Suite and then we upgraded to the Island Village One Bedroom Walkout Suite with the private pool. Both rooms were beautiful! We really loved having the private pool and the large bath tub to relax and unwind. Our butler Tim was amazing, he was so attentive and fun. We went to a dinner for returning Sandals members and he sat with us and the other couple he was taking care of and we had a blast. It was so special to have him sit with us, mingle and have a good time. Our friends/family left the resort on Sunday & Monday when the massive snow storm/bad weather conditions hit the midwest and all of our family was stranded. My husband and Tim could sense I was stressed and so Tim had the spa squeeze me in for a massage within an hour. He was so compassionate making sure we could still enjoy our time amidst all the travel chaos our family was experiencing. Food was wonderful. At the wedding everyone loved all of it! Every other meal we had during our 9 day stay was delicious. Entertainment was so much fun, we really enjoyed the silent disco, fire dancers and karaoke. It was really awesome that they also did St. Patricks Day activities as well. I wanted to give a few more special shout outs to the staff that just stood out to us and made our 9 day wedding/honeymoon the most memorable. We went on a snorkeling excursion with Dwayne, Huberto and Captain Lynden. It was so much fun, they had us laughing the entire time. They were the most fun group. Ronnie was one of our consistent bartenders throughout our stay and he was so fun, interactive and attentive. Keemo, Kevin and Derek were part of the entertainment during our stay and let me just say, my husband loved them all! My husband is a massive social butterfly and likes to be wild and funny, they all took his energy and ran with it. They acknowledged us throughout our entire stay which made us feel so special. Granville was also a large help throughout our wedding day and he was so kind to us and our guests. One negative with this stay would be my parents had a not so great experience at Butch's, they never got drinks, my dad had to go to the bar himself for his drink because it took so long, same with dessert. We personally did not have this experience but I did receive that feedback. My only other negative was our transportation to the airport was quite late. We did pay for an upgraded butler room for a few days on our honeymoon, and were really looking forward to the ride as newlyweds in the Rolls Royce to the airport on our last day. We were slotted for a 10:45 departure for the Rolls Royce. For whatever reason, there were several delays, so much so that when we finally arrived to the airport we only had 1 hour to get through security and customs. Several other guests were given the Rolls Royce before us, even though their flights were much later, but my husband and I were rushed into a chevy SUV because of the late timing. It was disappointing as this was our honeymoon and we did spend a lot of money for the butler service and that's one of the "perks", not to mention how much my husband and I spent at this resort between our rooms, our large wedding with all the upgrades, and the amount of guests we brought in as well. We shook it off and still basked in what a great trip it was up until that point. All in all, my husband and I cannot stop talking about how great of a trip it was. Everyone at the resort was wonderful, they made us feel so special and we could not be happier with the way we did everything. If you’re considering doing a destination wedding, we cannot recommend our family at Sandals enough. Aside from the transportation issues, which hopefully in the future we can go back and get that Rolls Royce ride, we will absolutely be back. 🥰🥰🥰

We came here in March and stayed in a West Bay Honeymoon Club Level Oversized Junior Suite. The room was accessible, close to the elevator and modern, newly refurbished, spacious and with a balcony and sea view. The room was all in working order and well stocked with 5 different bottles of spirits, red wine, white wine, sparkling wine, beer, diet beer, coca cola, sprite, diet drinks. fruit juices, water etc. These were stocked up every day. The room was clean. We did have to ring housekeeping a couple of times to get the room cleaned in the morning but generally it was cleaned and we had turndown service most nights. Plenty of towels provided. The room was nice and peaceful and well located for the West Bay Pool, the Beach and the restaurants nearby. There was a trip to an island but the boat didn't run very often so we did not go. Most of the restaurants were pretty good and the service was excellent with good food. The only problem we had was the Italian restaurant who would continually serve up cold food. The only hot food there was the pizzas. The soup was cold (even though we asked for it to be served piping hot), cold eggs, cold tuna casserole, cold chicken stew, even cold tea and Cappuccino. Despite complaining several times about it nothing changed! The other restaurants were pretty good and I enjoyed most of the meals. Great wine and lovely cocktails and lots of alcohol to choose from. The pool was lively with music and a good entertainment crew. There was even water aerobics a couple of times Evening entertainment bands were good too with a range of different music. It is very windy! When the sun is out it is warm but can get chilly with the winds. Bring a jacket!

