The Sands Barbados

Liz Holmes5/5 · 2026-01

Just came back from a glorious 7 day trip to paradise. From the 10 minute ride from the airport, to the rum punch we were handed checking in, the hospitality of the staff never stopped. From Kemar and Michael greeting you at the door and making you have fun and laugh every day to the talents of Danny and the other bartenders making the best cocktails you can imagine! Cherie and the staff at the buffet are top notch and will get you anything you desire. Lastly, the cleaning staff are amazing. Our room was lovely…always clean and comfortable. Our friends had the Super saver room and they said it was perfect. It was slightly smaller, but with so many things to do, you don’t stay inside. Also, as a side note, we did a 4 hour island tour with Antonio, arranged through the resort, it was wonderful and well worth the cost.

Katie Palmer5/5 · 2026-05

We have just returned home from the most incredible stay at The Sands Barbados and honestly everything was perfect from start to finish. This hotel will always hold such a special place in our hearts as my now fiancé proposed to me during our stay, and the staff were amazing in helping him organise everything behind the scenes and keeping it all a secret. A special thank you has to go to Ricardo, who helped my fiancé organise the proposal. He was absolutely amazing and played such a huge part in making the whole experience so perfect and memorable for us. We are so grateful for everything he did. From the moment we arrived, every single member of staff was so warm, friendly and helpful. Nothing was ever too much trouble and everyone genuinely made us feel so welcome and relaxed throughout our holiday. Our room was beautiful with the most amazing view, waking up every morning felt like a dream. The food was also lovely with so many great options and everything always fresh and presented beautifully. One thing we especially loved was how helpful the hotel was with organising taxis and helping us get around the island easily. It made everything completely stress free and so convenient. The location, atmosphere, staff and overall experience were honestly faultless. We have made memories here that we will treasure forever and we are already talking about when we can come back. Thank you so much to everyone at The Sands for making our holiday and engagement so unforgettable.

Lucy Damond1/5 · 2026-05

Barbados is a beautiful island! However The Sands DOES NOT meet the criteria of an all inclusive hotel at all and is NOT a 4 star hotel. Those who have given a high review rating to The Sands, is obvious that they have never visited a REAL 4 stars all inclusive resort. Horrible experience from the entrance to the hotel to the almost no beach area at the end of the place. Front desk is a makeshift area, where the lineup to check in was endless. I was given an envelope with someone else’s name and key fob. I had to go lineup again to make them aware and get the proper envelope, which was handed in unapologetically. The lobby is a very small area resembling a living room where a non enthusiastic woman holding what appeared to be a tv remote stood in front of a TV, as if she was ready to provide a power point presentation, it was a very crowded lobby with not enough sitting capacity for the large group of people trying to listen to the non welcoming woman giving a speech, whom started by saying, “there’s no water in the hotel at the moment” …. Took over one hour to checking and to listening to the non pleasant welcoming. There are two restaurants; one by the beach that looks like a circus tent with hanging strings of lights from one end to the other where birds perched pooping on tables and on guests heads and clothing. The buffet style setting looked more like an office party with scattered unappetizing food and endless line ups and be disappointed to get, most of the time, just leftovers. It also gave me the impression of being at a pot-luck function, as boxes of fried chicken and pizza were seen at some tables, belonging to hotel guest who had outsourced to get their own food from across the street. The second restaurant located on the penthouse had to be booked a day in advance and it is not family friendly as children under 12 are not allowed in there. The food quality and portions at both restaurants was extremely poor. The staff varied in personality. Some were friendly and attentive, some others looked disgruntled. Tips had to be high to keep staff motivated and hoping to be remembered the next day. Bar area is extremely small and slow, large amounts of dirty glasses were always piled up on one corner of the bar counter and rinsed (not washed) on the spot and reused to serve 🤮 drinks. My bed was not made everyday, towels were only changed three times during my 7 day stay. No hot water for good part of my stay. Bottled water was rarely available. No kids activities whatsoever. Not a kid friendly hotel. Swimming pool was unkempt, I never saw anyone attempting to clean the debris accumulated in the pool. I never complained while I was there, I might have rolled my eyes, that’s all, but I was there to make the best of my vacation and tried to be understanding of the multiple mishaps. However I felt compelled to share the above for those considering the tiny Sands Hotel in the future. NOT WORTH IT! Cheers !

