Sandals Royal Barbados

Kaylie Barker

Just got back from 5 night honeymoon and had a great trip. Drinks were wonderful. Zebe at the swim up bar was awesome! Food was pretty good, room for improvement there but overall not toobad. The rooms were very nice and clean. The bed was more firm than we liked. The AC wouldn't go below 69 degrees which wasn't cold enough for our sun burns but other people said their rooms were colder. The ceiling fans in our room and porch were useless and barely put off air flow. The gardens were beautiful and grounds were very clean. We and others were disappointed the pools closed at 6 every day. Beach was beautiful and water sorta rough on that part of the island. Staff was very friendly and professional. Ricardo the bus driver was fun. I feel like the resort is aimed more got older couples than 20 30 year old but overall we still had a wonderful time.

Eileen Carter

Overall, we truly enjoyed our stay. The food was excellent, the culture and atmosphere were beautiful, and the staff throughout the resort were incredibly kind, welcoming, and hospitable. They really made us feel cared for, and we have so many wonderful memories from our honeymoon. The reason we couldn’t give 5 stars comes down to the room. *We booked a room at Sandals Barbados and ended up in a room at Sandals Royal Barbados, for reference of this review* We specifically booked and paid extra for a beachfront room because that was the experience we wanted for our honeymoon. When we arrived, we were placed in a room that was not beachfront. When we asked about it, we were told we had received a “complimentary upgrade” to a newer section of the resort. While we understand that some guests may prefer the newer interior rooms, that’s not what we chose or paid for. We intentionally selected the beachfront room with an older interior because what was worth the extra cost to us was the view, not the furniture. If we had wanted a newer interior room, we would have booked that option ourselves. What was most disappointing was that we weren’t notified of this change at all. We walked into our room and found that we did not have a beachfront view. That is when we found out that the other building was under construction, so the resort knew that they could not accommodate the room we had booked ahead of time. Had we known beforehand, we would have appreciated the opportunity to decide whether to accept the change or explore other accommodations that could provide the beachfront honeymoon experience we had planned for. Instead, it felt like our concern was dismissed by framing it as an “upgrade,” even though it wasn’t an upgrade based on the experience we specifically paid for. Aside from this issue, we genuinely had a wonderful stay. We just hope the resort will communicate room changes more transparently in the future and recognize that an “upgrade” isn’t always an upgrade if it changes the very experience a guest intentionally booked and looked forward to.

Sarah&Mark

We went to Sandals royal Barbados for our honeymoon (25/05/2026-06/06/2026). Although overall we had a great time, I feel this hotel lacks what other 5* hotels offer. Our first time at a Sandals hotel and if honest would not rush to return. There are other 5* resorts around the world that offer a far superior service. Zebe and Marland are far the best bar staff here, others lack motivation or leave you waiting without even acknowledging you. A lot of the staff came across as rude and like they didn’t want to be there. This is the first 5* hotel we have been to where you have to go to the bar whilst at the pool and you can wait up to 30 minutes to be served and be ignored. (One of our 12 days someone did come around asking if we wanted any drinks, but the rest of the time we had to go ourselves). We were unaware regarding the butler side of things at this hotel when booking, we booked club level. However this was pointless as I was told to just book the restaurants on the app. . Apart from the cold towels, drink on arrival and the glass bottom boat - which is well worth doing and the staff on the trip were brilliant and well informative. The club level was nothing extra to offer. . Every morning the butlers reserve the sun loungers, unless you are down at the pool early (before 6:30am, or you will not get a sun lounger until the afternoon), I was even told some butler guests get sun loungers at both main pools. This falls short of a 5* experience, other hotels you can go down whenever you want and be able to get a bed, I’d expect this at a budget hotel. Lucky for me, I like to sit down early with my book and a coffee, it was peaceful, every bed taken but no one else around for ages!!! Also you were treated differently, like you were not part of the 5* experience. The main manager walked around the pool speaking to everyone on our first day, I think his name was Dominic, I wish I had seen him again. Our room was clean and really nice, turn down service/topping up drinks was hit and miss, had to ring down for replacement towels a couple of times as the old ones were taken and not replaced. Our tranquility bath plug did not work, I asked in the club lounge in total of 3 times over a 5 day period, nothing was fixed despite saying they would send maintenance, so I asked at the main reception and it was fixed an hour later. Kimonos we left before they served food as it was unbearable, the server was way way over the top, chatting up a girl, an 18-20 year old very inappropriately in front of her parents and making her feel very awkward, and continuing to embarrass people by asking weird questions, making everybody sing odd songs and putting them under peer pressure to toss food in there mouths (rubbery, massively overcooked plain egg!!)the food was very overdone as he just kept cooking it, already cooked rice must of been on the griddle/hot plate for half an hour for example, whilst he continued to Pratt around making loads of noise and being a clown. Despite my shellfish allergy which was made aware twice before he threw it on with the other food, using same cooking equipment and mixing it in and then denied vividly when asked. Most of our table left before us and we bumped in the last couple that stayed said it was by far the worst experience they had ever had and they are a regular at this sort of diner. Both Butchers restaurants, Bombay, Chi and La Parisienne I would definitely recommend. The service and food were spot on, for lunch time the Jerk Shack, we had this most days. I would definitely recommended exploring the island, we hired a car and went around the coast over 2 days, we were lucky to find the Rally that was on that weekend. We also found the beach’s along the west coast which are beautiful and what you would imagine being Barbados. Despite the couple of grumbles, overall we had a memorable experience and enjoyable time in general.

Zachary Highberger

I have only visited two other Sandals/Beaches resorts - Jamaica South Coast and Turks and Caicos. I would have to say this location (Royal Barbados/Barbados) ranks below the aforementioned resorts. I remember the overall service quality and beach condition at the other resorts being superior. Here, our room was great-clean with nice garden view. Other negative reviews mention rough waters which I completely understand. But, I grew up on rough Atlantic coast beaches, and I enjoy activity associated with waves (body surfing). I did appreciate the attentive room and housekeeping service. We had an issue one evening with our room HVAC thermostat and maintenance staff had it addressed quickly and repaired within 30 min. Staff at the welcome/information center were very helpful and kind. My major issue is the overall experience with restaurant service, and I would have to agree with many other client reviews. With the exception of the Bombay Indian restaurant (great experience), most other eateries had below average service. I am not saying the servers were rude, but they seemed unmotivated and emotionless. Dining was sometimes very uncomfortable, and I felt like I was being served by vapid robots. I noticed this at Neptunes, Butch's, and The Tavern restaurants. Please review comments through a constructive lense. I will unlikely come back to this Sandals location, but we already have another Sandals trip planned for Fall 2026. Thank you, ZH

Sarah Harrington

We just returned from 5 nights at the Sandals Royal Barbados. It is a very pretty property and being able to visit the next door Sandals is a bonus. We had good food and a lovely room. It is very, very windy there and the water is rough so sometimes being on the beach is a challenge. My husband could not go sailing although after looking at their equipment he didn't think it was safe because the equipment didn't seem to be in good condition. There are a few drug dealers who walk along the beach selling cannabis and offering hard drugs. They aren't aggressive but it's unpleasant to see. The beach is public so Sandals can't do anything apparently. We often smelled cannabis on the beach. The property is well maintained but I was disappointed to find a large amount of trash near the life guard stand which wasn't cleared during our stay. But my biggest complaint is that there was construction work going on directly across from our room and you could hear a jack hammer just before 8 am!! Work is necessary sometimes but usually the guest is notified or offered to move to another area and that was not the case. I spoke to a few other guests and they weren't notified either. I think Sandals could have done better.