Sandals Resorts
reviews and complaints

The good the bad and the ugly.

The good:

The rooms, property, restaurants, beach, amenities and bathrooms were all in pristine condition. It was clear Beaches has spent a lot of money on upkeep of the resort. FOOD WAS AMAZING! I highly recommend Sky. (Adult only) Dale from the photo shop went out of his way to show us around Key West definitely went above & beyond. Johnny & Jason from the dive shop were both very professional.

Nakoro & Bishop bartenders at the Italian pool were both great.

Eddie the driver from Beaches to Marina was very professional all 7 times he drove my husband.

Delores at Le Petitie Chateau was great.

Julius from Sky went out of his way for us.

Captain Romaine of the dive boat was very pleasant

Ricardo - very helpful w/luggage.

Nicole in housekeeping can sing!

Windell John was very responsive and helpful.

The bad:

We arrived at Beaches resort around 1:30 PM after leaving our house at 2:00 AM. Around 7:00 PM I called down to the front desk and asked for two more blankets. Around 8:00 PM I went to the front desk and asked about the blankets and the worker asked if I was sure that I hadn't gotten them which I was. The front desk called housekeeping and they said they would bring them to my room. I went to the hot tub for 30 minutes and went back to the room and still no blankets. I waited another 20 - 25 minutes in the hallway waiting for the blankets because my kids were sleeping, and I didn't want the knock of the door to wake them up. Around 9 PM after being up for 19 hours I went to the front desk a second time and asked if I could go with one of the workers and get some blankets which is what happened. My daughter and I have Hashimoto's disease which affects our thyroid and ultimately their body temperature. Which is why it isn't so easy to just adjust the thermostat. My daughter was at Mario's eating after her dive at 2:28 a worker said the restaurant closes in two minutes & took her plate of food from her. The worker could have simply said we're closing soon would you like a to go box. Very unprofessional.

Elvis from the dive shop: My husband went there 7 times trying to get an answer from him in regards to his and my daughters Padi certifications. Elvis kept saying he was checking on it. Then finally my husband asked to get his boss Mark which he did. On the 14th my husband asked Mark about his certification and Mark said he would contact Beaches Negril and let him know by email as well as call his room phone. At 3:00 on the 15th my husband still hadn't heard anything and went back to the dive shop. Elvis stated that he just found out his certification was for a scuba diver. A minute later Mark walked to the dive shop and also said he just found out the certification was scuba and not open water. It's weird that both Mark and Elvis had just found out, but they weren't together and neither of them let my husband know.

Alicia Spence wasn't very responsive or helpful.

The Ugly:

Jenny French Village bartender

I went to the bartender in the French Village and asked for a drink which Jenny did make. I asked for grenadine which she poured a small splash into my glass. Then I asked for more and she slammed the grenadine on the counter and told me to pour it. My daughter saw this and asked my husband why her mom was making her own drink. Very rude and unprofessional. I know we're all going through a labor shortage, but this bartender shouldn't be in front of guests.

Mario from the Scuba shop took my son and husband scuba diving. Mario went over the safety talk and told both of them they could only go down to 40'. My husband asked why that was because they had done three other dives together and my son was allowed to go to 60' while my husband was at 40' because of their different certifications. At this point Mario became rude and said that is the way it is and if they didn't follow his rules, he would cut the dive short. Really? Even though they did follow the rules he still cut the dive short because my husband questioned his authority. We just wish there was some consistency between the dive instructors.

On May 14, during my discussion with Windell, you asked me what would make this right. When we were at Beaches in Turks and Caicos, we spent a significant amount of time discussing our certification with staff and waiting for answers from Jamaica – we waited a total of 4 days, had numerous conversations, and worked our way up to a person who could address our concerns. There was a lot of aggravation, and we were not treated kindly or with respect by one of your staff (Denroy). Due to the aggravation and the way we were treated, members of our group decided not to scuba for the last couple of days of our trip. This was supposed to be relaxing, enjoyable and memorable and it left us frustrated and deflated. We would like to try again with Beaches Turks and Caicos. As you recall in our conversation on May 14, I requested our group to be able to return to Beaches Turks and Caicos at the same price as we paid for our last trip. We would like to stay in the same room as before (noted above). Due to our children’s school schedules, we are looking from January 1 – January 8, 2024. We are returning guests; this will be our (Wilkerson’s) third time to a Beaches resort. For our friends, Edwin and Christina Miller, this will be their 7th trip to a Beaches/Sandals Resort. The Miller’s said they have never seen anything like this at Sandals.

