Sandals Resorts

On Friday, 2-3-2012, I spoke with a "Lucky" to make reservations for my daughter's wedding in Negril. I only booked the two rooms, confirmation # *** and ***. I had more rooms to book but needed to wait until I had funds available to book the remaining. I had to put a deposit of $1306.12 per room down on Friday. When I looked at my checking account on Saturday, I discovered they had charged me three times instead of the two. I called on 2-4-2012 and spoke with Adel #***. She confirmed there was an error and she was going to have a credit in my account by Friday. I said that was not acceptable because this was my checking and I need the funds to pay bills. She then spoke with a supervisor and they said they would expedite the credit.

Monday came (2-06/2012) still no pending credit. Tuesday, no pending credit. Wednesday, no pending credit. I called them again on Wednesday 2-8-2012 and spoke with Lucky again. She stated she had just put in the request in that day. But she would make sure it was put through now. I had asked her to send me an email stating their was an error and she was handling it. I never received it. Thursday, 8-8-2012, still no pending credit. I called again and spoke the supervisor Clara. She was extremely rude. By this time, I had enough. I just wanted to cancel. But she said she would not return the flight tickets. They where non-refundable.

All I wanted was my credit that was owed to me in a timely fashion. I understand we are all human and mistakes can happen but the customer service I got was unacceptable. It is sad that now we have to look into other resorts for our daughter's big day. I have not been able to pay my property taxes that are due because they are holding my funds, that is resulting in late payment for me.

We arrived at Sandals Grande Riviera on Nov. 7, 2011 and departed Nov.14,2011. We booked on Aug.15,2011 with full payment to include an Island Routes Eight River Catamaran Cruise. Upon arrival at the resort, we were informed this $154 experience had been cancelled by the company. We also paid $240 for Scents of Love Couples massage. We booked this ahead because Sandals information warned of possible full schedules and recommended advanced booking. We were told by our travel agency and confirmed by Sandals that we were to have an included $175 spa credit available upon check-in.

At check-in, we were told to speak with the spa. Arriving at the spa, we presented our confirmation of payment receipt and requested the promised spa credit. We were old that they could do nothing about that. We would have to contact Sandals. The spa ignored our paid confirmation, charged the $240 again for the massages plus a service charge of $30, subtracting the $175 spa credit and consequently charged our room $95. We purposely booked the spa experience on our last day before a long flight back to VA. We and our travel agent contacted Unique Vacations requesting the above refunds which actually add up to $424. There has been no response.

I had the same experience as the person above mentioned as we attended the same resort, at the same time and it was our Honeymoon too. No one mentioned the construction at the time of booking or we would have selected a different resort. They advertise the food to be five star but it was no better than TGIFs and only served Bahamian food 1 night. The rest was pub fare, a poor man's Teppanyaki and generic buffet. I sent a complaint over and they have yet to even get their own email system together, repeatedly asking for the same info over and over. Never once acknowledging my concerns and then just closed the inquiry. I will make sure to report this experience to every governing agency.

The resort was 50% closed. There was noise from the renovation on the construction of the entire floor above us. All of the upper portion of the property was closed (toilets in the front drive and all) blood in our shower, travel desk was confused and not helpful.

All they wanted was to get through the line of people. They really did not care what happened after we left. The gift shop which I am not sure where I have been to a place that has a sing along and when the song is over, they help every single employee in the resort that is wanting to buy something before they assist the guest that is waiting to purchase a $18 can of sunscreen.

This is after the horrible van ride to the resort where the driver stopped a few times on the side of the freeway and turned off the lights and then looked for a CD to play. It freaked me out! I am so upset about this trip because it was more that a trip, it was a honeymoon. There is more but honestly, I am trying to block it out. Now, I am out $200 and a honeymoon.

I was and am continued to be extremely disappointed with the lack of customer service provided by Sandals and Unique Vacations, Inc.

I won a vacation through a local business' promotion in December of 2010, and got engaged before booking the trip. The contract I signed stipulated that the trip had to be taken by December 3 of 2011, but my fianc and I contacted Sandals in late July of 2011 to inquire as to whether or not we could postpone the trip and go on our honeymoon in June of 2012. I was told by a Sandals agent in July of 2011 that we could postpone the trip and take it in June of 2012 if we paid booking fees and other miscellaneous charges.

When I called to book the trip in late September, however, the agent I spoke with told me that they could not extend the contract and that there was no record of my conversation with an agent regarding the extension.

After half a dozen calls to Sandals in the following weeks, I still had no information. After filling in their online contact request forms, I was simply emailed a generic email and told to call the offices which I had already done several times. Each time I would call, I was given the name of someone else who did not respond in a timely manner (if at all). One time I called, I was even given the email address of a woman who no longer worked at the company. After not receiving an email response, I called again and was told that the woman hadn't been with the company for some time. Talk about the run around!

In the end, the woman I spoke with, Kathy **, was by no means helpful. Her customer service skills were absolutely horrendous, and she simply told me that there was nothing she could do.

The fact of the matter is, my fianc and I would have taken the trip in September of 2011 had we been told that we could not extend the trip no harm, no foul. I'm not going to complain about a free trip to paradise. However, because we were told we could extend the trip, we did not book it. We waited until we had our wedding date solidified to call to book the trip, and by that time we simply couldn't take the time off of work and save the extra money we would need for expenses, etc., before the contract expired. We didn't book the trip because of the promises made by a Sandals agent.

Sandals and Unique Vacations took absolutely no responsibility for the promises made to me by one of their agents. Customer service is the lifeblood of a company, Sandals, and yours is severely lacking. I will never stay at a Sandals resort as a result of this horrible experience.

Sandals Royal Bahamian stay was extremely disappointing. We were asked via email and telephone to check-in online, which we did. Yet, we were still made to sit in the lobby, like another author wrote, "like school children." We were shown our room, which instead of ocean and pool view as purchased, was barely a sliver of ocean view. It did, however, look out over the back of run-down and loud apartments. We were told no other rooms were available.

The food was beyond bad, bordering on disgusting. Nothing was fresh or the appropriate temperature. My husband was up sick our last night for what could only be the meal he ate at Baccarat (the most "upscale" restaurant at the resort). There was little to nothing resembling French cuisine or atmosphere, right down to the dated lounge music soundtrack.

Quality entertainment was absent. What entertainment there was, was so cheesy that it was embarrassing. On the positive side: the staff was nice; the water beautiful; and the off-shore island (only open one day during our stay because of choppy waters, making for hairy ferry boarding experience) provided gorgeous views and a bit more seclusion.

Overall, I would never visit a Sandals resort again and would not recommend it to anyone either. I would return to the Bahamas but stay elsewhere. They have all-inclusive package: cheesy atmosphere, horrible food and drinks, and no reason to improve, since they already have your money. If I can stop just one couple from repeating our mistake and wasting their hard-earned money, I will feel like the trip was not a total waste!

I cut my leg on a plastic lounge chair on the Riviera side on the beach. We just had breakfast, and I was bleeding so heavily that our butler had to get a jitney down to the beach to take me to the nurses' station. I received twenty five stitches. And I came home with a full gangrene infection. Three hospitalizations, five months on an Intravenous medication daily, and thirty thousand dollars in medical bills... SGOR offered me two free nights.

I have a deep black injury on my left leg. It still needs more surgery. But I can't take any more time off work without losing my job. I have tried several times by phone and mail to reach Mr. Brian ** at the resort to no avail. They have treated me like garbage.

My husband and I spent over ten thousand dollars in two years at SGOR, and we wanted it to be our vacation spot forever. Now, I don't think I will ever be able to travel outside the country, let alone travel anywhere. Our finances have taken a huge hit.

I am so disappointed by the way SGOR handled or mishandled this.I have spoken to a lawyer, which is not what I wanted to do. I wanted Sandals to step up, do the right thing, and make me feel like they cared about what happened to me, a valued guest. Please get back to me, so this matter can be settled in a friendly way. I appreciate your time.

My wife and I booked a Sandals vacation package including airfare in March 2011. We went to the airport on May 24 for a red eye flight out on May 25 at 1:45 a.m. with Spirit airlines. No reservation was found under our names nor under confirmation number we received via email from Sandals.

We sat at airport for over two hours pleading with check in desk for Spirit airlines and his supervisor. The flight left without us. Sandals was closed so we went back home.

I called Sandals on May 25 after they opened complained about no airline reservation and was put on hold for many minutes. Lisa returned to the phone and told me airline reported we were no-show for flight. I gave names of desk agent and supervisor that we were there. She responded not our problem about the airline you just need to get to Jamaica because your vacation time started. She could not discuss room availability to let us know if we were able to stay all seven nights if we were able to give a flight out next day.

Then called Spirit airlines and was told they would give us a flight voucher and we would have to pay an additional $350 for same flight we were denied boarding on. I called American Express card services to report fraud of services and was on conference call with agent and Sandal/Spirit airlines. After listening to the situation, the American Express agent told me to hang up and she would call me back on private line. When she called me back, she stated she would file against both companies for a refund.

Since then the nightmare continued. The refund was made but now charges were put back on my card by Sandals that has come up with another made up version that the reservations were there at the airport but we booked them under the wrong name. I am still fighting for a refund and can not believe what a horrible deceitful bunch of people work for this company.

The day we arrive July 25, 2011, yes the bus ride it an hour and a half from the main airport. The ride is not too bad if you are use to curvy roads but the scary part is the roads are eroding off the mountain. Also they use 2X4 s painted yellow for guardrails. Yikes! We have been traveling since 4 AM that morning and arrive at the hotel at 4 PM.

1. Frst of all we get there and the staff is handing out wet clothes and avoiding answering any questions about getting checked in to your room that should have a/c. Next, we had to fill out some more paperwork and you would think everything was covered. The front desk ask for a credit card even though everything is paid for and if you do not have a credit card they will charge your debit card for the amount and credit it back after your stay.

2. We are then escorted to what was supposed to be the room you paid fornot in our case. We paid for a ground level Handicap Room and were put on the second floor near the 24 hour main pool. I told them this was not what I paid for and would like to be put in the room that I paid for. So, they made us wait for over an hour and said they were cleaning the room. Even after it was so called "Cleaned" they tried to put us in yet another room. Eventually we get to the room about 5:45PM. The room was dirty with bugs on the floor, had an inch of black mold in the shower, the pillows/comforter had green mold on them, room smelled of mildew/musty, no coffee pot, no hair dryer, no umbrella, no menus, no stationary/pen, the toilet was detached from the wall(you could actually tip over), and everything unplugged. The refrigerator was not working and was a fire hazard because it was hot to touch and enclosed in a wooden cabinet with a door. Also we did not have the Honeymoon welcome: champagne/flower petals. We complained to Dahlia/Jason of all the things listed above because this room was suppose to be clean that's why we waited for over an hour in the Lobby.

3. Next at about 5:50 we decided since we haven't had anything to eat since 11AM we should go try out the food. We first walked around and everything seemed to be closed. So we asked Jason if he would show us what was opened. He first went by the Pub which he also said was closed but should open in 10 mins. We were shown the pizza place and Josephine's, but when we entered the staff said they were closed. Nothing else on the resort was open. We had to wait at least 20 more mins for the Pub to service us. We order spinach dip/chips, wings, ribs, and a salmon platter. The spinach dip is horrible.it was soupy cheese colored water with green specks in it; the chips were not fresh and stale. The wings (3) were fatty, very low quality, and tasted terrible. The ribs were also very fatty and gross. The salmon was edible but not very good. We also order a cheeseburger, this was worst than any school cafeteria soy burger. While at the Pub, we decided to order a drink. I ordered a Stoli vodka drink but what I got was mostly WATER. So I asked for a new unopened bottle of the same but they said they did not have anymore. I would say by far the Pub was the worst place to eat.

4. We went back to our room and the housekeeper came to spray some freshener due to the overwhelming odor. We asked her to leave it with us because we are sensitive to chemicals. She said she could not it was against policy. So we were asked to go on the patio outside our room. After she sprayed she told us it was safe to enter. Well, the floors are tile and she had covered them in a chemical of some sort, which caused them to be slippery. I entered the room and slipped causing INJURY to my hip. I called the front desk and was told someone would call me back. Dahlia did call the room and asked why I didn't call immediately.I did and was told someone would call me back. So needless to say, she received an ear full at that point. First day of your honeymoon injured in bed crying for hours and in pain. I couldn't even relieve the pain with a drink because it was water. I told her we wanted our money back and she said we would not be talking about that tonight. So I arranged a meeting with HM- Paul Simones 10AM the next morning. About 9 PM that night we received the hot champagne and two unopened bottles of liquor of our choice.

5. At 10AM the next morning we had a long list of things that had gone wrong and requested again for our money back and that we wanted to leave immediately. Paul Simones told us it was IMPOSSIBLE TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK, he would have to "make a case" and it was not going to happen. He also told us to let them make it up to us and try again. Well at this point we really don't have a choice. Unless, we spend more money to change our flight and not get a refund at all. Paul told us that because they were at full capacity they could not even give us another room. I asked Paul why the affiliate company called "Unique Vacations" received an "F" on their BBB Score, and he told me he did not know why and was not sure what the Better Business Bureau was. Even though he proceed to tell me of 20+ years of experience in the hospitality and tourism industry all over the US/WORLD. St. Lucia does not have a BBB, but the Miami based Unique Vacations the name of the company that collects the money for your trip does. I would say if Sandals did get a BBB Score it would also be an "F" for not handling/answering customer complaints.

6. The next couple of days did not get any better. The food was terrible everywhere besides Gordon's which is not included in the inclusive for most people. The food was not 5 Star anything, it was mediocre at best. My husband and I are both very fit and healthy people. The portions are SUPER SMALL; I mean 2 oz of meat per person. So every time we ordered at least 6-8 plates of food because you didn't know what you would get or if it was even edible. Also you would think at most times during the day every restaurant would be open to eat. No the times for eating are very limited as well as the options to choose from. Most food gave us heartburn and we had to buy a $9 US small bottle of Tums because we ran out of the ones we brought with us.

7. Later in the stay we were offered at Cabana for the day.not really exciting. Also a stocked refrigerator with their local beer Piton (5 of 10). When you stay at and all inclusive resort you would expect some sort of entertainment, right? No not exactlymore like volleyball in the pool, bingo in the water, Ping-Pong available, terrible karaoke, and some unheard of music at night. We thought the water sports listed on the website would be available at several times all day. No it is first come first serve at 2PM and if you are in line and everything has been checked outtoo bad. Maybe another day. Every excursion you must pay extra for ranging anywhere from ($65-300). We spoke with a lot of guests that did go on more than one excursion and they were highly disappointed.

8. If you cross the fence at the beach or leave the resort .YOU will be harassed for money and called names if you do not have any or give the locals any money. I was called a racist "B" because I did not have any money. Obvisouly they do not have a no loitering/soliciting/panhandling law/ordinace. I told the Sandals security guard and he laughed at me. Really?

9. The people at the resort are mostly nice because they know that their lives depend on tourism. But not all people are nice some are just rude and do not want to work at all. For instance the girl at the excursion reservation desk is over the top rude and explained to me that the buses are the only thing "on time" everything else is on "island time." So don't get in a hurry unless you don't want to miss the shuttle.

10. The public hot tubs are not hot.unless you have a private one. The pools are not cleaned very well either.

11. We visited the other resorts on the island and we came to the conclusion that we did in fact pick the best one but that is not saying much. We would not go back or to any other Sandals Resort. We felt like we were ripped off and taken for our money. To top it all off, they (Sandals staff or customer service number) does not care about your feedback. I called customer service when I got back to the US, and I was told to email a complaint to an address I was given. I could not talk to anyone with authority and I definitely would not get ANY MONEY BACK. But if they decided I had a claim they may give me another stay at one of their FINE RESORTS in the Caribbean.

