Description: The moment you step through the impressive portals of Sandals Royal Caribbean's Georgian-style Great House, you know that you have entered a long-forgotten era of gentility, elegance and old-world, British Colonial splendor.
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thomas >
1 contribution(s) United States of America
Jun, 2010 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
1 people found this review helpful
My girl friend and I recently stayed at the Sandals Royal Caribbean from and unfortunately, we had a negative experience when we first arrived.
When I originally booked this trip, I reserved the Royal Grande Luxe Beachfront room. Approximately a week before our trip, Tim from Sandals emailed and called me to tell me that we could upgrade our room to the Royal Honeymoon Luxury Beachfront Concierge Room for the length of our stay for $150.
I told him that it was very important to us that the upgraded room was “beachfront” and had an “ocean view”. He assured me that it was. I asked if he was sure because “beachfront” and “ocean view” were our priority. He assured me again that it was.
Well, it was not. The room overlooked the pool and was not even close to the beach. In fact, the only way you could see the beach or the ocean was to walk out on the balcony, hang your head over the rail and look 90 degrees to the right.
I told the representative that this room was unacceptable and that we would like to have the Royal Grand Luxe Beachfront room that we had originally booked. They said that this room was unavailable. I asked to speak to the manager. After a very long delay, a manager finally came in. He repeated that this room was unavailable. After a very long, uncomfortable, stressful and frankly angry discussion, they “found” the room that we originally booked.
I then asked for the upgrade charge to be refunded. The manager said that it was unrefundable. This is when I really got upset. We had now been there for over two hours, our hopes of getting on the beach the first day were gone. We had to fight to get the room that we originally booked and now I was told that after all of this, my $150 was not going to be refunded. I was so about to leave Sandals and go to the Ritz.
The manager offered to give me a $150 hotel credit. I said I just wanted a refund. They refused. We were at a standoff. I was upset. My girlfriend was upset. This was ruining our vacation. The manager finally said that he would “give” us concierge service in our room. This was not what I wanted, but I told him fine, just so we could end this unpleasantness. This really left a sour taste in our mouths for the rest of our time there.
I wrote to the Sandals home office, hoping that they would do the right thing. They did not respond to my first letter at all. I wrote to them again and almost two months later they responded. They refused to do anything and the letter was very condescending.
As a result, I will never go to a Sandals again. They are liars and thieves, plain and simple. Sandals...I hope you enjoy the $150 you stole from me. You have a new enemy.
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My husband and I were giving the opportunity to come down to your sandals Royal Carribean Resort as a wedding present which was also our honeymoon.
Our travel agent told us to tell them and take the marriage license and we would be upgraded to a different room. Upon arrival everything was fine.
Our room was nice however, in the 7 days there it was cleaned 2 times. We had to ask to have our room cleaned and ask to have our bar fridge stocked.
By the end of the trip I was so disappointed and I was in tears. We reported it to one of the manager's we didn't even get sandals shirts until we made a big deal about it to get them.
I was and I am still TOTALLY disappointed in everyway with everything. Service is great from bar tenders and so on but everything else was horrible. I will never visit another sandals resort after this experience.
I have been to SEVERAL. We received an invitation, to the signature dinner which we didn't go because we weren't really told what it was. When we recieved the invite in cuba it was for cocktails and houre dourves so we opted out of it thinking that's what it was because we had dinner reservations at the thai restaurant. So we missed out on the rum, the dinner and everything else.
My husband and I have been to at least 10 sandals resorts, my brother in law got married at royal hiccacos so we've been around a few times and my father in law and his girlfriend are going away in a few weeks. I told them not to come to sandals and about the experience and service I recieved.
I will always recommend people never go to visit a sandals resort and as I said brent and I will not ever be back as we were terribly disappointed and had a horrible honeymoon.
Your Arrival
Arrival was great - great service loved it
Rooms
should have been upgraded for our honeymoon and wasn't. If your going down make sure you know for sure that it's upgraded. I was very disappointed that we had to ask 5 times to have our room cleaned. We also had to ask to have our bar fridge stocked and for more towels.
If your not there for a wedding or conceirge your not important to them. They make that obvious.
Restaurants and Bars
Royal Thai - is amazing french restaurant is good. Morning buffett is good but got old fast.
