Sandals Grande St Lucia Spa and Beach Resort

My wife and I just returned from 12 days at the Sandals Grande St. Lucian. We have been to 11 different Sandals resorts (a total of 20 times), and this was our best Sandals vacation yet. The five things that are important to us at a resort are beach, snorkeling, pickleball, food, and room, and this resort knocks it out of the park on all five. This was our second trip to the Grande, but what made this trip the best was that they recently built four beautiful new pickleball courts that they didn't have last year, and they had a great pickleball/tennis pro who played with us nearly every day. This not only improved our game but was a lot of fun.

The beach is beautiful and the water is clear. There are plenty of shaded beach chairs. What makes this beach unique among Sandals beaches is that there is great snorkeling right off the beach, down at the end of the property (past the over-the-water bungalows), along the boulders that extend out into the water about 75 yards. The snorkeling off the snorkel boat (that goes out twice a day) is good, but the snorkeling around the end of that wall of boulders is at least as good. The snorkeling around the pier by the main pool is very good as well.

We found the food to be excellent. Our favorite restaurants were Bayside (French), Toscanini's {Italian), Gordon's (seafood), and Barefoot by the Sea (seafood). Gordon's requires a reservation because people love the ambience of being out at the end of the pier, but the best meal we had was our last night when we sat at a table down by the water at Barefoot, having a delicious meal by the light from a torch. The Bombay Club, Kimonos and Soy Sushi Bar were also good. One place not to be missed in the afternoon is Josephine's Creperie, which serves delicious crepes, ice cream, and pastries. The breakfast buffet at Bayside is excellent and there are off-the-menu options for breakfast as well. There are several good lunch options.

We usually stay in Club level rooms because we are low maintenance and don't need or want butlers fussing over us. Our Club level room had been renovated since we were there last year and was very nice. The Club Sandals people were terrific and helped us with whatever needs we had. One of them took us on a hike up a nearby knoll (baby mountain) that has a 248-year-old fort with cannons at the top. That was cool.

The entertainment at night was pretty good, especially the Water & Fire Show. Although we hung out at the beach most of the time, the younger crowd that hung out at the main pool (with the swim-up bar) seemed to enjoy the daily pool entertainment. There were numerous bars around the resort and we got good drinks wherever we went.

The service at the Grande was uniformly good. The General Manager has instilled a real service attitude in all levels of staff and the Sandals people all around the resort could not have been nicer to us. We really enjoyed our interactions with the wait staff at all of the dining venues.

If you go there, be prepared for an hour-and-a-half ride to and from the airport. It is worth it! We have already booked to return to the Grande next year.

We had a wonderful stay at Sandals Grande St. Lucian. We were lucky enough to stay in the updated rooms. The furniture and decor was beautiful. Jasmin, our room attendant, did an amazing job and left a sweet inspirational note every day.

The activities staff was excellent especially Nyah and Nevill. They brought the energy to the activities around the pool each day. The nighttime entertainment was excellent! Especially the Water and Fire show. We were blown away by the talent!

Part of the resort was closed due to construction, but you would have never known. There was some construction noise, but other than that everything ran smoothly. All of the restaurants were open, the spa services were still offered, the bars were all open, and the pools and beaches were not affected.

The actual spa building was closed. The massages were done outside. I was Leary of having a massage outdoors, but it was wonderful. Cynthia made me feel at ease and did an amazing job. They would also come to your room for some services if you preferred.

I wish I could remember more names to give shoutouts to because there were so many wonderful people from bar tenders, wait staff, room attendants, etc. it was an excellent vacation and I would highly recommend it!!