On May 14, during our discussion, you asked me what would make this right. When we were at Beaches in Turks and Caicos, we spent a significant amount of time discussing our certification with staff and waiting for answers from Jamaica – we waited a total of 4 days, had numerous conversations, and worked our way up to a person who could address our concerns. There was a lot of aggravation, and we were not treated kindly or with respect by one of your staff. Due to the aggravation and the way we were treated, members of our group decided not to scuba for the last couple of days of our trip. This was supposed to be relaxing, enjoyable and memorable and it left us frustrated and deflated. We would like to try again with Beaches Turks and Caicos. As you recall in our conversation on May 14, I requested our group to be able to return to Beaches Turks and Caicos at the same price as we paid for our last trip. We would like to stay in the same room as before (noted above). Due to our children’s school schedules, we are looking from January 1 – January 8, 2024.

After many emails with Beaches they offered us $100 per person resort credit on a future vacation. Ridiculous. We were a party of 7 and as a group we have been to Beaches/Sandals 8 times combined. We won’t ever use Beaches/Sandals again. Super disappointed in their response.

Beaches claim to have a superb vacation with them this wasn't. Adam Stewart CD Executive chairman says we are with family I would never treat family the way I was treated.

We are a family of 50. Staying at various locations within Sandals. Some staying at Ochi, some at Beaches and the bride and groom at Dunn's. We were told that we would be able to see each other. However, find out later that is not the case. So, the adults at Beaches who want to get away from the kids and spend time with the other adults cannot go to Ochi. This is absurd! After paying a small fortune; we will not be choosing them as an option in the future.

Good day 🇺🇸.

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Covid (Collection of videos aka Collection of words).

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Covid-19 Vaccination Card : FVI18003720 🇺🇸 aka 🇺🇸 Jovaughn Ricardo Wildman.

Headline News (🇺🇸) : Coronavirusdisease (illegal Policing at the Victorville Police Department of California USA 🇺🇸) didn't came from China.

Coronavirusdisease (illegal policing at the Victorville Police Department of California USA 🇺🇸) came from 🇯🇲 Jamaica.

Both my husband and I left to Barbados on June 9th at LAX to Miami to Barbados return on June 17th to Miami to LAX. I bought the flight tickets through Sandals a year ahead. The flights I purchased, times got change several times last minute for both arrival and departure. The service here could have been better. Their customer service was very hit and miss. Most staff moved pretty slow meaning if you went to restaurant took awhile to ever get your food from time of order about 30-40 minutes so expect dinner to take an hour 1 hour and half to finish. If you order a drink that may be your only drink even if person walks by and notice your glass empty. We would go into a restaurant and maybe a one customer in front and still waiting for awhile . Maybe, Barbados. Just move at slower pace but to sit and wait when there are barely any customer and three to four workers just doesn’t make sense, First thing, every time we order room service for food typically the order was incorrect and took about 45 minutes to get and you could not order any food after 10pm Barbados time. If we ask for extra bacon we get no extra bacon . If we order there macaroni and cheese with pull pork they sent macaroni and cheese no pull pork but sent us nachos with pull pork on top that we didn’t order, the fruit with cottage cheese included a plateful of fruit but a 1 tablespoon container with cottage cheese . The person whom clean our room was great but our dishes from our room services were piling up for 2 days in our porch area that had a tub outside. I scheduled a massage and the lady escorted me and another lady to women lockers room seem very curt and impatient. She talk so fast and was like to the right here bathroom to left your locker and and here is how to lock your locker so quickly the other lady was from England was like she was so fast and not personable at all and didn’t understand how to lock her locker so I had to assist her. I have to say my massage wax amazing so I tip the therapist $100 cash. But after my massage the therapist do try to same you products mind you my bill was already about $400 because no one tells you before the service they charge a 12.5 service charge. I’m like is that a tip for therapist in case for those that don’t tip. I felt that should been told to customer before making the appointment. The last thing that really upset us was day of departure . We were given the day before about our departure and when to be ready. Originally, we were suppose to leave in afternoon and that got change early morning. We had to have our bags outside of room by 4 am Barbados time or 1am our time. Pretty rough . No one pick our stuff until 4:30am then we waited in lobby until 5 am when our bags were being loaded our bags were situated were no one could see them and probably would of never been put on truck if we didn’t notice. Also, only a single to us at this time as far as snacks or anything was hot beverages. Our flight wasn’t leaving until 8am Barbados time. The only thing open in airport was subway or convenience store with junk food and the flight was like 5 hours. We were starving we ate 1:30 pm by the time we had layover and boarded another flight at 3:30 pm Miami time We had to sit on plane for 2 hour wait due to weather left at 6 pm then had drink and small bag of pretzels on flight on American Airlines to get in LAX at 8 pm . So, I can say we literally had a 19 hour day wasted on trying to get home having one meal and one snack starving . It was horrible .

