Sandals Resorts
Reviews and Complaints

When my wife and I were married in 1996, our dream was to honeymoon at a Sandals resort, but we couldn't dream of affording it. Well, we just celebrated our 25th anniversary, a once in a lifetime event, which we decided to celebrate with Sandals, and the words frustrated and disappointed do not even come close to describing our feelings after this experience. Below is the sequence of events that led us to write this letter.
10 Jan 2021: We booked (and paid for) a four night stay (20-24 Jun 21) at Sandals Grenada, our first choice of the Sandals resorts. We booked a Pink Gin beachfront walkout club level room with patio tranquility soaking tub with round trip first class tickets on American Airlines. All through the sandals website. Our booking number was [protected].
14 Jan 2021: We booked (and paid for) our two primary excursion choices: 4x4 Jeep, Sightseeing, and Hiking experience (21 Jun 21) and the PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience (23 Jun 21). Confirmation number 528652.
20 Apr 2021: Received an email from American Airlines stating that our flights were changed slightly, which didn't affect our trip at this time.
16 May 2021: Here is where things began to go sideways. My wife called to check on the status of our excursions because we hadn't received confirmation that they were actually scheduled yet, and she received some very troubling information. She was told that Grenada had changed their Covid restrictions and that our American Airlines had canceled our tickets from Miami to Grenada. Also, that our excursions were still booked and that we were still being charged for them, but that they were no longer being conducted due to the new restrictions. The problem here was that Sandals didn't notify us of any of this, nor did American Airlines. We ended up with a worthless booking at Sandals for four nights, being charged for excursions that weren't even happening, and first class tickets to Miami that we had no use for at all… and we wouldn't have even known about any of it if my wife hadn't called to verify an excursion booking. The representative on the phone simply apologized and proceeded to try and convince my wife to book somewhere else. Although my wife consistently told her she wanted to cancel, the woman continued to push for us to reschedule somewhere else. My Wife and I discussed it and decided we would give Sandals another chance even though we were already deeply upset about the lack of respect shown to us in their communication failures thus far. She told us she would need to cancel the current booking and rebook in a new location. We chose Montego Bay, Jamaica due to the light Covid restrictions in Jamaica. As we discussed airline options to the new location, she canceled our first class tickets to Miami before we had the opportunity to tell her not to cancel those… because we knew Miami was one of the hubs to get to Jamaica. This ended up being a problem because upon rebooking our airline transportation we ended up in coach the whole way there and the whole way back, for a higher price than our first class trips the first time around! We booked the Beachfront Oversized Butler Villa Suite 4, which the representative assured us had a butler assigned and on-call 24 hours and she showed us a picture of a beautiful blue two story villa (below) and told us that we would be in a building like this with the soaker tub and direct beach access. She also said that we were going to be in the owner's house, the best villa on the resort, which made us very excited. We didn't see more any of it, other than this picture below, but we felt almost ready to go at this point. Our original excursion booking was more expensive, which meant we had a little money left over, so we booked the ATV, Horseback Riding, Ziplining, Dunn's Falls excursion in Montego Bay as well.

5 Jun 2021: We provided our butler preferences on the website. This included letting them know that we will be there for our 25th wedding anniversary and that the only hard alcohol we would like to have in the room is tequila, which was not on the list, but we wrote in the notes section.
20 Jun 2021: We arrived on property at 10am. We were ushered into the registration room where we signed in and waited for our butler, Dalton at the time. Once we registered, we watched couple after couple, that came in after us, be picked up by their butler. Finally, 30 minutes or so after we were registered, we were picked up by Dalton. He showed us around the main portion of the resort and dropped us off at a restaurant near the volleyball court. He told us to check back with the front desk in a couple of hours to see if our room was ready. We paid for the butler service for a reason and thought he should have let us know when it was ready. We ate at the restaurant and then walked the property for a couple of hours, at which time we went back to the office. They called Dalton and he said the room was not ready yet and to come back to the office to check at 3pm, which was the actual time the rooms were supposed to be ready. We walked the property and came back at 3pm. They called Dalton again and he said the room is not ready yet, but to check back in a couple of hours. We walked the property again and ended up running into Jermaine, the second butler assigned to us, at 5:30pm. He then told us the room was FINALLY ready, so he took us to our room, and it NOTHING like what was shown to us by the representative on the phone. This whole situation was the first sign of a horrible and costly staffing issue at this resort. We were informed that we had the top floor of the building below, which was the largest room on the property.

