Sandals Royal Bahamian

“ECELLENT HOTEL”

We had a butler suite in the East block. The room and view were amazing. Our butlers Eric and Shanell were both wonderful and made our stay even more relaxing and hassle free. We ate in all of the restaurants but Gordons was our favourite. The Fish red Thai curry was amazing. Also the ladies in t... more

We had a butler suite in the East block. The room and view were amazing. Our butlers Eric and Shanell were both wonderful and made our stay even more relaxing and hassle free. We ate in all of the restaurants but Gordons was our favourite. The Fish red Thai curry was amazing. Also the ladies in the sweet tings van serving Crepes in the morning always brightened up our day with their lovely service with a smile. If we had a gripe then it would be that the bars were never stocked well and often could not get the brand of drink requested. However the bar staff were always friendly and offered an alternative. we will definately return at some point.

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“Best Sandals, best food, best snorkeling”

Do yourself a favor and come here before you try other Sandals resorts. Some of the best food we ever ate. Butch’s Chop House was magnificent. Kimberly, and our server Edwin took such good care of us. The scallops/briskit and the filet surf and turf were two of the best meals we have ever eaten. ... more

Do yourself a favor and come here before you try other Sandals resorts. Some of the best food we ever ate. Butch’s Chop House was magnificent. Kimberly, and our server Edwin took such good care of us. The scallops/briskit and the filet surf and turf were two of the best meals we have ever eaten. The snorkeling was great, particularly Royal reef and the island. Staff was uniformly great. Smiling, elegant, professional every one. Booked our next trip immediately. Thought this Sandals was by far better than the others we have visited.

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“Extensive and Realistic Review of a Week at Sandals Royal Bahamian”

First, I do not typically write reviews unless an experience was extremely outstanding. But in this case, I believe people like us who tend to be fairly easy to please need to know what they may expect for their hard earned money. Second, this was our first Sandals Resort. We have stayed at Hyatt... more

First, I do not typically write reviews unless an experience was extremely outstanding. But in this case, I believe people like us who tend to be fairly easy to please need to know what they may expect for their hard earned money. Second, this was our first Sandals Resort. We have stayed at Hyatt, Riu and other all-inclusives in other beachfront locations. We love all-inclusives because we can truly relax and take the guesswork out of most planning. Sandals Royal Bahamian was the most expensive option for our Nassau trip, but appeared to offer the relaxation we were looking for. We prefer to get to and stay at the beach as long as possible, so we are simple and look for services that support our endeavor. That said, here is our review of Sandals Royal Bahamian: 1. Transportation to and from the airport was easy. They were polite and thorough with our luggage. 2. Club Level Concierge was Mediocre as a Whole. We have young adult children. We get that they are learning how to be service oriented, and I was quick to let them dispense from the obviously scripted speeches from the moment we arrived. "Just be yourself; we are chill", I was quick to let them know. Most of them were grateful for that. We were quickly passed from staff to staff, as if everyone had something better to do than get us to our room. Kristin (M), was the most friendly. He always called to make sure room service requests were fulfilled. Jonathan and Emerald at East Bay were helpful when asked. Otherwise, we were invisible which wouldn't matter to us much except other staff seemed so miserable to be there let alone acknowledge our presence. 3. Bar Tenders. Speaking of miserable, we could count on one hand how many times we felt acknowledged standing at a bar. When we would finally catch their eye, it was as if we were bothering them. When we tried to lightheartedly ask questions about a drink or be polite, we were met with no acknowledgement that we were even heard, no "no problem" or "one sec", just a miserable dead panned expression. It got to the point we were dreading whose turn it was to go to any bar for a refill. Many times they didn't have something and that's expected, but a simple smile and reply would be acceptable as opposed to making us feel like we needed to apologize all the time. Our first drink at the bar the day we got there was bathtub warm beer. No explanation- no apology. But we rolled with it and just learned to stock our fridge the night before with cans and take them ourselves. Of all staff at any resort, you expect at least some personality from the bar tenders. We learned after day one to be short with requests and forego the polite banter. Yes, we are from the US south, but come on. No one wants to work customer service, we get it, but a little smile and some polite eye contact goes a long way. 3. We Will Always Be Tippers. Sandals has a no tip policy for good reason. But this experience has taught us that service industry workers will always need incentive. At other all inclusives, we tipped anyway. At this Sandals, we didn't personally meet a single staff member go the teeny umph further to earn that or we would have this time as well. We despise US tip culture as much as the rest, and it may not have mattered but we at least like to see some gratitude. In our line of work, we see people at their worsts every day and we still put on a pleasant smile and attitude. 4. The Highlights Were Room Service Responsiveness, Housekeeping and Other "Behind the Scenes" Workers. We were pleased with any requests made over the phone. We never had to wait long for room service or those requests. The workers who brought the food were polite and always followed up. Housekeeping would come throughout the day to make sure we had what we needed. We were rarely told they couldn't accommodate something. We enjoyed more meals in our room and you will see why below. 5. All but One Restaurant Was a Logistical Nightmare. Here is where we give a very special shout out to Janice at the Queen's Pearl. The pub was the only place we felt seen, the staff was accommodating and knew how to handle seating and wait service. Our first reservation at Butch's, we waited over two hours from the time of our reservation to be sat and served. The food was not that great either. At Tesoro i the evening, it was as if they didn't have enough wait service to seat people even though there would be an abundance of tables. We gave up and didn't try the rest. Breakfast was always good because it was a buffet, but you were lucky to get a water refill most of the time. But at the Queen's Pearl on day four, we were shocked by Janice's friendliness, politeness, ability to handle the crowd (all by herself on one night), etc. Also, Static (M) at the Queen's Pearl. He was clearly an entertainer and knew sometimes you just have to be friendly. 6. All in All, the Resort itself is Beautiful and Clean. Despite the service aspects, we very much enjoyed the private island beach and anywhere we could just be alone. The other guests were very friendly, polite, respectful and pleasant. No one was rude or inappropriate. If we ever try a Sandals Resort again (and I am not sure that we will), we will definitely research other traveler's experiences with staff interactions. We didn't believe we were asking too much and probably had unrealistic expectations of general human politeness. But we won't make the mistake of being overly apologetic for our own presence on an expensive vacation again.

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