Hi

We arrived 2 days ago room smells like a drain. the new st Lawrence house building has got major work defects showers don’t work poor maintenance and an electrical problem which does not pass healthy and safely. We have been waiting with out suitcases unpacked on the floor of our room and just being ignored by staff. Barbara keeps telling us to wait another day as the hotel is fully booked but that is not the case. Priority should be given to those that are here already not new booking. Staff are unhelpful. Bar and restaurant staff are miserable and we are made to feel unwelcome. The worse experience ever and customers here are complaining too. We will be contacting the tourism board for Barbados and have already called health and safety.

In October 2019 my wife and I visited Sandals La Toc in St Lucia. On the second day of my holiday I became seriously unwell. By day three my condition had deteriorated to the point of medical emergency requiring an intravenous infusion and doctor supervision while awaiting an ambulance which the resort manager refused to allow on site as it was a bad advert for the guests. Finally at late afternoon my condition was so bad that the ambulance was finally allowed in.

I was taken to the Tapion hospital where I had to be resuscitated and remained there for several days. I was discharged back to the resort but attended the hospital daily for checkups.

My condition was so bad that I did not qualify medically to fly so was put on a special diet to increase my dangerously low potassium levels to allow me to fly..

On my return I contacted a no win no fee solicitor who started the process of contacting Sandals and having me examined by specialists to confirm my condition.

In the middle of all this Covid hit and I was met with continuous excuse’s that

Sandals solicitors could not act quickly because of Covid so nothing was done. By the time I was able to continue the complaint the statutory period of three years had lapsed so legally I could go no further. The solicitor I had engaged became completely unavailable through the Covid period and stopped answering his phone This left me to my own resources so I contacted Sandals myself and although they did reply it was never in the timeframe they stated.

I had explained the situation and had asked for the holiday and flights be reimbursed so that we could return to the Caribbean for our 55th wedding anniversary. They refused saying that they would only offer the accommodation at the rate paid on booking the holiday. Our costs were approx £10,000 + and the additional costs of medical treatment which took the costs over £20,000. Of course some of the costs were met by our insurance but not all.

I have a file with all bills and costs broken down, medical reports both from St Liucia and here at home and all correspondence.

I should say at this point that I am a British National living in Southern Ireland and the continuous excuse given by Sandals was that Brexit created technical issues which prevented them dealing with the case

So here I am more than twenty thousand pounds out of pocket trying to deal with Sandals who just seem to be playing the delay game hoping we will go away. I must also say that we have been going to Sandals for fifteen years and have spent well £100,000 with them and feel saddened that they don’t care.

It should be noted that prior to our arrival Sandals management were fully aware that there were numerous cases of diarrhoea and vomiting among the guests Also in their restaurant by the poolside which is open air cats were seen on the tables eating leftovers from the diners while birds were defacating into the open buffet area where guests would go to serve themselves

I will repeat that if anything can be done I have a very comprehensive file and I can be contacted via the following:

Email [protected]@aol.co

English Mobile [protected]

Irish Mobile [protected]

Finally we purchased the Package Holiday in England, paid in Sterling and flew from Gatwick

You ask for photographs etc these I have but did not include them because I am not sure you can help us due to the three year rule but would be keen to get your response

I have written to both your public relations director and the the manager of the Sandals Regency LaToc and I still have not received a satisfactory answer to my complaint. What I am desirous of is an explanation not an apology from management. Enclosed is the email I sent to Ms. Norvile and Mr. Kahlon:

Thank you for your timely response and I look forward to an EXPLANATION for what happened.

-----Original Message-----

From: Janelle Norville

Sent: May 23, 2023 12:12 PM

To: mariew

Subject: RE: We need an explanation

Good day Marie,

Thank you for your email. We are happy to hear that our team's hospitality added to your vacation.

As per your request for information on your departure, I have forwarded it to the relevant departments who will get back to you shortly.

Thank you once again for your communication.

Kindest regards,

Janelle Norville

Public Relations Manager

Communications Division

Sandals Regency La Toc Golf Resort & Spa

La Toc Road, P.O Box 399, General Post Office, Castries, St. Lucia

T: 758.456.8800 Ext. 8707 M: 758.724.7029

E: janelle.[protected]@grp.sandals.com

The preceding email message (and attachments) is confidential. It is not intended for transmission to, nor receipt by, any unauthorized persons. If you have received this message in error, please (i) do not read it, (ii) reply to the sender that you received the message in error, and (iii) erase or destroy the message.

