I feel that I need to also write a review on Sandals Grande, in St. Lucia since I religiously read these daily prior to leaving. We are in our late 20s and recently married in September and waited until December to honeymoon because of the cold weather we were leaving behind. This may be somewhat lengthy...

Arrival: Flight to St. Lucia was a breeze. As I had read in other reviews, bring a pen with you as you are required to complete a "Customs Form" This basically tells Customs where you are staying and why you are in St. Lucia.

We flew into the Hewanorra (spelling ?) Airport (large) and elected to take the helicopter transfer to the small airport because we were on our honeymoon and with the long flight we wanted to treat ourselves. When you arrive in the airport you will have to give them your customs forms and passport information. They check your bags, do not let anyone standing past customs take your bag for you. You literally walk 10 feet through the doors and you check-in at the Sandals desk if you are electing to take the bus or check your bag into the Helicopter desk. If taking the helicopter they will put your bags on a bus to Sandals Grande. However, caution on this one as we had learnt. They indicated it would take 2 hours to get our bags and it took 4. No biggie...we had our swimsuits and we happy just to be there!

Helicopter if electing to go..highly recommend! It was the most amazing thing and one of the best highlights of our trip! This island is beyond beautiful. The land and the peaks and the lush greenery was just amazing! My husband and I sat next to the pilot! Wow! What an unforgettable experience, we have some amazing pictures of the ride!

Hotel arrival/Room: It was pretty impressive when we arrived there was someone right there instantly waiting for us. He brought us into the lobby and offered us champange or rum punch. I recommend the rum punch! Yummy! He also gave us a wet cloth upon checkin as it is very hot there. Sandals will give you a nice bag of toilettries and bring you to your room. We were suppose to stay in a Lagoon Room and stayed in a room facing the Atlantic. We felt this was an upgrade because of the view we were given. It was beautiful. Nice balcony. The room did need updates and as indicated in many other reviews they are working on many updates currently. Our maid was nice enough to show us an upgraded room they were working on. Beautiful mahongany bed and plush pillowtop mattress. She said that there will be new curtains and bedspreads, etc. in the room! Made us pleased to hear that as we wish ours was updated. I do not feel it is worth the extra money right now to pay for the upgrades until the rooms are completed next year. They are also putting flat screen tvs in the rooms. The room we had was very basic and it had a tile floor which was nice to keep that musty spell out because of the humidity and ocean it does get rather damp. But we were very happy with the room overall. It was clean, not impressive...but had no bugs and the maid service and turn down service was very nice. They work very hard!

Resort: The Grande is kept up beautifully. They were always trimming or doing something around the property. The pools were clean and had plenty of floats to go around. We never had a hard time finding a spot and I needed the shade because I am rather fair.

I highly recommend letting it loose and visiting Brutus at the swimup bar!!! He was Awesome! And hilarious! We enjoyed our Monday afternoon and felt really good by dinner time! (laugh)

Pigeon Point hike: I would also recommend this to anyone who wants to hike and have an amazing view. Follow the beach and you'll literally run into the desk to pay $5.00 US dollars to hike and see the fort ruins. Very neat and worth the $5.00. We climbed both peaks. Wear safe shoes and bring waters and sunscreen.

Restaurants: (Grande)
Barefoot By the Sea-This was okay. I had the jerk chicken and my husband had a burger. Just okay food. We actually only had lunch there.

Bayside: This is more buffet style but at dinner they had "themed" nights and it was always good for breakfast and lunch. Food was always good here.

Toscanni's (Italian) This by far was our favorite place. It has white glove service and was open for breakfast (very good) and dinner only. The dinners were wonderful. Feel free to order 2-3 starters as they are very small if you are hungry that day. Otherwise, the presentation of the food was great as well as the taste.

Josephine's (Crepes) We split our crepes for a light snack one day and this was very good. I missed out on the good coffees and milk shakes...

La Toc (Regency) (reservations needed) This was beautiful inside, but the food for us was good, not great. I liked what I had and my husband didn't care for his. The service was great and we ordered two bottles of champange. Don't be afraid to ask...

Kimonos: (regency) (reservations needed) Very disappointed but we could not get into this at all. Only thing I think I can complain about really when you pay the money you think you should be able to at least get a reservations within the weeks stay at a restaurant. Even people at the Regency were having problems getting in. Not sure what the hold up was. (?)

We did not eat at the Halcyon the whole time we were there because of a little problem they are having really turned us off from the place completely. They are doing road construction in front of the resort and apparently turned up a lot of creatures homes and they are now making the Halcyon their home. (rats) We picked up a couple from the resort on the way back and she said they were eating lunch and rat (the size of a cat) ran under their table. I am sorry..but major turnoff to us.