To whom it may concern:

I am writing this letter to make you aware of an unacceptable series of events which has cost my husband and I considerable aggravation, the loss of our much needed and anticipated vacation time, that our budget and jobs only offer once a year. I am requesting a refund in the amount of $8392.60, our originally budgeted vacation expenses as well as the added costs, which were the result of the actions, or lack thereof, of your management and hotel staff. I have attached a detailed breakdown of those expenses.

My husband I booked our much needed vacation trip to Sandals Regency La Toc , in St. Lucia, from 5/31/11 to 6/6/2011. We checked in and were provided keys to room 91 which is the garden view.

This room, initially, appeared somewhat tidy and we attempted to make ourselves at home. We went to dinner and when we returned we went to the bar, in our room, to make ourselves a drink. Again, there were bugs everywhere! The liquor bottles, included in the bar, in our room, were opened and half empty. They had no covers on them, but rather, pourers inserted. Aside from the ants, mites and other bugs that are might infest these bottles, other visitors to the hotel, as well as the staff, could contaminate these bottles, as well! The bugs were crawling all over the bottles, the refrigerator, the doors to the bar and covered the entire bar counter top. My husband poured himself a glass of juice, went into the bathroom and returned to find bugs all over and inside his glass. It was, to say the very least, disgusting. It took him 20 minutes to convince the butler to spray for bugs while we went to dinner and to bring us a bottle of sealed Absolute Vodka. When we returned, they assured us that they had sprayed. It was clear that they had NOT bothered to do anything of the sort!

We went to bed that night only to wake to more bugs on the counter tops in the bathroom, bedroom and bar area once again. I then noticed that the ants were crawling along the bedroom floor, as well. We did not unpack our bags for fear that these insects would enter our baggage and clothing. We, again, reported the issue and decided that we would not eat or drink in our room or on the patio of our room. This had significantly further hampered our vacation. Three times the butlers brought us champagne, wine and a cheese platter that we immediately took outside the room to avoid having our tiny visitors enjoy them before we could! Each time the staff brought these items, the bottles were again open and half empty. It was clear that we were being served leftovers from prior guests! We tried very hard to enjoy our day but for the second day in a row could not. Again, our clothes remained unpacked and we could not eat, drink or function in our hotel room.

We continued to report these events and each time the butler's response was to send housekeeping to come and wipe up the ants. On Wednesday morning, we woke up to a 6 inch long and 3 inch wide centipede, on our floor, just near our bed. My husband was forced to get up from his sleep, in fear, and swat at the centipede which would not die easily. We then noticed once again that the room was completely infested. We immediately called the butler who sent housekeeping once again, to wipe up the insects. The poor maid walked in our room and actually started to cry. She told us to stay away from the centipede as these "cold blooded amphibians" do not die and are sometimes poisonous. Our butler brought his manager, Victor Regis, who advised us he would give us a discount on our bill. We NEVER saw a discount of any kind. We demanded that they reserve us seats on the beach so once again we could make an attempt at "vacation". We returned from the beach to find an open and half drank bottle of white wine, on ice, in our room. It should be noted; we did not open it, nor do we drink white wine. We again found bugs ALL over our room.

We then noticed, in the bedroom, they staff had written "Love Always" in flowers and leaves on our bed. These also began to attract the bugs to our bed. We now had millions of black ants all over our bed. I called our butler and demanded another room change and assistance in booking a flight home. We simply could take no more.

They transferred us to room 21, where our clothes remained, in our bags, and we did not move. We had trouble calling Jet Blue. The butler actually stated that "no calls could be made off the island at night, no 800 calls could be made, the entire island shuts down at 6pm". We of course learned that these were all lies as we continued to press the butler, he, miraculously was able to obtain a phone number and code for us to make a phone call. He insisted that no one on the entire island could make a phone call, at that time. It was absurd and after much arguing and convincing, the butler returned to our room to advise us that he had made arrangements for us to phone Jet Blue and provided my husband with another phone number. We spent the remainder of our evening on the phone with Jet Blue.

The butler, Don, kept saying "you stay and my manager will make you a nice cheap deal".

We booked the flight home on June 2, 2011 and then contacted our butler to speak with the manager on getting a FULL refund. The manager advised us that he would take care of things. We could not locate him for 2 hours obviously waiting us out, in the hopes that by the time he saw us it would be too late to discuss the events and our demanded refund as we would have to leave for the airport and our trip home. Your manager advised us that he was going to refund us the cost of the upgrade for butler service of $1200, services we could not and did not use, as well as the phone calls we made from our room. This was not a favor, as again, we ONLY incurred those charges because of the conditions at your resort and the actions of your staff. We OBVIOUSLY gave this trip more of a chance than most people would have!

I demanded all of my money back! Upon his insistence, I negotiated the full 7 days and took the voucher he offered, simply as evidence that he acknowledged the unacceptable conditions we endured.

I have NO interest in returning to any of your resorts. I am, instead reiterating my previous demand for a FULL refund, inclusive of the aforementioned, additionally incurred costs!

The worst part is that after filing a formal complaint with the company they actually wrote back calling my husband the wrong name because they obviously do not care about anyone, customer service or any US business whatsoever. And then we decided to just attempt to use the voucher... 3 hotels are excluded. Then we find one we think may work because the rest have awful reviews on trip advisor and we are told that our voucher is worth $6283... the price on line is $6283 for the same type room... we think we are all set... Then they say the room actually costs $12,000 and change we can't apply the voucher with the discounted rate so the next trip will cost us $6200 out of pocket. WHAT????!!!! What a complete nightmare and disaster!

I'm writing to inform you of the experience that my new husband and I recently endured at your Sandals Grande Ocho Rios location. We were married on April 16, 2011 and eager for our honeymoon trip to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, for some much needed relaxation. We thought that we had spared no expense on our trip and decided to book the Romeo and Juliet Honeymoon Suite from April 23-April 27, which provided us with a butler, concierge service and what we thought was a private pool within walking distance to the beach.

We'll be the first to admit that our trip started off on the wrong foot when we were on a plane getting ready to depart St. Louis, MO at the exact time that it was struck by a devastating tornado. Long story short, we went through an emergency evacuation of the plane, and we're told to leave all of our bags behind. We didn't let the tornado hold us back from our long-awaited honeymoon trip and we called American Airlines to have them redirect our flight. They assured us that our bags would meet us in Jamaica the next day, so we drove through the night to a nearby city with only the clothes that we packed in a small backpack. After 32 hours of no sleep, we finally landed in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and thought that we were in Sandal's capable hands now and we could finally relax. Here's where the disappointments began.

Arrival at the Montego Bay Airport: after we made our way through customs, we found the Sandal's store-front and went to the front desk there to check in. Upon not finding anyone at the front desk, we looked around for a good 10 minutes until we finally found someone around the corner from their location with a clipboard and checked in, received tags for the appropriate resort on our bag and were told to go back in, grab a beer and relax until the shuttle for our resort was called. You can only imagine our relief when we thought our vacation had finally begun! We were getting ready to sit down and relax when a young gentleman came with a Sandal's shirt came in and told us our shuttle was ready and to follow him.

We gathered our bags and turned around and he was gone! So we walked out front and talked to our friend with clip-board that we had originally checked in with and they rudely told us our shuttle was not ready and to go sit back down. Feeling confused, we walked back in to sit down and drink our beer, only to be grabbed by a third person that asked why we weren't outside yet at the shuttle. We followed him out to the shuttle (not taking our eyes off him this time) and we ended up filling the last two seats on the bus. We settled in for a long 2 hour shuttle ride.

Arrival at the Sandals Ocho Rios Resort: once we finally made it to the first Sandal Resort, the bus dropped off passengers with the blue tags first. We were relieved that this wasn't our resort as it was quite far from the beach and definitely not the location that we were going after; so, with the purple tags on our luggage, we happily stayed on the bus and waited to get dropped off at the resort directly across the busy street. Upon departing at this location, we gave our name to the front check-in host and she rudely and abrasively informed us that the employees as the airport gave us the wrong tag for our luggage, so we needed to get back on the bus and go back to the other resort. A little shell-shocked, we got back on the bus to go back to the first resort and get checked in.

Check-in at the Sandals Ocho Rios Resort: Upon check-in at our proper Resort, we informed the front desk about our luggage situation, gave them all the pertinent information and informed them that we expected it from American within the next few days. They told us, "You're in luck, you have butler service; they will take care of all of it for you." After we checked in, our butler arrived about 15 minutes later and drove us in a golf cart an additional 5-7 minutes to our Romeo and Juliet Villa at the back of the resort.

Romeo and Juliet Villa: the only nice thing about our villa was the private pool and hot tub, which was surprisingly enclosed. If you look up the room on their website, they'll show the private pool and hot tub with a beautiful mural right behind it that, in the photos, looks like an open area, not a wall. Our villa literally backed up to the 10-foot tall concrete fence at the back of the fence with barbed wire across the top and was about the furthest away from the beach that you can get. The most important thing to us was being near the beach and, according to the maps that they show on the Sandal's website, our Villa was right next to the beach. The bed was nice, but, all in all, it was not worth the high price that we paid for it. Regardless, at this moment, we were excited for a warm bed and some alone time.

On the meals: since our bags did not make the trip with us, we were unable to attend any of the nice restaurants that had a dress code for them since we didn't have slacks or close-toed shoes with us. So we did what we could to make the best of it and tried out a variety of restaurants. The food was below sub-par and tasted soggy like it was microwaved in the back. Due to the strict no-tipping policy, the majority of the waiters were rude and condescending and generally a hassle to deal with. In addition to all of this, there was an alarming amount of stray cats roaming around the restaurants at all times. We were finally able to attend one of the nicer restaurants when one of the causal restaurants that they have made a "reservation" for us was closed and we pleaded with our butler to get us into the nicer one, even thought we were wearing flip-flops. The food was slightly better, but still not what we were expecting.

On the butler service: we didn't experience much rudeness from our butlers and we assume that this was due to the fact that they knew they would get tipped on their service. They were not helpful in getting our luggage to us and we ended up having to call American Airlines to check up on it most of the time (using high-priced roaming minutes in the meantime). We ended up finally getting our luggage on evening the day before we left. One of our butlers was a hassle to deal with and it made it seem like it was going out of his way to come pick us up for meals. We tried to start fresh every morning and think that it was all going to turn around everyday.

One morning, he walked us down to breakfast, took our drink order and came back with mimosas. In doing so, he managed to spill an entire mimosa all over the front of my husband (keep in mind we only had about 2 outfits a piece at this point). He told us he would clean it up and so we went through the breakfast buffet line and came back to find a table that had been cleared of any puddles, but still had a wet tablecloth with sticky mimosa. The butler service was another one of those things that was highly overrated.

On the liquor: what liquor? I swear there was no liquor in any of our drinks! I'm not a drunk by any means, but two drinks usually have me feeling good and that never happened.

Needless to say, it was tempting to hide out in our room everyday instead of dealing with the rude service everywhere we turned. Unfortunately, that was not possible because our butler wouldn't allow that and would kick us out everyday at 10 AM. We would be ready to come back home after a few days of this treatment. It still brings tears to my eyes thinking that this is our honeymoon trip that we will remember for the rest of our lives. Since we had spent so much money on this trip, another trip is not anywhere in our immediate future and we withheld a few items to do to the house in hopes of a great trip. This was, hands-down, the worst vacation ever.

My only saving grace was being there with my husband. We had stars in our eyes from the great marketing that Sandals does and we found that it was not only deceptive, but, in some cases, straight lies. We had hopes for the "trip of a lifetime", but got the honeymoon from hell instead. Unless Sandals does something to restore my faith in them, there's no way I would ever recommend them to another person.

We have had nothing but wonderful times at each of the above Sandals Resorts. While I was searching for our next unforgettable experience at a Sandals Resort, my husband and I decided on Antigua. While I was booking this trip, a Sandals Representative (live chat) popped up on my screen. I, of course told her everything was great and I was booking my trip to Antigua as we chatted back and forth. She informed me that we should try the Brand New Sandals in Great Exuma, Bahamas. She stated that they had all sorts of deals going on and we should try it.

Being an amateur photographer, I jumped at the chance of going to a Brand New Resort to indulge my passion for photography and Vacation at the same time. I couldn't wait to get there and begin taking pictures! What a horrible mistake I made upon making the decision to switch Resorts from Sandals, Antigua to Sandals, Great Exuma. Our flight was perfect, the airport in Great Exuma was very small, but they checked us through quickly and we got in our Sandals Taxi within 20 minutes of landing. The Bahamian People are friendly and ready to answer any questions or help in any way.

The resort - We arrived at Sandals, Great Exuma and were greeted by the front desk personnel, informing us we needed to put our credit card on file before we would be taken to our room. After doing so, our butler, Donard (an excellent butler) showed us to our room. As we were walking to our room along the curvy sidewalk, I started to notice that this hotel sure didn't look Brand New, as the live chat agent had informed me. As soon as we entered the elevator, I knew that this may be a Brand New Sandals but it is in an Old Hotel. (I guess we were fortunate that our elevator worked, a couple that we met had to walk up and down three flights of stairs each time they left or returned to their room).

We get to our room after walking down a long (might I say dirty) hallway, with dead bugs outside our door (those bugs stayed there the entire 8 days we were there). Donard, our butler opens our door and lets us in, this is a standard room (advertised that all rooms are suites) with a bed, a table and a balcony. I went out on the balcony to enjoy the view while we waited for our luggage and sat at the table and got splinters in my arm. I am glad we were placed on the third floor, because if you were lower than that, you could not view the beautiful water that Great Exuma has to offer, due to the overgrown bushes and weeds that were overtaking this Resort. We waited for our luggage, unpacked and went to enjoy a nice ice cold beer and some food; we had been traveling all day and were hungry and thirsty.

The service was horrible in the restaurant part, the only way to get anything was to ask Sonia and she would make sure you would get your food and drinks. We were asked to leave the Bar at one time because 200 Travel Agents were coming through and they needed to accommodate them.

Barefoot By the Sea - Put your feet in the sand eat lunch and enjoy the sound of the ocean because you couldn't see it over the overgrown brush unless you stood up. This was a great fast food place to eat (even though the service was slow). Hamburgers, salads and hot dogs, oh wait they were out of hot dogs and never got any delivered while we were there.

The Drunken Duck Pub - This pub was a life saver for food but way too loud inside. Whenever the other restaurants were closed, the Drunken Duck was the place to be. Portions of food were very small so we learned to order double every time we ordered. The music inside was way too loud and when you went outside the bugs attacked you, so if you wanted to talk to anyone you were yelling at them.

We were sitting with some friends that we met and having a few drinks when my husband went up to get me a beer (their own island beer Sands Light), he was informed they ran out, they then ran out of Sands Regular and then New Castle. We went to our rooms and grabbed beer and brought it back to the Pub so we had something to drink. I spoke with Kerry (I am assuming she was the manager) and she said I don't understand why we ran out I ordered three cases for the day! Are you kidding me, three cases of beer for the whole resort? Thought this was an All Inclusive Resort.

El Cielo - This restaurant was the worst of all of them, your wait time for food was over an hour and that was for breakfast or lunch. We were there for seven days and knew the menu by heart the same things were offered for breakfast and dinner each day on a very limited menu. The service was terrible and the food was not five stars! A couple that we met, got married at the Resort, had the same horrible experiences but waited four hours for their meal to be served (and they had reservations).

The Pool Bar - Never had beer and the service was ridiculous! You would wait a good twenty minutes for someone to even look at you and then to be informed sorry were out of beer. The music that was played was the same CD that they made, Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, etc. over and over and over Never was any island music played (with the exception of the Bahama Bay Bar), and just the same old CD it was horrible. We listened to that horrible music day in and day out 24 hours a day that CD played. We got to know which song was coming up next because we heard it so often. When we asked them to play Bahamian music they stated they only had one CD and that is the one we were listening too.

The Beach - The water was the prettiest I have ever seen, the colors gorgeous and the sands pure white. The drawback was the big tractor running up and down the beach trying to smooth out the sand and making more of a mess of the trash and kelp that had washed on shore. The huts had the same trash at them the entire time we were there, unless you cleaned up your own trash, it stayed right where it was. The few water sports they offered were only offered when the 200 travel agents came to view the property and that was twice in the eight days we were there. Otherwise the red flag was up so no water sports.