-----Original Message-----

From: mariew [mailto:[protected]@peoplepc.com]

Sent: Monday, May 22, 2023 6:42 PM

To: Janelle Norville

Subject: We need an explanation

Ms Norville,

I have written to you on several occasions to tout the wonderful time we had at the Regency LaToc that was, until yesterday. We booked another Sandals vacation and received a $100 gift certificate which we elected to use for private transport to the airport. We were told that we had to check in by 11:15 for our driver, however we checked in and were told by the young lady that works on the tours desk our driver was already waiting. This was BEFORE "Terry" started boarding people to go to the airport in the Sandal busses. I would appreciate an explanation for WHY we, my husband and I, were THE LAST COUPLE to leave? The young lady had confirmed that our driver was there at 11:00 A.M. My husband checked in at 11 am, the forty dollars was paid on Saturday, and our names were number one on the private car list the young was carrying. I heard Terry say, "I don't care about the private drivers, I'm loading my busses first." But, Ms Norville we could have been on our way before the first bus ever pulled up, instead we WERE DEAD LAST-WHY? This undid ALL the goodwill that had been fostered and I would appreciate knowing why? Apologies aside, my question remains-Why did this happen, and what answer am I going to get-that's what I want to know. Do you allow people in your employ this type of arrogance?

Not pleased with last day shenanigans,

Marie Walters Gill

24520 Manistee St

Oak Park, MI 48237

[protected]@gmail.com

The essence of this is what I also sent to Mr. Kahlon of the LeToc Sandals.

We went to Montego Bay Sandals during the week of April 9, 2023 and bought the walk-out suite with a butler and requested the "Honeymoon package". The room (comfortable bed and shower) were excellent however, online pics lead you to believe you will walk out onto the beach when you really walk out into the beach "recreational area" of the resort. The housekeeping was excellent stopping by twice a day for towels, etc. I had to upload our wedding invitation and also talked to Sandals 2 additional times to get the HONEYMOON perks (VIP Check-in, turndown service, breakfast in bed, sparkling wine upon arrival, complimentary photoshoot). We did NOT get any of those things. The "Butler service" was BELOW par and NOT worth the extra money you pay to have one. We had 2 butlers and the first one we had had us wait 25 minutes upon our arrival without any drinks or acknowledgement that it was our honeymoon until we asked for a cocktail from other staff. We were taken to our room, no champagne /even an empty ice bucket, nothing special...as expected/promised. We would come back from the beach and we were to have snacks in our room but didn't until the 2nd butler came on the job. Antoine came to the beach and greeted us, got us drinks and snacks and had a bath drawn for us one evening when we came back from the beach with towel animals and rose petals (what we expected and paid for). They ran out of beer (Red Stripe, the Jamaican beer) and we ended up buying beer from their gift shop. The Butler screwed up the complimentary photoshoot so we didn't get the sunset pictures we were promised. The morning after we arrived, we requested mimosas from 4 staff members and were almost done with breakfast still without anything to drink when we decided to go get our own from the bar and returned by the time a waitress brought them. A manager (David) saw our frustration and made sure we were taken care of at lunch that day. The room service was very good. We really enjoyed our pair share massages on the water. Very relaxing! The customer service is POOR. I have been to other all-inclusives in Mexico and they far exceed this one in Jamaica. We will NOT GO BACK to a Sandals due to the poor hospitality and customer service.

Kia Ora,

Yesterday at approximately 10 am, I (Dr. Terri-Ann Samuels-James) attempted arrived at the Ocho Rios Beach Resort location.

Please note that for 2 days I tried to make contact via telephone but after 2 long waits and subsequent disconnections, I opted to attempt using the online chat option, at which time I was given a number for the head office and I booked a day pass.

Upon arriving on property, I nostalgic and wanted to stay so I enquired regarding booking to stay on property but I requested the rate for local/ Jamaican residence. This is where the issue arose.

I was told by the front desk attendant to call (on my phone) and find out the local rate. When I asked her to assist for me she said "I can give you the number, and you call" she further implied that, that is what I would have to do if I was not on site, but I was.

She then indicated for her colleague to take over, without any means of customer service etiquette. She then proceeded to casually converse with 3 other staff members at the front desk.

The new attendant was lovely, and ad I was a little embarrassed and uncomfortable, I opted to just continue with the day pass. At this time, the current attendant asked the original attendant for the rate of usd to ja dollar conversion as I was paying with Jamaican currency.

The original attendant was dismissive and unhelpful, as well as the other staff members who all returned to their conversation.

Please note that when an overseas guest approached all casual conversation ceased, and those not on duty at the front desk disbanded.

I waited upwards of 49 mins to be registered for the day pass, having needed to go to the gift shop to pay and wait for various receipts and system process, all because I wanted to pay in Jamaican.

While I waited and 3 other guests were attended to, I did use my phone to inquire about the local rate and the possibility of staying as I had packed my bag for this possible eventuality. When the customer service representative heard I was on site, he too was curious as to why the front desk staff didn't call them directly inorder to help me the guest.

Let me not that Ms. Levy and the other staff that assisted me throughout the day were lovely and truly made up for my horrible first hour on property.

