Sandals - Grande St. Lucian
Address:
Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
Tel: 1-888-SANDALS
Fax:
Email: info@sandals.com
URL: Sandals - Grande St. Lucian
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Type of Property: All Inclusive
Beach Location: Beach Front (Directly on Beach/Water Front)
Island: St. Lucia
No. of Rooms/Units: 280
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Summary of All Property Reviews
Ratings based on answers from a total of 5 reviews (All Reviews)
10 is best 1 is worst |
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| Feature |
Ranking |
Feature |
Ranking |
| Cleanliness of Property |
7.60 |
Quality of Property |
6.60 |
| Privacy & Quietness |
3.40 |
Quality of Service |
6.00 |
| Courtesy & Hospitality of Staff |
6.80 |
Accuracy of Website (marketing hype) VS. Actual Experience |
6.00 |
| Food and Dining Experience |
6.80 |
Price/Value of Property |
5.60 |
| Safety Factor (Did you feel safe at property) |
7.00 |
Quality of Beach (ranked closest beach if property is located off the beach) |
7.20 |
| Total Property Score: 6.30 | Average Star Rating: 3.20 out of 5 |
- 40% (2 visitors of 5) said they would go back to Sandals - Grande St. Lucian again.
- 40% (2 visitors of 5) said they would recommend Sandals - Grande St. Lucian to friends.
An absolutely AMAZING vacation !!
Traveler Review By: Heather from Ontario, Canada
Date of Visit: May 2003
We travelled to this resort on May 18th, 2003 and stayed for one GLORIOUS week. This resort really is paradise! I apologize in advance for this lengthy review, but I wanted everyone to know the details of this resort. I hope you find this review helpful
Flight
We travelled with Air Canada Vacations and left right on time. We departed Toronto at 8:35am and arrived in St. Lucia 30 minutes ahead of schedule. The landing was a bit hairy as you are landing right next to the Atlantic Ocean and there was a lot of wind blowing. The ride home was entirely different. We left St. Lucia on time but experienced really bad turbulence almost the entire 5.5 hour ride home. We didn't get served snacks or anything because there wasn't a lot of time that we were permitted to leave our seats. We both had to take Gravol that night because we had motion sickness from bouncing around so long. Other than that, flights were excellent.
Arrival
Our arrival went smooth, no problems at all. We found the Air Canada Vacations desk and the Sandals representative very easily. They immediately whisked us off into our bus and off we went. The ride to the resort is an hour and a half and can be scary at times!! The ride did not seem that long though. They drive like maniacs and there are a lot of windy roads with shear drops hundreds of feet down. Amazing scenery though! Pulling up to your gates makes you feel like you are in heaven!
Check-In
Again, no problems here at all. We were greeted right away with cold washcloths and glasses of champagne. We didn’t even have to stand in line. We got to sit in these nice cozy chairs and they brought everything to us. We also got an amenity kit full of little goodies…..lotion, shampoo, body wash, aloe vera gel (which came in VERY handy after our suntanning). We spent only 15 minutes getting checked in and then they were taking us up to our room. We wanted to carry our video camera and other camera bags but they would NOT allow us. He kept saying “You are on Vacation, let me do the work!” They were all soooo nice.
Accommodations
We had a Deluxe Room (Standard). We were in one of the quieter buildings on the left of the resort. We were on the 3rd floor room 6305. This room was amazing as it was facing right between the two buildings across from us and we had an awesome view of the mountains! The rooms are more than big enough for 2 people. The bathrooms are VERY nice. Marble counter with two sinks. Lots of lights so the bathroom was very bright. And EXTREMELY clean. The cleaning ladies were very nice, did a wonderful job and were always done our rooms fairly early in the day. The rooms are all air-conditioned. Since we only had a deluxe room, we had a mini-fridge stocked with various soft drinks and bottled water, but no alcohol. This was fine with us as we are not heavy drinkers and there were so many bars that were only minutes from our room anyhow. The room décor was very bright and cheery. The room always smelled fresh.
Food
The food, by our standards, was definitely gourmet! Breakfast was either buffet at Bayside or a la carte at Toscanini’s. Lunch was buffet at Bayside or a la carte at Josephine’s. You HAVE to try the chocolate crepes at Josephine’s as they were delicious. The crepe St. Jacques was also yummy…..lots of scallops! Dinner was a la carte at several restaurants. Toscanini’s dinner is VERY nice with white glove service. We didn’t try Barefoot by the Sea’s dinner until our very last night and we were sorry we did. You HAVE to have the Surf and Turf! The steak was very tender and cooked to perfection and the garlic shrimp were to die for. Several nights throughout the week they had special meals. Once was a huge BBQ on the beach. Mondays and Fridays were buffet dinner at Bayside and it was very nice. The prime rib was so tender and it was the biggest piece of meat I have ever seen! LOL. Everynight each restaurant had a “Special of the day” so there was definitely a lot of variety to the food. Overall food was excellent. We never had to wait more than 3 minutes to get a table and we didn’t wait long for food either. Staff was amazing! Always bringing us more drinks and refilling our wine glasses! Neither my fiance or any people that we met had any problems with food. No one was sick AT ALL and the best part is that the tap water is completely safe to drink! I drank it all week and no problems!