Although it looked nice from the outside, we were very frustrated when we got inside. It was big, yes, but there were issues that absolutely misrepresented the Sandals brand for which we had paid so much money. There were several car calendar pictures with half naked women in every room of the villa, including next to the bed and toilet. Definitely NOT romantic as Sandals should be. Also, in the shower was the owner's waterpik, hanging right there on the wall near the shower controls. It was nasty, and again, definitely NOT romantic. In addition, we paid for a room with a soaker tub, not a jet tub, for a reason. We don't like jet tubs and didn't request one, so my wife didn't get to take the bath to which she was so looking forward throughout our entire stay. We unpacked and got used to our room for a little while and then asked Jermaine, about Tokyo Joes for dinner that night. He came and escorted us, and we had a nice dinner there. We then retreated back to our room for the night, noticing that we didn't even get a turn-down service that night.
21 Jun 2021: This was the day of our excursion, and it ended up being the very best part of this vacation because we were away from the property all day. Chukka did a great job with the tour and we had a blast from 6:30am to 6pm. We went back to our room when we returned to a nice surprise of flower petals on the bed with towel swans and a bath run with flower petals in it as well. However, this is when we found out that my wife couldn't have taken a bath anyway because the bath tub wouldn't hold water anyway. He had run a bath, but the tub only had about an inch of water left in it. We called our butler Jermaine to let him know we were back from the excursion, and he told us we have a dinner reservation at 8pm at Oleanders, which we didn't even know we had, didn't request, and weren't sure we wanted. We asked him at this time if he could reserve one of the grass umbrellas out in front of our room for the next day. He laughed at us and said he can't get us one of those, with no further explanation, but that he would get us some chairs in the shade. He said to contact him no earlier than 7am the next day so he could take us to the chairs. We ended up being able to stay awake to go to our reservation, at which the food was excellent, but the service was mediocre. We found out that our server was the only server for all of the tables in the balcony area and she was running her legs off. She was nice, but we waited and waited and waited for our food, drink, and well, just about everything. This was the second sign of a horrible and costly staffing issue at this resort. We finally made it back to our room at about 10pm. Two hours for dinner was far too long.
22 Jun 2021: This was our 25th wedding anniversary, which up to this time we hadn't been asked or spoken to about, and it was NEVER acknowledged by our butler or any of the staff. We contacted Jermaine at 7am and he told us he was just outside. We walked out and he was on the beach in front of our room with chairs set up under an umbrella. We sat on those chairs and walked the property for the rest of the day. We were not contacted once by Jermaine all day long. I tried to contact him once at mid-day to ask where we should eat for dinner and he didn't pick up, nor did he call us back. We called him later that evening and got him on the phone, at which time he told us that we had reservations at La Cucina, which we didn't know about either, until WE called HIM. We met up with him and again and took the reservation even though we were planning on going to eat at Soy instead. We gave him a far too generous tip at this time and requested chairs set up for the next morning because he was off the next day. At La Cucina, the food was good, but again, the service was mediocre due to our waitress being spread thin across the restaurant. We were also caught off guard and uncomfortable because a couple behind us, from another resort, asked our server if they took tips at this resort, to which our waitress told them they do. We were told day one that no tips should be given on property, except to the butlers. This made us wonder if this was the reason we were getting less than adequate service during our time there so far. We then retreated to our room for the night. We left our breakfast room service menu on our doorknob right before we went to bed for the night at 9pm.
23 Jun 2021: When I went out first thing in the morning to sit on the patio at about 6:30am, I noticed that our room service menu was still on the door knob. I tried to call the room service number on our room phone several times, but got what sounded like a busy signal for about 30 minutes. I finally got through and they said they must have forgotten to pick up our slip. We had requested breakfast between 7 and 7:30am, but they said they couldn't deliver for another 45 to 50 minutes, which meant we wouldn't get breakfast until 7:50am or so. This was the third sign of a horrible and costly staffing problem, or just incompetence, at this resort. I decided to take a dip in the ocean in front of our room while we waited for breakfast when I noticed someone else's butler setting up the chairs that were put together specifically for me and my wife the day before. I called Dalton, who was on duty that day, and he said he would take care of it. Our breakfast finally arrived at about 8am. While we were sitting on our patio eating, Dalton appeared at the chairs in front of our room and yelled up that they were ours now. We sat out in our chairs until lunch time and called Dalton for lunch and drinks at about 11am. It took us two calls to connect with him and he called us back later. He brought us lunch at about 12pm and drinks at about 12:10pm. The fourth sign of a horrible and costly staffing problem at this resort, since we only ordered BLTs. On the way back up to our room at one point during the day we spoke to a couple staying in the room underneath ours. They said they were on their 24th visit to Sandals and this was BY FAR the worst service they have ever received and that they were very upset that they, frequent visitors, got stuck in one of the worst rooms on the property. They said their bathroom is so small and close to the bedroom that every time one would get up to use the restroom they would wake the other one up. They said that their butler was unresponsive as well and that they are getting less than adequate service throughout the entire property. They also said that they know the owner of the property, who lives at the end of the resort, and he didn't give them any satisfaction to their concerns even when they spoke to him personally about these issues. Another butler and a cleaning lady walked by during this conversation, which I am not sure is pertinent, but might be. We stayed on our chairs for the remainder of the day until we contacted Dalton to find out what time the Soy restaurant opens and he said we had a reservation at the steakhouse restaurant. Again, one that we didn't request or even know about, and wouldn't have without calling him about something else. We asked him to cancel our reservation and met with him to give him a far too generous tip and our breakfast order form for the next morning (our last day), which was requested at 6am since we had to be in the lobby by 6:45am. We received a phone call on the room phone from the butler manager who said they would like to come by and talk to us. We told him that it was ok and we would wait before going to dinner. A man named Horatio and the butler manager/loyalty manager on duty (name unknown) showed up about 20-25 minutes later. They let us know that they heard that we had some concerns. We are still unsure how they heard about our concerns, either from the people we spoke to or the butler/cleaning lady that overheard our conversation, but they knew we had concerns, nonetheless. They stood and listened to our concerns all the way from our initial booking to the present, and they said that they were sorry we dealt with this and that they could offer us 20, 000 loyalty points, which comes out to about $500 toward our next vacation. We told them we would talk about it and they left. We ended up going to Soy for dinner. The dinner was excellent, but the waitress acted as though we were pestering her with every request, so we ended up eating and leaving quickly. It was not a pleasant experience. We headed to the front lobby just to take a walk and were approached by Horatio again. He said he had the paperwork for the 20, 000 loyalty points and took us into the lounge to talk. He handed us the loyalty points letter from corporate and another form he asked us to sign. The other form was a "standard" Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) that said, in-short, that we couldn't talk about, post anything about, or write anything about the problems we have experienced. In our experience with NDAs, organizations use these types of documents to shut people up and nothing ends up changing. We didn't sign this document because things have to change. We paid A LOT of money for an experience and got the bait and switch when we arrived. We don't want this to happen to others in the future. We declined their offer and went to confirm our morning departure information with the front desk. They confirmed our bag pickup time of 6:15am and our check-out time of 6:45am and then we retired to our room for the night to pack for the next day.
24 Jun 2021: We woke up at 5:30am to be prepared for our breakfast delivery at 6am and bag pickup at 6:15am. We waited, 6am came and went, 6:05am came and went, 6:10 came and went… and then my wife tried to call room service and got a constant busy signal. Breakfast finally showed up at around 6:25am and we got to eat, which was good because we ordered breakfast so my wife could take her medicine, that this delay made her late for. The bags were supposed to be picked up at 6:15am and they still hadn't been collected at 6:20. My wife called the front desk to find out where they were and the person on the other end told her that they would send someone up now, 5 minutes after they should have actually picked them up. They showed up at around 6:35, 10 minutes before check-out. We ended up late for check-out because breakfast arrived so late. This situation was the fifth sign of a horrible and costly staffing issue at this resort. Our car arrived a few minutes late and we departed for the airport.
This was our 25th anniversary, an extremely important milestone in our lives, which we chose to spend with Sandals and our entire experience with your organization, from beginning to end, was unsatisfactory and disappointing. In addition, we were appalled at the way the staff decided to try and "buy us off" with loyalty points that amounted to only about the number of dollars we had to pay extra to fly coach after they cancelled our first class airfare due to your organization's lack of communication in the first place. There was no mention of the fact that we didn't receive the quality of service promised to us every step of the way, from the website to every customer service representative we dealt with.