dawn cojoc5/5 · 2026-03

We have just returned from an amazing stay at The Sands Barbados and it was 5⭐ from start to finish. From the moment we arrived every single member of staff made us feel so welcome. Everyone we met always had a smile and went out of their way to make our stay special. A special thank you to Monica and Emerson on reception who were always friendly and helpful, and to Mai who kept our room spotless every day. She was such a lovely cleaner and did a fantastic job. The food was absolutely incredible. Chef Keressa creates some of the most delicious meals we’ve had on holiday. Every dish was full of flavour and beautifully presented. The restaurant staff are amazing and really go above and beyond – from being taken to your table to taking your order and making sure everything is perfect. We also felt very safe during our stay with security on both the entry and exit points of the hotel. Although we mostly stayed at the hotel because everything was so perfect, we did visit Oistins Fish Fry which is a great experience with fantastic local food and atmosphere. We were also lucky enough to attend the Sandy Lane Gold Cup which is a huge horse racing event that happens once a year – definitely a must if you’re visiting when it’s on. We only wish we had booked two weeks at The Sands instead of doing one week cruise and one week at the hotel because we loved it that much. In fact we’ve already booked to return and can definitely see ourselves coming back every year to celebrate my husband’s birthday. The Sands Barbados is truly a little gem and we can’t wait to come back. Thank you to each and every member of staff – reception, restaurant, bar and cleaning – too many to remember but every one of you made our stay special.

Craig Turner Russell5/5 · 2026-02

We stayed in room 69 at the sands, the room was spacious with kitchen, dining, ensuite and sitting area close and the hotel staff did everything to ensure my partner and two boys were comfortable. We were offered a complimentary upgrade, on the ground floor which helped since we had a buggy. Jackie in guest services supported us getting a car, arranging family friendly trips and loads of advice to ensure we made the most our our time in Barbados. The restaurant and hotel staff were great ensuring the room was clean and we're very welcoming to my family. The food was great every night was different. The restaurant was right on the beach which was lovely.

Mic Corb1/5 · 2026-07

The Sands resort is absolutely the worst all inclusive resort I ever stayed. Pure garbage. So let me start, the pictures of the resort on the website does no justice. When we arrived to the resort, the building looked like a motel, dull, old and very unwelcoming. We go to the front desk to check in and we were instructed to scan a code and check in on our phones. The gentleman at guest services was on his laptop and was telling us how to check in step by step. This was odd for I never had to do the resorts work. This was a stupid process and when we asked, it’s was put in place since Covid. If that is the case, replace guest services and put in kiosks stations. We asked a few questions and could not understand a word the gentleman in guest services was saying. His speech was so bad, I had to read his lips. We were told check in is at 4pm, but the website says 3pm. We were advised that we can go to the restaurant but can only eat the food by the grill section of the restaurant. Which they were serving only hot dogs, burgers and potato wedges. The eating area was out doors under a tent. There were birds flying everywhere. Birds were on the tables, walking on the silverware. You could not walk away from your table if there was food, cause the birds would swarm the table disgusting. We finally go to our room, it’s 2 floors. The 1st floor is open concept. There is no AC on the 1st floor, no microwave and they give you tap water in a bottle. 2 packs of cookies, a pack of biscuits, 3 coffee packets and creamer. On the 2nd floor is the bathroom and bedroom. A queen size bed with a hard mattress and hard pillows. The bathroom had mold all on the countertop. Just 2 shower towels. After we settle in, we were told by guest services that they did us a favor and made reservations for us for dinner at their restaurant. It was the same outdoor area with all the birds and it was cafeteria buffet style food. The next morning we go to breakfast at the same outdoor tent. We were advised we had to make reservations for lunch and dinner as this was their policy. The food for lunch and dinner was horrible. Breakfast was ok. There was another restaurant on the roof top, but you had to make reservations ahead of time and they were not open everyday. After we saw what they were serving at the buffet restaurant, we didn’t want to waste our time, we ended up eating outside of the resort for the remainder of our trip. The beach…………. Awful, for some reason all the seaweed was coming on the Sands property. You could not even lay on the beach cause it was very small and when there was a high tide, the water would reach the steps. Horrible. We never went into the pool. We end up going to the public beaches, as the water was clear and beautiful. A few good points, as I said breakfast was ok, the staff was friendly and tried very hard to accommodate our needs. I get it, the Sands probably pays their staff very low and probably don’t provide the best benefits to their employees. The gentleman at guest services, his mouth. He needs to go to the dentist. Overall the resort needs major improvements. This cannot be considered an all inclusive resort, I have stayed at so many all inclusive resorts in the Caribbean and this is not it. Barbados is a beautiful island, we amazing people. Some many beaches on the island with a lot to offer. So many restaurants with options to pick from. I would highly recommend you do not choose this resort. There is so many other nicest hotels you can stay. Or stay at a Villa and support the local businesses