We really missed the vendors on the beach, sometimes they can be overwhelming but always fun to talk to them about their home island and see what they have made. According to the Taxi driver Sandals absolutely prohibits any Bahamian people on their beach, they only allow their people to come once a week to the pool deck and sell goods that are not made by the Bahamian people but bought somewhere else and resold for a ridiculous amount.

The Pools - The new Sandals Pool was not new, just redone but at least it was better than the quiet pool and spa. The big pool was always out of drinks and the quiet pool had no one there to help you. They had maybe six rafts(at the Big Pool) that we saw and they looked like they had been in a shark tank as bait and would sink if you laid on them for an extended period of time and none at the Quiet Pool.

We sat in the spa and it was so rough it tore the bottom of our feet and the back of our legs. A Pipe was leaking right next to the spa with water shooting straight out of the ground. The pool itself had dead bug skeletons stuck all around the edges. I sat in one of the recliners and went to put my chair back, the arm broke off and I almost fell out of the chair. All the furniture was old and falling apart, but if you look at their photos of the resort they only have pictures of new furniture.

Excursions - Great Exuma is a small island with a population of around 4,000 people. There was no excursions being offered through Sandals, (the water was too rough) but not rough enough for you to pay $750.00 for a day Excursion outside of Sandals. We ended up renting a car for $100.00 and driving the island to see different sites and to meet the Bahamian People (since Sandals did not employ any). We had a lovely time outside of Sandals and grew to appreciate Great Exuma through our eyes, not through Sandals.

Overall - It is very unfortunate that we had to experience this type of service at a Sandals Resort. At least we know that not all Sandals are like this, but my heart went out to the couples that experienced it for the first time. We were completely misled not only by the Live Chat Agent (telling me it was a Brand New Sandals) but also by the photos that are posted for Sandals, Great Exuma.

Sandals all inclusive resort in Great Exuma, Bahamas is only inclusive of what they have on hand if you decide to go here prepare to go hungry and have a limited supply of beer and drinks! I would not recommend this resort to anyone!

We recently stayed at the Sandals Halcyon Resort in St. Lucia for our honeymoon. We were so excited to stay at a Sandals property. So many people we spoke to had wonderful things to say about Sandals. Being teachers, we have the time off to travel, but often, we don't have the funds. We decided to splurge on this once-in-a-lifetime vacation and book ten days in a Honeymoon Beachfront Concierge room. This consumed almost all of our honeymoon budget, but we were confident that booking with a company known for its quality and customer satisfaction, we wouldn't be disappointed.

I'm writing to you because we were incredibly disappointed. The disappointment began when we arrived at the resort and were taken to our room. We walked through the lobby, past the pool and along the shore path to our room. The Concierge warned us that the porch outside our door might be wet. At the time, I assumed it was because it might just have been cleaned, based on our arrival time. It was only the next day we would realize the porch was always wet because our rusty, old air conditioner dripped onto the porch.

The next problem that became apparent was that the Concierge couldn't get our door open. It had an old-style lock and key, which is perfectly acceptable, if the door opens easily. She fiddled with the lock and key for a minute or two before leaving us standing on the porch and returning to the lobby. The bellboy she sent was able to get the door open but we struggled with the lock every time we returned to the room. It was incredibly frustrating to deal with five or more times a day.

Our room was perfectly adequate but not impressive, special or romantic. The bathroom, especially, was disappointing. The room that contained the shower and toilet was large but plain. It was decorated with simple white tile and a flowered tile border. No sense of opulence or elegance and no accessories. The grout around the tile was dark with mildew in places. My husband stayed at the Comfort Inn in Mt Pocono, Pennsylvania the night before our wedding. His room had a Jacuzzi tub. I guess that may have skewed our expectations. The counter-top and sink, off of the bedroom, had been updated more recently but still lacked any kind of real luxury. The rest of the room was nice.

The furniture appeared to be newer but the air conditioner was clearly not. It was loud and inefficient. Upon talking to other guests and walking around the property, we discovered that most, if not all, of the other guestrooms on the property had been updated new electronic locks, new efficient air conditioners, brand new deck furniture. Its unfortunate that the most expensive rooms on the property weren't renovated when everything else was. It's also unfortunate that they were still the most expensive rooms when they hadn't been updated.

We were also surprised that the mini-bar contained no free snacks. Our room was billed as all-inclusive everything and snacks weren't free. That seemed like false advertising. On the subject of food, I have to say that we enjoyed dinner very much. We took advantage of the Stay at One, Play at Three feature and booked dinner at the restaurants at the Grande and Regency, as well as Marios and the Pier on our own property. The food we had for dinner every night was enjoyable and this quickly became the highlight of the day. We found breakfast and lunch to be disappointing. The food was fine, it was more an issue of service and atmosphere. We ate breakfast at Bay side on a regular basis. The staff was friendly when we were seated but were slow to return with drinks, menus and other requested items. We realized this was part of a slower, non-American lifestyle, so we were patient.

The one issue we could not overcome was the wildlife. The bugs, birds and cats were an issue both at Bay side and the Beach Bistro. We realized that both of these venues are essentially out-of-doors but it was very unappetizing to have to guard your food from wild creatures. The bugs are understandable but disgusting. Bay side is screened to keep out the birds but the flies fit right through the large screening. Most of the food was covered but often, bread, salad, vegetables and salad dressings would not be. We tried to limit ourselves to eating only those foods which were protected but this eliminated a lot of the healthier choices. The screening at Bay side kept the birds from flying in anywhere but the doorways. This is where the slow service of the staff became an issue. The staff would stack plates on trays and leave them around the room.

The birds would fly in, grab items off the trays and fly out. The staff would make a cursory attempt to shoo them away but it seemed half-hearted at best. There was a similar issue with the cats. The cats had found (or made) holes in the screens large enough to squeeze through. The cats would roam around under the tables waiting for handouts or scraps. I never saw a guest feed them, but it didn't seem to deter them. The cat problem was much bigger at the Beach Bistro. Because the Bistro was more casual, service was even slower. Cats would actually climb on the tables and take leftover food that the staff hadn't cleared. The cats would then crouch under the chairs and gnaw on whatever they had acquired. I grew up with cats and generally enjoy having them around but this was disgusting and unsanitary. Sandals bills itself (and charges) as an upscale accommodation with an emphasis on quality. The abundance of wildlife really flies in the face of that description.

At the very least, we were expecting to spend a few relaxing days on the beach enjoying the sun and water sports. We were surprised to see security guards patrolling the fence line of the property closest to the beach. Our first morning at Halcyon, we went down to the beach after breakfast. We lasted about an hour before we got tired of the harassment by the local residents. Some of them politely asked about joining their tour groups. Some not-so-politely asked us about joining their tour groups. Some of the locals tried to guilt us in to giving them money by pointing out how rich we were. We retreated to the pool, disappointed that we couldn't relax by the ocean. Just about every time we walked past the fence line, a local resident on the beach motioned to us or yelled at us. We started taking the longer route around the pool, closer to the main building, so we didn't have to pretend to ignore them, as they yelled at us.

As I said, we booked 9 nights at the Halcyon. On the 5th day, I got an email from my mom that my grandmother had fallen and would need surgery to repair her shattered femur. My husband and I discussed whether we should return home. The injury itself was not life-threatening but the doctors were a little concerned about putting my grandmother under anesthesia, due to her advanced aging and generally weak condition. We realized that neither of us wanted to stay at Sandals. We were tired of trying to convince ourselves and each other that we were having a good time. We were disappointed in the accommodations and the service.

We were expecting something lavish and magical a true once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon vacation, and this fell far short of our expectations in so many ways. We had our travel agent change our airline tickets so we could return home on Saturday instead of Tuesday, cutting our honeymoon 3 nights short. We discussed what to say to the staff at Sandals and decided just to explain the family-emergency part, realizing that the problems we noticed couldn't be changed immediately by the staff. We didn't want to complain and cause a scene and encroach on other peoples vacations.

We are both saddened by the way the whole thing turned out. We looked forward to the honeymoon for months, anticipating an incredibly relaxing and luxurious vacation after the stress of the wedding. We thought that we had chosen a company that could provide those things. These seem to be the hallmark of the Sandals properties and advertising campaign. I'm sorry to say that we chose wrong. Were not angry, just incredibly disappointed. We have begun talking about where to go on a second honeymoon in a few years when we can save enough money to travel again.

Per our phone conversation today, attached is a timeline of events thus far during our planned six-night stay at the Sandals Regency Resort in St. Lucia on the dates August 19 - August 25, 2010. Upon our transfer from the Ladera Resort stay, we have experienced a completely opposite customer service experience at the Sandals Regency. Ladera Resort was absolutely amazing and fully accommodating throughout our honeymoon experience on every level.

1) Upon a long-awaited check-in, we were given room #309 which was not clean and the bathroom tub was filthy upon arrival to our room. We placed a phone call direct to housekeeping, requesting for the room to be cleaned as soon as possible. After waiting one hour with no arrival of housekeeping, we then notified the front desk representative Ron via phone and requested that he notify the supervisor on duty to know that our accommodations did not meet our exceptions for a Sandals Honeymoon experience.

2) We then headed down to the pool during at the time of room cleaning. There were no clean towels available, and we were escorted out of the pool within five minutes by security due to chlorine being added at 6pm in the evening. This is understandable. However, it was another obstacle to deal with our first evening at the resort.

3) Upon leaving the pool and heading back to the hotel room, we then headed up a very dark hallway with no lighting and a flight of stairs (where another couple almost fell on their way down). This was the only entrance back to our room, and then, we experienced that both room keys were not activated. We then headed to the front desk where Ron was fielding many calls and waited for our room keys to be reactivated and notified him of the dark stairwell being unsafe. He offered to show us another room for a $450 dollar night upgrade.

Upon arrival back to the room, the bath tub was still not cleaned which was very frustrating, as seen in the mold growing in the shower and a dirty tub and toilet. We then pulled out the information book (pictures attached) and notified the front desk that it had mold growing on the pages as seen in the pictures.

We expressed our concerns to the Director of Guest Services Victor about our experience thus far. He offered to show us room upgrades at a charge of $550/ per night which we entertained. However, we did not feel the price was worth it due to the poor customer service and lack of prompt responses from the staff at the resort. We expected to have the majority of staff to be pleasant and happy however experienced the exact opposite.

We spent the day at the St. Lucia Grande Resort. The transfer shuttle bus was overcrowded, and the system for lining up was unorganized.

Dinner at La Toc. Upon arrival for our 8:15 pm reservation, we waited another 15 minutes to be seated and were not greeted upon arrival in an understaffed half-full restaurant. Upon arrival back to the room in the evening, we notified the front desk that the air conditioning unit had not been cooling the room properly and to request maintenance to fix it.

1) We contacted the hospitality/travel desk for 2 hours in the morning upon advice from Ron the prior evening to be informed of the travel tours for the day. Ron was unaware of tours being offered and requested we have a 6:30am wake-up all to contact Nikita. We tried Nikita 4 times from 6:30am - 8am, and no answer. We also ended up leaving a message with the reception desk for Nikita to contact us asap. However, no phone calls were returned. We then tried again at 9:15am, and Nikita answered.

However by this time of the morning, no excursions were available, and they could not accommodate us for the day. This was very frustrating, as we tried every avenue to reach Nikita.

During breakfast, we had our housekeeping come, and it is now 1:30pm. There are no new towels, refrigerator is not stocked with new drinks, and the tub is still not cleaned. Our major complaint is Guest Relations Front Desk Management and Housekeeping, along with Customer service, seems to be not empowered or incented to care about their guests' experience. This is extremely discouraging, especially since we are here for a once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon experience.

The only silver lining and good highlight thus far has been the superior service by two staff members at the Armandos Restaurant named Gus and Monique who were very pleasant and upbeat about being hospitable and accommodating. They deserve the best of recognition for being personable and caring about their guests.

Firstly, the website is very misleading. The resort is no where near as nice as it is portrayed. Getting through customs could have been a lot easier if the correct forms had been given to us by the airline (not Sandals' fault). We expected to be picked up by private car; a hot, non air-conditioned bus was our mode of transportation along with at least 10-12 other couples. The whole registration process makes you feel like a school child.

The gentleman who showed us through the property upon arrival could not be understood. Our room was not ready at the appointed time. The room was a huge disappointment. Very run down. The water had a brutal smell of sulfur, the screen was torn going out to the patio, and the TV had no sound most of the time we were there unless I gave the audio cable a giggle or slammed the dresser drawers underneath to temporarily restore the sound. Just don't close the drawer again. The alarm clock was very difficult to figure outthe folks there before us must have needed to rise at 4:00 am to check out because the clock went off each morning at that time. We asked housekeeping to try and fix it. They didn't and it didn't shut off even when unplugged. Finally, I got it to go off at 11:00 am, which of course we didn't need because we would be busy outside saving a chair by the pool.

So many chairs were saved for the couples that had butlers that the seating was limited. If you went to breakfast late and expected to sit by the pool, you were out of luck. By the way, there are 2 pools, not 7. The very, very small pools near the villas do not count and were not for general use. The food was a huge disappointment in most restaurants and the reservation deal is crazy. After arriving finally (4:30 pm) in our room on Saturday, we were told by Kimono and Baccarat that we could not get reservations for either until Thursday. Kimono was not worth it at all. Baccarat was amazing. The Crystal Room was lovely, but the food was not and I am not picky.

Spices had a great wait staff and lovely chef, Othello. Anytime you called about anything, the tone was rushed impatient and mostly rude. You were treated like they were doing you a favor. Our honeymoon breakfast was very, very late. It finally came but not without 5-6 calls from different folks assuring us it was on its way. The server, very nice. We were led to believe that the amenities were freenot so. Jet skis, etc., were all extra and a nice young girl who showed us around told us not to do anything with those vendors, they were not to be trusted. Great. Our room was to come complete with champagne upon our arrival.

A bucket of very melted ice and the house chardonnay were waiting for us (Berringer. Yack ****... that's why it is included) and of course, no wine opener to open it with. The gent who showed us to the room said he'd be right back with it. Never saw him again. We had to ask many, many people. And when we did finally get it over an hour later, it was a flimsy plastic thing that barely worked. Can't say enough about how bad the water smelled. You took a shower and you felt like you weren't getting clean. The bathrooms left much to be desired. This was a very important vacation for us, our honeymoon. Thank goodness we can have fun no matter where we go. I expected so much more. $6,000.00 is a lot to pay for subpar service, food and amenities. I will never return to a Sandals Resort.

My wife and I recently went on our honeymoon to Sandals in Great Exhuma, Bahamas. We arrived on July 26, 2010 at approximately 5pm local time. During our stay, we had several situations with the staff and property that we feel should not occur to anyone on a trip of any of caliber be it their honeymoon or vacation. The website states that your resort is, "The kind of honeymoon you dream about." Well after our honeymoon there July 26, 2010 to August 1, 2010, it was the kind of honeymoon you have nightmares about. Who dreams of their wife being sexually harassed, almost sexually assaulted on their honeymoon? Perhaps on your website under "Things to know," you should put expect to be sexually harassed.

Upon arrival, we were greeted at the front door and our bags unloaded and dropped on the curb by a "butler". Roughly an hour later, we were taken to our room by one of the front desk clerks, not a "butler" as all other couples. The desk clerk had no idea where our bay house was and took us on a fifteen minute excursion trying to find the room before calling for help to find the room. Finally, we arrived at our bay house and were taken up the stairs, as the elevator was out of service for quiet sometime according to their employee. When we were in our room on the 2nd floor, we told the young lady that it was unacceptable for us to be expected to walk up and down the stairs multiple times a day for a week and we expected a new room. She rolled her eyes at us and sighed heavily. She told us that if we had problems to call the front desk as she could do nothing to help us.