I have stayed at sandals for eight years now and at all of the resorts. the montego bay resort has way to many unwanted badly starving cats, . I dont understand why a big resort cannot take care of the cats by feeding them (with all of the food they throw out) and by getting the cats all spayed and fixed to stop the unwanted pregnant females. these cats need your help sandals. I am a big animal lover and cats are my favorite. please cant there be a project that will be in place to help these poor cats? it breaks my heart to see these skinny cats and poor little kittens moving around your lovely grounds. Please sandals management take heart and have a heart for these cats. please reply. i dont know if i can stand by and keep visiting your resorts under these conditions. you are in the business of LOVE?

Our trip to Emerald Bay was scheduled March 2020 which was cancelled due to Covid 19. We were then rescheduled for Sept. 2019 but Sandals was shut down still due to the pandemic. We then rescheduled for May 2021. At this time my husband and I do not feel comfortable traveling out of the country. We called to reschedule the trip for a later date and we were told we would lose our air fare if we do not go by July 2021. Or we could cancel and lose 400.00 for penalty from the air fare. We were also told the prices are going up considerably if we choose anther date. And if we choose a date past 2021 the amount of the trip will go up even more. I am not sure why we can not reschedule to go at a time that is more comfortable for us and now will lose money and pay more for the trip. If Sandals can cancel because it is not safe to travel there then so can we.

I am attaching a form II submitted to Sandals in response to a post travel survey. I have not heard from anyone and cannot get anyone with Customer Service to help me. Also I have tried to contact Unique Travel but had had no luck.

Re: Booking Number [protected]

I booked a honeymoon trip for my granddaughter Skye Young (Tyler Simmons) to go to the Bahamas with arrival date of July 19, 2020. This trip was to be the honeymoon my granddaughter dreamed of; however, the morning after they arrived they were notified the resort was closing down due to COVID-19. Needless to say their honeymoon was ruined. Because they could not get a flight out until Wednesday, July 22, they stayed the nights of July 20 and 21 but under very stressful and upsetting circumstances. They had to leave the resort at 8:00 am on the 22nd to catch their flight. In addition, they did not arrive at the resort on their check-in night until after 10:00 pm because of the limited flight schedule with Air Bahamas to Georgetown.

Trip insurance was purchased at the time of their booking which included trip interruption. The information for this insurance stated hurricanes and terrorist attacks are included so I conclude a pandemic should also apply. Therefore, I am requesting a full refund of the booking.

Also, the airline damaged my granddaughter's luggage which had been a gift and was valued at $225. United Airlines would only give her a $75 credit towards a future flight. Also, when they got to the Georgetown airport on July 22 the airline did not have their reservation. Unique Travel booked this. They had to pay $200 in order to get on the plane even though I had already paid for this.
[protected]@gmail.com

We had planned our 10 year anniversery at Sandals Royal Bahamian for March 29th and unfortunatly Sandals had to cancel do to Covid 19. Totally understandable, so we rebooked for October 6 and once again Sandals had to cancel. We are not sure when we can reschedule so I asked for a refund. We have paid $ 8, 000.00 up front. Sandals told me because the first cancelation was less than fifteen days from our booked arrival they could not refund our money. I told them I did not cancel, they did and now they have canceled twice. Sandals should do the right thing and refund our money. It may be a year or more before we are able to book another vacation. It is not right that they can hold our money.

Hello, My name is Harvey McCoy and my wife and I fully paid for our trip to Jamaica for April 27 2020.Sandals called us to let us know our trip is canceled due to the Corona Virus.We received partial payment and we are still waiting for the airline portion which is well over $1100.00.We call and call and are promised that our money will be returned to the credit card within 21 days.NOW it has been three months, we need our money to pay back the credit card company and we are not working due to the virus.Please help us get our money back.I would hate to let people know how we are treated with a bunch of lies from Sandals.Booking invoice # [protected].

