Sandals Antigua Caribbean Village and Spa Ultra All-Inclusive Reviews (St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda)

Gorgeous island, mediocre resort

A traveler

Travelocity.com

July 23, 2012

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The island of Antigua is undeniably gorgeous, but the entertainment that Sandals provided at night is lame and boring. Our bed was extremely uncomfortable, waking up each morning with a sore back and we're in our 20s. My husband became very ill ...Read more

We enjoyed this vacation.

A traveler

Travelocity.com

August 1, 2011

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We really enjoyed our vacation. The Sandals resort was beautiful. The staff was friendly. We stayed on the Caribbean side of the resort in the Flamboyant building. The room was nice and kept exceptionally clean. Our room did not smell bad as stated ...Read more

Loved the Caribbean side!

A traveler

Travelocity.com

April 17, 2011

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The Caribbean side is the older side and so beautiful! The rooms had that old Caribbean Plantation feel. The newer side, Mediterranean, looked like a Las Vegas hotel. Little or no gardens, mostly lawn, where the Caribbean side had lush established ...Read more

What a Great Experience

A traveler

Travelocity.com

April 14, 2011

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First time on an all inclusive. I had reservations that the food would be poor and, as the drinks were free, people would be falling down drunk everywhere. Couldn't be further from the truth. There were several restaurants serving everything from ...Read more

Resentful staff made for awkward dinners and poor service

A traveler

Travelocity.com

April 14, 2011

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We went to Sandals Antigua for a family vacation/wedding. Safe to say, most of the family would agree with our impression. The resort is well-manicured and clean. However, the service was horrendous to the point that it dampened our celebratory ...Read more We went to Sandals Antigua for a family vacation/wedding. Safe to say, most of the family would agree with our impression. The resort is well-manicured and clean. However, the service was horrendous to the point that it dampened our celebratory mood. Perhaps the Antiguans are just unfriendly people or Sandals Antigua is just a bad place to work. It was clear that >95% of the staff provided the barest service with healthy dose of bile. The sole exceptions were the cook at Kimonos, the welcoming committee, the wedding planner, housekeeping (which did a good job but was still unfriendly) and the manicurist (who was from Guyana). We're generally like to mingle with local folks to learn their culture and cuisine. We've had beyond great experiences on Grenada and on the Yucatan peninsula. So, if you want to hit the Carribbean, there definitely are more welcoming destinations where your stay will be much more pleasant. Here's our breakdown: Our room: On the Carribbean side. Exceeded expectations. Modern, clean, white linens. Large updated bathroom. Opened to gardens with a semi-private pool, just beyond which was the beach. Housekeeping did an excellent job! She did get a little bit disgruntled that we had accidentally taken our coffee mugs out of the room and left them by the bar. 5 hours later, she asked me to go get them! Really? Restaurants: Well, from the other reviews, you know the deal - you gotta get reservations for 3 of the restaurants, and they all aren't open every night. You MUST reserve early. Despite being an all-inclusive resort, there actually are three tiers of service. Basic, where you don't even get a minibar. Concierge, which basically means you get the minibar and maybe a nicer room. And Butler which is self-explanatory. It appears that the Butler service has reserved at least half the tables at each of the restaurants, taking up the prime hours between 7 and 8:30. The rest of us have to scurry to get the remaining reservations and have to eat either early at 6:30 or late after 9. Clearly not as inclusive as advertised. The concierge has the miserable job of dealing with a line of impatient guests and a ringing phone all morning and understandably unfriendly. Kimonos: Above-Average Americanized Japanese cuisine, freshly made and not overcooked. Well presented. Great for a group - a nice show. Sushi Bar: Cheap cuts of fish, presented a little sloppily. Eleanors: The appetizers sounded great but were incredibly unappetizing (the lamb roti was really a bland cold pate wrapped in a cold roti). The entrees were very good. The dessert was disappointing. I found the pineapple donut disgusting - it sounded great, but wow! The service was the worst here. We asked for hot sauce and our request was met with incredible resistance. First response: "In a second." He then tried to clear my plate which I hadn't eaten b/c I was waiting for the hot sauce! Then we got a nearly empty bottle which we immediately emptied. Needing more (b/c we were a table for 12) we were met with "no, you already have the bottle" Finally, after waitstaff conferred, we finally got enough for the table. Bayside: The breakfast stop - typical fare. For dinner, it's a steakhouse. They overcook the meat by two degrees (medium -> well done). You have been warned. Barefoot: The best. The jerk chicken and beef patties are a must (not that you would go to this resort after reading this review). The only place we wanted to go back to. The waitstaff here was actually nice and refilled our drinks without asking (the only restaurant to do so). Cricketeer: A pub. Stock nachos, wings, burgers, etc. We did not get to go to the OK Corral or Marios. Beach: Nice clean expanse. Clear blue water. Swimmable. Annoying that the butlers come out before dawn and reserve the nice beach chairs before the regular folks get a chance and that half of the reserved beach chairs never get used. But we were early risers and got our chairs at 8 am before breakfast so we were able to enjoy a few mornings on the beach. Overall, we felt luxury was not included in this resort unless you pay for the $1000+/night Butler service. There are too few bars for the number guests. Although it is a pretty resort with a nice beach, we cannot recommend this resort to anyone b/c the service was simply unacceptably rude. This is a much prettier place than Dreams Tulum - but the service there was 1000-fold better. Sad to say, we're not going back to Antigua and probably won't go to another Sandals resort either. Close