The brochure promised certain amenities for the honeymoon package and we received none of the amenities. One such amenity we were promised was rose petals on the bed, which would have been very nice, never happened. Another amenity which is discussed in detail later is the "personal butler" service. Third, was the premium liquor in our rooms, which we requested Crown Royal before our arrival. Upon arrival to our final room, we asked where the Crown Royal could be found and were told that it would take 24 hours to get it to our room. Why would I request something weeks before arrival only to find it was going to take an additional 24 hours to arrive? Lastly, they promised breakfast in bed one morning and that never happened.

I called the front desk and was informed that the resort was at full capacity but they would see what they could do. After looking out my balcony around the resort, all I could see was about 50 visitors to the resort, a far cry from "full capacity". An hour and forty five minutes after being taken to our first Bay house, we were greeted by a gentleman who took us to our next bay house and into our room, this time with a working elevator. To this point no one had acknowledged us being on a honeymoon as it had been noted and we had seen other couples welcomed to the resort for their honeymoon.

Upon being moved to our new room, the employee who escorted us into the room asked me, "Where are your bags?" I replied to him that last time I saw my bags over 3 hours ago they were being tossed from a taxi onto the curb and no one had brought them to me or called to inform me where they were located. About an hour after this conversation, I met my "butler" and finally was given my bags. During all of this my wife and I had missed the manager's reception and introduction of all the couples. We were extremely disappointed by this but were very thankful to finally have a room and our luggage.

The following day at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon, we decided to go have a drink before dinner at The Drunk Duck Pub. We went in and were greeted by Rashaun the bartender at the time. After two drinks, my wife decided to visit the restroom. Upon her leaving the bar, Rashaun, exited the bar and headed towards the restroom as well. Shortly thereafter, I left as well. When I returned to the bar, my wife informed me that RaShaun had tried to enter restroom with her and was outside the ladies room leaning on the wall waiting for her. This infuriated me and my wife and we tried to call Brandon ** at the resort with guest services and he told us he was busy and would call back. We never heard back from him that evening.

Later that same afternoon, we went back to our room and went to sleep. Between 1:45 am and 6:45 am that night, a person used a room key to open the door our room and the only thing that kept them out was the fact that we had latched the door, therefore they could not enter the room with us. The person who did this each time exited the door nearest our room and went in the service entrance near the door. I got up each time and had to close the door fully. We reported this to Brandon L. the following morning and he never had a response for anything and was finally contacted by the general manager, whom we gave a statement to over the phone and were promised that security would look into the matter and we would be contacted. We were never contacted. The general manager also told us that we would be contacted on Saturday, July 31, 2010 before we left on Sunday for a statement and some more information and were never contacted.

On Sunday, August 1, 2010, we went to the desk and were told that the general manager was not on the premises but they got Mr. Florian S., the assistant manager. The general manager who had promised us a meeting had actually gone to Miami on Friday for a trip he had planned. We sat down with Mr. S. and gave him all of the details and he was the first person to request an incident report from us as Brandon and the general manager never informed us of this or offered it to us. Mr. S. was very cordial, helpful and apologetic. He told us he would investigate the matter and get back to us. We gave him all of the information he requested from us and promised us that he would get back with us.

I was and still remain very disappointed with the Sandals Resort. I will not be returning and will inform everyone I know and speak to for as long as I can that the resort is unacceptable and that the literature they distribute pertaining to their properties is very misleading. A personal butler does not work for 10 other couples and is more accessible than our butler. We called him numerous times and our calls were not returned. The website states that the butler will unpack your bags and press your outfits, none of which ever happened or was ever offered.

I guess we shouldn't expect very much from a place that doesn't trust their employees enough to let them handle any kind of monetary exchange. That is why everything has to be charged to the room and put on a credit card. You, as a major corporation, don't trust your employees enough to let them handle cash but you expect me to trust them with my credit card information.

I could not believe an employee was telling a patron this information. The employees of this resort have no sense of urgency when a request is made by a customer. If we treated customers that way at our job, we would be unemployed. I understand that most island people are not in a hurry to do much of anything but when they are working in a customer service industry, they should at least make it appear as though they give a damn. My main issue relates to the way our complaints with the bartender and security of our room was handled. Brandon L. blew us off on two occasions and took his time in getting back to us on what I consider very serious incidents.

The food at best was mediocre. There was no "local" flair to the food as we expected and the Il Cielo restaurant was a huge disappointment as the fish was cold and undercooked. We had a candlelight dinner on the beach and were given a menu two days before our dinner was scheduled. My wife ordered the lobster, which we were told 4 hours before the dinner was not available. She was offered crab legs as a substitute. They were brought out with the rest of our dinner and everything was cold. Our food from room service was half-served. We ordered two sandwiches and got one about forty-five minutes later without the chips, then thirty minutes after that we got the other sandwich that was missing the seasoned fries.

Both sandwiches were horrible in taste and appearance. The Club sandwich had mayonnaise on it and felt like it had been under the heat lamp for a long period of time. The best food on the beach was pizza of all things. I found the Sandals Resort to be very disappointing. There is no mention on your website that the restaurants on the beach are very limited in their serving times or the attire you must wear. At Il Cielo, you are expected to dress up as if you are going to a 4 star restaurant. Who in their right mind brings such clothing to a beach resort?

My wife and I got on a Sandals Sailboat with a Sandals employee since neither of us had ever operated a sailboat. The mast cracked at the base and hit me in jaw. We were stranded about 250 yards from the shore straight out from the office on the beach and rescue boat and it still took 30 minutes for someone to notice that we were stranded. The Sandals Resort Great Exhuma location was a horrible experience, and I hope to never repeat it for as long as I should live. I could have expected some of the things we experienced had I booked a room at a cheaper than dirt hotel but this was far from what I expected at what I was told to be a top-notch four star resort. Thank you for your time.

I am a newlywed who had planned to leave for my honeymoon on 07/27/2010, two days after my wedding, yet had a rude awakening of what appears to be a scam where the actual cost of the honeymoon package purchased through the Sandals Resort six months in advance of my planned travel dates turned out to cost much more than what we originally were told would be the total cost. The resort failed to provide and inform me six months earlier of canceled flights, but instead had to learn about it through the airline ticketing agent two hours just before my husband and I were to board our flight. A honeymoon package valued at $3718.12 (included hotel and airfare) at an all inclusive resort from 07/27/2010 - 08/04/10 was purchased online on 01/18/2010, at which time a $400 deposit was paid up front to hold the reservation.

On 07/01/2010, when I went online to pay the remaining balance due, I was informed prices had decreased as their was a promotion for a 60% savings and therefore only required to pay a remaining balance of $2292.40, which a full payment was made at that time. I received hotel booking and air travel information along with a confirmation number and airline PNR, as well as a print out receipt which clearly stated the "reservation has already been paid in full." On the date of when we were to depart, three hours prior to the departure time, my husband and I were informed by an American Airlines agent that no airline tickets were reserved but instead had been cancelled by the travel agency (Unique Vacations at Sandals).

When I contacted the Sandals.com customer service to inquire about this error and spoke with the Reservation agent, Crystal ***, she informed me that the flight reservations had been cancelled due to lack of payment. When I informed her that payments were made and confirmation print outs of receipts had been obtained, including confirmation numbers and Airfare PNR, which clearly stated that reservation was paid in full, she stated that airfare was never paid for.

I informed her that at no time had Sandals notified me of any pending balance due nor of any flight reservations having been cancelled. She stated that because the package was purchased online, they did not deal with it and so we were responsible for any changes. I informed her that I had checked my reservation via their website on several occasions, including the night before 07/6/2010, just to ensure all was fine and still no information related to a such cancellation had been reported. When I tried to access my reservation online while on the phone with the Sandals Customer Representative, my reservation was no longer accessible and unable to be located.

Upon further discussion and seeing that I was getting nowhere I asked to speak to a higher up, a supervisor who I was hoping would be able to better serve me. I was told to contact the online number as the reservation was done online as they did not deal with online reservations. When I inquired if the Sandals.com was not one and the same as the Sandals resort, I was informed that they were not. I again repeated the question and asked it they had any affiliation with the Sandals Resort and again was told that I had to contact Sandals via online to address my concerns. Since I refused to believe this, I informed the agent that I would be submitting a complaint to Consumer Affairs, write a letter to the President of the company and if need be take them to litigation, which she quickly changed her tune and transferred me to the Reservation Supervisor, Lauren ***.

Ms. *** stated it was not unusual that this type of error occurred as this was not the first time she had dealt with this. Since it had occurred before, I asked how was this resolved, at which time she quickly changed what she previously stated, informing me that it was an error on our part and that we should look more closely at our paperwork. Upon informing her that I had the paperwork in front of me, along with the print out of my reservation and the payments made and that nowhere on the paperwork did it state that the payments made were only for the hotel room and not inclusive of airfare, how are people to know of any cancellations made by their travel agency.

She once again stated it was our responsibility and should have received the notification at the time we made the payment. She also stated Sandals would not compensate us for any additional travel costs and therefore we would have to be responsible for obtaining our own air travel reservations to keep the package and hotel room for the dates of 07/27 -- 08/04/2010.

She also, suggested we purchase additional tickets and write to the company to see if we would be reimbursed but did not provide any time of assurance that this would occur. Upon informing her that it was too late for us to reserve a last minute flight from Los Angeles, CA (USA) to St. Lucia (Caribbean) this same evening, we would have to move our hotel room reservation dates by one day out (07/28 - 08/05/2010) as we would have to travel the next day as there were no longer any flights available to get us from Los Angeles to St. Lucia, LC. Ms. *** then proceeded to informed me that that would not be possible as they did not have the original room or a similar one available on the last day of our vacation, 08/05/2010. What they did have available instead, was another room at a higher price, which required a minimum two-night stay to be purchased.

Due to the fact that both my husband and I had already requested time off from work and had made arrangements to be on our honeymoon, as well as our frustrations were running high, we had no other choice but to pay the additional costs $168 to reserve the hotel room, in addition to the airline costs of $1318.80 which should have been part of the initial package purchased. In total we ended up paying $461.08 more than expected and had spent 3 hrs online researching and making our own roundtrip travel arrangements which would somewhat fit into the itinerary initially planned so as not to loose more days of our vacation.

Me and my husband went to Sandals Antigua June 16,2010. It was a complete disaster. Customer service was horrible. They upgraded us to a better suite and we thought it smelled like mildew in the kitchen. My husband complained but nothing was done. Microwave never worked, my husband completed. They said they were going to replace. They never did. "All of the restaurants closed early on a resort." Are you kidding? We have been at a previous Sandals Jamaica and it was great the restaurants didn't close early and you couldn't get in all the restaurants that require reservations. One night, we tried to go to one of the restaurants. Barefoot restaurant was still open. They decide to close the restaurant because they had a long wait so the only place to eat was this nasty pub.

The food was horrible in that Pub restaurant then the host which was management in the Barefoot was so rude to me. When I had gotten back to the room, I called and complained to the property manager. I don't think anything was done. Then I called room service to our room. We had a butler. But you didn't get your food until hours literally hours later. One evening, I had to send my husband because it was raining out to get me some food. Butler never showed until after he was back which took two hours. It was a mess and not worth the money at all. There was so much more to tell. It was crazy. Then when I called front desk about the butler, he argued with me. I was very surprised.

How is this so? On 05/11, we took the Jungle tubing excursion prepaid by our registry. The shuttle trip there was 1 1/2 hrs. long, and we had just spent that same amt. of time from the airport to our Negril resort the afternoon before. It was too far and we were not going to travel that distance again. So, upon return we went to the tour desk to cancel a prepaid with registry trip for 5/14. It was for horseback riding and we were told all tours were about the same distance by our Butler.

The tour desk said it was booked by a 3rd party co. that does the registries, so they could not issue the credits back to us. ($150 was "more fun on your Honeymoon credits, and $8 on my visa. They told us and our Butler repeatedly that they would issue a credit back to my Visa for the full amount, and to book a cruise we wanted to take (that left right from the resort) with our Visa, there was no other way, so they said. This was on 05/12 we were told this. I phoned the person that had called and booked all our registry trips for Sandals (Jerry) on 5/19 and he said he would call the resort and call back as a courtesy to me...they keep pointing the finger at each other saying the other one has to issue the credit, BUT NO CREDIT GETS ISSUED! He called back and said they told him it had been issued??? I called my Visa co. on 5/26, STILL NO CREDIT!

This was our 1st trip with Sandals and we had planned on returning, but if this credit is not given to us, we will not, and will be forced to go on all the Wedding web sites and inform and warn potential Honeymooners to not go to Sandals. They would not issue a credit to Us while we were there on account, even though that is where $150 of the $158 came from, forced us to charge more on our Credit card for the replacement trip ($170) and THEN NEVER FULFILLED THEIR WORD BY POSTING THE CREDIT WE ARE OWED BACK TO US. Is this how Sandals treats their customers? I assure you we will not let this issue drop until we are issued this credit.

So either mail us a check for $158, or a check for $150 and a credit to Visa pd. with for $8, but either way PLEASE JUST DO IT. We are owed this.Our Butler Basil was told the same thing and can verify all this. this leter has been sent to everybody involved @ Sandals and their registry. Calls and promises have been made but still no refund!We feel very cheated as we paid alot of money for the whole trip.we are only asking for what we have coming to us, this is money our family contributed through our registry for us to enjoy.This was our Honeymoon that we saved for a long time, and it's the principle of it all.

As directed, I am filing a complaint against Beaches/Sandals resorts. Every avenue I have taken has been a dead end. I have outlined in other e-mails we were five time retuning guests to Beaches. When booking this past summer, I was told since we were a 5 time returning guest, we would receive an automatic upgrade upon arrival.

When we arrived at Beaches Turks and Caicos: Three Couples in front of us received room upgrades. when it was our turn we did not. when questions, the staff said sorry you are not eligible. Our room was not cleaned three to four nights that we where at the resort. Things where stolen from our room, clothing, shoes.

Club Liquid served alcohol to three girls that were underage. No cards where requested for age. They were directed to say nothing. We spent four nights searching for our kids till 4:00 a.m. since they were given drinks at Club Liquid at Beaches Turks and Caicos. It was awful. We found them with a group of kids that were served and their was no security on the resort.

When I addressed these issues, we were called a liar. We where given bogus e-mail addresses. Do you realize it took me 5 months to get a valid e-mail to address these problems. When I did address the problems, they told me I didn't address them when I was at the resort. That is an outright lie. I did address these problems and told they would be taken care of. We went through 4 hellish nights on our vacation and that is not acceptable for a resort that advertises they are a family resort.

I have requested a 4 night free stay or a full refund. They came back with a one night free stay with a free dinner since everything is free, where do they take responsibility. This is not acceptable for a business who says they are a family resort. I have been told that everything has been addressed but where does that leave us? A miserable vacation and nothing else.

I want this situation addressed. I want them to take responsibility for our vacation. I want a 4 night free stay or a full refund. It doesn't matter how big the company is. They need to take responsibility. Give me the four nights, so I can post that they are a "Family Resort". Please let me know that you have received this e-mail that you can help me.

When we arrived, everything looked great at first. But when we checked in the room, it was in a terrible condition--the draws would not open, half of the TV was green, two lamps that were plugged in did not work, there was mold in the bathtub and on the cracked tile floor, very loose handle in the shower, and the toilet would run all night long. We made a complaint to the front desk about the room and they said that they would not have a new room in the next two days so we waited two days to get a decent room.

Meanwhile, we had to chase down the maid to get the room made up three times during our stay. When the second day arrived, we looked at the new room and it was better so we definitely took the room. It took a half hour to get the key to the new room and three hours to get our bags out from the old room to the new room--a total of three and a half hours wasted time on our vacation. When we went to breakfast, people were standing with plates in their hands waiting for a waitress to get off their cell phones to clean the messy table that were no longer in use.