I purchased travel insurance for a trip to Sandals/Jamaica in case there was a natural disaster that would prevent the trip. I cancelled that trip today, 5 months ahead of date and was charged $200 per person for cancelling "voluntarily". Since when is a world wide pandemic NOT a natural disaster? I am also out the $190 for the travel insurance which I knew was non-refundable. I am sure this company is getting a huge bailout from the federal government. I suppose this company believes the average consumer like myself, has no recourse so they can do as they please. I am extremely disappointed and upset and out $590. I do not recommend anyone use this company for all-inclusive travel destinations. There are reputable travel companies or book directly with the hotel and airline.

Airfare reservation LU6YEN
We had to cancel our Sandals reservation yesterday due to our current quarantine and compromised health issues. Everything seemed to magically move forward with a reservation secured for next Feb. at the same resort. I do not feel, with the current health issues in the world that we should be penalized an additional $400 for not being able to fly until Feb. We are avid Sandals customers. The reason we can't go earlier is that we are already booked for an additional week in Jamaica in the fall at a Sandals in Jamaica. Please look over our successful history with Sandals, and reconsider this penalty imposed upon us. Thank you for your time.
Joan Fitzsimmons

To whom it may concern:

On January 15th, 2020 through January 21st, 2020, I stayed at the Sandals Halcyon in Saint Lucia. I am currently a Sapphire Level member, there to celebrate my birthday. My rewards number is: [protected].

The issue I am having is with your policy regarding changes in reservations, especially due to incidents beyond my control. I originally had reservations to go to Grenada, but the planes were oversold for 9 days; to salvage my trip, I switched to Halcyon in St. Lucia. I was charged $400 for this change, which I hesitantly accepted. I had to then change the dates of my travel, again due to airline issues and no flight availability, since your islands are nearly impossible to get to. I was charged another $400.

I feel, as a faithful customer, that as a sign of good customer service, that a refund of $400 should be given, and I respectfully request such. I understand your policy, and since the trip is paid for, your company receives no loss from changes, or even cancellations within a certain timeframe. I am willing to meet you halfway, accepting one charge, but I think 2 charges is excessive. I am hopeful you will accommodate this request and maintain me within your customer base, since you promote impeccable customer service. I appreciate your consideration of such, and I look forward to a reply regarding this matter.

Respectfully,

Benjamin L. Miller
[protected]@yahoo.com

I went to Beaches Turks and Caicos over thanksgiving break. I had purchased through unique travel corp prior to my visit an excursion of which my daughter and I were very excited to do. After I arrived 1 day prior to the excursion I receive a call from the booking company letting me know that they were cancelling it because there were not enough people booked for the trip. I spoke with them thoroughly and told them that the card used to pay for it was not the same one attached to the room, 2 completely different households. They assured me that it would be charged to the card that it was paid with as they wouldn't have access to any other card. I waited 2 weeks as they instructed, still no refund. Come to find out that it was refunded to the persons credit card that was on file for the room. I called and explained what they had done and I am pretty positive it is illegal to refund to cards that were not paid with and they promised me they would call me back and help figure this out. It has been a month since I came back from my trip and I have yet to get a call back. Very unprofessional while handling this issue and seems to care less that they made a HUGE mistake. Staff at the hotel was wonderful however I got a travelers infection from what I can only believe was the food while I was there, had to take antibiotics once I got home and the customer service reps over the phone handling this payment issue have been very unhelpful and honestly pretty rude.

First I am a diamond member. I was told that Sandals emerald bay was the best. I must say it was the worst vacation ever. The place needs a remodel. We stay in what you consider upper level with butler service. Everything thing was so below standard for a 5 star hotel. I am so unhappy with Sandals that we are considering never staying at Sandals or beaches ever again. I I will tell all my friends to stay away. I feel that I was ripped off.
Donald Brown

Requesting a Refund for Baggage Fees.
I was unable to locate on the invoice and e-tickets any details to baggage fees, therefore we assumed the baggage would be included in the cost. My clients paid over $8000 USD for their honeymoon and to find out that a measly $120 wasn't included in that fee to cover the cost of luggage. This left a very sour taste in my clients mouth and I would like to rectify this issue asap to ensure future bookings with them and with the Sandals properties.
Can you please refund my clients or provide a travel voucher for the same value?...receipts are attached.

Thank you,
Kim Hills

My wife and I were bitten severely and over 100 times each while staying at Sandals Antigua during May 23-28th. Unfortunately the sandals management continues to deny their responsibility and at one point accused us of bringing the bed bugs onsite. This was quickly debunked with proof that Sandals Antigua had been made aware of a bed bug infestation as far back as 2012. We also claim that Sandals willingly continues to expose the public to this public safety issue by not announcing their infestation. When our problem was brought to the attention to Sandals they continued to contaminate the resort by moving us and our luggage to another room without cleaning and making sure our belongings was free of bugs. We were shocked to find two more adult bed bugs once we got back home. This means that we possibly unwittingly spread this horrible bug to other parts of the world. We were also threatened to not to tell others. This is unacceptable and we will continue to fight Sandals Antigua and Sandals International.

Hello
When I was in St Lucia Sandals for the. 1st time, I became a member and accumulated points. I was confronted bythe travel team to get discounts for a future trip, which I did. However, the room I booked was a basic room where I left a non refundable $250:00 deposit. We are celebrating our20th wedding anniversary. On the Facebook sandals group page, I see comments how the website of Sandals Uk, is cheaper. I searched on the page, and for a much better room category with ocean view, it would be basically the same price as the basic room I put deposit on. I called the USA sandals, and they said they will not refund the deposit because I made reservation on property. They also lie and say they would give me the better room but do not have access to Sandals UK. Really? Terrible business and I am being punished to settle for a basic room where I can enjoy a better view on my hard earned vacation. It's not that I am cancelling the sandals trip, I am using a different website for sandals. Not good business at all, sandals is sandals correct?

