St Lucia, Sandals Regency Golf Resort and Spa

First of all i have to say i can not beleive the negative comments on here relating to such a wonderfull resort! Myself and my friend stayed at the Regency from the 23rd of June - 5th July 2010 and from the minute we stepped off the plane had a truly wonderfull experience. Every staff member from the guys at the arrivals desk situated in the airport to the general manager of the resort Micheal where fantastic and made our stay a pleasurable one. They just couldn't do enough for you and the resort itself is pure luxury where you are waited on around the clock!! The food was delicious in every restaurant we ate in - Our favourite was the pitons where you can experiance local cuisine, we also enjoyed La Toc, Kimonos, Neptunes, Armandos, The Pavilion and for a midnight snack the cricketers pub. The playmakers are great fun too we enjoyed a few late nights in the piano bar with them singing and dancing......I would recommend this resort to anyone we had an absolute blast and cant wait to return!

We are writing this email to describe our experiences (good and bad) at Sandals Regency La Toc resort and explain our disappointment.

My husband and I arrived in St. Lucia for our honeymoon on Monday, March 29, 2010. Upon our arrival, we were ushered to a Sandals van for our transportation to the resort. It was a very hot and humid day and the van's air-conditioning was not running enough to keep us comfortable. The ride to the resort took an hour and a half on winding roads in a van that did not have a great suspension and it was not a comfortable ride. We arrived at the resort both feeling carsick. Had we know what to expect, we could have taken Dramamine. I recommend telling your guests beforehand what to expect and telling them about the option to purchase a luxury ride.

We arrived at the Sandals Regency La Toc resort hot and carsick and were immediately ushered past the beautiful lobby and into a conference room with about 30 other guests. We were offered champagne, but at that point all we wanted was some water and to be left alone in our room to relax as we had been traveling since 5:00am that morning. Instead, we had to listen to a group presentation about the resort, fill out paperwork and wait 20 minutes for our room key. When we finally were given our room key and taken to our room, our luggage never arrived. After waiting for 30 minutes, we called the front desk and they put us on hold to check on the luggage. The person on the phone never picked back up and after about 4 minutes there was a knock at the door and our bags were brought in. This is the worst first impression at a hotel/resort that we have ever had during our extensive travels across the country and around the world.

Our room had a beautiful breathtaking view (Room 356) and the d cor was fine. We did discover later that our room had tiny ants everywhere, but primarily in the bathroom. We appreciated the fridge filled with water and juice. However, one day the concierge came by to ask us what we needed. We told him we were out of water and juice. He asked us which kind of juice we would like. We requested the guava juice. He came in and brought bottles of water and every other kind of juice except guava. He left without saying a word. On the second evening, we drank our bottle of champagne. It was never refilled in the fridge by the concierge. On the fifth day we had to make a phone call to request another bottle from the concierge. The bottle was brought up a half an hour later and was warm. We feel that this is something that should have been automatically refilled in the refrigerator the way we were told it would be when we were initially taken to our room.

The first morning we requested room service for breakfast. The food arrived 30 minutes after we requested and it was cold and missing half of what we requested. The resort never put another breakfast room service form in our room for us to utilize the service again, though I don't think we would have regardless.

The food at The Pitons, Armandos, Neptunes, La Toc, the Pavillion and Kimono's was superb. We absolutely enjoyed the dining experience. Unfortunately we were very disappointed that our water glasses were never refilled at any restaurant unless we asked. Several times when we asked for them to be refilled, the server acted annoyed and put out by our request. We had spent many hours outside every day and needed to stay hydrated. It should always be something that your employees do without being asked.

Our experience at the spa was fantastic! We loved our package, the rub-a-dub (massage, exfoliation and bath). Our technicians were absolutely wonderful and we felt totally pampered. Our room came with a $250 credit for the spa, but we spent $350.

We had a wonderful time on the Land and Sea adventure and an even better time on the zip lining adventure that we did. Our guide on the zip lining was Greg and he was fun, helpful and very informative. We LOVED our tours/excursions.

We enjoyed our daily time at the pool and beach. We also loved riding on the water "bikes" that we were able to use for free. Unfortunately, the last three days we were at the Regency the pool was disgusting. It was cloudy in color and there was a film of sunscreen covering the top. It looked so bad that we did not even get in the pool those days.

