The Sands Barbados All Inclusive

My initial trip had to be rescheduled because of hurricane Berly that came around July 4th weekend. It took some haggling and The sands would only accommodate a 2 week window to use the credit. Which was very disappointing. I had to pay double on a flight to meet their deadline. Upon getting to the hotel, the staff at the front desk were polite and apologize for the short time frame to use the credit. The rooms were nice, we had a duplex style room. The food was subpar, only ate there twice during my stay. I wouldn’t say it’s truly an all inclusive experience. There was a rude encounter with one of the head staff at the dining area ( actually 2 rude experiences). This incident was reported to upper management and rectified with an apology and a complimentary brunch at NIOR. Beyond this, some training needs to happen to let the staff know it’s not ok to treat people differently because of how “they look” This woman had some level of bias to her tone and approach when dealing with black guests vs non black guests. Let me just say she was more polite to people who did not look like her. #Sad Shout out to Kemar at guest services. He was attentive and approached each guest with respect. He accommodated any request that was asked. I gave it a 4 stars because of the location, and the few friendly staff we encountered.

Note: We originally booked a different hotel where we went on honeymoon (a beautiful 4 star hotel on the beach) however it was damaged during hurricane Beryl and therefore closed - so our travel agent moved us to a "like for like" hotel.. Hotel: Basic facility with basic furniture, A/C , grounds etc. There is one pool and one bar - both quite small and you realise the size on busy days! Our A/C and toilet both broke on more than one occasion. Food and Drink: We had all inclusive. This was misleading. All inclusive meals are very limited, especially if you have food intolerances or specific diets. The selection/options for each meal is very limited, and the food quality was mostly very poor. Portion sizes were tiny and sometimes just unacceptable. Drinks options are very limited to cheap brands and speciality drinks are not included. Dining Area Hygiene: This is a big issue. There were birds everywhere scavenging for food. They jumped from table to table, plate to plate whether anyone was there or not. The dining area which is beach-side, also has hanging lights - often the birds would rest on the hanging lights and poop - landing on people, their plates, the floor etc etc. Not entirely the hotels fault but they didnt really do anything about it. Other hotels in Barbados have resident cats and they dont have any bird dropping issues like this place. Beach: Public beach, small and has a big problem with seaweed during hurricane season. We had 3 days with sand, and then woke up one morning and the whole beach was covered and unusable. It took the hotel a week to have the seaweed removed, but by then all of the customers were fairly deflated. Also, for our first 2 days stay there was a ban on entering the water as a sewage pipe burst during the hurricane and the water was contaminated. Eventually, the beach was re-opened. Gym: This is a converted hotel room with 6 pieces of equipment, a few of which either dont work or are broken. If you enjoy fitness then avoid this hotel, there is a reason they dont have pictures of their fitness facility on their website. Its terrible. Staff: We met some lovely staff members on our trip. Many however are young and inexperienced and for most of our stay there was an obvious lack of leadership in the hotel, restaurant and bar and this was reflected in a mostly poor and sometimes rude attitude by staff towards customers. I dont think there was any malicious intent to this behaviour - just inexperience and a lack of visible leadership to keep people on their toes. To reiterate, we did meet some lovely and hard working staff, but their amazing attitude and efforts were overshadowed by others.

Visit it here this year 2024 for the second time when they’re in 23 an excellent place to visit the hotel the staff, the facilities, the food the drink entertainment is absolutely brilliant. Would recommend it to anyone. Went on a few trips around the island absolutely brilliant tour guide knew all his stuff would recommend going into fish fry Friday I brilliant experience to do But of course, everyone is different and everyone wants different experiences, but would recommend the hotel and the country to visit

The location is perfect,the food is excellent , the staff are probably the best hotel staff we have come across, if there are no sunbeds just ask the staff,only 2 days did we not have one and just asked the staff who provided us with one. Now the bad bit, if you have booked a supersaver room, upgrade or cancel now, it is just a bed with no windows/balcony it's terrible, we asked to change but none available, they really should not sell these "rooms", apart from that great hotel.

The resort is located on the south coast of the island on Worthington Beach, about a 30 minute drive to Bridgetown, is well maintained and clean. There is a grocey store just at the entrance to the resport which carries a wide variety of north american brand foods. The staff were all very pleasant and accomodating. Each evening there is live entertainment. The food was good and there was always something on the menu for all. I traveled with my 90 year old motherand we were placed in a two level suite. Many of the units are two levels and not suitable for individuals with mobility limitations. The Sands staff were quick to upgrade us to accomodations that were more than adequate. The Reflections Spa is small but lovely. I had the best massage of my life! I would definately go back.

A lovely stay at the Sands - staff very friendly and attentive - the scrum for the beds in the morning is hilarious - I feel so sorry for any non Europeans who aren’t up at 6 am!! As there don’t appear to be any beach staff before 7 the guests wrestle with the chains on the sun beds to open the pile and then lift them off to get their spot!