I did a lot of research and chose this resort due to the "endless" water sports and activities it promoted on their website, including unlimited snorkeling and diving. I have stayed at Superclubs and other all-inclusive resorts in the past and was very happy with them, but had read good things about Sandals, so I thought I would try something new.

The resort was a huge disappointment, due to the misleading claims on their website:
Rooms
Promoted: Windsor Honeymoon Club Level Oversized Junior Suite with pool and tropical garden view promoted as 5-star
Actual: 2-1/2 star at best. The room looked nothing like the photos! The "garden view" was a view of the pink apartment complex and parking lot next door, with bars on the windows and car alarms going off every morning. The balcony was barely big enough for 2 people; the curtains were tattered and torn; furniture was worn and scratched; the decor was non-existent and amenities were cheap quality. The mini bar was never re-stocked, and the room was not cleaned one day. The nightly turn-down was non-existent. I have stayed at Holiday Inn's that were nicer, and it absolutely was not a "suite".

Exclusive Island
Promoted: Exclusive offshore island, accessible by shuttle, sailboat or kayak in minutes, with one beach for exploring the Bahamas' best snorkeling, the other for high-energy water sports.
Actual: 1/3 of an island shared with another resort. Snorkeling dod NOT include snorkel gear as promised (we had to find a store and buy our own) and there were no water sports. The island was accessible by shuttle boat only for limited hours (no sailboats or kayaks as stated); the Island was completely closed one day, and 2 other days required a 45 minute wait for a shuttle bus to bring us downtown to the main docks, and a long boat ride (all of which took over an hour—a far cry from the "minutes" you promoted)

Diving
Promoted: Your website clearly states that "If you are a certified diver, we let you dive every day (except departure day) - twice a day with one tank or once a day with two tanks...it's all included
Actual: We arrived late afternoon on a Sunday. After a long check-in, the dive center was closed. We arrived at the dive center first thing Monday morning with our PADI cards and medical releases, as requested on your website. We were told if we hadn't dived in the last 90 days, we would have to take a pool test at a cost of $80pp, and we could not take it until Tuesday. We took the pool test on Tuesday, and after passing, were told the first day we could dive was Wednesday.
Wednesday morning we arrived for our first dive, only to be told the dive was cancelled for the day. Again, we scheduled to dive every day for the remainder of our trip. Thursday we had one dive only; Friday was cancelled; Saturday and Sunday we were able to finally able to do 2 dives. So out of 8 days, we were only able to dive 2-1/2.

Watersports & snorkeling
Promoted: Largest watersports operation in the Caribbean with over 270 specialty boats; Unlimited watersports including canoes/kayaks, windsurfing, water trikes, snorkeling, hobie cats, sailboats, wakeboarding & paddleboarding; complimentary lessons.
Actual: Where was this? We saw a dozen or so kayaks and paddleboards, and a couple of water trikes on the very small beach. We were not allowed in the water due to wind for the first 5 days of our 8 day vacation. Snorkeling had to be scheduled a day in advance, and was cancelled every day we scheduled it. We were not allowed to use the snorkel equipment, so we had to find a store to purchase our own equipment to snorkel on the island they promoted. We were finally able to take out a kayak on the last day.
The glass bottom boat and unlimited water skiing was no where to be found.

Tours
Promoted: Optional tours & fishing available
Actual: We had our heart set on a day of fishing. However, all tours had to be scheduled at least a day in advance, and all started at the same time as the diving and snorkeling trips, meaning we could only schedule one activity a day. We originally booked a fishing day, but when our diving and snorkeling trips were cancelled for 4 days, we had to cancel our fishing trip in order to schedule a dive trip that wasn't cancelled.

We are an active couple, and would never book a vacation to stand (due to not enough seating) around a pool all day. We booked this resort based on the large number of activities they listed on their website. Instead, we spent 5 out of 8 days stuck around a pool drinking watered-down drinks. Land sports were limited to 1 shuffleboard court with a broken scorekeeper, 1 bocci ball court, 2 tennis courts and 2 pools tables for the whole resort.

After 3 days of sitting by the pool we went to the front desk and requested to speak to the manager about a refund so we could leave early. After explaining why we wanted to leave, including the room and the reasons stated above, one employee rudely said "so you don't like the weather?".(We never mentioned the weather, and didn't have a problem with it.) They then told us to have a seat. After 15 or so minutes, we were told we were welcome to leave anytime, and call Sandals when we arrived back in the states. In other words, you are free to leave, but we are interested in helping you. The manager refused to acknowledged us. Since we had paid a large sum (over $800/night) for this vacation, we decided to stay and try and make the best of it, although I spent the next 2 days in tears over the inexcusable customer service we received from this "5-star" resort.

After returning home, I contacted Sandals about the issues above multiple times requesting a partial refund or credit. The response I received was "they were sorry for my disappointment, It is our hope that the positive memories of your Sandals' holiday will encourage you to revisit a Sandals Resort..." They also offered to gift me a few bonus points if I would like to join their frequent guest program.

Their standard response seems to be to use it as an opportunity for a sales pitch to book another Sandals vacation. This is by far the worse customer experience I have ever encountered and will never return to a Sandals resort.

~simply stay 70 nights at any of the sandals or beaches resorts and you'll earn a free, 7 night stay~
It all sounds so easy... I

After our first vacation to sandals (montego bay) in january 2013, we immediately signed up for the ‘select rewards program', eager to become returning guests as soon as possible. Today, september 26th 2018, we are currently on our sixth sandals vacation, in five years (emerald bay). Our issue is absolutely not with this beautiful resort. We have a major issue with the sandal's corporate office and have patiently tried to resolve the problem using the management personnel at this resort, without success.

