Sandals Saint Vincent

My wife and I recently stayed at Sandals St. Vincent for our honeymoon, booking through Virgin with high expectations of the renowned Sandals experience. Unfortunately, while some staff went above and beyond to turn things around, the overall management approach and disorganisation left us disappointed at times. The Arrival & Initial Impressions: We were warmly greeted at the airport and provided a smooth transfer to the resort, where hotel staff welcomed us. However, our excitement quickly turned to confusion. Upon check-in, we mentioned it was our honeymoon and were cryptically told to “wait until you get to your room.” To our surprise, there was no decoration, no special touches—just a standard room. Early Missteps: On Day 2, we inquired about our candlelit dinner, a package inclusion, only to be told there was a $190 charge. After multiple discussions with staff (including Kyle, the Duty Manager), the dinner was ultimately sorted, but the initial confusion soured what should have been a seamless experience. Issues with room cleanliness, a lack of decorations, and power outages further compounded our frustration. Attempts to escalate our concerns to senior managers like Tamon and Justin felt dismissive, as though our concerns were wasting their time. Turnaround Efforts: Thankfully, individuals like Kyle and Adrian stepped up to improve our stay. They ensured housekeeping eventually decorated our room beautifully (albeit late), delivered sparkling wine, and organised a candlelit dinner for us. Their genuine effort and care brought back some of the magic we had hoped for. Standout Experiences: • The dolphin and whale-watching excursion was fantastic, complete with black sand beaches and filming locations from Pirates of the Caribbean. • The candlelit dinner, once sorted, was romantic and memorable. • The spa experience was a highlight—a couples massage worth every penny and a must-try for anyone visiting the resort. Management Disappointment: The lack of proactivity from upper management was disheartening, particularly when we saw newlyweds receive complimentary dinners, massages, and other perks during managers’ cocktails—a moment that made us feel overlooked. Final Thoughts: While we ultimately managed to enjoy our honeymoon thanks to the kindness and dedication of certain staff members like Kyle and Adrian, the experience did not meet the luxury or care that Sandals promises. We were left with the impression that upper management is indifferent to resolving guest concerns proactively, which dampened what should have been a flawless, memorable celebration. Would we recommend? Sandals St. Vincent has the potential to be amazing—the setting is stunning, and some staff truly care. However, given the premium price and expectations attached to a Sandals honeymoon, we’d urge the resort to focus on improving communication, consistency, and managerial responsiveness. Read less

We arrived to the island a day early and stayed at the new Holiday Inn Express. We had private transportation to pick us up at airport and then again the following morning to take us to Sandals. This was our free week with Sandals. We qualified for VF room but chose PCBM. We loved this room. We had room 3516 and the views were incredible. The room is your standard Sandals room but full size coffee pot (yay!). The media room is right when you walk in and we never turned that TV on nor sat in there. Not sure what else you could do with this area. Our room was cleaned and refrig restocked everyday, taking note what we were using and not. Room 10/10 From the moment we stepped onto the property, we were welcomed by very friendly staff. We did not meet 1 rude employee during our entire trip. They seem to love their job and really want you to have a great time. We tried every restaurant, with Butchs and Buccan being our favorites. We made the 1 reservation allowed online for Buccan and was able to get reservations at Butch’s for 2 nights. Standout here was Timera (waitress) at Soul for dinner; Barbara at omelet station (she remembered on day 2 what my order was), and Ronashana (waitress) at Butches, we had her both times and service was top notch! We loved the concept at Buccan’s and met some lovely couples. I hope they bring of this type of restaurants to other Sandals. We loved the added salad options for lunch and pizza is always a hit. Food 10/10 We are beach people and getting chairs (no butler) was never a problem. We used the bar at the beach club and Ken(bartender) was the bomb,always a friendly smile and great conversation. We also saw plenty of chairs at the pools. There are a lot of different pools, we used the 2 curved pools the most by the beach club. Pools/Beach 9/10 (see below for why not 10) We took 1 excursion with a private tour (same one we used for private transportation, TopDawg) to Dark Falls. This was a great tour with a local driver to give us some much information about the island. When we arrived at Dark Falls, we were the ONLY ones there! This Sandals is the first time we’ve had bikes and we loved them, rode them everyday. Everyone just rides and parks it, next person just hops on. We did incur some bikes that needed tires aired up so not sure how that will go….but LOVED this! We did encounter the 4 dogs and 1 cat but never bothered us. We give this resort, 9 out of 10 for 2 reasons…..Wifi is great in lobby but outside of that, it’s horrible and to access resort map and room service menu, they give you QR codes however, unless you have internet access, they don’t work. We activated our travel pass on phone but paying what you pay, Wifi if possible should be free and strong. The biggest issue, was 4 out of 8 days there, they allowed cruise ship passengers to come onto the beach. These guests can’t use any restaurants or other amenities however, they were LOUD and kids were involved. (don’t hate, I love my kids and grandkids but not on a Sandals vacation). Everyone on the beach (paying Sandals customers) were confused and not sure why this is allowed. I reached out to management about both issues and was told the internet issue is being resolved with a new provider so hopefully that improves. As for the [people allowed on the beach, these weren’t locals but people that paid to come to the beach and I hope Sandals fixes that. The island has plenty of beach spots for cruise ship guests to go to. We’re glad we chose our free week here….now to start on next free week Read less

