Sandals Royal Bahamian

Just returned from a 3 night stay. Positives: ocean is crystal clear, food was amazing, drinks were delicious, room fridge was well stocked, resort was clean, most staff were very friendly. Negatives: there were issues each day which we didn’t expect booking a sandals stay (first timers for my birthday) and they were issues that just shouldn’t have happened. So many just added up to an overall negative experience. Keep in mind we only stayed 3 nights to have so many small issues in that time person was just disappointing… 1 - our room had the safe opened but in the locked position when we entered. So we were unable to unlock it to use it. Called - no one came. Took all cash and passports to dinner. Called again next morning and called again after breakfast and were told on the 3rd call that we needed to be in the room for security to fix it (not sure why that wasn’t mentioned the 1st/2nd call, or why we needed to be there to have it set the way it should have been on arrival) 2. Hair dryer broke (like almost caught fire broke) as we were getting ready for dinner reservation. Called the club desk would get another one. Called again 30 min later approved and coming. Called again 15 min later no answer, again no answer, again, no answer. …. Borrowed hair dryer from neighbours room (awkward) arrived 15 min late for reservation. Two hairdryers showed up (eventually) 3. Wanted to snorkel. Were told we can’t on main land have to be booked on trip. Booked trip. Beautiful weather boat was running to and from island checked in with aqua desk 45 min before trip told us what to bring. Removed our stuff from our seats and Showed up at the time with our stuff - trip cancelled due to weather … but the weather was sunny and clear. The trip was at 2pm it rained that night at 6pm. We Subsequently lost seats around pool, missed the boat to island, wandered the resort for an hour to find a new seat. Cried. 4. Wanted to snorkel on private island- 30 min time limit and very restricted to where you could go. Had to stay within one area only, the snorkeling guy wasn’t friendly. Fine to go anywhere with your own snorkel but not with sandals equipment (we have our own gear just didn’t bring it as the website says sandles has them so didn’t think we’d need to pack our own too.) 5. As we were leaving the island we went to rinse our feet in the shower. You pull something down to make it turn on. As we were walking away a staff member yelled at us from the bar to “turn the water off”. The way it turns on seems like it would go off on its own and We were not aware that it wouldn’t turn off on its own. The tone and way he yelled this was rude, blunt, and embarrassing for us. 6. It Rained a lot second night before dinner. Was told our room should have an umbrella- no umbrella in the room. Tracked down housekeeping for one. Arrived late for dinner reservation. 7. The West bay “party pool” was clear and beautiful our first day. By our last day the water was gross and foggy “party pool = pee pool” 8. Lots of confusion making dinner reservations seems there were other names attached to our room number. Returned from the beach to find vouchers left for us in the room but for another couple assigned our room number with an earlier but overlapping date. And another couple returning guest dinner invite in the same folder. Neither couple was in our room but it was nice to confirm there had been a room change (probably because the view from our “ocean view suite” was of the Tessoro rooftop with construction equipment on it. 3rd floor when we requested high floor. 9. Requested late check out and had to go back 3x to confirm if it could be done or not. 10. Spoke to manager regarding the late check out, she was a bit blunt at first and asked if we’d spoken with a manager about our issues. We didn’t think to do that as club staff should have everything documented… and we had already wasted a lot of our trip time with these issues. After hearing some of our details, she did agree to offer complimentary late check out. 10. Arrived to check out and it was busy in the club office. Waited. Both desk attendants became free and they looked at each other looked at us and didn’t offer to help or say anything. When I asked if they could help us check out one looked up at us and said and I quote: “oh, I didn’t see you there”. Yes, they did see us. I don’t know why he said that. It seems some guests get treated very differently than others. To sum up, we will not be returning to this resort, which is a shame as I really had high expectations for this trip and future sandals trips. It’s sad to think that Maybe if we hadn’t had a “room change” before we arrived, we would have had an entirely different experience. …Or if we’d had a butler to solve these issues for us as “club” level just didn’t cut it. Also I’m home now and have a ton of itchy bug bites on my legs/arms/ back which I’m assuming was mosquitoes even though I never saw a mosquito.

We had the most amazing time at Sandals Royal Bahamian. So amazing that we were quite confused by some of the reviews we saw on tripadvisor before arriving. The staff were the absolute best thing about the resort. All were friendly, warm, welcoming and took care of anything we needed. We had fabulous butlers Cece, Tim and Eric who went above and beyond to accommodate us. We would definitely recommend them. We had a beautiful room in the Island Village with a pool and outdoor tub. The room was clean and well stocked with our requested items. We celebrated an anniversary which was honoured with decorations in our room. We highly recommend the Island Village if you prefer a quieter spot away from the main pool areas. With butler level, we had no problem getting pool or beach chairs and had food brought to us. The 'fun' pool was great, with good music and entertainment through the day. Derek, Keemo and team kept us entertained. The food was great particularly at Butch's and Kimonos, plus the food trucks were a nice touch. We also enjoyed the buffet breakfast at Kanoo. All in all, we would happily return and would definitely utilise the butler service again.

This is a beautiful resort and lot's of amenities. We had a room with a pool and butler service. Our butlers took extremely good care of us. The staff all around the resort was friendly, helpful and just wonderful to be around. This was our fifth time at a Sandals. We look forward to returning.

We had such a wonderful stay at Sandals Bahamas and thoroughly enjoyed every moment of our trip. The all-inclusive experience was brilliant and made the whole holiday feel completely stress-free. From cocktails and snacks throughout the day to the variety of restaurants and dining options in the evening, there was always something delicious to enjoy. The resort itself is beautiful, with a lovely beach and relaxing atmosphere. We especially enjoyed spending time by the water and taking part in some of the excursions, which really added to the experience and allowed us to explore more of the island. The spa was another highlight of our stay — so peaceful and relaxing, and the perfect way to unwind while on holiday. We also really loved the evening entertainment. There was always something going on, creating such a fun atmosphere at night whilst still feeling relaxed and luxurious. One slight disappointment for us was that we were celebrating my husband’s 40th birthday during our stay and, despite this being noted, there was no special acknowledgment at all throughout the trip. We are sandals returning guests so would have expected a bit more. Considering the amount we spent, we did feel this was a little disappointing, as many luxury resorts tend to make small gestures for milestone celebrations. That said, it didn’t ruin our experience and we still had a lovely time overall, I should note this doesn’t fee like a luxury hotel, good standards but having travelled around the world this hotel wouldn’t fit into luxury hotels, but a good five star. Overall, the service, facilities, food, drinks, and atmosphere were all fantastic. Sandals really does make it easy to switch off, relax, and enjoy yourself from start to finish. We left feeling refreshed, happy!

Quite a small resort with limited food choices if like me you don’t eat fish or shellfish. As with all Sandals resorts there is a shortage of pool floats and the majority “held” by a few selfish guests who don’t like it when you borrow it. The butlers are up at the crack of dawn taking the loungers nearest the pool. On the up side, a lively resort, dive crew are great and very friendly and helpful.