Re: Sandals Stay – Great Exuma, Bahamas

To Whom It May Concern:
I would like to start off this letter with how we “ended up” at the worst Sandals Experience Ever.

My husband and I were looking online to book a vacation to a Sandals Resort, we have been to the following Sandals Resorts :
1. Sandals Halcyon (two times – we were married here and renewed our vows 10 years later)
2. Sandals Negril
3. Sandals Dunns River
4. Sandals Royal Bahamian
We have had nothing but wonderful times at each of the above Sandals Resorts. While I was searching for our next unforgettable experience at a Sandals Resort, my husband and I decided on Antigua. While I was booking this trip, a Sandals Representative (live chat) popped up on my screen. I, of course told her everything was great and I was booking my trip to Antigua as we chatted back and forth. She informed me that we should try the “Brand New Sandals” in Great Exuma, Bahamas. She stated that they had all sorts of deals going on and we should try it.

Being an amateur photographer, I jumped at the chance of going to a “Brand New” Resort to indulge my passion for photography and Vacation at the same time. I couldn’t wait to get there and begin taking pictures! What a horrible mistake I made upon making the decision to switch Resorts from Sandals, Antigua to Sandals, Great Exuma.

Our flight was perfect, the airport in Great Exuma was very small, but they checked us through quickly and we got in our Sandals Taxi within 20 minutes of landing. The Bahamian People are friendly and ready to answer any questions or help in any way.

THE RESORT
We arrived at Sandals, Great Exuma and were greeted by the front desk personnel, informing us we needed to put our credit card on file before we would be taken to our room. After doing so, our butler, Donard (an excellent butler) showed us to our room. As we were walking to our room along the curvy sidewalk, I started to notice that this hotel sure didn’t look “Brand New”, as the “live chat” agent had informed me. As soon as we entered the elevator, I knew that this may be a “Brand New Sandals” but it is in an “Old Hotel”. (I guess we were fortunate that our elevator worked, a couple that we met had to walk up and down three flights of stairs each time they left or returned to their room). We get to our room after walking down a long (might I say dirty) hallway, with dead bugs outside our door (those bugs stayed there the entire 8 days we were there). Donard, our butler opens our door and lets us in, this is a standard room (advertised that all rooms are suites) with a bed, a table and a balcony. I went out on the balcony to enjoy the view while we waited for our luggage and sat at the table and got splinters in my arm. I am glad we were placed on the third floor, because if you were lower than that, you could not view the beautiful water that Great Exuma has to offer, due to the overgrown bushes and weeds that were overtaking this Resort. We waited for our luggage, unpacked and went to enjoy a nice ice cold beer and some food, we had been traveling all day and were hungry and thirsty.

THE RESTAURANTS
We arrived at the restaurant, only to find that they had already closed and that leads me to a whole different experience with the “Four Restaurants” that they had at this “All Inclusive” Resort.

Bahama Bay (which is also Dino’s Pizzeria) – Was supposedly a five star restaurant – which had pizza made to go and a small buffet. If you didn’t get there when it opened you were sure to not get any of the main courses offered. We sat in the Bar (it was the only place that had beer – which is another story). But the bartender, Sonia always made sure that we had our drinks and was very personable and helpful. The service was horrible in the restaurant part, the only way to get anything was to ask Sonia and she would make sure you would get your food and drinks. We were asked to leave the Bar at one time because 200 Travel Agents were coming through and they needed to accommodate them.

Barefoot By The Sea
Put your feet in the sand eat lunch and enjoy the sound of the ocean because you couldn’t see it over the overgrown brush unless you stood up. This was a great fast food place to eat (even though the service was slow). Hamburgers, salads and hot dogs, oh wait they were out of hot dogs and never got any delivered while we were there.