Entertainment:
Monday night: They have a beach party/manager's night on the beach out front. So much fun! They have tons of food set up and steel drums playing and fire eating happening for the entertainment. Like this a lot.

Otherwise, they had something planned each night for guest. Some was good, some was cheesy..but overall try it out and see what you want to do.

Tuesday night is there chocolate buffet night where they set up in the main lobby at 11:00.

Friday night is seafood night and martinis at 11:00 and this was fun.

Construction: I just wanted to touch on this as there are many things going on at both the Regency and Grande. At the Grande they are building the premium suites/huts and it did not even bother us once while we were there. You never heard anything. They are painting and updating all rooms as I have mentioned. I think this is great that Sandals is willing to continue to always improve. So anyone going in 2007 will have all updated rooms. However, they are doing this slowly. We were at Regency and they are doing pavement work.

Staff: Always smiling and willing to go the extra mile. Always say "no pressure" or "no problem"

Excursions: We booked the Souferrie Adventure Cruise. It was so much fun and well worth the money. You cruise down the shore and music and rum start flowing! Can't get any better. They stop in the town of Souferrie and take you to the botanical gardens, Diamonds Falls and the Volcano and then you head to lunch at this local restaurant/resort (small) located in the bluffs over looking the Pitons! All I can say is it was worth it. The beauty was priceless. We then reboarded and snorkeled. It was just a great day and way to get out of the resort and see the culture and island. We met some wonderful people. ("hello" to Chris and Tiffany from Texas!)

Regency-we were here a couple of times and were so happy we picked the Grande. If you like more spreadout properties..you'll like the Regency. It is located on a bluff and shuttles run back and forth from the top to the bottom. I ran into someone that said that typically is seems that you like what you start out with. (good point) So if start at one of the two you'll love the one you start with. Just a personal preference. I just think the Grande has more of the luxury feel to it versus the Regency. It is all in what you want...either way I don't think you'll be sorry for booking one or the other. My recommendation is the Grande. Both had age groups of couples in their 40s and 50s to couples in the 20s.

If you have any questions, just reply to this post and I will be more then happy to answer!!

Remember to have fun and enjoy your time in the beautiful island of St. Lucia and remember "No pressure...no problem"

My husband and I just got back from 9 days at Sandals Grande St. Lucian Resort. We went to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary and scuba dive. Overall it was a good time.

The resort is beautiful but travelers who plan to come there soon need to be aware that they are in the process of renovations. There was a lot of painting, bed replacing (our room included), landscaping, and other tasks being done while we were there. Honestly it didn't affect our stay and the staff was very accomidating with everything, however, some travelers may not appreciate being in the middle of these things if on their honeymoon, etc.

We stayed in the basic Deluxe Room. It was clean and comfortable and we had no complaints at all. I personnally don't think it would be worth the money to get the swim-up rooms since you can walk out your door and go 100' in any direction and be at a pool or ocean... but that's my opinion.

Scuba diving was so-so, mostly due to the rainy weather which created poor visibility much of the time. One thing we found was that the dive gear was a bit worn out. I had to ask to have things replaced or fixed on two different dives (leaking regulator, mouth piece ripped). The dive leaders were very helpful and always took care of something when we asked them to. Very nice people and very knowledgable.

The word we got from the people at the resort was that if you plan to venture outside the resort, go with someone who is from the area (i.e. taxi driver). Apparently it isn't as "safe" as one might hope and it is best to be accompanied. So taking this advise to heart we went to the Friday night Fish Fry in Anse Le Rey with another couple accompanied by a local "independant" taxi driver. The event was a lot of fun and the food was great.

The restaurants at the resort were fine. The Italian Restaurant, in our opinion, was the best for dinner. Overall, we didn't have any problems with the food and found it to be quite good. We opted to have a candle light dinner on the beach for our anniversary on the 4th. This was a very good meal and presented beautifully. Our waitress, Marina, was the best and made sure that we had everything we needed.

The entertainment was good, however, we did notice that they often changed the daily itinerary from what was written on the white board . This wasn't a big deal but something to keep in mind. The bands that play at the resort in the evening time are wonderful and sooo much fun to dance to! Loved it.

I did end up getting some pretty nasty bug bites while I was there that I never could figure out the source they came from. At first I thought it might be sand fleas on the beach or the ants near the pools... I ended up going into the nurses office and was told to purchase some cortisone cream from the gift shop. I did this, but it didn't help. No big deal... but the bites really are unsitely.

I went to the spa at the resort twice. Very nice and great massage treatments offered. One nice perk to the resort is the complimentary use of the steam room, sauna, and the hot-cold plunge pools. Although the saunas were not operating while we were there, the steam room and the plunge pools were really nice.