This is a summary of our sandals stays:

January 2014 sandals, montego bay - 2 adults - 1 unit (7) nights
January 2015 sandals, montego bay - 2 adults - 1 unit (10) nights
March 2016 beaches, turks & caicos - 8 adults + 2 children - 3 units (7) nights x 3
3 bedroomed (villa?): in reality, 3 standard units next to each other, except with the connecting doors unlocked between them.
May 2017 sandals, great exuma - 2 adults - 1 unit (9) nights
July 2018 beaches, negril (7) nights - 8 adults + 2 children - 3 units (7) nights x 3
There were not any connecting units available and therefore the 3 units were randomly located on the resort this time.
September 2018, sandals, great exuma - 2 adults - 1 unit (8) nights

After the march 2016 vacation at the beaches resort in turks and caicos, our ‘sandals select' account displayed 38 paid nights. After may 2017 it displayed 47 paid nights and finally on july 4th 2018, while at the beaches, negril resort, it was showing 68 paid nights. Note: 2 1/2 years after the turks and caicos trip, our account shows 68 paid nights!

July 4th 2018, we were in the loyalty travel office with an agent, booking the vacation we are currently on. The intent was to book a vacation that would get us to our free week! The agent pulled up our account and confirmed that it would take us to 76 paid nights by the time we left great exuma and we would be eligible for a paid week.

When we arrived sunday september 23rd 2018, we inadvertently found out that at some point very recently, the account has been altered and 14 paid nights have been removed!

The account was now only showing 54 paid nights! What happened?

The issue at heart, is a technicality regarding the family trip to beaches, turks and caicos. The reservation was made on a single booking number, for what is called a "villa". It was 3 rooms, side-by-side and connecting doors. This is classified differently apparently, to the accommodations at beaches, negril, where we all stayed just 2 months ago. The 3 units there had to be booked as 3 separate booking numbers, because their locations were spread out across the resort. So we apparently were awarded only 7 paid nights for turks and caicos, but 21 paid nights for negril. Even though the same family members went, stayed in 3 units and the cost both times was about the same amount of money.

The whole situation is absolutely and without doubt, wrong and shameful!

Regardless of whether an error occurred after the trip to beaches, turks and caicos in march 2016, it was not rectified within a reasonable amount of time. Two and a half years after the fact is not acceptable. You just don't do that.
Further, it is highly unprofessional to not even notify someone that they altered the account!
The details of the error are irrelevant at this point!
It is 2 1/2 years later! The circumstances are mute at this point in time. Accept that you messed up sandals and make it right with us.

To Whom it May Concern,

My wife and I have just experienced one of the worst vacations ever with Sandals Royal Caribbean resort in Jamaica. As soon as we arrived on 06/17 we found that the room was not like the one we booked at all, I paid for a swim up suite with patio and this room looked nothing like the website photo. Then we finally realized the air conditioning was not working and was so uncomfortable we couldn't even sleep. Complained to the butler and manager of the resort, still didn't get fixed, so what did they do? They brought us a fan (a damn fan). Total price paid was around $5000.00 for this vacation, and you give me fan in a $400.00 a night room...unbelievable. The entire 4 days there we just suffered in this miserable room and management did nothing. We were not even offered a change to a different. This is a very poor way to treat guests Sandals, you should be ashamed, and you can be sure you won't see any future business from either me, my family, or close friends.
To make things even worse, this was our 25th wedding anniversary vacation, and we saved for 2 years to years to spend it at the Sandals resort only to be totally disappointed. Thank you for ruining what we thought would be a memorable vacation.
And I will spread the word about your horrible resort and service to guests along with making sure I file formal complaints with the Better Business Bureau.

Daniel & Kathy Williams
[protected]@gmail.com

We stayed at Sandals Antigua 2/27-3/6 2017. Butler Suite Rondoval with pool.

I'm writing this almost a year later because I have been fighting with Sandals all this time for some compensation for the disrespect they showed as a handicapped person.
After almost a year of calling everyone I could think of I called the corporate office.
They after months of calls said they were not aware I was Handicapped and did not bring it to there attention while at the resort! Lie Lie Lie I have been going to Sandals since 93 and have been handicapped for the last 4 visits. Always request a wheel chair. Begged our Butlers everyday to downgrade us...do whatever to get me a walk in shower.
We paid a crazy amount of money to insure a perfect week. They would not
accommodate me as a handicapped women at this resort. I had to climb into a very deep tub with an overhead rain shower...very slippery. I could not climb in and out of a tub without assistance. Once I was in there I had to hold on to the towel rack scary not meant for that. It was awful! I try to be independent with my limitations but had to depend on my husband to help me. I can't express to you how awful that was. Took the romantic out of our vacation for me. Every day I would ask our butlers for a room with a shower. They said none were available with walk in showers! I will never go back to Sandals again!

Numerous attempts to resolve, sandals no recompense!