One night, we went to dinner. When we got our plates, my husband had to get up after waiting for 15 minutes to get some silverware while three waitresses stood there talking together. The service was terrible all week long. Most workers did not even crack a smile that we did not feel welcome. During the day and night throughout the resort, we would see old cups from other guests. We did not know if the tables or beach chairs were taken because of all the cups that were left there and dirty towels that no one bothered to pick up. It was by far the worst experience we ever had on vacation. It is criminal to call it a five star resort. It was a big waste of money.

This is the exact copy of our complaint that we thought we were sending to Sandals corporate office. They (resort manager at the Royal Bahamian) gave us a bogus email address.

My husband and I recently returned from a vacation at the Royal Bahamian resort in Nassau, Bahamas. Notwithstanding the weather conditions which clearly cannot be attributable to Sandals, we encountered the absolute worst service and vacation experience of our adult lives. It was incredibly disappointing as we are Sandals Select members who have vacationed twice at Sandals St. Lucia (which were awesome) and had the intent of trying to hit all Sandals and Beaches facilities over the next 15 years. We no longer desire to achieve that goal.

The specific nature of our discontent is as follows. The service was terrible. No doubt about it, the weather was cold. That disappointed the vacationers. The staff at the Royal Bahamian, however, was absolutely miserable because of the cold. The pool bar bartenders were rude, barely spoke and would not walk two feet to get you a drink. It took me 25 minutes to get drinks at the Crikateers Club on the day of our arrival because the bartenders ignored me while watching the Miami Dolphins-Pittsburgh Steelers game. When we arrived in our room (which we paid to upgrade), there was hair and scum in the bath tub and no robes were in the room. We question whether the sheets were new and the refrigerator was unplugged so all the items stocked in it were warm.

Then, for our entire stay, workers were repairing both the roof and the rooms on our floor (the top floor of the Windsor building). If we sat on our balcony to look at the water, we were hit in the head with sander and debris from the roof. Plus, the furniture on our balcony was constantly filthy (no matter how many times we wiped it up) due to the debris falling off the roof. The workers who were doing maintenance work in the rooms on the 6th floor were extremely loud starting around 7:30 or 8:00 every morning (yelling to each other, laughing, etc.). This is our vacation--we wanted to sleep in a bit. If this type of activity was going to occur, you should have placed your guests in other rooms while the work was being performed. These events, coupled with the fact the maids did not clean our room most days until late afternoon (on one occasion it was 5 o'clock), made us question the level of service at the resort.

Other than Baccarat (where the service was lovely for dinner) and Kimonos (where the food and service was wonderful), all other service was beyond sub-par. The staff was rude, unfriendly and lazy. Quite the contrary $300 for incomplete job from our experiences at other Sandals locations.

Most disturbing, however, was the Concierge desk. Whenever we called, they did not answer. In fact, we had to carry our own bags down to the airport shuttle on the day of departure because the bell hop did not show up at the designated time (we waited 20 minutes) and then neither the concierge nor the bell hop would answer their phones.

Even more incredulous was the fact that, on day 2. We decided we wanted to be transferred to Jamaica because the weather was 20 degrees warmer there. The Concierge desk originally told us there were plenty of rooms in Jamaica and they could transfer us, no problem, we would just have to arrange our own air. My husband spent three hours locating suitable air transportation. Then, right before he was ready to book the air, the Concierge called to book our room in Jamaica and told us "they were full" in all Montego Bay. We went back to the room and called the Sandals 1-800 number only to find that yes, Sandals Montego Bay was booked, but the White House and other Sandals facilities in the same general vicinity had availability. By that point, my husband had spent almost the entire afternoon working on the project and was so livid at the lack of assistance by the Concierge people, that he just said forget it--we'll stay here and make the best of it. Unbeknownst to us, we would encounter all these other issues.

In closing, I am taking my precious time to write this email because I too am involved in running a large Company and would want to know about these service issues. If you truly want to retain your reputation, you need to work on these problems. It isn't wasting all this money that is sole reason for our discontent, it is also the time. I have very little time to get away on vacation and very little opportunity to have sitters watch my children while I can go to a couples only resort. To have the only 5 days of the year I take to get away be like this, it is beyond disappointing.

Until you fix the staff and service at this resort, you are going to lose repeat customers such as my husband and I. Also, people like I, with ties to the business world and Conde Neste Traveler, will share our negative experience by word of mouth and publication. Something that any Company in this economic environment cannot afford. I hope you take our complaints seriously and endeavor to fix them for the good of your Company.

The result is that we will never go back to this resort and everyone that we know will know about this horrible experience that we had to endure! We vacation several times a year and have always recommended places that we have been. Unfortunately, this will not make our list. I hope I do not have to begin recommending places not to go!

I used to book resorts on line myself. Now, I switched back to a travel agent who can give me all that info and cut through the internet propaganda. Does not cost more and I have an ally on my side. They even called the resort and yelled at the management for me.

Back in Dec 2008 I booked a 5 night stay for me and my husband at Sandals Whitehouse in Nov 2009. I made this booking through Orbitz back in 2008 to celebrate our wedding anniversary. To my disappointment I received an email from Orbitz that Sandals Whitehouse will be closed for renovation during those dates and that I will be relocated to another hotel. The only other option I was given was to change my travel dates.

This isn't fair- I shouldn't be forced to accept any other hotel or dates. I want to cancel the entire stay. After about 15 email exchanges and as many phone calls with Orbitz I finally got Sandals to refund the hotel portion of the booking, but they are washing their hands of the responsibility to pay the airline cancellation penalty. The airline is not refunding the money, but will allow me to book some other tickets with the funds. But they are also charging a penalty of $150 per head which Sandals should comp. Given that they are accepting responsibility for disruption of my trip, I don't understand how they are justifying this stance. I am cancelling the trip because Sandals has wilfully decided to shut down its resort during my intended stay. So Sandals needs to compensate for the airline cancellation penalty of $150 per head.

We planned our wedding & honeymoon at the Sandals Grande St. Lucian resort in St. Lucia. We ran into a few minor issues at the resort related to our wedding that were escalated towards the end of our stay due to their inability to follow up on their mistakes. The resort agreed that our issues were not handled or resolved appropriately and felt it was fair to request reimbursement for the time that we had to take away from our vacation to redo things due to their error. We gave the resort the option of either providing us all of our wedding pictures to a DVD or reimbursing us for a partial day.

We were promised via email in early May that we would receive a partial day credit. The resort claims that they have credited the card that was used to settle our charges at the end of our stay. They claim the credit was applied to a MasterCard ending in 0472. Unfortunately neither of us own a MasterCard and neither of our credit cards end in 0472. We explained this to the resort via email. They have been unresponsive to my most requests to double check their records.

I also requested additional funds to be credited due to the amount of time, energy, and effort that I continue to put into resolving their mistake as well as the fact that this credit should have been applied almost 2 months ago. Their unresponsiveness and inability to follow-up is what frustrated us while we were at the resort and the frustration continues to grow after every communication. They need to be held accountable for what they promised. They need to be held accountable for what they have yet to deliver to me.

We originally only asked for a 1/2 day credit at the resort, which amounted to a minimal $350. Due to the experience at the resort in St. Lucia after the wedding, their inability to handle their mistakes appropriately while we were there, and their inability to deliver the refund as they promised, and their overall inability to handle concerns appropriately I am interested in pursuing additional funds/credits from the resort.

My husband and I booked our honeymoon stay at Sandals Resort in St. Lucia, Halcyon Beach for May 6, 2009 thru May 11, 2009 through Liberty Travel. These reservations were made a year in advance for $3700. I cannot put into words our excitement and anticipation for our honeymoon trip to St. Lucia. We had heard such wonderful things from friends and family about the Sandals property.

Unfortunately, what should have been a amazing trip to Sandals St. Lucia turned into a motel 6-type nightmare at Sandals Ocho Rios. We were originally scheduled on an AA flight from Philadelphia to St. Lucia, with a connection in Miami. Due to mechanical problems with AA in Philadelphia, we missed our connecting flight to St. Lucia by about an hour. According to AA, there was no way for us to get to St. Lucia for 2 more days. My husband and I were completely distraught. We were stranded at the Miami airport.

I called my travel agent at Liberty Travel practically in tears. How could we lose 2 days of our honeymoon?? My travel agent stated that the only availability for an even trade ($3700) was the Sandals Grande in Ocho Rios Jamica. We were told these were the exact same accommodations and that this property was just as beautiful. We felt we had few choices at this point, so we trusted our travel agent and agreed to change our honeymoon.

We then walked down to the front desk lobby to return the key and get the correct one. I also asked for a lock for the safety deposit box, which was originally never given to us. I was given the correct key and a lock for the box. When I returned to the room, I realized that there was a lock already in the box and the key that I was given did not fit. So once again I had to walk down to the lobby and tell the person at the desk the situation. I was told that she would immediately send someone up to our room to fix it. We patiently waiting over an hour only for no one to show up, so we decided to venture out to the resort to attempt to enjoy our honeymoon.

During our stay we attended the Reggae beach bash and went to the restaurants on the Riveria side. First of all, there were very limited varieties of food and everything had a completely bland taste. I found the majority of the food to be chicken or pork, when I was expecting various types of seafood or something that I would not normally eat at home. While at the Reggae beach bash, I went up to the bar to get two beers, asked the bartender for two beers, and then said, can I also have two shots? The bartender looks at me and simply said NO, then walked away. I stood their dumbfounded, thought to myself, isnt this an all-inclusive resort, and I then took my two beers and walked away. I told my husband about the situation and he was far from happy about it. We finished our beers and left the beach bash.

The resort in itself was average, but to be honest I would not recommend this resort to anyone after the stay that we had. And after speaking with other couples, it seems that we paid was simple highway robbery. One couple told me that they spent $3200 and got their own pool, which they shared with the couple who stayed in the next room. They also stated that they had a couch and a mini kitchen included in their room. Obviously we did not receive the vacation that we paid for. At the very least, I expected good service and to be able to drink when ever I wanted too. We also found it hard to find places to hang out. We were never given any type of itinerary, to let you know what was going on in the resort and where. We had to constantly ask other people what they were doing for that evening. The past resorts that I have stayed at have always slipped some type of paper under our door to tell us what was going on and what time different events were happening. The entire trip we had no clue what was happening and had to rely on other guests. It wasnt until the last day, that we realized that near the photo shop that there was a billboard with everything posted on it. It would have been nice if someone from the staff had shared that information with us.

Speaking of the photo shop, while looking at our photos taken from the paparazzi, we narrowed it down to about 5 photos that we really liked. I wanted one - 8x10 and four -5x7. They all looked like I printed them out on my computer at home. Each 5x7 was $16.00. Ridiculous. I gave them back to the girl and told her that I was not paying for the quality of those pictures. I asked her to put the pictures on a disk and that I would print them out at home if that was the quality I was going to receive.

Our honeymoon with Sandals was flat out terrible. I am not sure what was worse, the room, the service or the food; they were all unacceptable. I am requesting a representative contact me immediately regarding my Sandals experience.

My husband and I arrived at resort on March 4, 2009. We were getting married on Saturday March 7th and were extremely excited about our trip. We were greeted graciously by staff and escorted to lunch. At that time we were instructed to return to the concierge desk at 3pm to receive our room key. That is were the disappointment began. When we booked our trip we selected the Royal Garden area of the resort with a room that would have a patio or balcony (as described on website). We were escorted to a room in the main building (room 326 I believe) and were told that we were being upgraded. The room was beautiful but it overlooked the roof of another building, not a garden, and did not have a patio or balcony.

We requested a room change for the next day. Our request was honored and we were placed in room 117, still in the main building, not the garden area but it did have a balcony. The room was a dungeon. It was on the service side of the building, there was limited sunlight, there were pump motors directly outside that ran 24 hours a day, service carts were wheeled past the room at all hours and the room was cold and very depressing. After 1 night of not being able to sleep due to the high pitched hum of the motors, I expressed my concerns to the concierge who again put in for a room change for us. It was at that point that we finally ended up in the Royal Garden, Oleander building, room 724.

With each move we were told that it was an upgrade from our reservation. We originally booked the Royal Garden because of its location on the property so I dont know why our choice would have been changed without getting our approval, upgrade or not. It was an extremely stressful start to what was to be the perfect vacation. It was disheartening to speak with others who were experiencing the same difficulties. Through casual conversation we met 5 other couples who were in the same situation as ours. If you book a specific type of room, you should receive that room from the start. It seems that the resort just continues to accept reservations, as long as there is space on the property, regardless of whether the room choice is actually available. Obviously upon arrival our room type was fully booked so they placed us elsewhere hoping that we would be okay with their choice.

It wasnt until someone checked out of the Royal Garden that we were able to get our original room choice and that was after two nights of not being able to settle in and having to repack our bags to move a second time. The other complaint that we have is the access to the restaurants. Reservations were impossible to get. Luckily we had the advantage of picking Baccarat for our wedding dinner otherwise we would not have been able to enjoy that experience during our trip. Kimono was closed some nights and when open the wait was 1.5 to 2 hours, as were the other restaurants. Spices was not open every night as a fall back when youre unable to access any of the other restaurants. It became frustrating to say the least.

The resort and Weddingmoon staff were wonderful. The facility was beautiful and our wedding day was perfect. If only the start of the vacation was the same. I am unsure as to whether we would stay at another Sandals Resort because of the experience that we had in the beginning but I am hoping that my letter may improve the experience for others.

Hello, We recently stayed at Sandals Bohemian and have come across the following: The airport lost some of our luggage when we got there. They didn't locate it until the following afternoony, which was a hassle. When I called the front desk to see if they could help, they seemed bothered. Their emergency kit for lost luggage could not be sent up becasue the gift shop was already closed. They brought it up the next morning (after us calling 2 more times). It consisted of a toothbrush and comb.

The newer part of the resort was nice. Our room was in the old building (Manor), which needed some work. There were tons of tiny spiders and ants in our room. The shower pressure was bad. We ordered room servie for breakfast the first day and it was cold. We sent it back and the second round was also cold. We gave up on it a third time. The activities were very limited during the day and the evening time, which was a bummer. There was only one thing going on at night, which was the piano bar (every night), in which the crowd was well in their 50's and up. It seemed like there were no activities for younger couples. The only other thing to do was hang out at the bar at nght, which closed way to early. At an all-inclusive resort, they should have different things going on so that you can choose what you would like to do.

We both got food poisoning and were sick for a day and a half, which was bad. The staff was not very friendly either, with the exception of a few nice employees. They made us feel like we were inconveniencing them when we asked for something. We went to the pub to order a couple of hot dogs, whoch were on the menu beginning at midnight. We arrived about 10 minutes before and asked if we could put our order in for them anyway. THe girl siad the Hot dog guy didn;t start work until midnight and the current cook didn't know how to make a hot dog. Unbelievable!! She asked him and he shook his head. By then it was already midnight so we asked if we were going to get our order. She laughed and said that maybe she could make them for us.

She got the manager and after a short chat with the cook (that didn't know how to make the hot dogs) they were being cooked. Amazing, isn't it how someone wouldn't do their job? One of the staff members said that they had laid off a bunch of staff recently and did not have enought people to do the regular jobs and some were doing more than one job. That is not the fault of the consumer though, and we should still be treated with respect and courtesy. For the price that we had paid, I wish we had chosen somewhere else, but we made the best of it and had a good time anyway.

This is a copy of the letter I sent to Sandals. My husband and I stayed at your resort in the Bahamas from February 8-15, 2009. We had vacationed at one of your Jamaican resorts in 2002 and had a wonderful time. Our second visit did not meet our expectations. First my husband obtained an upgrade as a surprise. I received a call from a Sandals agent offering an upgrade to Concierge level which I did take. His upgrade was a couple of hundred and mine was $50. I was promised concierge level, with an ocean view. At best the room had a partial ocean view. We also discovered that concierge level in the Bahamas is not as worthwhile as it is in Jamaica. We are really not sure what we got for our upgrade except a mini bar.

I felt that the service is what you would expect at a low cost all-inclusive in Mexico. We had to wait 45 minutes to 1.5 hours to get a spot for dinner. Sandals boasts having all these restaurants however they dont ell you that they are not all open. On Valentines Day we got a reservation for a 9:40 pm seating and then we discovered that we were supposed to order the same meal. Luckily our server was able to arrange for us to have different entrees. We had heard that this Sandals location had recently laid off 100 people and this was the possible reason for the decline in service.