Lastly, the drive to the resort. 22 miles (I think that is what they said) and it took about an hour and 45 minutes. If there is traffic, longer. Some couples opted to pay for the helicopter ride. If you do this expect to pay around $140 per person.

Overall, a fun place to go.

My husband and I stayed at the Grande from November 7th-14th of this year for our honeymoon. I read many, many reviews of the Grande before our trip and decided I would have to write one myself when I returned--simply becuase of the mixed reviews. Some people loved it, some people hated it. My husband and I would rate our overall stay as average.

Now, knowing the was my honeymoon, I can say we were a little disappointed. We flew into the bigger airport, which was not big at all. I actually laughed when we got off the plane. Unfortunately, we arrived at the same time that a Virgin Atlantic plane from the UK came in and we waited in customs for over an hour! It was very hot and uncomfortable, but we were patient. Once we got our bags, we were approached by the men with the dollys who of course got our attention by saying "Sandals?". I forgot about this part and let them take our bags. We had decided beforehand that we would take the helicopter ride to the smaller airport based on previous reviews. It was definitely worth it! We met a very nice couple from Southern California on our flight from Miami (Hi Matt and Kim!) and ended up spending most of time with them. They took took the helicopter with us. It is $120/pp but like I said, well worth it. Once we got to the smaller airport, we took a van to our hotel--about a 20 minute drive. You pass the Halcyon on the way--which at first glance does not seem that nice (I'll get to that later). Once we arrived at the Grande, which looked absolutely beautiful, we were whisked up to the Concierge Suite where we were served champagne while we waited to be checked-in. Once we were checked-in, Chris began to walk us to our room. It was then that he informed us that our room we had booked (penthouse beachfront honeymoon room) was not available and would we be okay with an "upgraded" swim-up room. Of course, we said okay, although I have to admit I was a little disappointed by the request since we were already walking to the room. Upon arrival into the room, I was immediately upset. It was indeed very, very musty--just like the other reviews indicated. I asked Chris for some candles (at the advice of another reviewer on here) and my husband asked for a bottle of Bacardi. He left and returned a little while later with the rum and the candles! We were not happy with the room though--the bed was hard and while the room was tiled, I just couldn't get over the smell of the room. I'm sorry, I know that I should be understanding, but this was my honeymoon! I paid for an ocean view and I wanted one. We never used the pool that was two feet outside our room. We had to stay in this room for three days--even after we asked if we could be moved to a different room! Our friends, Matt and Kim, booked the same room we did, and they were downgraded! On the day they were to move, they still didn't get the room they wanted. We found out later that they were doing construction on the property and one of the areas was completely closed. Three days later, after I packed up my bags once again after unpacking them, they DID move the bags to our new room. When we asked the lady at the front desk for our key, we specifically asked her "is it near the construction?". Her response, "It is no where near the construction." So, we walk to our room, and go to the balcony and what do you know? The construction was right there! I was mad--my husband called the concierge and complained. The next day, they offered to give us one of their candlelit dinners on the beach for FREE! Whoo hoo! Something that was going to make up for all the trouble. I was happy now. Needless to say, the only day available to us was Monday night--the night before we were to leave--and they sat us right next to the beach party!! Our menu was incorrect and the food was awful--including the dessert! We would have rather gone to the beach party with our friends we met the week we were there.

Okay, so now that I've told you about the ugly, let me tell you about the rest of our trip, because considering the mess up with the rooms, the rest of our stay was great! Everyone that works at the resort is very friendly. We pretty much spent our time at the pool with the swim up bar--try a BBC and a No Pressure, No Problem (not on the menu, but they'll make it).

Restaurants--We loved Barefoot by the Beach--we ate here almost every day for lunch and once for dinner. They serve your typical "American" food. Try the beach wings and the grilled cheese and don't forget the nacho bar. We also tried Gordon's, even though we had to pay for it, but it was the absolutely best meal we had the entire time we were there. We went to the Halcyon and ate at the Pier--it was okay. It was very, very hot and we had to wait an hour once we got there. I was not impressed with the resort--we even saw rats running around at this resort. We did NOT see these at the Grande. We didn't eat at Toscaninis, but our friends did, they had mixed reviews. We loved the Old English Pub--we ate there with our friends we met from London (Hi Sat and Marina!) all the time and we liked it a lot. Be careful--many of the restaurants do have specific requirements for attire. Closed -toed shoes for the guys with dress pants. We ate at Bayside for lunch once--I was not impressed and once for breakfast--that was okay.