Beach Bar burgers are freakin fantastic ... mmmm
We were invited to a signature dinner however, at certain sandals apparently that means different things. Royal hiccacos in cuba it was houre douves and champagne here it's a full sit down mean for having been a signature customer. We opted out not knowing what it was and missed out on something special.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
Beach was small, pools were okay the main pool was the best and the bar tenders were great, grounds were well kept.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
We did the mystic mountain - bobsled and zipline it was worth every penny as well as the katamaran out to margaritaville but you only get 15 minutes there and they have very limited stock in there gift store.
Other Comments
Overall, I don't think we will ever be back to this resort let alone jamaica.
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A great vacation spot and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Sandals Royal Caribbean
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Craig & Carolyn >
1 contribution(s) Canada
Jul, 2009
1 people found this review helpful
Arrival: Jun 24 - Jul 1
We are recently married (second marriage for both) couple in our 50's. This trip was our honeymoon. We travel a fair bit to the Caribbean, this being our first time in the summer, we normally go south to escape the Canadian winters. This was our first time at a SANDALS although we have been to Beaches Turks and Caicos. This was one of the best if not the best resorts we have stayed at.For comparison purposes we have stayed at DIVI SOUTHWINDS and ALMOND in Barbados, CLUB ST LUCIA in ST LUCIA, JOLLY HARBOUR in Antigua, BREEZES in Curacao and LA CABANA in Aruba. We loved the fact that this was a smaller resort and not a huge "party crowd" The younger party crowd seemed to stay at SANDALS Montego Bay. Our arrival was handled very efficiently. Customs and immigration went quite quickly and once we had our luggage we were met by a SANDALS rep who organized our luggage and transport to the resort. There is a SANDALS lounge at the airport where you can get a beer or fruit juice while you wait. The driver does not work for SANDALS so a tip is appropriate. One of the reasons we chose the SANDALS ROYAL CARIBBEAN (RC) is that it is a short 20 min bus ride to the resort rather than 90 minutes or so to Negril or Ocho Rios.
Rooms:
As a returning SANDALS SELECT guest (because we had been to BEACHES) our room was upgraded two levels from a premium to a jacuzzi suite for free ( ask about this if you have been to a SANDALS property before. Our room was 410, it had a large nicely decorated bedroom and jacuzzi bathroom. The room was about 5 minutes from the beach and was situated near a small pool and hotub. The room was not fancy and had no beach view but was very nice and we were happy with it. The River Suites are quite nice if you really want to spoil yourself.Yyvonne our room attendant was very good and did special room decorations when she found out it was our honeymoon. Our small room fridge was stocked daily with juice/coke and water.
Restaurants and Bars:
ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. The choices are many and varied especially with SANDALS MONTEGO BAY and SANDALS INN nearby and readily available by the free SANDALS shuttle. We love dining and our favourites at the RC were the Royal Thai on the island(the ambiance is great, soup is very spicy)and Le Jardiniere French).Oleanders and Tokyo Joes at SANDALS MONTEGO BAY were also wonderful. We were not as fond of the Italian at SANDALS MONTEGO BAY. We won a dinner package at one of the games and tried MARGUERITES SEAFOOD on the Bay in Montego Bay and had a wonderful dinner experience. We made reservations for the whole week shortly after arrival and highly reccommend doing this to get the choice of restaurant you want and your preferred dining time. We had lunches at the beach grill, the Regency and the private island and all were adequate with varied light fare. We enjoyed all our breakfasts at the REGENCY overlooking the water and private island.The servers were well trained and very attentive. The swim up bar and beach bar were fun and served many varied drinks during the day. Waits were not long and the bartenders were good. The air conditioned bar near the entertainment was fantastic in the evenings. Two of the bartenders in particular were amazing, Sigourd and Adrian, they mixed an excellent dry martini. They also served good quality scotch, champagne and white (pinot grigio) and red (cabernet sauvignon) wine. The restaurants were great and we like the opportunity to dress up a little and many others did as well. All in all, excellent!!!!