I spoke with the manager at the end of my day's stay and she was polite and receptive to my concerns. She followed up with an email but no compensatory offer for a refund or complementary stay or anything of the like was offered.

Please note, I have lived and work in various countries and have never received this curt reception.

I have been in New Zealand for 6 years and have returned home to expand my Jamaican Practice and this was my FIRST beach day in Jamaica in YEARS.

I would like this complaint formally on file and I would like some renumeration.

7 years ago, I used your spa for my wedding hair and makeup for the amazing event I hosted at hermosa cove. I spent my 21st birthday on your property, 18 years ago and I gifted my parents 2 anniversary stays with butler service over the years.

I am ALWAYS recommend your property to colleagues and friends overseas who want to experience Jamaica.

I was hurt and disappointed and I hope this report expresses that sentiment.

Regards,

Terri

Email: [protected]@gmail.com

I recently had a very bad experience staying at the Sandals South Coast resort in Jamaica for my honeymoon November 25-30th, 2022. The hospitality was very poor and staff were condescending and gave misinformation from the moment we arrived. The value of our room was very bad considering the cost, and I was told I could not upgrade. The champagne bucket ice was melted when we arrived and the fake rose petals were very disappointing, plus our room smelled like cigarette smoke.

We arrived around 7:45 p.m., the check-in experience was awkward and lengthy, and we were told the restaurants would be open until midnight so we took our time getting settled in the room before heading out only to find everything had closed at 9 p.m. We tried to order food at Neptune's but they were between meal service. It was a terrible start to be so hungry and exhausted and have nowhere to eat.

I asked for a different room because it was not up to the standards I had requested upon booking (for example, the room did not have an outdoor tub on the patio) and was told there was likely no room for me to upgrade but that the Club Sandals would get back to me. Nobody ever got back to me.

I asked for a cancellation and refund of a snorkeling trip because we got pressure-sold into a scuba certification, and I was told to go to the Island Routes desk. Sure enough, the Island Routes desk told me to go back to Club Sandals. Everyone was so unresponsive, unhelpful and dismissive that I ended up calling the main Sandals phone number for help with the refund and still nobody got back to me. I went again to Club Sandals and received condescending attitudes about my request for a refund. I never heard back about the refund while I was on site at the resort and this was very stressful.

With regard to the pressure-sale of the scuba certification, we had only intended to try out scuba diving. After our first dive we were told we would get certified and it would be so easy. Only at the last minute on the day of our first dive as we were leaving were we told we needed to take an online test. The test took 4 hours to complete and the wifi was so incredibly poor that it slowed everything down to a standstill several times while trying to complete the online certification. Doing this on our honeymoon was the absolute opposite of relaxing plus the certification cost was not disclosed to us until checkout and it was very expensive.

I requested to book the beach cabana that was just outside our room on a strip of beach that was not so near to the boat dock because I wanted to swim and not worry about boats and have better water clarity. I was told I could not book that particular cabana or the one right next to it because they would both be closed for refurbishing. Sure enough, nobody came to refurbish the cabanas on the day I had requested and nobody offered it to me once they realized the crew wasn't coming.

I asked for a dinner reservation at Schooners on the day I arrived because I was told to wait to make dining reservations when I arrived rather than in advance of the trip, but was told there was no availability for any of the 5 nights of our stay. I tried asking again the next day and kept getting told no until on the third attempt I was finally offered a 9 p.m. time for dinner at Schooners.

Service at the restaurants varied tremendously and generally we would go long stretches without anyone checking on us while dining. While dining, we received pressure from waiters to leave a review on the Sandals app that neither of us could even get downloaded since the Wifi was so bad. Another waiter asked us to contribute money to their charity and when we declined the waiter's attitude completely changed and we were given less attention for the rest of the dining experience. It was clear that preferential treatment and dining times were being given to other guests. We did not appreciate this treatment on our honeymoon.

All around, horrible hospitality, very stressful miscommunication and misinformation, and way more money than the whole experience was worth. I will not be coming back to a Sandals resort and will be sure to tell all my friends and family how awful it was.

Dear Sir or Madam.

We stayed at Ochi Beach from 23rd December 2022 until 6th January 2023. During our stay we had various problems which were reported at the time but we have never received a satisfactory resolution, explanation or apology. before I take this matter further and contact ABTA or the Ombudsman, I am prepared to give you this final opportunity to respond to our individual points listed below.

1, The date for our wedding was changed by Sandals from December 28 to December 29th. We have email confirmation for the original date, but late in the day we were informed that this date was not available. I discussed this with the weddings team in England, no apology was given, just that the date was not available, but not to worry as a gift would be left in our room, on arrival no gift at all. We visited the venue on the original date and time and a much larger, more flamboyant wedding was in progress, we had obviously been replaced by a more profitable event. When we reported this, the weddings team at the resort told us that we had changed the date and not Sandals, we showed the email proof and they promised to find out the details but we have never heard back.