Excursions--One piece of advice, find Peter on the beach! He is a local who offers many of the same tours the resort offers and he does them all in one day! I belive we paid about $200 for both of us and we did everything we wanted--banana plantations, volcano, swam in a waterfall, went to Soufriere, ate at a local restaurant (not very good), saw the Pitons, and snorkled between them. We then took a speed boat back to the Grande. That was the best part since the roads are very windy and had I not sat in the front of our van, I would have been sick! Trust me, find Peter!

If we didn't have so much trouble with our room, I would have graded the Grande 4/5 or even 5/5! Even though they tried to make up for our problems with the candlelit dinner, it just didn't make up for the trouble we went through. We met some great people though-Matt and Kim, and Sat and Marina (from London--where we are now going next year because of them). I would go back to a Sandals.

We stayed at the Grande from the 5th – 19th November, we arrived at the airport and were taken by road to the grande. On the way though we did stop at the Halycon. We both thought oh no when we arrived there. The place looks run down but I will tell you more about that later on!!

We arrived late evening at the Grande, our suitcases were taken from us and we were escorted to the concerirge suite. After some Champagne and form filling we were taken to our room. I will briefly summarise the rest below.

Rooms
We had a honey moon lagoon swim up room. The room was nice, yes it is a bit tired looking but it was kept lovely and clean. It was generally cleaned twice a day. Bar was restocked every day with a good selection.
The room opens out onto a lagoon pool which was lovely, this pool was nice and quiet and a great way to start and end the day.
Room service was good to with a nice selection of food.

Food
A great selection of food, we loved Barefoot by the sea and Toscanis for evening meals. Breakfast was best at Bayside with a buffet style slection and some items cooked to order, lunch at Bayside was the same too.
Not a great fan of the London pub, it just did not seem right to go all that way to sit in a London style pub!!!
On a Monday night they had a beach barbecue, they have loads of tables that seat about ten and have some great entertainment. The food is realy nice with loads of choice.
The only problem we had was the table was full of mature Americans who just talked about American football, so we managed to find a quiet spot somewhere else to enjoy the entertainment.
The food though must have been good I put on 5kg’s in two weeks!!

Resort
The resort is realy nice, the pools and gardens are kept to a high standard. There are plenty of sun beds dotted around every where and the private beach onto the sea is lovely. You doi get some sellers on the beach but a no thanks seem to do the trick and we were never bothered again. The views from the resort are breath taking and it is the perfect setting.

Wedding
We had a booklet in our room upon our arrival with all wedding information for us to read through.
We had our appointment on the 6th in preparation for our wedding on the 13th.
We sat for an hour in the wedding lounge and arranged our day. We picked the beach gazebo to get married at. We selected our food for the evening meal.
We also did pay for some extras, we upgraded to the full photo package, with DVD and we had a steel band for the wedding.
As well as some paperwork that was it!! All organised we both could not believe how simple it was. The wedding coordinator was so helpful.
We did not see many weddings at all, and in the end we asked when some were so we could see some to check that our day would go well. We were told some times and we then decided we wanted to change our location to the Pier. It was no hassle for the coordinator and the next day she found us by the pool to tell us that we could have it on the pier.

We booked a series of SPA treatments which was great, the staff again were lovely and it was a realy nice relaxing place to be.
The wedding day went perfectly. A great day for us both to remember. The photos and DVD from the day are excellent and professional. It was defiantly worth paying extra for the full wedding photo package, the quality speaks volumes.


Activities

We did some of the waters ports which were great fun and always available.
We also went horse riding which was a 4hour trip with a barbecue on a beach, this was with some people from other resorts too, we were lucky though and spent the day with a lovely American couple from our resort.
The day also includes taking the horses bareback into the sea, that was great fun.

We also went on a carnival cruise, that was a full day and well worth it.
You go on a catamaran, see the pitons drink have a tour of the volcano and botanical gardens, have some food then back on the boat for drink, snorkelling and drink.

Halcyon and Regency

We took advantage and went to the Halcyon, my first impression was right. The place looks and feels run down. You can smell the outside bar before you get to it. Stale beer and ash trays!!. The tables and resort was dirty. The place seemed to be full of British people who were there just for the beer.
We had a good wonder about and had a lovely meal in The Pier, this I have to be honest was great and it was quiet.

We also went for a night at the regency, this place is beautiful. The only down side was that there was a bit of construction on the resort. The resort is also not on a level surface and is steep in some places. We did have a nice night and meal though.

We had a fantastic time away, and we will be going back to St Lucia. Sandals has some great resorts and we will be booking into the Grande again. To end are weddingmoon we took the helicopter to the airport, you fly realy close to the pitons and the journey is great.
The worse thing was getting back home with the holiday blues!!!