Great way to vacation, did not have to worry about anything.

A traveler

Travelocity.com

April 13, 2011

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We stay at this Sandals resort for my hooneynoon. I had a great time, the hotel room was awsome, restaurants were great. The only inconveniance was they has some construction going on and our room was directly underneath and we could hear the noise ...Read more

Very relaxing place well worth the cost.

A traveler

Travelocity.com

February 15, 2011

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The resort'sbest quality is the overall friendliness and cheerfulness of the staff. The food service needs a little improvement. The most efficient servers in general were the bartenders at the pools and the main bar.

Honeymoon retreat full of newly married and others seeking romance.

A traveler

Travelocity.com

February 7, 2011

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My wife and I went for our honeymoon and loved it. The value was great as they were promoting a 70% reduction and for that price it was a bargain. We have stayed all over the Carribean and this was the most plush yet. As nice as the Ritz on St. ...Read more

Awesome trip to Sandals Antigua

A traveler

Travelocity.com

February 4, 2011

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We had an awesome trip. This is going to be a bit long because I think most people reading these reviews are looking for details and tips. I would say we are fairly well traveled to the Caribbean islands having been to Mexico Mayan Riviera twice, ...Read more We had an awesome trip. This is going to be a bit long because I think most people reading these reviews are looking for details and tips. I would say we are fairly well traveled to the Caribbean islands having been to Mexico Mayan Riviera twice, Punta Cana DR twice, Jamaica, Aruba and Barbados in the last 5 years. I feel we know what to expect and have a good basis to compare resorts. I have been to Sandals Dunn?s River Villago years ago and have done other resort chains over the last few years. We decided to try Sandals Antigua because we got such great price. Airport\Checkin Check in went flawlessly. Leon met our van outside the lobby and welcomed us to Antigua. He directed us to have a seat in the beautiful lobby while he attended to our luggage. He immediately greeted us with cool towels (which we really needed because it was very hot. I loved it!) and a glass of champagne. He took our credit card to the front desk and came back with everything we needed to start our vacation promptly. We weren?t in the lobby more than 10 minutes. I booked the lowest room category (Honeymoon Garden of Eden Deluxe) and he informed us that we were upgraded to the Honeymoon Grand Luxe at no additional charge. At first I was thinking about all the reviews that said ?Don?t take the upgrade because it?s not an really an upgrade? and was a little worried. We followed Leon, who had our luggage in tow, to the Flamboyant Bldg (Bldg 7 on the map next to the Spa, Gym and Tennis courts. We loved it. It had its own beautiful pool and hot tub that was shared by the building guests. It was tucked away so you didn?t have guests walking by your room all day and night. Lots of privacy. The room was recently updated with new furniture, comfortable 4 poster bed, big flat screen TV and a brand new bathroom equipped with a new rain shower head and a huge tub with room enough for two. Leon asked us if we were happy with our upgrade and we told him it was perfect. Everything worked great in the room. No problems with AC, hot water or safe. Maid was wonderful. Our room was clean everyday when we got back from the beach\pool and she came every evening for turn down service, placed a bulletin with the next days activities, restaurant hours and specials of the day on the bed and fresh beach towels for the morning. Property We were told the resort was almost at capacity but you would have never known it. It was large enough that you didn?t feel crowded and small enough that you weren?t walking forever to get to the other side. We were on the very end of the Caribbean Gove property and it only took about 5 minutes to get to the Med Pool or Cricketers. I thought it was a nice walk. The resort landscaping is absolutely beautiful as others have said. Beach The beach is also stunning. Warm, calm, clear blue water and soft, cool, white sand. I didn?t really see much of a problem with beach erosion as other have stated. I thought it was plenty wide enough and most people placed the chairs in the water or at the waters edge anyways. We never had a problem finding beach loungers and we usually didn?t get to the beach until 9:30 or 10. The beach was long and you can take nice strolls up and down the beach. Halcyon Cove resort is to the right and a deserted even more beautiful beach if you walk to the left down the beach around the corner. There were beach vendors and locals selling t-shirts, jewelry, tours, etc on the beach every day but they were never pushy or irritating. Most of them were very nice and we struck up conversations with some of them. They are just trying to make a living and they will give you good deals. A quick No Thank You and they will be on their way. Watersports had a wide variety of activities. We did the snorkel trip one day and took kayaks out. The snorkeling trip was pretty good. You need to sign up in advance and the Sandals boat goes out every day at 10:30, 11:30 and 2:00 to the little island you see in the distance from the