On our last full day (April 4th) in St. Lucia, we decided to go to the tour desk and reserve a private car for our ride back to the airport. We were told that there was a problem because there wasn't enough credit on our account to reserve the car. We were never told that there was a credit limit of what we could charge to our room and we had charged about $900 worth of activities from the spa, gift shops and tours. When we got our invoice from the front desk, they had not applied our $250 credit from the spa. Had they applied the credit, we would not have had any problems reserving a private car. However, when we asked about the credit, the front desk employee gave us a dirty look and acted like we were ridiculous for asking for it to be applied towards our bill. After paying our balance, we had to go back to the tour desk to then ask them to reserve the car. It was inconvenient and we had plenty of money to spend but were never told that there was a limit on our room credit. It was very embarrassing to us and we should have been accommodated without having to go back and forth between the desks.

The private car ride back to the airport was wonderful. The car was comfortable, the driver was pleasant and we enjoyed our ride back.

Overall our honeymoon was amazing, but the Sandals experience was unbelievably disappointing. We never expect that everything will go perfectly during our travels and are able to accept and forget bad circumstances. However, we were expecting a total wow factor based on what we had been led to believe from the Sandals website and marketing material and there were just too many bad circumstances that occurred for us to forget. We were not made to feel special and welcome except for by a small number of employees. The landscape was spectacular, but the service was terrible. After spending a total of about $6,000 on our honeymoon we should have been wowed and pampered. We will not be returning to any Sandals resorts and will tell our friends, family and acquaintances about our experiences at Sandals.

Beautiful spot. Nice rooms with the exception of roof leaks in the rain. Rooms were kept up with nicely. Beds were made and turned down nightly. The entertainment was pertty good except for the talent nights when the playmakers (employees) made a fool of themselves. Not funny!

First off, almost everyone at the resort got terribly sick the week of February 1-8. We were in a party of 4 so someone was sick during the week and we could not do much, At first we thought it was food poisoning, but so many people got it all week long. Who knows, but it was bad news.

I was not at all impressed with the food. I didn't feel it was up to par with an all incusive as I thought much of it lacked taste.

I was not impressed. We had stayed at other Sandals in the past and this is not one of the better ones.

The staff was pretty friendly, but not near as nice as the employees we met at Sandals Whitehouse in Jamaica.

Resort is hilly and you have to take a bus to get up the hill to some rooms, restaurants and one of the nicer pools. The view from the pool on the cliff was awesome.

Don't waste your money at the Sandals not worth the money spent. Everything needed a remodel...pool, stairs, elevator, hallways..disgusting. It was the worst vacation ever and there was nothing Luxury about this vacation. It was a waste of money and not worth it. The food was aweful always cold and tasted like its was frozen or microwaved. Our first room was disgusting with no hot water, tiles were so old that they were chipped, aucets were leaving,..etc.. The second room has big cockroach at the elevator just a few doors to our room. The service was aweful my husband would have to ask 3-4 times to even get a drink or coffee in the morning. The plasticware and coffee mugs had chips and cracks everywhere. Sandals charges you thousands and thousands but they can't afford new plastic cups which coast 5 for $1 dollar. No bottle water service if asked at the bar you got water in a up in a chipped cup. Actitivies was not good at all day or night. Most of the water sports were not available plus there was charges with golf..what happened to free or all included.

I would go back to the Sandals Regency any day, anytime! Very friendly staff!

It was like a British Haven Holiday camp but worse. So-called playmates screaming all day long. The Mirage indoor club facility toilets were always locked, and when asking staff why they referred you to the pool toilets. Having to make no reservations for dinner at Sandals Halcyon St Lucia, and finding when you arrive they are fully booked. So basically, the Grande and Regency hotels can book reservations at the Italian, but if you're staying at Sandals you can't. No teaspoons at breakfast time.

It states private beach in the brochure, but we were constantly annoyed by sellers all day long, and they could be quite rude if you didn't want to buy off them. Ocean view rooms - you can see a bush and an ice box. The air conditioning was very loud.

Not my idea of a good time.

We stayed at the Regency for 10 days (mistake) from 7/4 to 7/14. Here's a breakdown of the stay.