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The grounds are beautiful and well maintained, lots of pretty flowers.Four peacocks roam around the property.They fog for mosquitoes nightly at @ 530 and my wife was biten several times. There are 4 pools and you can either go to the busy main swim up bar pool where all the activity is or you can use a quiet pool with hot tub near your room. The pools nearest the rooms are also nice to use at night while gazing at the stars. The main beach is ok, very short, so if you want to walk for miles along the beach like you can do in Varadero or Aruba this is not the place for you. We liked goiing to the private island and using the baech there. The dragon boat provides transportation on demand throughout the day and we never had to wait long for a ride over or back. It is easy to spend a good part of the day on the island as there is a pool, hot tub, beach and you can get lunch over there as well. The far side of the island has a clothing optional beach which we wanted to try while on our honeymoon. It is well marked so if the sight of a naked body offends you or you are prudish dont go there. Some people seem surprised that people actually remove their swimsuits! Most often there were 6 or 7 couples on the beach but at times you had the whole beach to yourself especially later in the day which was very enjoyable.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
We thought the activities and nightly entertainment were good, so you can either keep to yourself and relax or be very social and mingle. We found the staff to be vert polite and friendly. There were a few couples from Canada and Britian, however most of the guests were from the States. We did the Dunns River falls tour and the Martha Brae river rafting. Both were excellent but entirely different. You also get to see a bit of the country as you head for the tours. Dunns River Falls is a must to see but if you have any physical handicap climbing them would be difficult. The Martha Brae tour was romantic and very relaxing and fun to to do. We went shopping to the Old Fort Market in Montego Bay but be forwarned the vendors are very aggresive and it is best to be accompanied by a taxi driver who will wait for you and shielded you from the vendors. br/>
Other Comments:
We found the Jamaican people to be warm, friendly and easygoing especially if you try and learn the local Patois. They can be assertive but if you are polite and smile there is never any problems. Mondays is the Managers wine and cheese and this is where the different chefs have a small competition. We wish we had known about this beforehand. Wednesday is the returning guest dinner with the management team and this was truly enjoyable and a great meal in addition.Rick the hotel manager happaned to be seated with us and he is very friendly, approachable and helpful. The staff in general are very professional and well trained but in particular in addition to those we already mentioned we found, Nevyia one of the servers who also did the daily English tea which my wife enjoyed to be very professional Craig at water sports was friendly and very good as were the photographers Devon and Levor. Finally we found Leighton the guest services manager and Oakley the night manager to be very helpful and friendly All in all a great vacation spot and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED The staff are profess
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Back, from an absolutely fabulous time at the Royal Caribbean
Sandals Royal Caribbean
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karen >
22 contribution(s) Canada
May, 2009
1 people found this review helpful
Back, from an absolutely fabulous time at the Royal Caribbean!
This was our 3rd stay at the RC, and our 4th Sandal resort. To compare with other all inclusive resorts in Mexico, DR and Cuba, Sandals really is a much better bargain for your money. For paying the same price in another resort same star level you wont get all that Sandals can provide, and if you become a Signature guest (loyalty program) member (for free) you get a ton of bonuses, like after 70 paid nights – you get a free week at any Sandals, who else will give you a rewards program like that? We booked this vacation to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, and we were both very extremely happy with our 10 night stay. Although we chose butler level this time, I’ve included comments on the other category levels we previously stayed in.
Airport – Travel to resort
We have always found the wait for the buses to the resort to be either none at all, or approx. 15 – 20 min max., most of this is waiting for other passengers to clear customs and get to the Sandals lounge area to sign in. If there is a wait, great time for a glass of beer (in the lounge) and/or a quick smoke. Don’t forget to tip the driver as he does not work for Sandals and is not part of the “no tipping policy”. The short ride (15 min) to Sandals Montego Bay (for other guests staying there) and then on to the Royal Caribbean gives you a quick glance at the local scenery. One of my favourite views is the mountain side of the area, especially at night.
Check-in
The fresh cool damp towels, with champagne or a refreshing drink waiting upon your arrival is one of the delights of the Sandals chain that we’ve come to enjoy. The front desk staff are always smiling and have been very helpful to us every visit. A short wait and we were whisked off to the air conditioned Concierge room to wait for our Butler, Hughill to arrive.
Rooms
Royal Honeymoon Swim-Up 1 Bdr. River Suite with Private Entrance.
We had booked the Beachfront Royal suite, and were upgraded us to one of the brand-new ground-floor River suites. These new suites are absolutely stunning, thank you, thank you Leighton! These rooms are expanded in size with dark wood furniture, beautifully decorated with tons of closet space and a huge superior bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub for two. A separate living area, two plasma TV’s a, gorgeous huge bed; I could go on and on. The large outdoor sitting area has a built-for-two sofa that we are thinking of buying for our backyard because we loved it so much. We would sit by the main pool till after lunch then head back to our room to enjoy the lazy river. Hubby would take one of his afternoon naps, and when I heard Mario call out, `Pool volleyball` I would pour myself a glass of champagne and sit on the patio sofa thinking life can’t get too much better than this ;-). The room was cleaned every day before 10:00, and every night turned down with our robes laid out. One of the butlers would always check to make sure we had enough of everything.
