The Sands Barbados

Picturesque location and beautiful beach. Accommodation perfectly suitable for a family. Excellent value for money. Daily room maintenance perfect and clean. Not excessive noise and what would be expected at this type of resort. Service in the bar and restaurant excellent. Particular mention of those who stood out as helpful and hard working members of staff are Danelle for her enterprising work in preparing the beach each morning. Greg the bar person who was always happy and helpful. Destiny for her engaging personality and good humour in the restaurant. The omelette makers, and Management staff Koffi and Nicholai and Jezz the Beach and bar attendant.

Spent Christmas at The Sands. The room overlooking the garden and pool was spacious. The staff were hardworking and went out of their way to ensure your holiday was going well. There was always something we liked in the restaurant, the pastry chef was amazing. Plenty of sunbeds, even when the hotel got full towards the end of our stay. Beds are reserved and left but staff put out another bed. Overall we had a really good holiday and would return.

The Sands is a very nice, small hotel and ideal for exploring the local area. First appearances are very deceptive with the entrance and reception resembling a motel, but money has been spent on rooms which are large, spacious and very comfortable.  The hotel literally runs onto a white sand beach and there was no problems with sun beds during our stay. The restaurant is unusual in that there’s a buffet breakfast - when you are asked for times to book lunch and dinner, even though tables were readily available during our weeks stay. The food quality was variable and there appeared to be no logic in when lunch and/or dinner was buffet or set menu. We found out by accident that there is a cooked snack menu throughout the day which needs to be better advertised. Easy access into Bridgetown or Oisten by bus, taxi or - if you want to try local transportation the Reggae Bus. These are mini buses stopping when you want to get on, and will drop you off where you want. Loud reggae music for the journey and, as an example, the cost is 2 US$ per person to go into Bridgetown. The reception, cleaning and management staff are very friendly and helpful although, in our experience, the younger bar staff need to learn how to deal with paying guests from the excellent Jacqueline, whilst the unsmiling restaurant staff need to learn from the excellent example set by Cyrilene. We really enjoyed our week at the Sands and would return.

The location of this hotel on the beach is superb. We had a two bedroom apartment on the ground floor looking out to sea. The management and supervisors were friendly and efficient but some of the other staff could do with more training. Some of them gave the impression that we were an inconvenience. An example: we asked three times for coffee. Tea arrived. After that the coffee was delivered without eye contact or a word spoken. The food was good. Be aware that you can order steak a day in advance and that burgers, fish and chicken are available from the grill during the day. Noir restaurant was slightly disappointing. This was because we were expecting something very special but it was no better than the main restaurant. But this is because the main restaurant is very good anyway! A table for lunch and dinner has to be booked at breakfast and both are either a la carte or buffet - it varies day by day. Some days the music near the pool was too loud but generally you can have a restful day and you are not pestered to join any activities. We tried the pool once. It was usually empty. The “ deep” end is about four foot deep and it shelves to nothing. The water was clean not salty nor full of chlorine. Sun beds were always available and beach towels can be collected and exchanged from the beach office. Location of the hotel is great. Not far from the airport and a short walk from St. Lawrence gap and a short taxi ride to Oistins - $18 US. We needed a room for our 18:00 departure. Our choice was to have our room, free of charge until 15:00 or a courtesy room bookable for 30 mins at 17:00. We chose the latter and were shown on time to the clean courtesy room complete with fresh towels. Smoking and vaping in public areas is not allowed. ( a government not hotel rule). There is an outdoor smoking area not far from the pool and bar where you can sit in peace! Overall, this is a very good hotel worthy of its 5 star reviews.