Activities
There was LOTS to do at this resort. Definitely something for everyone! And the best thing is that it is alllll included in your package price. That’s the best thing; you can do it all or do nothing at all !
Pools
This resort had soooo many pools! You could always find a quite pool to relax in. All of the pools were immaculately cleaned. There was a tonne of Sandals floaties everywhere. We could always find one. Chairs were also never a problem. The only thing to be cautious about is that there are not many loungers in the shade. If you really really want shade, you need to get up a bit early and put some towels on your chair. Although I did see two staff members walk across the ENTIRE resort carrying an umbrella with a huge concrete base for this lady that didn’t have any shade!! Another thing is be careful when walking with wet feet around the main pool. The tiles are very slippery and I saw many people almost fall !
The Grounds
The grounds were soooo beautiful. I went for an early morning walk (6am) and saw the entire staff out in full force scrubbing the pool tiles, trimming bushes, watering flowers and ensure that everything was in top notch shape. The flowers all smelled lovely throughout the resort.
The Beach
The beach was quite long and they had several areas roped off for swimming. The beach area where you sit is nice powdery sand, but if you go in the water it is a bit rocky. Bring water shoes if you plan on going in the Sea. Plenty of loungers on the beach too. Some even have umbrellas attached to the chairs for shade.
Safety
I always felt extremely safe at this resort. I saw many security guards patrolling the grounds at all hours and one day they hired a local construction company to build a bridge over the pool. It took them two days to complete and for two days the security guards stood right beside them to ensure that they stayed right where they were supposed to be. We never had a problem at all. All rooms come with safes which we always used but we could leave bags on the beach or by the pool all day and no one touched them. I even left my makeup bag just a certain way and the cleaning lady didn’t even look inside! I think their jobs are highly valued there, so they would never to anything to jeopardize them.
Overall
Overall I would highly recommend this resort to anyone. I have read a few semi-bad reviews on this site and I have to ask…..are you SURE you stayed at the Grande??? I couldn’t see anyone complaining about this resort! DO NOT let any bad reviews deter you. This truly is an AMAZING resort! We are already planning our next vacation. I got a big surprise on my trip…..I got engaged! We are planning our wedding for next year and were so happy with the Sandals Grande that we are considering getting married there next year. Go to this resort! You will be VERY glad that you did!
If anyone has any questions or would like me to send some pictures of the resort, please e-mail me at sundrimsims2@hotmail.com
HAVE FUN!!
Property Review
10 is best 1 is worst
Would you stay at this property again?: ... Yes
Would you recommend this property to your friends?: ... No
In your opinion, how would you classify the "style" of this property: ... Family Oriented
Possible Anwswers: Family Oriented, Couples Oriented, Mixed/Diverse in a Good Way, Mixed/Diverse in a Bad Way
Property Service Rankings: (Average Ranking = 9.80)
- Cleanliness of Property: ... 10
- Quality of Property: ... 10
- Privacy and Quietness: ... 10
- Quality of Service: ... 10
- Courtesy and Hospitality of Staff: ... 10
- Accuracy of Website VS. Actual Experience: ... 10
- Food and Dining Experience: ... 10
- Price/Value of Property: ... 10
- Safety Factor (Did you feel safe at property): ... 10
- Quality of Beach (ranked closest beach if property is located off the beach): ... 8
Destination/Island Review
10 is best 1 is worst
Would you visit this destination/island again?: ... Yes
Would you recommend this destination/island to your friends?: ... Yes
Destination Rankings: (Average Ranking = 9.38)
- Cleanliness of Destination/Island: ... 8
- Options of Activities in the Area: ... 10
- Ease of Transportation (air, taxi, bus, shuttle): ... 8
- Quality of Beaches in the Area: ... 10
- Courtesy & Hospitality of Locals: ... 10
- Safety Factor (Did you feel safe in the Area): ... 10
- Local Restaurant Experience/Options: ... 9
- Price/Value of Destination (Does your dollar stretch?): ... 10
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Snorkeling and Scuba Diving Rankings:
Did you
Snorkel during your trip? ... No
Did you Scuba Dive during your trip? ... No
10 is best 1 is worst |
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Snorkeling Ratings |
Scuba Diving Ratings |
| Water Clarity ... 0 |
Water Clarity ... 0 |
| Health of the Reef ... 0 |
Health of the Reef ... 0 |
| Overall Experience ... 0 |
Overall Experience ... 0 |
| Would you recommend snorkeling here? ... N/A |
Would you recommend diving here? ... N/A |
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