At this point we had intended to try a different Sandals location in the future. Unfortunately, on Saturday evening my menses unexpectedly started. Of course I did not have any feminine products with me and the gift shop was closed. I contacted the concierge who told me I would have to wait for the gift shop to open tomorrow. A second concierge said the same thing but mentioned that a pharmacy was across the street. The pharmacy was closed but one of your security guards gave us directions to a grocery store. I just cant believe that your resort does not have anything available for these circumstances- even a pay dispenser in the public restrooms.

I feel that the Sandals representatives misrepresent what you will receive for an upgrade and I would like others to be aware of this if they book with this company. I also believe that the quality of service at this resort was lacking. I also do not believe that complaints are taken seriously and I know from talking to others at the resort that these were not isolated problems. This is a copy of the response from Sandals.

March 5, 2009 Thank you for your feedback with regard to your recent vacation at Sandals Royal Bahamian Spa Resort & Offshore Island. I appreciate the time you have taken to express your concerns and am truly sorry to hear that we did not fully meet your expectations. Sandals Royal Bahamian is a service oriented organization and has been committed to guest satisfaction; therefore, we certainly regret the situation you encountered with the restaurant service and concierge. Naturally when one of our valued guests takes the time to outline grievances such as those noted, it is much cause for concern. However, let me assure you that the issues outlined in your letter are isolated and definitely an exception to the norm. In closing, we thank you for choosing Sandals Royal Bahamian and although we cannot change your experience. Please be assured that the comfort and satisfaction of all our clients is extremely important to us, and though it is not possible for us to change your experiences, we trust that in time you will realize that the shortcomings you experienced are not indicative of the Sandals Royal Bahamian high standard for quality service.

My husband and I renewed our 2 month vows on Sept. 2, 2008 at Couples Swept Away and honeymooned for 8 days. We were so impressed with the caliber of service and expectations beyond our wildest dreams we were excited about returning for our 1st. anniversary (7/4) at Couples renovated resort in Ocho Rios.

Unfortunately, there were delays in their reopening and wanting to get the dates we wanted (7/3-7/11/09) my husband and I started to look on the web for an alternative in Jan. 2009. I found several web sites that claimed Sandals Grande Ocho Rios was "newly transformed" ; "All new Sandals" and "Recently renovated", so on Jan. 25, 2009 through the Sandals web site we booked (our air and land) their 'Plantation Villa 1 bed room suite with pool' for July 3 to the 11th and paid the required deposit of $1,300.00 (US).

Yesterday, (2/25) I received an email from the agency we booked through last year and decided to take a look at Sandals through them. My concern grew when I read numerous negative reviews about Sandals Resorts and I became terrified after reading several for Feb. 2009 trips to the Sandals Grande Ocho Rios.

Now as if the complaints about the treatment and service or lack thereof, dirty rooms, bathrooms and refrigerators, (horrid and often to becoming sick food, long waits for dinner, lack of available reservations for dinner etc.) weren't bad enough, it was the review complaints, (some with pictures) of the mold, bugs and dirty rooms that alarmed me enough for us to call Sandals on Feb. 25, 2009. After all, who wouldn't be concerned about mold and bugs? Certainly anyone with asthma, like myself (my asthma becomes severe when in contact with nearly all known asthma triggers), knows there is a significant risk factor for airway effects with exposure to mold, dampness and certain bugs (cockroaches).

We spoke to a reservationist, Eden. I asked what had our deposit been applied to and was told nearly $900.00 of it was toward air fare and was not refundable. Then as tactfully as possible I expressed my concerns about the dirty rooms, mold and bugs. She assured me that just wasn't true since she recently went to the resort and spent the night in the Honeymoon Villa suite with pool, the same room we booked. I told her some of the review complaints included pictures to back up their complaint and since she was employed by the resort she was not going to say anything negative about it.

I went on to explain that was not the room we booked; we booked the Plantation Villa 1 bedroom with pool. To that she said they were the same room. I explained we saw that both were the same price and had the same amities but painstatenly reviewed the pictures and intentionally choose the one on our booking receipt, eventually she said she would make the change. After a good while of going around and around on the same concerns she put us on hold and returned to tell us she would put in a request for a upgrade to their Honeymoon Ocean View 1 bedroom with pool and butler and "IF" it was available when we arrived we would get the upgrade. For me, this was not a satisfactory resolution to my concerns considering if their lack of mold containment or/and clean up and exterminating is obvious in other rooms/suits why should I believe it is different in another!

Again we were asked to wait and when she returned this time she totally ignored me and addressed all of her comments to my husband by name (John) who by the way, at that point he had not said more than a few words during the entire conversation. With him she went over our flight reservations, which was a total waste of time since we choose our flight and there were no issues with it.

Need I say, I was not pleased about 'being dismissed and ignored' and expressed my distain by telling her I was not a happy camper and when I get good service I tell the world and when I get bad service I do the same and had every intention of sharing my experience and concerns with all on my email list and ask them to do the same. To that she 'again' advised me to talk it over with John and if need be get back to them! I left her with I did not have to discuss anything with my husband he knows my concerns and my decision to be afraid had not changed.

Now it the morning after my call to Sandals and after a very restless night I decided to do another web search but this time searching problems with Sandals and this was the first sites I came to in my Google search. After reading the entries here I am even more fearful of the very probable exposure to mold and bugs will have on my asthma and health. I just wish we could afford to forgo the $900.00 nonrefundable part of our $1300.00 deposit.

My husband is retired military and I do not work for health reasons and we can not afford to forego the $900.00 nonrefundable portion of our $1300.00 deposit to insure my health and/or life will not be jeopardised by the mold, bugs and dirtiness of the rooms/suits at this resort.

The Sandals Resorts makes lots of promises but doesn't meet them. My husband and I traveled to the Sandals Bahamas resort in mid Feb. '09 from the moment our airport transport dropped us off --there were problems. We had purchased a concierge level room with ocean view. We expected 5 star treatment. We have stayed in resorts and fine hotels and truly know what a 5 star resort is like---this one is NOT!

On day 1 we arrived and there wasn't enough champagne for everyone on the van...we were also supposed to get warm towels and never did...

We were led inside -- all 4 couples--where we were told to sit down and were checked in like we were part of a school group. They even collected our credit cards. What 5 star resort checks you in like this... some of us may have wanted our names private--no privacy here.

We were then escorted to our building and dropped off at the elevator--no one brings you to the room.

Our view basically stunk but I dealt with it until I realized that a concierge room pretty much did nothing for you.

I went to the concierge to ask about dinner resevations. The concierge was annoyed and because we didn't have a Butler level room--it was difficult to eat at a nicer restaurant on the property. I did get reservations for 2 of our nights but not for the other two.

I realized that most of the slots were for the butler suites.

On the next day, we inquired about moving up to a butler level room. We were willing to pay more money even...but they couldn't accomodate us--they put us down for the next day to change rooms. But, we decided that if we couldn't get a butler room--why move for a day or two.
Therefore, our level of service--decreased. We found out that we couldn't get room service except for the continental breakfast in the mornings. Beverages flow freely at Sandals and we had requested some water and diet coke and 26 hours later still didn't have it and our room hadn't been made up after we were gone for 6 hours.

When they did make it up they didn't leave towels.

Nothing came easily and everything and you basically had to bug them to get what you wanted.
The concierge even made my spa reservation wrong and sent me to the worng location.

It was just one thing after another.

The resort is just okay--the location is lovely but the property can use some updating. The beverages are poorly made and served in tiny plastic cups. Is this 5 star?
There are no pool boys unless you have a butler who saves all the beach chairs for their clients.
Dinner at the italian restaurant that did't require reservations was a buffet without italian food on it. There was almost a fight to get into the place because they don't offer enough dinner options for their clientele.

The evenings are dull and they don't offer entertainment of any quality.

For check out, they send you a letter stating when your bags will be picked up for departure and when your airport transfer will depart. We were ready but didn't want to leave the bags in the room--so we waited finally for 40minutes for them to get the bags...my husband knew they wouldn't come. So, we dragged our bags across the entire resort--by the pools, up the stairs, etc. ourselves--- you don't do this at a place like this...at least you shouldn't have to.

When a concierge asked me a question, I lost it and let them know what I thought. I asked for the General Manager and got the asst. he tried to appease me and kept apologizing--they are really good at that!
Honestly, just go elsewhere if you want to get away from it all-- go somewhere where they relish their clients! (like a Ritz Carlton)

Sandals doesn't deliver what it promises.

We planned our wedding and honeymoon at Sandals. We arrived and were told that the safe in our room did not work, and that the hotel would fix it for us. We were told by resort staff to not worry about the issue, and we didn't. On our thrid day (before our wedding) we were robbed. All of our money was taken from our room. Sandals managment met with us. They told us they would look into the matter, and would talk to us first thing the following morning. 24 hours later we were told that they would give us our money back in resort credit. This means that we had no cash. We could not do any activities that were not offered on the resort, we could not explore the island, take a cab anywhere, or buy any gifts to bring back. I spent almost a full 24 crying and was very upset. We attepted to enjoy the rest of our vaction, however it was not the same.

Due to the fact that we had $675 stolen from us, we were not finacally able to do the activities that we had wanted to on our vaction. I had a very hard time emotionally and was unable to stop crying for hours at a time. Although we did still have our wedding at the resort, our trip was ruined. We were never given a copy of a police report, and never told if someone had been punished for the theft. We were afaid to leave any of our belongings in the room. We do not know who to talk to about this, but I feel that how sandals handeled the situation was wrong. I am a social worker and my husband has been recently laid off, I realize that to soem peopel $675 is not a great deal of money, but to us that is all we had.

My husband and I were looking at different places to go on our honeymoon. After much thought we decided on Sandals. TV ads promised luxury, stress free vacation. Made it sound so easy to just book it online. Just click, click, click and you were finished. WRONG! So we booked it online and made payments as the year went on. We were scheduled to leave in feb.

In Sept. I noticed that my passport expired in 3 months so I decided to check up on it just to be sure. So I called Sandals and the US embassy in jamaica since sandals says ( in small print) that you are responsible for your documents. Both places told me that I would be fine and that as long as it didn't expire while I was there I wouldn't have a problem. So I didn't worry too much about it.

So in feb. we were ready to leave on a tues morning at 3:45 am. We took a cab to the airport which was 45 bucks. We arrived at the Delta check in counter. The lady scanned my passport and checked my bags. Everything was fine. We go through the x ray machines..everything is fine. We get to the gate and sit down and wait to board our plane when I lady at delta approaches us and tells us we can't board because of my passport. She said that it can't expire within the next 6 months. After much crying ( which even my husband did) we called his parents to come and pick us up. We got home and called sandals. We did book the insurance policy which isn't even through them it's through a company called tripmate..Since it was a passport issue nothing covers that and we either rebook or loose $5000.

So we rebooked for nov. of this year. Ever since then sandals has been nothing but rude to us. They lie. They cheat. They are not to be trusted. After fighting with them about airfare we finally decided to use a travel agent. I called one that I know and she said that she could take it over for us but that since we had payed in full sandals would argue with us about it. She was exactly right. The lady at sandals told me that they can't do that. You can't do that? I just payed you $5000 and you are telling me that I can't use a travel agent if I want to? It's like the moment you hand over your money they act like they own you. I have travelled a lot. I have been overseas a few times and I have never dealt with a company this corrupt before. I don't know what the resort is like because we haven't made it that far.

At this point I don't expecting much from this company. My husband and i both just want to get the trip over with so we won't feel like we've lost $5000. We are still waiting to see if we can use a travel agent. Which is sad since it's our money. When you pay for a service you should at least get some sort of service as to what you were promised. I realize that the passport issue was my responsibility but the rest of it is just ridiculous. There is no need to treat people like this. I will NEVER use sandals again and I will tell all of my family and friends about this story.

On Jan.09,2008 I booked a 6 day honeymoon vacation for our daughter and her to be husband with Unique Vacations, all inclusive to the resort in Antiqua. Several weeks prior to the trip my daughter made several attempts to retreive the itenirary for the trip. Unique claimed one was not available at that time but everything had be taken care of. All went well with the flight to St.Marteen, and the comuter flight over to Antiqua.

Being an all inclusive trip all transportation and travel was included. on Oct 18, which was the return trip. The resort came by and informed the couple the time the bus would pick them up, which was 2:00 PM. Which was to take them to the comuter flight from Antiqua back to St Marteen. Where thier flight would leave there at 4:35 pm Back to Charlotte,NC. After waiting till approx. 3:30 to be picked up the couple questioned the delays and thier retuirning flight. They were assured everything was OK. Upon arriving at the Antiqua airport they found the comuter flight booth closed. When they questioned the attendants at the airport they were told there was no flights for that day and the booth had not been open. We very upset, my daughter insisted in talking to someone from Sandals. After 2 hours the resort manager came to discuss the situation. She clained they had simply missed thier flight. But she would arrange for them to catch a later flight and arrange for their nights stay and they would be on there way home tommorrow. Well my wife and I had already travelled to Charlotte NC to pick up the couple when we recieved the call of what was going on.

When they arrived in St Marteen at Approx. 10:30PM there was noone at the airport. The comuter plane had flown them from island to island for hours making stops and moving luggage from one island to another. So here they were in St. Marteen to fend for themselves . Remember now this all inclusive trip just turned to fend for yourselve. Unable to speek the language it was approx. 12:30 before they could find a room for the night.

At approx. 11:00PM I called Unique Vacations to inquire about this wild honeymoon. No answer, called the resort in Antiqua. Spoke to a lady by the name of Lucky. She was very familiar with the instance. Even told me of another couple with the same problem. Which she said Sandals returned them back to the resort till morning. But she said she did not know where my daughter was. She guested St.Marteen. She did say, if you can't locate her call me back here at this extension. Well, I called US Airways to see if they could explain the mess. After getting a supervisior on the phone he walked me through the flight step by step. And assured me in no way was US Airways could be responsible. He told me I should Call Sandals Main Headquarters. I made the call. The girl in which I spoke to clearly told me Sandals was not responsible for the mix up. They missed their flight and they could do nothing about that. She said In did not need to call them to complain. Sandals had fulfilled their contract and would no longer take any responsibility. Then she roudly hung up the phone.

Well, the rest of the night we could not find our daughter. It was the next morning before she could call and let us know the plans for the return flight. And They could not get anyone from Sandals to assist them. I called back to the resort and asked for the ext.number Lucky had given me. I was told there was no such extension, nor was there anyone there by the name of Lucky and never had been.

Well, of coause we had paid $2000 in Jan.08. and then we paid $3636 in september. We still had not discovered how this disaster came abouit. We requested our credit card company charge back the $3636, in which they did. And then we came to the conclusion of where this all began. In the back and forth dispute Sandals provided their documents to prove their innocents. But in doing so they provided the original itenirary for the trip. In it , it clearly shows the flight bookings. Which did not include the flight from Antiqua back to St.Marteen. After all we had been told and the danger this children went through in a foreign country, you can imagine how upset we are. We can't believe this happened , let alone the cost,the danger , the lies, the run a round. This can't happen and be let go un challenged. We have yet to hear from Sandals

I booked the Romeo and Juliet Penthouse Suit (Room 895) for the period of January 3 10, 2009 at a cost of $6,556.90. Within minutes of being shown to our suite my partner and I noticed that the walls had mold growing on them and the room was in terrible disrepair. We asked to speak to the management and the head Butler, whose name we believe is Dipac, explained that he realized the room was in need of renovation and that he was happy to report that the rooms were scheduled to be renovated in the near future. However, he also informed us that no other rooms were available until mid-week and that if we wanted to transfer we would have to pay to upgrade to this new room. I made it clear to Dipac that I was not satisfied with this solution and felt that we should be moved immediately. He repeated that there was nothing he could do, but he did acknowledge that our complaints were valid.