Had a wonderful 10 night stay, our 2nd visit this year. Excellent staff - Bar: Antonio who made us the best mudslide we have tasted. David, Tyrone & Steven who are just amazing. Front desk are all really friendly & approachable, special shout out to Ricardo who is a credit to this hotel. Housekeeping did a wonderful job of keeping our room clean & tidy. The beach boys work really hard to ensure beds, umbrellas as well as the kayaks & paddle boards are ready for guests. Food - Nice selection, but often not quite warm enough. Lack of bananas at breakfast which is unusual for the Caribbean. Location - Great location, close to the Gap & a short bus ride to Bridgetown. Thank you all for a wonderful stay 🤩

My review is a little late as I visited in August but me and my family had an amazing time at the sands and there’s not a day I wish I wasn’t back there ! I honestly could not recommend it more the staff were amazing and the view from the beach was absolutely stunning! During the day the staff run excellent activities, shout out to Micheal who just always goes out of his way to make sure your having a good time and can get involved with any of the activities like beach cricket and football. During your stay you can also borrow a kayak and or paddle board and go out on the water get a great view of the turtles that swim around! While we were there, there was a sea weed issue but with the help of the great lads at the activity station , Jayden, Ramario and Jakeel as well as some of the other guest we cleared it up in no time, which I have to admit was actually a lot of fun ! The boys in blue (the activity lads ) are always down to chat and play games and there were just really nice guy and made my holiday so much more fun! When you sit down for food the staff are so friendly and bring you drinks as often as they can. Crystal was the absolute best her sense of humour was amazing and she helped solve an issue we had with food. If you head over to the bar there’s some really friendly and funny staff who will have a joke and make you some amazing cocktails, Barbie and jezheel make the best cocktails and Antonio, Danny and Justin were just really funny guys to chat to even the humour among the staff just made it a fun place to be. Even the security were lovely to be about! They would chat to you and it created a nice safe environment! Morgan and kenesha where so friendly I found myself missing them if they weren’t on shift. One staff member, Jezheel was absolutely amazing he gave me loads of recommendations of places to eat and he was always really helpful greeting everyone with a smile! Much like Morgan and kenesha I found myself missing him when he wasn’t on shift, the vibe he brings to the hotel is genuinely unmatched, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone work so hard and look so happy doing it ! I really can’t give enough credit to the staff, the hotel was nice but most hotels are, the reason I would go back to the sands if for the staff, never have I been on holiday and felt like I made so many friends, I can’t wait to go back !!

We have just finished 10 nights at the Sands and have loved every minute. The food entertainment, staff, rooms everything have been perfect. A special mention to Nikolai who has made our trip!! We will see you in the UK next year. The rooms were cleaned everyday and fully air conditioned the location is also perfect 5 minutes to St Lawrence Gap where there is bars and restaurants. We visited Holetown, Oistins on the Friday which was great. Everyone is so friendly and we will 100% be back.

The hotel surpassed all my expectations! The staff was welcoming and accommodating right from the moment we checked in. The room was clean, and the ocean view was splendid. The hotel’s location was amazing – only a few minutes walk from St Lawrence Gap. Beautiful beach which is also a great spot to watch the sunset. The food options were also quite tasty. I will certainly return during my next visit!

