I will start by saying- Ive been a travel agent for 10+ years and not really pushed sandals. Ive felt that there was no way it was worth the money. I am glad I finally went and tested it out. We were set to go to Grande St Lucian but hurricane Beryl derailed us. Little about us- we almost always go to mexico.. we have been all over mexico- mostly NON all inclusive resorts.. We had been to bahamas probably 13 years ago on a cruise.
Nassau is a direct and quick flight from DFW at less than 3 hours. We landed and deplaned pretty quickly- walk off the plane onto the tarmac. Inside the terminal they had live music- great start to vacay. Made our way to the Sandals "lounge" for our ride. They didnt have our info (even though I pre checked in) told them we had just switched the day before. Shuttle filled quickly and we were off. 15 min drive.
ok-checkin was a cluster in my opinion. They took all of us to the club sandals lounge. You sat there and one by one were called up for card info (even though i had already done that) then they said rooms werent ready and they escorted us to go eat. Next time we would for sure just walk off on our own- since no wristbands no one knows what you are doing. First meal was Kanoo and we werent impressed w service. We shared the conch caesar, black bean soup w/ sandwich and cracked chicken- all good. It was not off to a great start. We went back to get our room around 330. we were in an east bay honeymoon ocean view room. Very nice and updated. Unpacked and headed to the swim up bar(east side). This pool was so chill we hung for a couple hours and then went to the room to clean up. We went to Balmoral club (we called this the piano bar) and had some espresso martinis. We couldnt get any dinner reservations for this night.. So we had fish and chips and cheese sticks from the pub. From what we recall they were good. We went to be early this night from travel etc. Woke up monday the 1st and went to the gift shop for some red bull.. also bought two shirts. This was a super well stocked store. Breakfast at the Kanoo buffet. Very good selection and good flow. At 1130 we took the ferry to the island. It rained off and on but it made the weather tolerable. Easy to get beach chairs and we saw a sting ray. Ate jerk chicken, grouper fingers and shrimp tiradito. All super good. I think we took the 350 shuttle back over. Nap time. Reservations tonight were for La Plume but not until 930. We ate some sushi at soy at 530 and it was all really good. Had some drinks at Balmoral and at the pub. French dinner- we were essentially alone there. Tried the banana old fashion, french onion soup, filet, cordon bleu and duck. The food again was really good. Bed time.
Tuesday got up and had Kanoo again for breakfast- uneventful. West bay pool time- much more lively. Lunch was conch fritters and fish tacos- super good. Nutella crepe later. Dinner was Tesoro at 9pm. The antipasto bar was OFF THE HOOK. you could dine on this alone!!!! and then the fettucine alfredo and lamb was also delicious.
Wednesday we had Tesoro buffet-which is the same food as Kanoo but less busy.
Go home time. We ended up paying $35 for a taxi because we are impatient. The airport was good- chill and nice that you do customs/immigration in Nassau instead of US.

Overall we would for sure try sandals again. Room service was 50/50- they didnt show half the time- which is why I paid for a club level room. Also it kinda annoyed me that club sandals was a free for all. Didnt feel exclusive at all. The no tipping felt very odd for us as we are tippers. Next time we would not pay extra for club level. Also- several workers were less than thrilled to be there. Philip was great as well as Paul and thats about it. The furnishings and decor were for sure more upscale.

To say this was a horrible experience is an understatement. Royal Bahemian is a complete embarrassment to the Sandals lineup. To the dirty, unkept, unsafe environment all the way down to the unresponsive and rude staff. I feel taken advantage of that I spent my hard-earned money to be treated as an annoyance when asking for the absolute basics, like a beer. If they even had any on tap...

Forget about getting any level of engagement from the General Manager Kevin Clarke, who I expressed my concerns with, who conveniently passed on the responsibility to Sales Manager Salina. Both did absolutely NOTHING! Nothing to help improve or even an attempt to turn the situation around. Got nothing but lip service, a full line of excuses about the culture, with absolutely no follow through.

Terrible smelling room, dirty carpets, missing components and flies swarming in all the food, broken chairs, dirty plates and silverware, and just a complete disregard to the guest's health and wellbeing. Staff sneaking drinks from the bar while their heads are buried in their phones 75% of the time. Management was advised. Nothing was done.

Let's not mention the buildings fire alarm was going off for 40 minutes at 10:30pm at night, all guests evacuated and not a single Sandals employee to be seen. Fire alarm just stops and guests have to assume it's safe to re-enter. Not a single employee or level of management engagement to assure their safety to return to their rooms.

That's just a fraction of the complete dissatisfaction my wife and I experienced.

Wife and I have been to numerous Secrets resorts, converted to Sandals for the last few and thoroughly enjoyed La Toc and Jamaica South Coast. THIS resort doesn't hold a candle.

I can tell you the General Manager Kevin Clarke is "new" to Royal Bahemian location, (bragged he'd been with Sandals 30 years) because his excuse was he's only been there for 6 months. Salina, the same. 6 months is plenty to establish expectations with the staff... There are none. Excuse after excuse. Kevin and Salina, common denominators in the timeline now reading online reviews? Sure is.

On the shuttle back to the airport, travel agents and excursion reps laughed at you. Said they would never send someone to Royal Bahemian based on their own experience. Another poor couple on the shuttle to the airport stayed 24 hours and just left 4 days early because they recognized how unsafe, unsanitary, and unwelcoming the place was.

Sandals, you should be embarrassed. 2-star resort. Far cry from the 5 we received elsewhere.

I challenge you to share with Adam Stewart, the Chairman and owner. I'm in my early 40's... At this time, you lost my wife and I for the next 40 years of our travels the way Royal Bohemian treated us.

My husband and I just came back from Sandals Royal Bahamian for our honeymoon and had a blast!!! It was so beautiful there especially the water!!! Food was really good! If you go, you have to go to Butch's Chop House and La Plume. We had one of the butler elite suites and didn't regret it. They wait on you hand and foot and will setup special things in the room if you're having an anniversary or bday. One of our butlers, Kimerly, was so great!!! Ricky Ricardo, our driver, was really good as well!!