2, During our stay we dined at Valentinos, we ordered 3 main courses, when the arrived 2 out of the 3 were cold, i told this to our server who in turn called over the chef. The chef stated that food did not leave his kitchen cold, I explained again that our food was cold, again he stated that food did not leave his kitchen cold again he stated that food does not leave his kitchen cold, in turn I said in that case something has happened between his kitchen and our table as our food was cold, he again stated that food does not leave his kitchen cold. At this point the server decided that as intimidating as the chef was trying to be, this conversation was not going to end peacefully so told the chef to go back to the kitchen and that someone would call me the next day (no apology given). The next day we did in fact receive a call, I explained the previous evening's events and a table at Kelly's Dockside was booked for that evening with a promise of satisfaction (no apology was given). That evening we ate at kelly's (the food and service was as promised absolutely superb), during our main course a "manager" came over over and asked if everything was ok, we said yes thanks very good, his response was "so you want me to call my chef over and tell him you don't like his food either" I responded again with the food and service is very good thank you, again he responded with "so you want me to call my chef over and tell him you don't like his food either", I explained that's not what I said and carried with my meal and he left. I reported this via the loop, still no apology

This is 2 consecutive nights our evening was completely ruined, by the unbelievable attitude of your senior management.

3. There were repeated other problems too; staff taking drinks orders and not returning, my crockery being cleared while my wife was still eating, no wine glasses so wine served in normal glasses, eating 3 meals a day, at lest two of three food was served cold. I cannot eat rice and explained this, but got served rice anyway and had to send it back. Waiting for and having to ask for cutlery, water, drinks every day. Every single meal over 14 days there was a problem in one form or another.

4. Our wedding photos are horrendous and my wife cried in disappointment when showing her mother the photos we paid a lot of money for. We advised of our unhappiness with them at the time, and again this was ignored. All our requests on the day were ignored resulting in some very bed photos. So bad we have not put any in our home or shared them with anyone.

We booked the sandals luxury 5 star dream holiday which is a once in a lifetime holiday for us. Sadly this dream was not delivered. If I were to offer a rating I would give it 3* at best. What should have been a dream wedding and honeymoon has turned into a bad memory

William Duckworth

[protected]@gmail.com

Dear Sandals Complaints Team

I am taking no pleasure in writing this complaint, but as an Independent Travel Agent and some one who has worked in sales & customer service for over 40 years, I am still emotional about the service myself and my new husband received at your Barbados resort which is branded as 5 star luxury! This is really not the case!

It didn't start well, after nearly a 9 hour flight we were left stood on the pavement outside the airport next main road with a bottle of slightly cooled water and no where to sit at all while also being shunted around for over an hour! Then when we finally got on the coach to transfer to the hotel we were waiting another 45 minutes! A total of 21/2 hrs from landing to arriving at the hotel, this is really not good enough!

After settling in our room which was now well after 8 pm we were unable to get a table in any of your restaurants as we were told there would be an 11/2 hour wait as best, this again is not good enough for guests who have just arrived on a very long flight! May I suggest that a table is reserved for guests that have just arrived in the spices buffet restaurant? This would then solve the stress on the first day? There was no information in the room or on the TV explaining how the whole system works and all the facilities and how to book?

2 days later we found out where we needed to go to book the restaurants that had to be booked, the guests are unable to call to book and always have to go to the desk every time they want to book? This is not good customer service at all!

We felt totally underwhelmed when finally arriving at the hotel, the staff did not know we were there for our wedding, & we were allocated a standard room when we should have been upgraded to a luxury room on arrival! This we were informed on booking by our Travel Agent Jenny at Lets Go in Barnstaple Devon.

We were staying 10 days & everyday there was a problem, the whole hotel is totally disorganised! 1 of the showers in our room was constantly dripping and when trying to use it there was never any hot water! Also we were overlooked by the rooms opposite and unable to close the curtains or voiles completely, my fiancé had to repair/adjust the curtains before we could go to bed whilst being unable to repair/adjust the voiles. There was a puddle of water on the floor by the fridge which we informed the bell boy but no one came to sort it! the next day I realised the fridge had been switched off! So I switched it on and kept cleaning up the water for 2 days until it finally stopped.

The hotel felt like a 2/3 star hotel at best! Food was good, even though you had to book all the best restaurants days in advance or be put on a waiting list to wait at the bar for up to 2 hours for a table (made all the more frustrating when you were stood in the queue and could see many tables that needed clearing to be made available, & nobody from the hospitality team seem aware of them), bed was very comfortable, rooms & communal areas were not very clean, lifts & mirrors filthy! Jacuzzis were all too hot! Hotter than a bath in the UK, the temperature was at least 40 °C! No guests were using them. The sun loungers were being reserved by people before 6 am and many were left empty all day, even if we came down at 7.30 am no sun loungers would be available, this is totally unacceptable! No one was managing the pool areas from what we could see.