Royal Grande Luxe Semi-private Pool view (ground floor)
We loved these rooms as they were nice and quite in the afternoon if you wanted to just get away & have some great chit chats with others or just read a book or soak up some rays. Our room was steps away from the pool, and we brought our ice bucket out and filled it with ice, beer and water. Nice sized rooms.
Royal Grande Luxe
This was the first room we stayed in, and we lucked in as the room we got was 125 and was set amongst the foliage and our large patio backed on to a wooded garden forest type area, that no one ever used.
All the rooms at the RC (except for the new River suites) contain basically the same you would find at any other all inclusive resort – except these come with a mini fridge replenished with at least water and pop at the min. Champagne, beer and a bar in the Concierge and Butler category. All of the rooms are clean, well maintained, (yes some of the older ones look older, but same can be said for any Caribbean resort). The cleaning staff is super, never a problem with towels or getting more water in our fridge.
Butlers
Our butlers Hughill and Ellis (and for a few times Adia) were amazing in taking care of us. We asked for a plate of cheese and crackers one day and every afternoon there was always a treat waiting for us. We had an amazing romantic dinner on our patio, you can choose anything from any of the restaurants (excl. any that are closed & the Island as it’s pretty hard to get a course over on boat lol), we switched the night we were going to have our dinner as the French restaurant wasn’t open and I really wanted the escargot, so check with your butler early to determine the schedule for the nights the restaurants are open etc. so you get to enjoy your private dinner – Ellis did a wonderful job and was so discreet when he served us our dishes that we hardly saw the time go by and we were chatting so much that it was after 9pm…we, started at 6 lol. The butlers really do add a special touch and we are very glad we chose to spend the extra to have this service during our stay.
The resort overall
We love the fact that this is not a huge resort, or that it’s not a `party crowd`, however the drinking games at the main pool bar are a lot of fun to watch. ``The rum is good all the time- all the time the rum is good! `` Verna and her team are always smiling and chatting while mixing our drinks. If you don’t know what to try ask Verna to make you something, she always comes up with a delicious concoction.The grounds are well manicured and beautiful landscaping with statues, flowers, pathways etc., and the ground and maintenance people really do a super job. The Playmakers are always active, getting us lazy sun worshipers out of our chairs ha ha. Consisting of a great team, to name a few; Marlon, Mario, Antonio and Julienne.Kudos’ to the staff working the Piano bar, after dinner the place gets hopping. The drinks are flowing and very tasty. Another great place to hang out after during and or for dinner is the Cricketer’s pub.
Friday’s is beach party night. They have a local marching children’s band come (they start at the front of the resort and work their way to the beach) and these kids are great to watch and hear. After dinner there is; a steel band, fire dancer and dancing, definitely a must. Wednesday is the returning guest dinner with the Management team, one or two people we ran into were not aware that if you stayed at any Sandals resort previously, you are invited to join. If you don’t receive an invite by Tuesday afternoon, talk to Leighton or David K. the loyalty manager or any one of the Managers you see and they will ensure your set.
Mondays, is the Managers Wine and Cheese Party. It is wonderful to see the pride the staff here has in what they do. Various local performing artists play at the Almond terrace in the evenings. The RC has done new updates since our last visit, namely the new pool chairs by the pools – nice. Wish they had left the Cricketer’s open for lunch though. The beach is a great place to soak up some rays, but be mindful that it’s not a huge long walking one, so don’t be surprised.
Restaurants
Wow, with Sandals Montego Bay and Sandals Inn a short shuttle bus ride away the dinning selection is more than you could possible need or want during a 7 or 14 night stay. Our favourites are; Thai, Le Jardinière (French), Regency, - at Montego, Tokyo Joe's, and OK Corral. We have not dined at the Inn yet – still on the to do list ha ha. We always found that the buffet selections for breakfast and lunch along with the beach grill are perfect. If you get a bit hungry before dinner the beach grill is great place to get some snacks as well. The added a refreshment cooler at the main pool – contains water with fresh fruits and ice, great for when you’re looking to quench your thirst. Also and here’s a tip, when dinning at the Regency I asked for a different appetizer than what was on the menu – one from the Pavilion – shrimp tempura, and it was no problem.
On a final note, If you're looking for; great food, drinks, meeting great people, pampering and a well deserved vacation, the Royal Caribbean is it. RC always makes you feel like family. The team at the RC is the main reason we return again and again.
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