To: sandals corporation: 5/24/17
In response to request for online survey of our recent stay re: (booking #8340265- hallett 5/8/17 – 5/15/17 room #2023) sandals ochi beach resort gc-honeymoon hideaway luxury club level villa room. included 1) complimentary sunset catamaran cruise for two; and 2) $125 spa credit.
Having stayed at this resort in the past (10/13-15-10/20/15) with excellent results, the wife and I rebooked for the above dates/reservation to celebrate our anniversary. needless to say, this go around was totally disappointing and quite lacking in services advertised and paid for as will be explained below. the best way I can describe the lack of attention to detail and service is to give a chronology of events as they transpired throughout the entire week.
Day 1 (mon)- upon check-in around 2pm on monday 5/8, we were advised our room would not be ready for about another hour and were invited to lunch at the sky view terrace. I inquired about making dinner reservations as I knew there were several excellent restaurants which required advance arrangements and was advised this could not happen until room assignment. this was entirely reasonable and we took a relaxed lunch. upon return to the concierge/check-in office around 3pm ish, we were escorted to our accommodations. our escort showed us the room, explained the all-inclusive package and asked if there was anything we needed. we respectfully requested tonic water and bucket of ice and were told those would be brought to us right away. it was also mentioned to our escort it was our anniversary stay and he remarked we could probably expect a little something special like a mini cake or so, and were advised the international dinner buffet would be beachside at approximately 6pm. I inquired about concierge service for dinner reservations and was told to dial 7000 to set up the weekly planner. the wife and I declined the tour of the property as we had been here before and knew our way around. after unpacking, I dialed the concierge and was asked to enter extension number (there is none). I attempted multiple times and became stuck in a phone loop getting nowhere. I then proceeded back to the concierge desk in person to inquire about reservations and planning events. while there, several other guests showed up in queue with the same concerns about the phone concierge number not working properly. the concierge (justin) was helpful in assisting in planning our events, and booked the sunset cruise for friday and indicated the boarding voucher would be delivered to our room prior to the event. dinner reservations were made for valentino’s on saturday, however, legourmond up the hill was not available for sunday bookings as of yet. we were advised sunday bookings would be available on wednesday morning and to check back when the concierge opened at 8 am. the wife and I took a stroll and upon returning to our room to prepare for dinner around 6pm, no ice, no tonic. at the dinner buffet bar table, there were bottles of tonic, so I decided to take one back to the room after dinner. it was late, but I phoned the concierge for bucket of ice for the next day.
Day 2 (tue) – room service brought breakfast, albeit about an hour later than requested with ice delivered (a glass of ice). understandable, maybe. the wife and I set out to begin our day, and upon return to the room later in the afternoon still no tonic. (okay, I still had a little left over from the night before). I contacted concierge and requested another bottle of champagne and ice and then off to the manager host party for returning guests up at the high mountain deck for cocktails and dinner. the loyalty / travel hostess (breneka) was at our table and very engaging and knowledgeable about sandals resorts and we scheduled an appointment with her for wednesday evening.
Day 3 (wed) – awoke at 8 am to contact concierge as instructed on day 1 for sunday dinner reservation and was told they not available until 9am so I made my request (justin) for sunday at 7pm first choice, and that if not available then anytime between 6:30-7:30 as an alternate, to allow him room to work with me on an acceptable time. he advised me he would stay on it, and get back to me. room service breakfast delivered as requested, however only one clean coffee cup was found on the credenza, vice two. upon return to our room early evening to prepare for dinner, there it was – a bucket of ice, no tonic, no champagne. after dinner, we proceeded up the hill to the loyalty travel office to speak with breneka. we shared some of our anniversary plans and excitement of the resort and the disappointments with her up to this time. she shared with us a link (sandals. blazeloop.com) whereby we could make compliments/concerns/requests on line. she also stated that what we had experienced was a bit unacceptable and “... we will take care of that from here.” results of the discussion led us to rebook with sandals royal dl (caribbean deluxe), montego bay, (w100471772262448) for 7 nights 10/18/18-10/25/18. standard room, no concierge, no room service as I did not feel the additional expense was worth it based upon events up to this point.
Day 4 (thu) – room service breakfast delivered as requested. I checked in with concierge to see where we stood with sunday dinner reservations we requested yesterday and was told sunday reservation bookings don’t open until thursday day for the upcoming week. well, we were told it was wednesday, so will go in a holding pattern and wait to hear from you. we enjoyed the resort throughout the day. champagne arrived in afternoon, albeit warm, sitting on the credenza. concierge (justin) contacted us in the room this evening and advised he had secured a sunday dinner reservation for us at 6pm at legourmand. I told him that was too early as we had prior engagements, and that if that was the best he could do, we’d take it but would show up late. after dinner, I took the room ice bucket to the lobby bar and requested it be filled and returned to room.
Day 5 (fri) – we spent the afternoon up the hill and since we had still not seen the boarding pass we were told would be delivered to our room for the sunset cruise, decided it best to go to concierge and inquire. this was about 2:30pm. concierge could not find our name on the list for the cruise, had no boarding paper, and showed no reservation had been made. the lady (name forgotten) advised there was a charge. I informed her it was included in our package and told her I would retrieve my booking confirmation in the room and return. while in the room, the phone rang and concierge management (kenosha) wanted to schedule to speak with us regards the posting on blazeloop to address our concerns. we advised her we were leaving in 30 minutes but perhaps could speak with her upon our return. I went back to the concierge desk with my sandals booking papers and showed the complimentary cruise for 2 to the agent at the desk. she had me fill out a paper and then went to the events booking desk in the lobby. she returned and advised me no one was at the desk and could I have a seat until they returned. I had mentioned to her I had reserved with (justin) on day 1 (mon) and couldn’t understand why we were not on the list. I sat right across from him on monday when he booked it. at about 3:15 she returned to me in the lobby with the boarding papers, for the cruise that was set to depart at 3:30. upon our return, we met with (kenosha) and sat with her in the lobby for about an hour discussing the blazeloop posting. she told us as soon as it was posted her manager (miss karen?) told her to get with us right away. she was apologetic for the concierge phone issue, tonic, ice, dinner reservation snafu, and most recently the cruise boarding issue. she stated “we don’t keep too much tonic water because it expires and was in limited quantity”. she also shared with us some staff in the office were new, and that they should not take personally what guests might complain or have concerns about, and that it is their duty to make things right and learn from it. that they should take this as learning tool, and do whatever possible to assist the guest. she advised us she would personally take care of the tonic water and sunday dinner reservation and be in touch with us. I was so relieved when I heard all of this and am so thankful I could assist in her staff (s) training – not! at this point in our stay, the matter is no longer about tonic water! upon returning to the room there was already an envelope and card for sunday dinner reservations for 7:45 pm at legourmond.
Day 6 (sat) – room service breakfast delivered as requested. we enjoyed the resort throughout the day and the dive shop (alicia) was very helpful with our snuba experience. we requested another bucket of ice and champagne before heading to dinner at 5:30pm. we had a rather relaxed evening at valentino’s as our waiter (jenthrow) was very accommodating and informative of the menu items. he shared with us sandals educational opportunities and schooling of italian languages so pronunciation of the menu would be in concert with the decorum. upon return to the room, a card with sunday dinner reservations was on the credenza (kenosha) indicating an 8 pm seating. question – if her staff had already seated us at 7:45 the day before, why would she have not known that when that reservation card was already in our room prior to meeting with us?. now is dinner at 745 or 8 or can I just show up at 7 which I originally requested on day 1 – monday? does someone want to roll the dice here? upon return to our room ice = yes, champagne = no, and oh my gosh a six pack of tonic water (compliments of kenosha no doubt); almost an insult at this point.
Day 7 (sun) – room service breakfast delivered as requested, we also had requested mimosas since no champagne had been delivered. room service advised us they could send glasses of mimosas but champagne bottles required 24 hours notification. wow, okay, so at the end of our stay I learn the champagne rules of engagement. dinner at legourmand was exceptional, once we were seated at 8pm. upon return to the room, checkout envelope was waiting for us as well as a small fruit plate with a mother’s day message card from our daughter. the wife sent a thank you and picture via text to the daughter and found out she had ordered on line cheese/cracker plate with chocolate dipped fruit as a mother’s day gift.
Day 8 (mon) – room service breakfast delivered as requested. wife went to concierge in the morning to register complaint about delivered gift and request daughter be given a full refund.in spite of resorts efforts, what was ordered and paid for ($35.00) did not reflect what was delivered. the fruit plate was nothing different than what we had been ordering from room service for regular breakfast (s). we were told a full refund would be processed immediately. as of this writing, refund of monies has not been received. wife also inquired as some kind of compensation if we could be afforded use of the mombay club at the airport prior to departure. she was told, “no, they are not associated with sandals and we cannot do that.” we departed the resort as scheduled.
In summary, I hope this provides insight into examples of things that need your immediate attention. if concierge services are paid for there should be no reason I should have to check daily on issues or scheduled events. if each example of disappointment is taken individually, I would say, no problem, things happen. but – when you look at the totality of the experience, it not only falls short of the high bar you attempt to set at your resort for exemplary service to your guests, in this case there isn’t even a bar around to set on the stanchions.in addition, at no point, anywhere, was there concern or discussion of any recompense the resort could do to make our club level stay on par with what is advertised.
In closing, we would love to give a “shout out” to the following for their personalized service:
Alicia/carmela – the mariners seaside grill; jentrhow – valentino’s; wilson – soy sushi; vanecia/josh – dive shop; breneka – travel loyalty desk.
Regards – kirk and denise hallett

