The Sands Barbados All Inclusive

We had the best time at this hotel. The pool was fantastic. Our son spent 8 hours a day in it. The staff were friendly, the rooms were cleaned everyday. Having air conditioning in the living areas of the rooms would be amazing. The hotel itself was just the right size for us. The food was good and appeared as fresh as it could be. I’m not sure water sports are really advertised. This could be promoted a lot more. Staff in the restaurant and bar were so accommodating. Shakira was funny. Thank you for a lovely stay

My initial trip had to be rescheduled because of hurricane Berly that came around July 4th weekend. It took some haggling and The sands would only accommodate a 2 week window to use the credit. Which was very disappointing. I had to pay double on a flight to meet their deadline. Upon getting to the hotel, the staff at the front desk were polite and apologize for the short time frame to use the credit. The rooms were nice, we had a duplex style room. The food was subpar, only ate there twice during my stay. I wouldn’t say it’s truly an all inclusive experience. There was a rude encounter with one of the head staff at the dining area ( actually 2 rude experiences). This incident was reported to upper management and rectified with an apology and a complimentary brunch at NIOR. Beyond this, some training needs to happen to let the staff know it’s not ok to treat people differently because of how “they look” This woman had some level of bias to her tone and approach when dealing with black guests vs non black guests. Let me just say she was more polite to people who did not look like her. #Sad Shout out to Kemar at guest services. He was attentive and approached each guest with respect. He accommodated any request that was asked. I gave it a 4 stars because of the location, and the few friendly staff we encountered.

Spent 2 weeks on a Silversea cruise which was fantastic, holiday finished of with 6 days at The Sands!! Advertised as a 4 Star hotel, struggled to be 3. On arrival at 11 am, we were told our rooms would not be ready until 4pm, but if we paid $150 we could go to room immediately. Didn’t understand this , I know it had to do with the all inclusive rules but surely we could have gone to the room and paid for any drinks or food consumed before 4pm, mystified!! We went to a beach bar for drinks and a very good mexicsn restaurant in St Lawrence nearby. Returned at 4 , given key to duplex room, very tired room, no bath,very loud AC, room full of mosquito’s. Complained , no other room available, evidently. We put up with the room issues for 6 days. Food at this resort , buffet or al a carte was poor, menu mostly the same every day. We went out to eat in the evening 3 of the 6 days. Adding $600 to the cost of the holiday. Staff with a few exceptions were very good, particularly on Christmas Day to ensure we all had a good time. Surly pool boy who seemed to object to getting us some sunbed mattresses, and a few of the waitresses who were barely alive. I could go on, but this review would be too long . In summary a hotel with lots of issues, and very disappointing after such a wonderful cruise. Imagine cruising need to seriously review whether they continue to use this hotel.

I stayed at The Sands over Christmas with my husband and teenage son. I have absolutely no complaints. The whole stay was marvellous. The staff made everyone feel special and made an extraordinary effort for the whole Christmas week. The restaurant staff were extremely competent and I cannot understand why anyone would not be full on from the delicious three course meals on offer. Perhaps it's more refined than McDonalds for some guests. The bar staff were also very professional. I have stayed in five star hotels where I've had to wait 40 minutes for a drink. I never had to wait at The Sands and the hotel was full ! Service was always with a smile. Chad organised our excursions and was very helpful and courteous. The front desk staff were also very helpful whenever we needed to ask something. Checking in was not an issue if you understand how to scan a QR code and to complete a simple form on your phone. It was genuinely not rocket science. Perhaps the same complaining guests would like to be carried to their rooms and tucked up in bed too? How do they function in everyday real life? The hotel entertainment was tasteful with some very good singers and musicians. The staff made an effort with Christmas themed activities each day in the run up to Christmas. They were well received by the guests and made the atmosphere fun. The beach is beautiful and only a short walk from the rooms. Although the beaches are public, we were never hassled by anyone. The hotel is well located so you can venture out in the evenings for a walk and a drink. There is a cashpoint opposite the hotel if you need, and also a supermarket. The resort definitely helped us unwind and have a great time. Some guests perhaps need a lesson in 'chilling out'. It's not that hard. Just have a rum punch, sit back and enjoy the beauty around. We'll be back to The Sands without hesitation.

After a delayed flight and waiting for nearly 2 hours for our luggage to appear it was the last thing we needed was to attempt a self check in at the hotel. Download this, scan this QR code and enter all your details, a job that a receptionist does in every other hotel I have stayed in the world. Eventually after what seemed like a a lifetime my 17 year old daughter came to the rescue. We requested inter connecting rooms but on arrival we learnt this hotel doesn’t have any so we were allocated rooms next door to each other, down a corridor turn left, turn right, left again , right again and eventually we came to our rooms. The rooms were nice for first impressions but then the problems were soon to appear. First of all our toilet flush would not work properly , no hot water, then the other room both toilets the flushes were having problems. In the morning at 6am we reported the issues and were assured no problem to fix. Then when we returned to the room not only had the toilet problems not been addressed but also water pouring through the light fittings in the bathroom, not a good mixture of water and electricity. So up again to reception to make them aware. Didn’t seemed too bothered so I returned to the room every hour hour to see if this was going to be solved, after 7 hours and trying to convince this wasn’t the best mixture of ingredients to stay healthy they said they would move us , I have to say very reluctantly. So we went back to I the room packed up all our gear and down to reception, “ the room will be ready in an hour or so” thankfully we bumped into a lady called Jackie , this is the lady who gets things done, don’t waste time with any front of house staff member they have zero clue and care even less and are extremely rude to say the least. Clearly they don’t enjoy the job, go and find something else you want to do to make you happy because you’re doing a fine job of ruining people’s well earned money to visit your hotel! So now we are the other side of the hotel away from the rest of our family who we wanted to be with as we travelled to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary which went completely unrecognised by the hotel, but hey who cares certainly no one at the Sands Hotel does other than Jackie. After several other complaints day after day to get a toilet to flush, again a chance meeting with Jackie and the problem was solved after day 7. The guys on the bar were largely great, David ( Jeffrey) , Jez, Steven Antonio (Buddy Love) Shamari they were all good fun, Jez is a super guy who the hotel should look after and keep him interested in his job. The girls mainly in the restaurant were ok, some a lot more pleasant than others, Kerry Ann was the most abrupt and rude person I have come across in a very long time, so congratulations to her! Margret is a lovely lady who always has a smile for you. Another great guy is the very hard working sun bed guy Romario, so polite and well mannered, and doing a great job with a back p

Pros: Location is excellent it is on the beach which is beautiful Kettle in room Cerolyn the manager in the restaurant could not do enough for us, always checking if we are ok, the small touches are great, for example providing fridge in our room, room location was great we could see the beach and pool. Overall service good Short walk to the Gap which is where the main ***** is. Cons: Food is a key down. The Al a carte set menu is the same every night and we had no option but to spend 45 quid on two medium pizzas instead on a few nights. No cultural food / it’s all posh and not to everyone’s taste and bland. The pre booking of times to eat is not what is needed on a holiday, people want to eat when they want, not wait for hours and then further wait after being seated for a set menu. Sun beds: there are no way near enough for the people who wake early to “reserve” them. This means the same people sit in the same place by the pool and it is not a fair system. People do not want to wake early on their holiday. Entertainment: no cultural evenings or music. This was all the same as entertainment you would hear in the UK, certainly does not “feel” like the Caribbean even though the beach is lush.