My husband and I got married at this resort 20 years ago, and this was supposed to be our anniversary trip. I say supposed to be because his appendix ruptured on our first full day here. I’m writing this review because I cannot express adequately how amazing our butler team has been. Kendrick made sure my husband was seen by the nurse when he first felt unwell. He checked on us repeatedly and made sure we had all we needed. Patsy the nurse came to us multiple times. She gave him meds, got us an appointment in town, and got us a taxi to the clinic. She has also called me every day to check on MY mental health. Charmaine - my Bahamian sister - you are incredible. Charmaine found out about the surgery and kept in touch with me the entire time I was at the hospital. I had to get back to the resort around 2AM and she actually answered my text to the resort. She had taken the phone HOME with her just in case I needed anything. I had not even met her yet! If that is not above and beyond, I don’t know what is. She and the night manager (Mr. Bain) arranged a taxi for me and made sure I was taken care of. The driver came in to the hospital to collect me. Maybe this sounds unfeministic - but to be alone, exhausted, scared, and female in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar place and to feel absolutely safe - it meant a great deal. But that is not where it ends. I have received countless phone calls and “welfare checks” from Patsy. Charmaine has made sure I’m eating, sleeping, and that I have what feels like a friend here. Charmaine has also arranged a taxi to take me to the hospital AND bring me back every single day. I’ve seen reviews with minor complaints about cold pools, etc, and that’s why I wanted to write this 3 days into our visit. Small things can go wrong at a resort, but when a big, life-threatening thing goes wrong, you see what people are made of. The people at this resort have wrapped me up in care and I could not be more grateful to them. Because of Charmaine, Kendrick, Nurse Patsy, and Mr. Bain, I will be a loyal Sandals fan forever.

We recently completed an 8-night stay and were extremely satisfied with almost every aspect of our vacation. The level of service we received made it a truly premium experience. The highlight of our entire trip was undoubtedly our butler service. We want to specifically recognise Taya, Tim, and their manager, Steven. They functioned as a seamless team, providing a level of service that was both professional and deeply personal. They handled every reservation, kept us perfectly situated on the beach, and anticipated our needs before we even had to ask. Their coordination ensured that our 8-night stay was stress-free. We were really pleased by this specific service provider team, and we believe they are absolute assets to the resort. Steven went above and beyond to resolve the issue with the room we identified upon arrival, and we are very grateful for his genuine care for customers. We also asked if the final Olympic hockey game could be streamed in the sports bar early in the morning, and Steven made it happen, making a lot of people happy that day. 5 Starts For Dining & Amenities due to the consistency of the staff and the quality of the facilities. 5 Starts For Overall Atmosphere: from the housekeeping to the beach staff and barmen, the hospitality was top-tier.

Sandals Royal Bahamian is struggling to maintain the 'luxury' claim. The first impression upon arrival, where you register at the small reception area, is 'dull and dated'. We were booked into the West Bay area and then escorted through the piano bar (again dull and dated) via the large and beautiful 'quiet' pool, and the large and noisy 'party' pool to our top floor suite (1619) with balcony and stunning view of the beach, sea and Sandals private island. The following morning we were to realize how intrusive was the noise (11an to 5pm) coming from the 'party' pool, created by over zealous shouting dj's trying to encourage guests to join in pool games/activities along with tortuous hip-hop type Bahamian garage music. This audio assault was so loud it covered the whole Sandals beach area, the East and West Bay sea view rooms and effectively forced guests off their sea view balconies and back in to their rooms (our room 1619 was even at the furthest point from the 'punishment' pool), it felt there was no escape! Another problem with this audio ourput was it's balance, meaning even at a distance all along the full length of the beautiful, and otherwise serene, beach you could still hear the booming bass thuds, and nothing else. This was our only serious problem with the resort but enough to be a deal-breaker for future bookings. Had this 'party' pool nightmare been flagged up at the point of booking we would have booked elsewhere. Maybe more transparancy needed at the time of booking. We felt there was no escaping this bombardment of noise in what we had always understood to be THE relaxing, all-inclusive, upmarket luxury brand. After a few days we found a couple of more relaxing spots over on the Sandals private island and at a small pool through the Sandals Island Village villas. We did raise this with concierge who 'understood' but were very attentive in other areas. La Plume was excellent, great table overlooking large quiet pool area and great food. The 'English' pub (The Queen's Pearl) was hardly an English pub, it's too bright and clinical looking, very limited beer choice and no cider at all, but great for late light meals - there was better lighting and atmosphere sitting outside the pub than inside - Philip and Rory behind the bar were good fun. Butch's restaurant was only ok. Having booked a table we were taken to an unlaid table (just a knife and fork each), when we showed surprise they fully laid it. The steak tasted better than it cut but was not outstanding. Canoo - very good lunchtime food and service. Calico - great ribs. Sweet Tings - good hot coffee Daily room bar replenishment was unreliable until concierge were on the case (thanks Sandra). The 'Champagne' is included at the bars and placed in every room bar daily, except, for those who may care, it is not Champagne at all , it is just 5% (abv) sparkling wine. It seems the staff are trained to keep calling it 'Champagne' (wonder why!) when in reality it is anything but! It didn't matter to us but again a transparancy issue? Sandals Royal Bahamian could be what is was, the number 1, relaxing, upmarket, all-inclusive, luxury resort, but is hurting it's own brand with noisy and tacky pool games coupled with uncomfortable, unsettling, mismatched rap style music. Sandals, decide what you want to be, and do it well, right now there is a commercial contraction in trying to be a romantic relaxing resort, AND, a loud partying venue.