Part of the requirement for 5 stars is having Spa facilities, however when we were booking Spa treatments, that were far overpriced, we were informed that only the female steam room was operating & that there was no cold plunge pool available.

I have stayed in many 5 star hotels around the world but have never had a holiday as bad as this.

This was meant to be the holiday of a lifetime with the most important day of my life on my wedding day, but I felt really stressed and couldn’t wait to come home! The food was very good on the wedding day apart my entrée of crab crusted snapper being overcooked and inedible! I was the bride and they couldn’t even get that right for me!

I had to keep chasing arrangements for our wedding as we were not being given any information regarding our big day, I was back and forth several times from the wedding team to discuss various aspects I wasn’t sure about, as it was my first wedding and I needed some guidance, I ended up doing all the organising myself. When my step daughters who were my bridesmaids came to visit us on the beach to discuss arrangements for the wedding day, we were questioned by security and the manager came to see us to explain they couldn’t come onto site! This made them very uncomfortable and they were then scared to stay and talk to us!

We had no rehearsal or chat with the celebrant who was officiating the ceremony so we were totally unprepared, I did not know when to say my vows etc and made a mistake, I left the wedding planner holding my vows for me and when it came to me reading them out she wasn’t even nearby to hand them to me! We had to send 1 of the guests over to her to collect them for me as she was busy chatting to her colleagues and oblivious to me, this was outrageous service!

For our wedding ceremony we decided to upgrade to the Sky Bar at Royal Sandals from the original beach wedding spot as we were informed it was a public beach and so therefore not very intimate, we therefore decided to pay the extra $325 (having already paid $425 for the staging on the beach) for the Sky Bar which we were told would be open only to us for a total of 2 hours for the ceremony and drinks.

When I arrived for the ceremony I had to wait by the filthy lifts while people in swimwear were trying to get past to and from the pool and bar! I was furious! It was not closed for our use at all! we had an area for the wedding and an area for the bar only!

On top of that the wedding team tried to charge us $425 (the amount we had already paid) too much for our so called "free wedding" this was after explaining 5 times why the charges were wrong (twice making trips to the wedding office), it was finally sorted on the morning of the 14th Feb when we went to check out and reception still wanted the extra $425, they then had to call the wedding team to get it amended which then took another 30 minutes. All in all I think we must of spend at least 6 to 7 hours of our holiday/wedding/honeymoon at the reception sorting out problems & another hour or two with the wedding team.

We were very disappointed with the wedding photos & the video. We felt that for the amount we paid we should have had all the photos taken put on the memory stick, & as well as the 11 5” x 7” photos that were printed, we should have had at least 1 larger photo printed. The video was not ready for us to view, despite us moving the viewing back from 1pm to 4pm, & was everything that had been filmed with no editing. Needless to say we didn’t pay the $400+ that was being requested.

The day after our wedding we were given a honeymoon breakfast in our room. We had chosen from a menu before the wedding. When the breakfast arrived, we had it placed on the balcony table, however once the waiter had left we realised he had given us 1 glass of orange juice, no selection of fruits & only 1 actual breakfast. We rang the room service team, but had to wait 20mins for the 2nd breakfast to be prepared & sent up, needless to say we didn’t have a romantic breakfast. Also when we rang for the additional breakfast items to be sent up, we asked that they send up 2 more glasses of bucks fizz, what we got was 2 empty tumblers.

Also on the day after the wedding we were given a honeymoon dinner at the Parisian restaurant, for this we had to be there at 5.30pm (very early for dinner), however we couldn’t be seated until 6.10pm because apparently there was nobody from the management team present. We were also very disappointed, when we realised that the meal we had to choose in advance, was mostly prepared elsewhere & was not nearly as good as the food being served in the restaurant where we were sat.

We finally got upgraded to our promised room on the 5th day, (having spent 40% of our holiday in a room below the standard we had been promised), but after packing up our luggage & going to reception at 11 as requested by the reception team, our upgraded room was still not ready, we were told go back to the pool & they would come to us when it was ready. We waited until 1.00 pm we then went back to reception to be informed it was still not ready and told to wait by the pool again and someone would come and get us, it didn’t happen so at 4.15pm we returned to reception, having not heard anything. The room was finally allocated to us at 5pm! despite the fact that we had informed them at 11am that we had a table booked for a restaurant at 6pm. We then had a rush to get showered & dressed because we had a dinner reservation at 6 pm! Very early but this was the only time we could get for this particular restaurant.

