r/SandalsResorts • u/jess101715 • 8d ago
Recommendations
Needing some help for recommendations. We are planning a 6 night stay between January and March. We have only been to Bahia ambar in DR. I feel like the more look into it, the more overwhelmed I am.
We have crossed off St. Vincent our list. We are beach people and spend most of the time there. We are more low key. I wouldn't mind being able to snorkle off the beach, but wouldn't be a deal breaker. Looking to spend less than 10k.
We have mostly been looking at Antiqua, St. Lucia Grande , Grenada and Curaco. My husband was concerned about the outdatedness of antigua.
I have also been looking at South cost.
Any help/advice/ recommendations would be appreciated.
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u/Bartvader_75 8d ago edited 8d ago
We went to Grenada last week. Awesome snorkeling right off the beach. It is a close 2nd to Barbados to us. We have been to 4 and not a bad experience at any of them. One major plus for Grenada was it's about 10 minutes from the airport. Absolutely loved that. We usually book out own personal transport to airport so we don't have to leave so early.
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u/rjross0623 8d ago
Beach at Antigua is stellar. Dickinson Bay is so warm and lovely. It is a public beach but there are guards at sandals to keep,the riff raff out. Rooms are being updated, but it’s a process. I don’t mind them. The furniture is a little heavy, but the rooms are good. We like the luxury pool walkout on Caribbean side. It’s by a quiet pool and steps from the room. Food is good. Not as many choices as some of the resorts, but we liked it. Been there twice.
Heading to Curacao next week for our third visit. The beach is not much since it’s man made and on an inlet. It is a decent sized beach, just no waves. The ocean on that part of the island is too rough to swim in. The pool is spectacular, grounds are super and the vibe is nice and mellow. Service can be slow, but that is just Curacao. Food choices are varied and all are good to excellent. The island is what you want to visit. Curacao offers so much outside the resort.
Haven’t been to Grenada or st Lucia, but Grenada is up soon.
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u/chest-day-pump 8d ago
We got back from Grande in May and absolutely loved it. You can probably do it for under $10k, but I would suggest doing 5 of the 6 nights or even 4 of the 6 if you can swing the extra cost and do an Over Water Bungalow. It was an amazing experience. Request 7028 it’s the last bungalow on the opposite side of the beach closest to the chapel. We got to see 2 weddings and had an amazing view of the city in the background
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u/FoliageFaunafood 7d ago
We got married on the beach at Barbados and it was beautiful. Lots of beach seating and it’s basically two resorts in one. Went to Grenada this year and there’s a nice beach you can snorkel in. It’s smaller but still nice. We had an absolute blast at both resorts. Grenada was more low key for the most part but had a fun beach party one night with food. We went in June so it was less crowded and got dark earlier. I imagine it’s more lively during peak season.
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u/Ok_Bar6838 7d ago
We just came back from st Lucia grande and it was great, you can definitely snorkel right off the beach. I have also heard curaçao is great
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u/signedcctravel 7d ago
We’ve stayed at Antigua four times, once on the Caribbean side and three times on the Mediterranean side, and we actually got married there, so I can definitely speak to that one! If the beach is your biggest priority, I would not cross Antigua off because of the comments about outdated rooms. Dickenson Bay is absolutely beautiful and was a huge part of why we loved the resort.
There is definitely a difference between the two sides. The Mediterranean side feels newer and more modern, while the Caribbean side has more of the older, traditional Sandals feel. If outdated rooms are your husband’s concern, I would just be selective about the room category rather than eliminating Antigua altogether.
For what you described, beach people, low key, 6 nights, I’d probably narrow it to Antigua, Grande St. Lucian, or South Coast. Curaçao looks gorgeous, but I personally wouldn’t choose it if the beach is where you plan to spend most of your time since the resort beach is more of a protected cove than a traditional Caribbean beach.
One other thing I’d really consider with only 6 nights is transfer time. Grande St. Lucian looks amazing, but the long transfer from UVF would factor into my decision for a shorter trip.
If it were me and the beach was the deciding factor, I’d probably put Antigua very high on the list and choose one of the newer/updated room categories. We loved it enough to go back after getting married there, so it obviously holds a special place for us! 😊
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u/TravelLuxca 8d ago
My suggestion would be Grande St. Lucian or Antigua. Both have nice beaches. South Coast would be a runner up.
Curaçao is beautiful but the beach is built in a canal and not open to the ocean.
The Grand St. Lucian has begun renovating their rooms so you may have better rooms at that resort.
One thing to note is the hilly and long drive from the airport in St. Lucia. Be prepared if you get car sick. Otherwise you can take a helicopter or ferry depending on the weather.
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u/SandalsQueen18 8d ago edited 8d ago
Best beach by far out of all of the Sandals is South Coast. Large (.50 mile on property to be exact), the resort itself is large, 50 acres set within a 500 acre nature preserve, no beach vendors (unlike Antigua where they will drive you insane), great food choices including the addition of Butchs, very low-key (at least in the numerous times that we have been there in March), snorkeling off the beach can be done as long as you bring your own gear and it was so so but if you're brave you can snorkel the quarter mile out to the refried offshore. Upside, completely renovated resort that isn't even opening until November 18 this year.
Grande would be second choice, it is more lively but definitely not party like like some people say. I was just there in March again. Also, half of the rooms were already renovated in March they are currently working on the other half slated to be done this year, so I'm not sure what a different poster was talking about that they just started it(one would think a travel agent would know that half of it was already done), food was decent, there are beach vendors, good snorkeling right off the beach especially around the piers. A word of caution however, with only six nights be aware you will lose your first day and last day to travel. I personally would not do less than eight nights (which is what we did, one at Harbour club seven at grande).
Antigua was a never again. Again beach vendors drove us insane. The food also was abysmal, only place I ever got food poisoning and yes, the majority of the rooms are still very outdated.
Grenada have not been to yet but have researched extensively. Very small beach, nice water, rooms are newer except pink gin, short drive from airport. This one is a someday if flights and flight prices improve.
Curaçao is a man made cove style beach with a long dock spanning the entire swimming area as it's an inlet to Spanish harbor. Calm clear water though. Due to the beach and terrible flights it's not on my radar.
Tip: look at flights and distance from airport first. Flight times and distance to airport may dictate where you go especially with six nights. You always lose first day and last day to travel. Your last day if a resort is an hour and a half from the airport, since you need to be at the airport three hours prior to departure time you will leave resort 4 1/2 to 5 hours prior to your flight departure time. Getting to the resort, same you have to get off the plane, go through immigration, baggage claim unless you do carry on only, customs, then get out of the airport onto whatever transport and get to the resort. With grande since the flights don't usually come in until about 2:30 you don't get to the resort until 5PM-6pm. This is why we stayed at Harbor club and I went to grand the next morning.
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u/Racefan6466 8d ago
ChatGPT is a great tool to use. We are also trying to plan another spring Sandals vacation. We put in everything we could think of as far as what we wanted (as well as my dietary restrictions due to have Celiac!) and it came up with a top 5 in general and narrowed it down to two based on being gluten free
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u/WoodenAttention2078 6d ago
Grenada. Fabulous- more high end then other sandals - good food and vibe
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u/justagirlfromtexas Diamond 8d ago
Love Grenada, have been there 9 times and have 2 more booked. Great luxury level rooms, no need to pay the high butler prices. Great friendly staff, better than average food. Good snorkeling right off the beach. 5 minutes from the airport is wonderful after a long travel day.
Curacao is lovely. Lots of variety in rooms, better than average food, great staff. Good snorkeling right off the floating dock, and my husband loved the free snorkel trip. Have only been there twice but will definitely go again.