On arrival at the hotel, we had to wait 3-4 hours for our room to be made ready. This definitely wasn't a good start. The hotel had already booked us all in the restaurant for lunch, which eased some of the tension from the arriving guests. Around 16:00, Ricardo came for us to take us to our room. When he opened the door and we walked into the room, our hearts sank, and our demeanour changed from excitement to disbelief. We walked into what seemed like a cupboard. There was no natural light coming into the room. The bed was on the right. The dresser, chair, and fridge were on the left. They were all within touching distance of each other without having to move. And the bathroom was just at the rear. There was no room for us to move around and nowhere to sit apart from sitting on the bed. The room and bathroom were clean and tidy, but not where we wanted to spend the next 10 days of our second honeymoon. This was one of Virgin super saver rooms, which we had on our first honeymoon, which was a lot better as it still had a veranda with plenty of natural light. The room on this holiday had a window with privacy glass that faced an outside wall, so even during the day, you would have had to keep a light on in the room. When we went for dinner that evening, I put a complaint in with the reception which happened to be Emerson, and asked if we could be moved to another room. Nothing else was available that evening, so we had no choice but to sleep in that room. We were so upset to think that we would have to spend our entire second honeymoon in that room, and if that was the case, we thought about forgoing our honeymoon and going home. Luckily, the next day Emerson told us a different room would be coming available, but it would cost us nearly an extra £700. This was the only option, we had no choice but to pay it even though this took a lot of our holiday money that we had budgeted for. When we went to see the new room, we were absolutely astounded. The room wasn't just a room, it was more like an apartment. It was so spacious, bright, airy and modern. We loved it and knew we would enjoy staying there. There were certain members of staff that couldn't do enough for you to make sure our stay was as enjoyable as possible. These staff included Emerson and assistant manager Rebecca, who were wonderful. Mark and Ricardo could never do enough for us. Mark was part of the hospitality team. He always greeted you with smile and making sure all was OK. Ricardo (a very handsome young man according to my wife) would also check in with us daily to make sure we were happy with everything. On the day of our anniversary Emerson arranged for some flowers to be delivered via an outside floris. And the hotel gave us a bottle of champagne. All setup nicely in the living room with flower petals. My wife could not hold her emotions. Brilliant absolutely fantastic anniversary. The food in the restaurant was ok nothing special and not much to choose from lunch or dinner. You have a decent choices of breakfast. The only problem is that you might have to wait awhile for omelette or scrabble eggs. Time could be saved if the mixture already prepared in a bowl an extra in the fridge just in case you run out. That would save plenty of time. There is a burger man that comes some days which isn't too bad. The catering team are always welcoming. The bar staff will mix whatever drinks or cocktails you want. I can't comment on the beer as I'm not a beer drinker. The hotel is kept clean and tidy throughout the day. There's plenty to drink. Some the excursion can be expensive. The mini van buses are cheep enough if you want to travel. There is a supermarket just outside the hotel which is not too expensive. Just a few negatives that we have. 1. Some of the front of house staff could be more approachable and more helpful with your needs. 2. More activities through the day. 3. Try cleaning the seaweed on the beach especially on a calm day. That being said we would definitely consider going back to The Sands if wanted another holiday in Barbados.

Visited Barbados last week on business. Changed my hotel plans from Hilton to the Sands. I recall many moons ago staying there when it was the sandy beach hotel. The place is well maintained. A little challenging arriving before check in time ( 4Pm ). I paid an early check in fee . The all inclusive experience was average. One restaurant and one bar. The staff was was way above average and went far to make my trip enjoyable. Shout out to olivia from the dining area.The room was comfortable and well kept. The entertainment was great. Amazing artists on friday and saturday night. Very different artist but both very talented. The star of the resort is the white sandy beach and calm bathing. Incredible location. In my view, and I have stayed in many places, the best beach in barbados. I will certainly be back.

Celebrating a birthday, we have just had the most incredible time The staff at The Sands have all been amazing, so friendly, helpful and welcoming. The location is great and getting around is easy. A special thank you to Michael Adams on Guest Services for making my partner’s birthday so memorable. We will definitely be returning. Thanks all so much

We have just got back from a fabulous 10 day break where we got married. The wedding planner Naomi was brilliant and it was everything we expected and more. We met some lovely people that we invited to the beach to share our special day. The location is beautiful. The staff are amazing and very hard working nothing was a problem 🤩 The food was great 😊 We can’t wait to return next year. Thank you everyone ❤️ Jamie, Shane, Billie and Sam xxx

Came to Barbados for a wedding and reunion. Fortunate to stay at The Sands which was perfectly situated on a gorgeous beach with wonderful weather. The accommodation was great and the team friendly and helpful. Breakfast was a delight and we loved the daily local specials. We even saw a couple get married on the beach under a coconut tree in what could only be called a picture perfect event!