Sandals-St.Lucia (Regency)

I'm booked for Sandals-St. Lucia (Regency-LaToc) for our honeymoon in July. We booked the standard ocean view room, no butler service.

Reading some of the scathing reviews at TripAdvisor concern me but I'm not going to let it stress me out because the trip is already paid for - however I have some questions for anyone who's been to Sandals St. Lucia recently:

1. Butler service rooms vs. regular rooms : is the difference in service really that vast? I don't like the idea of paying 5K more just to have a butler however many of the reviews say you won't get good service without one?

2. Trip/Excursions: Can they be booked when you arrive? Which are the "must-see" tours? Do they book quickly?

3. Restaurants: Do you really need to reserve a week in advance?

4. General atmosphere: was it very much a "party-like" atmosphere at the Regency? How noisy was the resort at midnight?

Message edited 5/17/2011 10:17:08 AM.

Re: Sandals-St.Lucia (Regency) Tours/Reviews?

We went there for our honeymoon and I am dying to go back! St Lucia is amazing!

We had butler service and it was pretty sweet, but I don't think I would ever splurge for it again. It definitely helped out with booking things, and you can order food at the pool/beach, they can bring you anything you need so you don't have to trek back to your room. The give you a cell phone to call your butler from anywhere on the resort. Is is neccessary? - no. Is it awesome? - Yes! We talked to several people there who didn't have a butler and no one complained about service, though checking out was a lot easier with butler service.

You can book your tours there, we always booked the night before and I think only 1 time was something full. Definitely do the canopy zip line adventure, and I would recommend a general island tour, I think it was called Land & Sea Tour, you got to see a lot of the island.

The restaurants do book up well in advance - not all of them, but the good ones. Thats another good thing about butler service, these reservations are made for you and you won't get closed out any restaurant. FYI - certain restaurants require the men to have long pants. I thought Kimonos and the French restaurant were the best. You don't need reservations at all places, and you can eat at any of th ethree resorts so you wont go hungry!

We went in July and it was basically all honeymooners. We stayed at the Regency and it was definitely quieter than the Grande and a younger crown than the Halcyon. The main pool was a bit louder, but the pool up on the hill was always quiet, so you could have it either way. I wouldn't say it was a party atmospher, but it wasn't boring either. At midnight it was defintely quiet, which we liked.


You'll love it - best vacation I've ever had. Trip advisor is great, but you ahve to remember that people are more likely to point out the bad than the good. Feel free to ask anymore questions!

Re: Sandals-St.Lucia (Regency) Tours/Reviews?

thanks! is there a lot of rain in St. Lucia around early July? I read somewhere that its the rainy season around that timeframe...

Re: Sandals-St.Lucia (Regency)

Re: Sandals-St.Lucia (Regency)

We're going to La Toc at the end of June. I similarly have been stalking the TripAdvisor ratings. They *do* make me glad I booked with Butler service. We originally wanted the Grande but then it got booked up and for only a few hundred more than the mid level room we were paying at the Grande we got b utler level suite at La Toc. I'm really excited that it's on the bluffs, since it's quiter up there, with the sunset pool, etc, but anyone can really go there, so I don't think it's the biggest deal.

WHen I booked most of the butler level rooms had a deal with 1 night free so they were actually not bad in price.

I'm SURE we'll all have a great time though.

I think people just like to whine. Remember people with a bad experience are MUCH more likely to seek out a site to post reviews.

Re: Sandals-St.Lucia (Regency)

I was married and honeymooned there on August 2008.

I LOVED IT!

DH and I had a butler suite but my mother who was there for the wedding didnt. Honestly, it was nice but we arent very "needy" people so we hardly used the butler. He was great though. I wouldnt spend the money if I went again. My mom had an oceanfront room and it was very nice and updated. She paid $$$$$ less than we did.

Definitely book the restaurants you are interested in in advance. They book up quick.

We booked a couple excisions in advance and a couple once we arrived. Either way it worked out but Im a planner and preferred to do it in advance. We did the zip-lining through the rainforrest and it was so much fun. A long windy drive to get there though so pack your Dramamine if you suffer motion sickness. We also did several snorkeling trips and loved them.

We visited the Grande and both agreed that the Regency was the best of all three resorts on the island.

I would return in a heartbeat.

Re: Sandals-St.Lucia (Regency)

DH and I stayed at the Halcyon in St. Lucia but we did visit the Regency... I loved all three resorts that we were able to go to during our stay (March 2008).

We didn't have the butler service, but we got great service regardless no matter where we went. We had met lots of people that were around our age range and we all had a great time hanging out together and the staff was really good to everyone.

We're actually going back to a Sandals resort in Montego Bay (Jamacia) this month for a second honeymoon and this time we decided to get a butler...so that's going to be interesting.

You might want to consider booking the excursions in advance because of two reasons:

1- There is limited times/days that most of the excursions run.

2- There is limited space.

The good thing is if you have the butler service, you get first priority for reservations in certain resort restaurants and certain services, which is nice but sometimes not necessary.

At the Regency if I remember correctly there's a great French restaurant- you really need to get a reservation - the food was excellent!

Message edited 5/25/2011 12:21:00 AM.

Re: Sandals-St.Lucia (Regency)

FYI- We just booked our excursions through our TA and we had to choose between the Dolphins/Whales and the Land and Sea because of availability. We booked the dolphins and we're hoping to book the Son of Man Tour from the beach (not through Sandals)