We spent a week here in one of the cheapest rooms and had a fab time. The resort is amazing and the standout is the landscaping and gardens. They are all pristine. The gardeners are doing a great job. Special mention to Broadbent or something like that. He’s in charge of the lawnmower. Very friendly bloke. Also special mention to Nacy or something like that. She was often on the door of the breakfast buffet. Always friendly and cheerful. The other person of note was Shevi at Gatsu. Lovely lady and a great waitress. Also must mention Jefrey with one f. Very nice man. The room we had was spotless. Only complaint is those wretched butlers. They shouldn’t be allowed to reserve sun beds for their guests. Most of the beds remain unoccupied for most of the day. The other complaint was it’s difficult to get a reservation for Butch’s and the staff in the reservations room are as miserable as sin. I expect Sandels pick the most miserable people to man it so it puts guests off from even attempting to book restaurants. All in all a lovely resort and we had great fun. Five ⭐️’s from us. Read less

Overall I think they are doing well with this new addition to the Sandals properties. A few suggestions: butlers should have fewer couples, I think they are a bit overwhelmed with the number of guests they have to take care of. There were times I felt that they were not attentive enough. The food selection was a little limited. I miss a French restaurant and think Parasol should serve dinner. The beach could use a towel supply down by the beach bar. On a positive note, we loved the snorkeling and thought the water sports people were fantastic and very knowledgeable. Loved that a guide was with us in the water.The physical plant is beautiful and the people extremely friendly. We'll be back! Read less

Absolutely breathtaking views, if you can survive the drive from the airport to the resort. It's not for the faint of heart, but it's worth it. This was our first time at a Sandals and we stayed in the Lady Palm/ Rm. 3410, which had the trifecta of views: pool, beach & mountains! The room itself was wonderful and large, with great closet space. We were super impressed with the water pressure & temperatures of the shower (3 shower heads!!) AND the soaking tub on the balcony. Hubby and I didn't find the bed/pillows comfortable at all, and spent a lot of time tossing & turning, and getting warm in the middle of the night, despite the temp in the room staying constant. Highlights of the trip-- -the grounds-- they are immaculate, and lush. It's such a unique location between the mountains and watching the storms roll through was such a fun experience. Don't bother getting out of the pool when it rains. It comes in fast and leaves even quicker. The sunsets produce quite the art show every night, too. -the DOGS! There are 4 sweet pups who spend most of time on the beach, except for one or two who make the rounds around the pools, until dinner time. They don't come to you unless you engage, which I always did :) -the main pool. Staff were fun, drinks were flowing, and the music was always playing. Shoutout to Bertram for checking in to ensure there was a wide selection of music and Adrian for hyping up the crowd. Also appreciate Rohan, Javani & Valicia for making and serving the drinks like pros. And Paul Je, close by at the plaza bar-- I've still not recovered from the bomb LIIT he served! -Buccan-This dinner spot was unlike anything else I've had at any resort vacation. Family style, local cuisine, reservation required. It was probably the best meal we had on the resort, and I was incredibly impressed with Anna and her diligence to ensuring a fellow guest with a food allergy was served her own portions. Food was good elsewhere, too-- we favored Sora (Nadine & Macksher provided incredibly service and recommendations), Butch's and Scrimshaws, and the curry chicken patties at Jerk Shack for lunch were a must have. -the spa-- massages and facials were great, but a bit pricey. They also try to push product so if you're anything like me, prepare to pack more in your suitcase on your trip home. -the evening shows-- the violinist & drum shows were amazing. If you are a music lover, I highly recommend. Bummers- -the beach-- I favor tropical locations for its pretty blue water. This is not it. I will say that the water did turn a pretty color after one of the rainstorms but more often than not, it was dark/cloudy, with a large boulder obstacle course to get to the rings. The beach is small, so we only spent 1 day there and noticed that the rings were covered in algae both around the edges and within the inner mesh. My husband contacted the resort through GINA/WhatsApp and we noticed the next day that the rings were removed and being power washed on the beach, so we appreciate how serious they take action with feedback. -excursions- not necessarily a fault of Sandals, but we booked an all-day snorkeling trip through Island Routes when we booked the resort months ago. We stopped in to check on final details to find out that they removed the listing for the trip after the hurricanes and were struggling to fill the 24-person-minimum. We tried to recruit people, but Island Routes ultimately called at 8pm the night before to say it was canceled, not because of people (which they still didn't have enough) but because of the swells being 6'. We got a full refund but would have been nice to explore the island a little more but didn't have time to book any other offshore excursions by that time. -lack of select menu items-- salads at Imoro were non-existent towards the end of the week unless you wanted lettuce with a side of lettuce. I wanted their spinach salad with goat cheese, but they were out of both spinach AND goat cheese. Butch's specialty is Prime Rib, but they were out of Prime Rib (but the creme Brulé was great!) Most days they were completely out of one or several specialty drinks (pina colada mix, strawberry daiquiris, protein boost smoothies @ Parisol) -the activities -- water aerobics was fun (yay, Lafesha!) and I did that twice. Was hoping to do one of the Sip and Paints but when we arrived at 11:50 (started at noon), it was already full. They only had space for 9 guests to participate so we missed the chance. Half the staff we talked to also didn't know where the Sky Lounge was, so we were sent in a few different directions. -not tipping-- we typically vacation at Secrets where you are permitted to tip. We like this, as we feel it makes the staff feel more valued. While we didn't have any negative interactions per se, there were definitely moments where we felt underwhelmed with service, or like a bother to the staff. I am in the service industry and can understand the struggle of working in the heat with the amount of people they serve each day, so I sympathize and would have liked to have been able to show more appreciation for all they do. The ones I mentioned throughout this review were top notch and seemed to genuinely love what they do. Overall, it was a beautiful trip and a wonderful, relaxing week. Might be our first and last trip to Sandals but it was definitely one we thoroughly enjoyed. Read less