The Drunken Duck Pub
This pub was a life saver for food but way too loud inside. Whenever the other restaurants were closed, the Drunken Duck was the place to be. Portions of food were very small so we learned to order double every time we ordered. The music inside was way too loud and when you went outside the bugs attacked you, so if you wanted to talk to anyone you were yelling at them. We were sitting with some friends that we met and having a few drinks when my husband went up to get me a beer (their own island beer – Sands Light), he was informed they ran out, they then ran out of Sands Regular and then New Castle. We went to our rooms and grabbed beer and brought it back to the Pub so we had something to drink. I spoke with “Kerry” (I am assuming she was the manager) and she said “I don’t understand why we ran out I ordered three cases for the day”! Are you kidding me, three cases of beer for the whole resort? Thought this was an “All Inclusive Resort”.

El Cielo
This restaurant was the worst of all of them, your wait time for food was over an hour and that was for breakfast or lunch. We were there for seven days and knew the menu by heart – the same things were offered for breakfast and dinner each day on a very limited menu. The service was terrible and the food was not five star! A couple that we met, got married at the Resort, had the same horrible experiences but waited four hours for their meal to be served (and they had reservations).

The Pool Bar
Never had beer and the service was ridiculous! You would wait a good twenty minutes for someone to even look at you and then to be informed “sorry were out of beer”. The music that was played was the same CD that they made, Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, etc. over and over and over – Never was any island music played (with the exception of the Bahama Bay Bar), just the same old CD – it was horrible. We listened to that horrible music day in and day out 24 hours a day that CD played. We got to know which song was coming up next because we heard it so often. When we asked them to play Bahamian music they stated they only had one CD and that is the one we were listening too.


The Beach
The water was the prettiest I have ever seen, the colors gorgeous and the sands pure white. The drawback was the big tractor running up and down the beach trying to smooth out the sand and making more of a mess of the trash and kelp that had washed on shore. The huts had the same trash at them the entire time we were there, unless you cleaned up your own trash, it stayed right where it was. The few water sports they offered were only offered when the 200 travel agents came to view the property and that was twice in the eight days we were there. Otherwise the red flag was up so no water sports. We really missed the vendors on the beach, sometimes they can be overwhelming but always fun to talk to them about their home island and see what they have made. According to the Taxi driver – Sandals absolutely prohibits any Bahamian people on their beach, they only allow their people to come once a week to the pool deck and sell goods that are not made by the Bahamian people but bought somewhere else and resold for a ridiculous amount.

The Pools
The “new” Sandals Pool was not new, just redone but at least it was better than the quiet pool and spa. The big pool was always out of drinks and the quiet pool had no one there to help you. They had maybe six rafts(at the Big Pool) that we saw and they looked like they had been in a shark tank as bait and would sink if you laid on them for an extended period of time and none at the Quiet Pool. We sat in the spa and it was so rough it tore the bottom of our feet and the back of our legs. A Pipe was leaking right next to the spa with water shooting straight out of the ground. The pool itself had dead bug skeletons stuck all around the edges. I sat in one of the recliners and went to put my chair back, the arm broke off and I almost fell out of the chair. All the furniture was old and falling apart, but if you look at their photos of the resort they only have pictures of new furniture.

Excursions
Great Exuma is a small island with a population of around 4, 000 people. There was no excursions being offered through Sandals, (the water was too rough) but not rough enough for you to pay $750.00 for a day Excursion outside of Sandals. We ended up renting a car for $100.00 and driving the island to see different sites and to meet the Bahamian People (since Sandals did not employ any). We had a lovely time outside of Sandals and grew to appreciate Great Exuma through our eyes, not through Sandals.

Overall
It is very unfortunate that we had to experience this type of service at a Sandals Resort. At least we know that not all Sandals are like this, but my heart went out to the couples that experienced it for the first time. We were completely mislead not only by the “Live Chat Agent” (telling me it was a “Brand New Sandals”) but also by the photos that are posted for Sandals, Great Exuma.
SANDALS ALL INCLUSIVE RESORT IN GREAT EXUMA, BAHAMAS IS ONLY INCLUSIVE OF WHAT THEY HAVE ON HAND – IF YOU DECIDE TO GO HERE – PREPARE TO GO HUNGRY AND HAVE A LIMITED SUPPLY OF BEER AND DRINKS! I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS RESORT TO ANYONE!