beach. It is pretty good snorkeling and you will see lots of fish. There are some harmless jellyfish floating around that you will see and the boat crew tells you they are there. They are not dangerous. I saw a couple and just swam the other way. There weren?t tons of them. We snorkeled for 30 minutes and I think I saw 4 of them. Pools We had breakfast everyday at Bayside. We never made it to Mario?s for breakfast. We liked to eat breakfast looking at the ocean with the nice breeze blowing in. There were a few birds flying in occasionally but Sandals had a person that it was his job to go around and chase away the birds, so it wasn?t a problem. They had everything you could want for breakfast, made to order omelets and pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, potatoes, cereal, fresh fruit, pastries, muffins, bagels, yogurt and usually some other specialty items that varied from day to day. The food was always the right temperature and seemed very fresh. I thought the food was excellent at all the restaurants. We ate at all of them and never had a problem making reservations. Mario?s and Barefoot didn?t take reservations but we walked up at about 7, they suggested we get a drink from the bar and we waited maybe 20 minutes and we were seated. Bayside had no wait. We went on Steak Night and had an excellent meal. I had heard Bayside was a buffet restaurant for dinner but it never had a buffet at dinner time that we saw. It was order off a menu and the menu changed depending on what theme night it was. Making reservations for Kimono?s, Eleanor?s and OK Corral was fairly simple. You can make reservations for that evening and the 2 following days. I kept forgetting to do it in the morning and would walk to the concierge desk at about 11 and never had a problem getting in. Barefoot, Eleanor?s and Mario?s were our favorite. They have the menu for all the restaurants posted in the lobby but they don?t list lobster or any specials they may have that evening. I was really looking forward to lobster but didn?t see it listed at any of the restaurants. To my delight Barefoot and Eleanor?s both had lobster and it was delicious. We both had steak at OK Corral and it was very good. It is very hot in OK Corral because the grill is right in the middle of all the tables. The Japanese was a little bit of a disappointment. The food was good but our chef didn?t really put on much of a show and didn?t engage in conversation. We met some nice couple there though. I have been to Japanese restaurants on many islands and they were always fantastic but this was just ordinary. Oh and the Pizzeria is fantastic. Not a long wait at all. On our last day, our ride back to airport was leaving Sandals at 2pm for a 4:30 flight. We ordered two pizzas to eat on the way to the airport. If your flight is not leaving until later you need to be check out of your room by 11 unless you want to pay $50 to stay in it until 2. I found no need to pay $50 to check out later because they have a complimentary departure lounge at the Mediterrainian bldg where you could shower (they provide shampoo, soap, towel, blow dryers) and it worked great for us. Drinks were great and the bar tenders were very quick. The bar staff at the Med Swim up bar were the best with tons of personality. Dancing and singing. Speaking of which, we found all the staff extremely friendly and helpful. Not one was rude or indifferent. They all seems very happy and to really like their work. The front desk even called half way through our stay and asked how everything was going. They asked if there was anything we needed or anything we weren?t happy with. We said everything was wonderful and couldn?t think of anything we didn?t like at this point. We were told if we needed or thought of anything later on to call them back. Excellent customer service. They had entertainment every evening on the Med side by Cricketers and also at the Courtyard on the Caribbean side. Entertainment was good and usually something different every night. We only did one excursion outside the resort and that was the Wadadli Cats Circumnavigation catamaran around the island. It was a blast. We booked it before we left and were told since we booked through the website we would receive a free T-shirt and could pay for the trip at Tony?s Watersports the day we decided to take the trip. This particular trip only goes out Tues, Thur or Sat. You board the boat at 9:15am right from the beach at Sandals and then they drop you off there at the end of the trip. It goes from 9:30 to 5 and it is so much fun. The crew is so personable. The cat goes around the entire island stopping at Green Island for snorkeling or hanging out on the beach. It was very good snorkeling. After snorkeling they serve you a delicious lunch which you can eat on the catamaran or the beach and rum punch, beer, etc starts flowing. The turn off the engine, put up the sails and sail around the south and west coast of the island. We stopped at Turners Beach for another dip in the beautiful waters and sailed back to the resorts. Antigua is such a stunning island. It was a great day out. I would highly recommend it. All in all we had a truly amazing time and can?t really think of one thing to complain about. I tried to put everything in the report that I thought people would like to know as I am a Trip Advisor junky and read the reviews religiously looking for all the information, tips and opinions I can get. If there is anything that I haven?t covered, please feel free to contact me. Have a great vacation!!! Close