(6) the furniture showed years of use and wear and the chair fabrics stained.

We quickly made the decision that we could not expose ourselves to the mold in our room After trying to get online to get a new flight reserved, we realized that the promised in room? internet service did not exist. We had to walk to the main lobby and conduct our business in full view of everyone. Our inability to deal with this matter in private made us feel unsafe. The management had made it clear to us the prior day that they were unable to accommodate our need for a room without mold. Here we were some three thousand miles form home on an island with no US embassy. We were completely in the power of your resort to meet our safety and health needs.

Due to our fear of potential retribution, we chose to use the excuse of a family emergency to appease the management and obtain their help getting home quickly. In truth, the emergency was that we feared for our own health and safety. Martina, from the main desk, worked diligently to get us a flight home. Unfortunately, the soonest flight available was the next day (Jan 5th) and at a cost $1,800.

Thus, we were forced to stay one more day at the resort. We attempted to make the best of this final 24 hours. We first went to the dive center and learned that, contrary to what is advertised, the scuba was not free and required a $75 lesson fee. Several people waiting in line were upset about this hidden? fee. While waiting our turn, we realized that the dive staff was completely disorganized and unprofessional. We did not feel comfortable trusting these individuals with our safety in a boat and under water.

We chose, instead, to spend time at the main pool and on the beach. You will see in the attached photos that the pool, which your advertisements note is stunning, is, in fact, in serious disrepair with cracked tiles and rust stains. The photos that you use in your video show a pool in perfect condition with water fountains flowing. The same fountains that work so well in the video remained off during our entire 3 days stay. During our several hours at the pool and on the beach we repeatedly smelled sewage and had to move to new locations. We attempted to get towels and were told there were no clean ones available. Imagine, a luxury? beach resort with no towels. We visited the Red Lane Spa, advertised as a luxury spa experience, and paid $260 for a couples massage. When I tried to shower before my massage, I learned that the spa had no running hot water. I went to the spa attendant and was told I would have had to walk up the Bluff to my room if I wished to shower first. I was not told this when I booked the massage, or even when I entered the spa, but rather after I had paid and could not get a refund.

Let me end this letter with some information about myself. First, I am an experienced traveler. In my role as the President of the Massachusetts Academy of Sciences and as a professional biologist, I have traveled to numerous developing countries, including some with very meager accommodations, such as Kenya, Tanzania and the Galapagos Islands. In all of my travels, I have never encountered the lack of concern for my health and safety as I encountered during my brief stay at your resort. It was clear that the management had no interest in providing the luxury? service you clearly describe in your video.

In my 50 years of flying, I have never asked for a refund from a hotel. However, in this instance I insist that you provide a full refund of my expenses, including the resort and air travel, for a total of $9,500. If I do not receive full and immediate compensation I will pursue every avenue of recourse. This will include letters to the Attorney General of Florida and Massachusetts, to the Government of St. Lucia, to the Consumer Affairs website and to all appropriate travel agents and credit card bureaus. It will also include the creation of a dedicated web site, replete with photographs, to inform the public of the state of this resort.

We were on our all inclusive vacation 10/29 - 11/5 on Saturday 11/1 we were @ dinner @ the Marketplace restaurant @ the resort. We had ordered Tomatoe soup as our appetizer, when the waiter came to the table to serve he served my very hot soup and the other bowl slid off the tray spilling all down my shoulder arm and side. The bowl crashed and broke beneath my feet. The dining room silenced as I was in shock and hurting. My companion Kent was grabbing for napkins etc to clean the soup from my burning skin. The waiter was apologetic and not really doing much to help the situation. He finally left and came back with a cloth napkin filled with ice.

I was finally taken to a nurse which was a little less than helpful as she had me wipe the residue of spiced soup from my shoulder. She had me fill out a form describing what happened. When I asked for a copy she states she had no copier and everything was fine, no problem.

She applied Acriflex antiseptic burns cream to the area and said she would check back with me the following morning, she said it may blister within 24 hours and if I had amy problems they would follow up with a DR. She asked me for my insurance info and I and Kent (my companion both refused as it was not my issue that this incident had happened. I asked for some cream to take with me and was told she had no cream to send with me.

We returned to the dining room as I was trying to be a good companion to Kent and we were very hungry and had so much looked forward to having dinner, While in the dining room a lady came in with a new tube of the Acriflex burn cream and gave their apologies. We left the dining room and I went back to the room with cream and ice trying to relieve the pain. My night was restless and painful.

The next day I received a call from Karen Cain (adminsitrative person asking how I was feeling.I advised her that I was in pain as I had two spots on my shoulder that was extremely red and tender. She listened and gave her apoligies. Said she would check back with me.

At this point I had lost vacation time as we had cancelled a planned trip to Dunns river that day on Sunday. I spent Sunday in the room feeling less than ok. I didn't blister but did experience much pain and suffering at that point I felt I really wanted to go home and the vacation was far from what I had expected. I felt terrible as this unfortunate incident had also changed my companion Kent's vacation plans.

I realize things happen but not sure this was handled in a professional way. My outfit ended up in the trash a skirt and blouse saturated with red tomato soup. No one suggested cleaning. I tried to rinse the soup and clean the stain which was a done deal. The oufit loss was approx $89.00.

approx 6:45 pm 11/1 I received another call from Karen Cain I believe it was Monday 11/3 she said on behalf of Sandals she was offering @ no cost to me an additional two day stay @ any Sandals resort added on too my next scheduled vacation. She asked for my email address and states she would send an evite. I told herI would also like to receive a hard copy in the mail. I haven't received anything,

I realize the mail may take some time but I havn't received an email. I really feel our loss of vacation time both mine and Kent Greenes, my pain and suffering and outfit should be valued at more than two free days @ a Sandals resort when I schedule my next Sandals vacation. At this point I'm not sure my next vacation will be @ a Sandals resort.

Peggy Cantrell

Pain & suffering, Loss of vacation fun time. $$ loss of vacation time. Outfit saturated in spicy hot tomatoe soup approx $89.00 The price of this trip was a $3,600 sacrifice to our budget, our vacation time from work and a disappointment.

My husband and I were married and honeymooned at the Sandals Grand Antigua Resort. We were sent paper airline tickets prior to our trip which indicated that our departure flight would leave Antigua at 10:00. We received a departure package at the resort the day prior to departure. This pkg indicated our plane would be leaving at 8:00 AM even though our tickets said 10:00. I went to the front desk and pointed out this discrepancy. I specifically asked if our flight had been changed. They said they would call the airline and get back to us.

An hour later they returned our departure papers and they had whited-out the 8:00am time and written in the 10:00 time. Therefore, we assumed our tickets were still correct. When we arrived at the airport the next day, we were told that the plane had already left and there would not be another one until the next day, and our tickets were non transferable to another airline. My husband and I had to purchase new tickets from another airline ($1600)in order to get home.

I have tried to contact Sandals and Unique Vacations (who had NOT notified us of the flight change) and have been given a big run around with the response that they followed proceedure and there was nothing they could do. I will NEVER vacation with Sandals or Unique Vactions again!

We went on our honeymoon with Sandals resort 6/1/2008 - 6/7/2008, on one of the sandals tours a horse took a bite out of my wifes leg. Sandals nurse was a joke she had nothing to wrap the bite she put sea water on it and gave us a pad and four bandaids. It was on my wife's upper thigh she could not walk

i asked sandals can we get free room service all i keep hearing is We can't do that. I ask can you offer us something because now the rest of our honeymoon( 3 days) is destroyed we have a 9k room with a pool we can no longer use. On top of that we had to keep calling to get our in room bar refilled and we only had 2 rolls of toliet paper i ask many time to get toliet paper but the bathroom had none we used nose tissue.

Another thing we pre-paid for two spa treatments at sandals we did one on 6/2/2008 that was fine, we had one more on 6/6/2008 but my wife got bit by the horse 6/5/2008 so i called the spa around 7 - 8am 6/6/2008 telling them we have a pre-paid spa treatment we can no longer go to my wife got bit by a horse, they told us you can't get a refund only store credit. We told them we don't need store products we got some on 6/2/2008 they said you have to take the store credit or lose it. So we took the 5 items and they total came out to be $222.50 i asked were is the other $17.50 they said we don't carry anything under $20 you would have to pay $2.50 to get the rest of your credit.

The entire time i keep asking who has the power to do something to help us (refunds) they keep saying the samething we can't do that. I even told them how my wife was doing ( she keeps crying becuase our honeymoon was messed up and sandals was making it worst).

Now for the horseback tour guide the online sandals tours said the 4hour horseback with BBQ cost $80 per person when we got to sandals it cost $180 per person, ok we still booked the tour in the middle of the tour the horse bit my wifes leg i told the tour group can we get a discount or half off because after my wife got bit we took the car back to the ranch. She said came back tomorrow before you check out (check out is 11am, tours office open at 7am) and i'll see what i can do, check out day i waited at the tour desk from 7:15am - 10:45am no one showed up.

Final bill time the spa charged us $222.50 on our final bill even though we had paid $240 for a couples spa treatment but since my wife got hurt we told them we can't do it anymore they said you can't get a refund only spa store credit, and we had to fight with them to get the extra $222.50 removed from our bill (the resort will not let you check out till you pay your bill in full) and this charge was not getting removed from our bill.

Now we are back in NYC and our doctor and insureance will not cover the cost for the horse bite (no x-rays, treating the wound or any surgery she may need). I would like to know what sandals is going to do to help us, before we start talking to legal council and news stations. Because we did have fun from 6/1/2008 - 6/4/2008.

We are back in NYC and my wife still has major pain and can't walk. We have a picture of the horse biting my wifes leg if you would like a copy i can e-mail it to you. We got a e-mail 6/20/2008 from sandals telling us it was our fault and we were instructed not to bring a camera on the horse (we were not our digial camera was on my wrist) and that I was taking photos on the horse in the water that is why the horse bit my wife's leg, we were in the water alone and our horses just stop moving the horse guide was with two other guest in the water(Which is a lie we have a digital camera which makes no sound,only one photo was taken when my horse turned left to bite my wife's leg) and that they will do nothing about it.

We contacted Sandals to ask for some money back from our $9k honeymoon hell or at least some Sandals credit if we want to go back to sandals. Sandals turned us down and blamed us for my wife's injury. 6/23/2008 my wife still can barely move her leg, it's till black and blue with horse teeth marks. She still has leg pain. We would not be so mad if Sandals just e-mail or called us to say you can't get your money back from the horse bite because we can't control the horse, that would be fine but we had to keep calling and e-mailing them just to get someone to contact us.

And then they blame us for the horse bite and lie about the $240 we paid. This honeymoon cost over nine thousand dollars and Sandals would not even give us back $240 and forced us to get $242 (yes they made us pay a extra $2.00 in cash) for products we did not want. We would have been happy with 3 days of sandals credit or refund (that is when my wife got hurt) and the $240 refund.

My wife left leg is all black and blue, she has a limp and 24 hour pain. She still cries about the horse bite and the ruined honeymoon.

I booked a trip to Sandals Montego Bay through my travel agent to take my wife away for her 40th birthday. I read hundreds of reviews on this property and was prepared to accept the bad I had heard and enjoy all that sounded great about it. We arrived at the airport in Jamaica and after going through customs, we went to the Sandals reception area where a woman asked for our last name. After trying our name twice she asked if we had arrived on the wrong day. I gave her our confirmation # and she asked us to wait inside.

Thirty minutes went by with her doing nothing other than checking in other Sandals guests. I asked her to help and she told me to wait. I went to another Sandals employee who agreed to call Sandals. After 45 minutes she informed us that our travel agent had cancelled our reservation! I was already talking to the agent who insisted that of course they had not cancelled anything. We said no problem just get us to the resort and we will take a different room. We were told the hotel was completely booked along with the 2 other Sandals properties in Montego Bay.

At this point my wife began to cry. We wasted over 2 1/2 hours to find out that Sandals had screwed up and was willing to do absolutely nothing about it. I started going from hospitality desk to desk to find another resort who would accommodate us. A very nice lady at the Half Moon told us they were booked but she called and found us a room at the Rose Hall Resort & Country Club. This woman even walked us outside and put us in a taxi. Meanwhile the Sandals reps just continued to check arriving passengers in and never offered any assistance. I have been told by a few people in the travel business that Sandals has a reputation for this kind of thing. If they overbook, they simply drop people.

Since arriving back home I have been completely unable to get anyone at Sandals or Unique Vacations to give me a straight answer or to even apologize. I will never choose a Sandals trip. For what it's worth, The Rose Hall was really nice!!

Since returning home I have been told by each person at Unique Vacations that this type of thing is handled by another department. They claim that a computer error caused our reservation to be cancelled. We had to pay $1,600 more to stay at a different resort due mostly to the fact that we were booking same day. I expected Sandals to reimburse us or at the very least offer a new 4 night trip at their expense. They have done nothing other than hope I will go away.

On arrival from a delayed flight on Nov. 19, 2007,we sought assistance from the resort manager, for our lost luggage. On the third day, Wednesday, front desk employees assured us that we would get our luggage in the room by 9 pm. Go ahead and enjoy yourselves. You will have it in your room by 9 pm. Before that, it was a rolling delay, with them telling us we would get the luggage at 5, then at 7. We were also told a resort rep was at the airport with the luggage, waitng for the rest to pass customs (there were about 40 people who were in the same situation).

When we returned to our room at 9 pm and realized our luggage was not there, it felt like a cruel joke. The night staff said there was a mistake, that customs did not clear any luggage. The next day, we met with Mr. Dupal. He was unsympathetic, and when we expressed our frustrations, he kicked us out! He said to me and my husband, Get out of my office, leave the resort!! We felt stranded, helpless, mistreated, and still without our luggage. He insisted it was in the property, but it was nowhere to be found.

It finally came at 2 pm, but who could continue with this vacation? We left the next day as there were no flights until then. Mr. Dupal treated us very badly, and ruined our vacation. This was our wedding anniversary!

We were unable to use 2 days of the vacation package. We had to find another place to stay, and transportation to get there. We lost vacation days that were wasted on this disaster.

We booked a vacation to celebrate our 20th anniversary at Sandals Regency Resort, St Lucia. The resort failed to live up to their glowing promotional material. The food was terrible, the room was in need of some major maintenace, and the service was simply below the standards of any reputable resort operation.

When I complained to the Sandals headquarters, I received a reply from the General Manager of the Regency Resort saying maybe I enjoyed some of their ammenities and they would be happy to have us back at one of their properties. I don't think so. I would be stupid to return to any Sandals, based on our experience.

We paid $1265.00 per day, not including air fare. We wanted the vacation to be exceptional, and to be truthful, it was not even close to below average. I would not recommend Sandals to anyone expecting a quality experience. They, Sandals, over state the qualiy of their operations and the promotional material they publish is simply not what you get at their resorts.

We booked a trip to Sandals new resort Whitehouse in Jamaica for April of 2005.The resort should have been opened for more than six weeks so we felt it should be running fine by then, however a hurricain hit jamaica so we phoned Michel Smith the Sandals rep in Toronto. He assured us that the hurricain did not affect this area and everything was going as planned and he had been to the property recentley and it looked fantastic, not to worry. This trip was to celibrate our 30th wedding anniversery; we were going to what was advertised as the best all inclusive and to what was be their newest and best property.

The airport transfer van did not have working air conditioning and the couple that shared our ride were from South Carolina -- the heat in the van was too much for the husband and he just passed out . We finally arrived at the resort and were seated in the lobby and presented with a release form with our name on it to sign stating that as you have previously informed by your agent that the property is not finished, we will give you 2 free days to be used now or at a later date. We did not sign, we had not been informed,and when we asked what was not finished we were told you will see.

The list is long -- no lights on any outside buildings just bare electrical wires hanging down, not a cuishion on any seat in any restaurant on the property, no chairs in the piano bar for the first 2 days then cheap white plastic after that.Hot tub would not hold water passed 18 inches , the fountains were not running but full of green mould smelly water, no sinks in the public bathroom, the nightclub was still being mudded drywall stage, no xbox gamesroom just wires in a room , only one of the shops were open and that was sparse.