Second message. after offer of points to account declined.
Although I can appreciate your attention to the matter, I would suggest since club level concierge service was purchased and not provided for throughout the stay, the acceptable compensation and the right thing to do would be to award the same cub level service at my next booked standard stay.

Regards - kirk

Third message after no acceptable dispute resolution
To: bryanne evans
In light of the ongoing dialogue, I find the most recent response from sandals ochorios management lacking in appropriately and satisfactorily addressing the issue. their final response does not pass the “straight face test”, nor the spirit and intent of the “fairness doctrine”. it is not a matter of my “…displeasure…” rather the issue here continues to be payment for services not delivered during our recent stay. I request the matter be elevated to the appropriate level so it may receive the attention it deserves for dispute resolution acceptable to both parties.

Kirk hallett

Sandals response:
Good morning mr. hallet,

Thank you for your further correspondence. we sincerely apologize that your expectations as it relates to club level services were not met whilst vacationing with us. here at sandals we always strive to ensure that our guest’s expectations are met resulting in total satisfaction with services rendered.

We duly note your feelings of dissatisfaction that the issues you faced were not thoroughly addressed. hence, it would be our pleasure to extend as a goodwill gesture complimentary club level services upon your return to us at sandals ochi beach resort.

Regrettably, we would not be able to extend said services at other properties since our jurisdiction only extends to sandals ochi beach resort.

We booked a 5 night stay for our anniversary on October 13, 2016 from October 11th- 16th at the Sandals Royal Caribbean Montego Bay Jamaica. The reason for choosing this resort over our normal destination at Couples Negril where we were married 15 year ago, was due to closer location to the airport but mainly due to the promotion provided that include the private island with bar, restaurant and clothing optional beach. The clothing optional beach is a must for traveling to resorts for me and my wife. Upon arrival to the resort we quickly asked about the island and we were advised, sorry the island is closed until November due to construction of new resorts units around the island. I told them the bus driver over was bragging about the island. We meet many couples highly disappointed about it being closed. And just like us they would not have book this resort without the island. Even met couples from the other Sandals who came for the day who came just for the private island and were not told it was closed. Our complaint is they failed to provide us the full services we paid for and did not offer us any discount, upgrades or any thing but basically too bad! Deal with it. We ask for a 50% rebate of the cost of the vacation we paid for at $3, 354.52. Our reservation/confirmation number was W245810354209705. We do not want a discount on another stay at one of their resort from a company who went out of their way to lie about the accommodations and failure to give us advance notice of this when this was a planned closing. FYI, with the resort being in the takeoff pattern of the airport, it was a great way to get no naps on the beach and relax with flights taken off about every 15 minutes.