Arrival: We paid for the "honeymoon suite w/pool", so this qualified for concierge service as well. We checked in at the concierge and were offered a shuttle to our room. Since we didn't splurge for the ocean view (almost $3,000 more) we were ushered halfway into the rainforest to our room. We were promised an "orientation" at 11am the next morning. We promptly arrived at the location only to sit and wait for 30 minutes (then we left).

Room: Our first room was awful. The pool was filthy; the bottom looked like it wasn't vacuumed for weeks. The bed was nothing special and the linens were rough. The decor was also pretty crappy. Although the room was big, we were kind of disappointed with the location. At night, the crickets sound like they have microphones attached to them. After the first night of sound and after finding a gigantic cockroach in the room, we asked for and received a different room. We were hoping for an upgrade, but received an identical room a bit closer to civilization.

Food: Awful. Granted, we had high expectations in this area, but this was bordering on unacceptable. Presentation was not a problem and the restaurants looked nice, but the food was obviously pre-prepared/frozen and had a uniquley poor flavor. We made our reservations the first day we got there and were smart enough to reserve 2 nights at both of the "5-star" restaurants--La Toc and Kimonos. The food was at least decent here and the presentation was above average.

Service: Excellent all around.

Entertainment: The nightly activities were "blah" except for casino night (which was WAY too short).

Water Activities: We were allowed "full access" to all water activities including windsurfing, kayaking and waterbiking for the first 5 days there. However, we chose not to do any of these until day 6 (naturally). For the last 5 days there, the beach was "red flagged" which meant that these activities were restricted for fear of rough seas. As for the snorkeling excursion (actually free), it was fun, but there were not many sights to see except some pretty coral.

Helpful Hints:

-Bring cash or plan to keep your C/C on file.

-Go to the "rear pool" right behind Antonio's. It has a beautiful view and is MUCH less crowded than the main pool and it's easier to get a drink at the swim up bar.

-Breakfast buffet is not good at all. Eat at Antonio's every morning.

-Don't bother with the honeymoon suite w/pool. It's not worth the extra money. Get an ocean view room and use the public pools.

Overall, this was a pretty disappointing honeymoon. By the way, if you are looking for that "special, exclusive" honeymoon, go somewhere else where you're not just another couple.

My new wife and I went to the Sandals Regency Golf Resort and Spa in St Lucia for our honeymoon. We had a great time. I've done all-inclusive before, and this was the best so far. We were considering going on a cruise, but we are definitely glad we went the all-inclusive resort way.

The food was above average, but not great. However, considering you can eat whenever and however much you want, it was not bad at all. The staff were friendly, and they looked after us. When our air conditioner stopped working they had maintenance there in less than 15 minutes.

Anytime we needed transportation we got it, and the one excursion we did take ran smoothly and was the highlight of our trip. The drinks are made rather weak, but ask for a double and you'll be feeling good like you should.

I would definitely recommend Sandals, and we will be staying at a different one in the next year or so.

My fiance took me to St. Lucia when we got engaged. We stayed in the Penthouse suite at Sandals Regency Golf Resort and Spa. The room was LOVELY! We were there for 1 week. Everything was fantastic! We loved every minute of it, and want to go back soon!

St Lucia, Sandals Regency Golf Resort and Spa - AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE - SAVE YOUR MONEY)!!!!

My husband and myself have just come back from St Lucia Regency. Our wedding day was "the wedding from hell".

The wedding co-ordinator arrived 20 minutes late when I was supposed to be getting married. I was rushed into a golf buggy and then informed that my husband to be was not there! I had to crouch behind a wall so he would not see me. No sooner had my foot reached the bottom of the stairs then the wedding music began. My husband was still frantically trying to get the rings out of his pocket before I got to him. The wedding co-ordinator was no longer to be found. The photographer was grumpy and barked orders at us to the point we said that we had had enough. We were left alone in the pool area with the wedding office being locked up and the wedding co-ordinator nowhere to be seen. We then had to get a lift in the hotel shuttle bus because we had no transport to get us back to our room.

We then got changed and went for our supposedly wedding meal to find out that no wedding meal had been booked and I also forgot to tell you, we had our wedding cake pinched whilst having the awful photographs taken.

When we did get the photographs, three of them had a semi naked old man being massaged in the background.

I could go on forever about this as so many awful things happened on what should have been the best day of our lives.

Save your money - I cannot stress this enough!