No fish in the restaurants -- they ran out of fish on an island.

WHAT SANDALS DID FOR US. They gave us 4 days for the 10 of our crappy holiday and Michel Smith suggested to go to the Bahamas their nicest property , he assured they would make it up to us. So we paid $2,700.00 for 6 days plus their 4 days and bought our own air fare and went to the Bahamas. The Bahamion people are fantastic the food was very good to excellent, however the room was full of mould growing on ceiling and the closet was the worst, the drywall was starting to fall apart, no one would even come to look at it . The door would not lock it was split like someone had kicked it in, the lock itself had more than a half inch play in it. They came and oiled it.

We wanted you to be aware of some things that put a damper on our getaway. We arrived at the resort around 2:30 and were not able to get into our room until 4; our luggage arrived probably 30-45 min. later. The first 2 days there, there were old televisions lining the walls of the hall in front of the elevator on our floor. They were removed by Sunday morning. The first night we made reservations for Café Goombay. Once there we were bitten severely by sand fleas. A waiter brought out some Off but my husband is allergic to deet therefore, he was in misery. It would have been nice to be forewarned by the resort before going out there.

The shrimp appetizer was supposed to be warm, it was a blackened dish, it was cold. The food did not appear to be cooked there, it was sitting under heat lamps. At that point we decided to choose our entrée on a meat that had to be cooked there to our liking.

Our room also seemed to have fleas in it, every morning we awoke with more bites. There was mold in the bathtub. Crown molding was not intact in the bathroom and bedroom. Just simple maintenance. The toilet overflowed for no reason, just flushed. After they fixed the toilet, I don't think housekeeping mopped the floor. We were in a deluxe suite and it was far from deluxe. None of the fruit was fresh. From pineapple in the drinks to breakfast strawberries, mangoes, tomatoes in the salad.

I sent back multiple glasses of water. Each time they were poured there were things floating in it. I requested bottled water but they said there was none available. The food in Spices (buffet) the hot food was cold and the cold food was warm--- honey mustard chicken was cold, the fruit when I tried was warm, the salads were warm, french toast was cold. So we again got things made to order -- pancakes for breakfast. We even left our lunch after preparing our plates and went to the poolside grill to have a made to order lunch.

The presentation however at every meal was just beautiful. The employees were very pleasant. The food and service at the poolside grill was really good and the meals we had at Kimono's and The Crystal Room were fabulous. The equipment for sailing was old and was not maintained. We had a flight scheduled out yesterday (3/20) at 9 am. We called to inquire about transfer on 3/19 about 4 pm, my husband was told we would have instructions under our door after 9 pm. We happened to go back by the room at 8 after dinner and the information was there--stating we had to be down in the lobby by 6 am for our transfer. We called to try and get a later time for transfer, but that was not an option. We then called the concierge regarding room service because our room service menu stated breakfast served only between 8 & 10.

Concierge stated we needed to go down to the pub and have them round us up some fruit and/or cereal. We did this and the server at the pub said no you need to do it through room service. So back to the room to place the order--my husband had to talk to numerous people on the phone to get room service at that time of the morning. The last thing stated to him was they would try to make it happen. To our surprise they showed up at 5:15 am. Then we were waiting at the airport and spoke with other guest of Sandals that were on the same flight. They did not have to leave the hotel until 7. Needless to say we are very unhappy with Sandals and our time there, this was our first all inclusive vacation.

My husband and I went to Jamaica in December for my stepdaughter's wedding. I contracted Salmonella from the food on the buffet - I have made three complaints to the Sandals website which is impossible to navigate and they promise me a reply from the Inn which I never get.

Loss of 5 days of work, doctor bills, thought I was going to die.

We went for 8 days for our daughters wedding all the rooms were over booked the limo service was not available the kids rooms were downgraded our luggage was lost they sent it to the wrong room and we did not get some of it back until the third day -- the last bag showed up the day we left a wedding which is supposed to be a happy time. My daughter cried for days -- we had no clothes, what we had was ruined the had gotten wet and allowed to stay in an empty room with only heat to mold, this is in a place that downgraded us because they were overbooked.

My husband I am recently, and unfortunately, booked an All Inclusive Caribbean vacation through American Airlines vacations for Sandals/Antigua. Prior to my purchase, for weeks, I called AA vacation to find out more and more information regarding the Antigua Sandals Resort. Additionally I contacted Sandals and visited the web site for AA vacations, and Sandals to make sure that all the representations were accurate and true. The AA vacations and Sandals agents’ assured me that choosing Antigua Sandals Resort would NOT disappoint my husband and me.

As a matter of fact AA vacations and Sandals assured me, and I quote, that “Antigua Sandals Resort has been voted one of the most modern and romantic resorts in the Caribbean”. After having visited the web site of Sandals Antigua, I noticed pictures of their restaurants, bars, and buffet of fresh tropical and exotic fruits. After all the promises and representations made my husband and I decided to TRUST AA vacation / Sandals and booked the trip for which we paid over $3000.00 only for the hotel and used about 100,000 of our advantage miles that we had accumulated over the past 10 years with our hard earned money.

From the minute we arrived at Antigua airport one disappointment, and disgust, followed another. We have NEVER been this disappointed with a vacation. We had worked double jobs all year round to earn enough money to take a vacation that was promised to be absolute paradise with the best food and freshest fruits ever. Well our experience of Sandals was 100% opposite what we expected it to be:

1. As we arrived in the airport there were no representatives from AA or Sandals to greet us. We had to wait till we exited the airport, only to be approached, not greeted, by a rode obnoxious lady that was not even willing to say a simple thing as “Hello”. She told us to wait by the curb till she tells us what to do next. At that moment my disgust and hatred for American Airlines and Sandals began. How dare do they assign rode and obnoxious people to be around me while I am in the midst of beginning my supposed “paradise vacation”

2. We wait, wait, and wait for a cab to take us to the resort. Finally after 20 minutes in the heat a van comes to pick us up. This van was too dirty, disgusting that I can’t even find the words to describe it. First, the car didn’t contain AC system. The windows were broken, and the car was unmarked and unidentified. Second, the car was in such a bad condition that at every curb my husband and I feared for our lives of us being drooped from a cliff due to the fact that the car was in such bad conditions. It looked like someone had just picked it up from the dumpster and brought it to us for pick up.

3. Finally, after that nightmare ride we arrive at the resort. No one came to assist us with our bags. We had to remove the bag ourselves from the van. Finally after 5 minutes one person came to us and asked what we needed. What we needed? Are you blind? Didn’t you just see us arrive! They tell us to have a seat and that they would be with us soon. At that point it was 3 pm. We sit for about 30 minutes. No one comes to approach us, or ask us anything. I get up to approach someone and ask of when we can get to our room. Then they tell us that our room is not ready.

We have traveled for hours in this heat. Check out is at 11 why would it take them 4 hours to clean a room? They told us to relax and get a bite to eat. He points us to where we can get something to eat. You would think he would walk us there or let us know what time we can expect to check in or anything within that nature. But nothing was done. We go to this dive, disgusting looking bistro in which we had a choice of Hamburger, Chicken burger, fries and nachos, since they are out of everything else. This place was so disgusting to say the least. There were flies all over us, and our food. It was enough to make you want to vomit whatever was in your stomach. The drinks tasted horrible. They tasted like poison. They only had one local beer that one could have and their soda tasted like paint that you purchase in a store. My husband and I were so disgusted, to say the least, that we couldn’t even eat anything.

4. At around 4:30, and after me asking them about 10 times, they tell us that our room is ready. As they walk us to out room we can see that we have been placed in the worst area of the resort, besides the promises that were made by AA. My disgust grew bigger and bigger. As we are walking toward our room, the path way smelled like dead cats. To which it was not surprising after noticing that they had wild unclean cats running around the resort constantly. Frankly the last thing my husband and I wanted was to be bitten by a sick animal.

5. We were given room number 518, which was located in the back end of the resort. We were located on the second floor, walk up, that faced a back alley and the back of the fenced tennis court. It was disgusting. As we walked into our room we immediately realized that it was deadly hot and humid. Everything in that room was 20 years old. The floors were disgusting and the bathroom and the sinks were crawling with armies of red and black ants. We were scared to even use the toilet not knowing what would crawl up in us. The bathrooms and the room had no windows that one could close. They were shutters instead of windows. The room was VERY dark with no light coming in. The lucks on the door and the patio were not working. We felt extremely unsafe and scared without any sort of protections.

I immediately contacted front desk only to be told that there is nothing they could do for us that night. And that we would have to wait to the next morning to call the front desk at 8 am, even though no rooms would be available for check in till 11. I frankly didn’t understand why I would have to get up so early to switch to a room that would not even be ready till noon. That night was the worst night my husband and I ever experienced. The AC was not working. Even after placing a call regarding the problem with the AC nothing was solved. That night we could not even sleep for a minute. As we would lie on the bed suffering in heat the lights went out. No call was made to our room to let us know why this happened. We were left without any electricity for hours at a time.

The next day, only after asking them, they tell us this is something very common that occurs in Antigua. Frankly that is information that should have been provided with from AA vacations.

6. The next morning we wake up at 8 am only to be told that they couldn’t do anything for us till noon. We were furious. All this time I wanted to call AA vacation to put my husband and me back on a flight to NY, but AA vacation failed to let us know that we can’t use any phone cards in Antigua and all calls regardless of destination will cost us $14.50. This is absolutely absurd and unacceptable. I am disgusted by AA vacations.

7. At 10 am we approach the front desk to inquire about our room change. We go to the front desk only to find out that there were no managers on site till 1 pm and that no one could help up. Yet again another problem, another misrepresentation. Only by standing at the front desk for 20 minutes and raising my voice they finally decide to send us to a supervisor. Unfortunately, I don’t have the name of the gentleman. He took us to his office to give us some additional bad news. The better rooms were not available and he really couldn’t move us to another room any better than what we were in.

Sandals resort promises an all inclusive resort with everything included. We made reservations to stay for 10 nights with a wedding package, and when we arrived we not only did not get the room we paid for,we coulnd not even get reservations for resturants, tours and other events we wanted. Staff informed us about everything that was suposedly sold out and not available wich turned out to be everything. We soon began a disaster of a vacation. From no equipment provided as described,to alhoholic bev needed to be purchased in resturants to drug dealers on the private beaches.

We became very outraged and no longer experienced gratification as portrayed on the web page. Nothing was as shown except the nature.

Here are the problems that we had leading to our total dissatisfaction with Sandals Whitehouse:

1. When we checked in, the room was not cleaned, we were initially checked into room 2222 in the Dutch village. We were then checked into room 3232 in the French side and our bed linens were never changed, there was a full hand print on the mirror in our room when we checked in that was still there when we checked out, the room was only swept, the towels were changed and the bed was made. Staff entered our room even when we would put the do not disturb sign on the door, including the wedding coordinator. We know this because they would leave stuff there, turn on the radio to a high volume and turn up the thermostat to 80.

2. Whenever we tried to eat dinner it would take us 3 to 4 hours to finish with 70% of the time just waiting for someone to serve us

3. My wedding started late, starting at about 3:30pm, we were just waiting around for the coordinator

4. We selected a song to walk down the aisle (Spend My Life With You by Tamia and Eric Benet) and it skipped several times throughout the beginning and end of the ceremony

5. The pictures that were taken were not very polished/professional quality and in fact are exactly the same as what my guests took with their digital cameras

6. My sister had an accident immediately following our wedding waiting for them to setup for our reception due to the rain and it was clear there was no emergency plans in place, thus the reception was cancelled

7. We had to depart at 6am and went to get breakfast from the grill that was listed on our brochures to close at 6am but they were closed at 5:30am thus we could not get a full breakfast before our trip to St Lucia which took us an entire day due to delays and cancellations from Air Jamaica to St Lucia

8. We have not received the video of our wedding and when I called to speak with the wedding coordinator she informed me that our tape got damaged and they are trying to fix it and she would get back to me and I still haven't heard anything and I can't get in touch with her.

In August 2004 we reserved a week stay at Sandals Resorts, Whitehouse, Jamaica. This trip was paid in full in January 2005 for a departure date of February 26, 2005. Whtiehouse was a new resort and approx. two weeks prior to our departure we were contacted through our agent that the Whtiehouse facility was not quite complete but that we could go anyway with a voucher for a free week stay at a Sandals resort in the future, or we could change travel dates or accept a refund (minus airfare!!). We opted to go to Whitehouse anyway.

15 hours prior to departure we were again contacted by our agent and asked if we would divert to Ocho Rios instead. We declined. When we arrived at the airport in Jamaica we were taken to the Sandals Ocho Rios resort (not as desireable a location) without choice, even though we protested and debated. Sandals reps here told us that no one was staying at the Whitehouse facility since it was not complete. (There were a total of 12 in our group)

This was booked through Apple vacations who were no help at all. Apple representatives told us they were dealing with all types of Sandals complaints in this time period. They could not make arrangements to move us. Sandals management at the hotel could not do anything for us either. We requested to be flown back home and given a refund; they could do nothing.

We were housed in villas far from the ocean and the main resort when in fact we had booked oceanfront rooms. We asked and called every day of the week to no avail. On arrival back at the Jamaica airport we met many couples who had indeed stayed at the Whitehouse resort, hence, we were told untruths. During our stay we wrote surveys and letters to Sandals; upon arrival back home we wrote to Sandals and Apple through our travel agent and have not had as much as a personal acknowledgement or apology. We consider this to be a bait and switch type of arrangement. Sandals has no right to send you wherever they want when you have paid, in advance for something else. Apple Vacations must be held responsible also as they represent and book Sandals Resorts.

My wife and I were planning our vacation and we had decided to go to Sandals in Montego Bay Jamaica. We decided to book our trip on Sandals website; quick and easy right? WRONG. When it came time to check out an error occurred, so we called Sandals to figure it out. It turns out the airline that they had quoted us on had no available seats. So, with no way of getting to Jamaica we requested that the reservation be cancelled. We were assured that the reservation was cancelled and my card would not be charged.

A week later my card was charged for the trip, noticing this I called Sandals who, after repeatedly putting me on hold, informed me that I was in the penalty phase and if I cancelled now I wouldn't get ANY money back. I explained the circumstances around my reservation and how I shouldn't have been charged in the first place and I was told your credit card information got to us somehow in a rather sarcastic tone. I will never consider Sandals as a vacation spot again.

I am currently fighting with my credit card company and Sandals to get my $4,000 returned to me. They are checking the taped phone call to see if i'm telling the truth. Ridiculous!!

Within 72 hours of our arrival at the Sandals Antigua Resort last week (Feb 5 - 12 2005), my husband and I both became ill with vomiting and diarrhea. An amazing amount of other guests also fell ill with the same gastro-intestinal ailment. When we approached management about the outbreak, they would only acknowledge a few cases. Through talking with other guests and some locals, we found out it had been making guests ill for 3 weeks already. We are truly disappointed Sandals gave no warning about the problem when we checked in and confused why they did not take simple precautions such as putting hand sanitizing lotions in the restrooms. It was a nice island, but an extremely poorly managed health situation.

We lost 3 days of our expensive vacation because of the illness, and I am 6 months pregnant, so it was especially of concern for me. It has been 6 days since we first became ill, and we are still feeling unwell. We are both out of work sick today because of how we continue to feel.

We arrived home from our trip and wedding at Sandals in Antigua. We stayed from 10/7-10/14. We discovered that some items were stolen from our room on our last night at Sandals. One of the items stolen was diamond earrings valued over $20,000 US. This was hidden in a small bag inside a suitcase. I noticed some sunglasses were stolen before I left and reported that to the front desk upon departure. I reported this issue to the Sandals website, with the information they requested:

It was obvious that the Sandals staff knew when we were on our last night at the resort and rummaged through all our belongings. They are well aware that most people leave the following morning and won't notice things missing until they arrive back home.