On the day we checked out we had more problems, the key fob/lockers were faulty at Royal Barbados female courtesy changing room, so again a trip to reception, the replacement then worked (however we noted that the receptionist, despite being told the fob was faulty, threw the fob back in the drawer with the other fobs), when using the showers in the courtesy changing room only 1 of the 3 showers in the ladies changing room worked, the next day we realised many of the lockers had no batteries in them so that’s why they didn’t work.

That afternoon we received a text message to inform us our flight was delayed by 2 hours, so we decided to stay at the hotel longer, not get the courtesy bus and arrange a travel for 2 hours later instead. On returning to reception at 7pm to get our Taxi we were informed by Simone (assistant reception manager) that our flight was now cancelled!

We were informed we could have a contingency room for the night at a cost of $450 which we could claim back from Virgin Atlantic. We agreed to this as we felt we really didn’t have any other choice, we then had to wait for over another 11/2 hours for the room to be allocated to us as it was locked on the system and Simone was unable to allocate it to us. In the meantime all the other clients returned from the airport and had their rooms allocated straight away and we were still left waiting, we finally got our room at 8.30 pm?

The next day on checking out we were again given faulty key fobs for faulty lockers in the changing rooms? We also noticed no batteries had been put in the lockers again!

Just to add that the staff on reception including Simone and her team were exceptional in the circumstances and dealt with everything the best they could, also Shakira at the Spices restaurant including other members of staff were very good and the staff at both butch’s restaurants especially Darren at the Butch’s seafood were exceptional. We do feel that 20% of the staff are excellent and they are carrying the other 80%.

From our experience we are convinced Sandals over promise & under deliver in all aspects of hospitality at this hotel We will not be booking again and I will not be recommending the resort to any of my clients in the future

Mr Laurence Lake & Mrs Dawn Marie Lake (Jewell)

My fiancée and I booked our honeymoon at Sandals Jamaica Montego Bay. The call center they use is the most incompetent noncustomer service-oriented center I have ever dealt with. Missing calls, calling late, 5 different times. 6 months and our wedding was still not planned. They do not communicate with the resort at all. The left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing.

We wanted a simple beach wedding just the two of us and a private dinner. stay for 5 nights, nothing special, nothing demanding. In my view when they found out we were not going to be bringing a large contingent of family and friends to the resort they did not want us to continue. The desire to take care of us as a customer went downhill immediately.

This was our second marriage, we did not want a large wedding. We wanted a simple private ceremony. on the beach just the two of us. Two people who grew up together as friends who finally realized we should have bene together our whole lives.

Instead excuse after excuse. The phones are down, our computers are down to the person is out sick. We cancelled our entire wedding only 2 months from our wedding date because if your service is this bad during the planning stage why would I ever want to come there?

Then when we ask to speak to a supervisor to address our concerns we are told no, we need to schedule an appointment? We are already past our deadline because you keep missing calls to begin with what makes me think making another call is worth it.

Don't use Sandals if you want a smooth wedding and happy event. What is more surprising, when we asked to speak with a supervisor about the issues, they refused to talk to us. Instead said we would need an appointment to talk with them.

When we told them we were cancelling the entire event, they did nothing to try and save the business. Either $15k was not enough money for a small ceremony for them or they wanted to have room to book a larger group. Don't get caught up with these people, they are incompetent.

Terry Brown

Houston, Texas

My name is Peter Rice, booking reference SAN 50942 OCHO RIOS 13/1/23 _24/1/23. EMail [protected]@hotmail.co.uk

Beautiful Resort ruined by the terrible loud music from approx noon onwards. The Beach Club Bar, the Ocean bar & the Riviera Pool bar all played music at a reasonable volume until lunchtime. It then got turned up so loud that lots of people had to move. The Riviera Pool also got the rehearsal from the entertainment team almost all day in the Amphitheatre really loud.

Even when we moved away from the Riviera Pool to the garden area the rehearsal was so loud we went back to our room & it was still loud. This went on every day! We, like others, complained to the Sandals Office, & they said they would have a word. If they did it made no difference as it remained deafening.

We expected loud music in the evenings but this was just not acceptable. It ruined an expensive holiday that we had looked forward to for 2 years.

Another comment was that the beautiful Vista Terrace had metal chairs that scraped & screached every time anyone got up. Why these were not fitted with rubber feet is beyond me.

We will never go to Sandals again.

We booked a trip to Sandals Grenada through Sandals. the 1st leg of our trip was cancelled by the airline so we had to make other arrangements. Within two weeks American Airlines refunded the cost of our cancelled flights directly to Sandals since we purchased the tickets through Sandals. Two months later Sandals has not sent us the refund. each time we reach out we are given the runaround and no one helps us. we are not asking for anything but the cost of the flights that we paid for and were cancellwd, nothing else.