?Great Honeymoon but bad room accommodations"

A traveler

Travelocity.com

July 6, 2010

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Great Honeymoon but with better room accommodations our trip could have been FANTASTIC We just came back from our honeymoon at the Sandals resort Grande Antigua. We consider ourselves positive people and can find the silver lining in most ...Read more

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Sandals Antigua Caribbean Village and Spa Ultra All-Inclusive

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User Reviews

Gorgeous island, mediocre resort

We enjoyed this vacation.

Loved the Caribbean side!

What a Great Experience

Resentful staff made for awkward dinners and poor service

Great way to vacation, did not have to worry about anything.

Very relaxing place well worth the cost.

Honeymoon retreat full of newly married and others seeking romance.

Awesome trip to Sandals Antigua

?Great Honeymoon but bad room accommodations"

Compare Rates Across Websites

Sandals Antigua Caribbean Village and Spa Ultra All-Inclusive

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User Reviews

Gorgeous island, mediocre resort

We enjoyed this vacation.

Loved the Caribbean side!

What a Great Experience

Resentful staff made for awkward dinners and poor service

Great way to vacation, did not have to worry about anything.

Very relaxing place well worth the cost.

Honeymoon retreat full of newly married and others seeking romance.

Awesome trip to Sandals Antigua

?Great Honeymoon but bad room accommodations"

Compare Rates Across Websites