During the week of Memorial Day in 2023, six of us booked our vacation at Sandals Barbados. Just to clarify, there is Sandals Barbados and Sandals Royal Barbados which are right next to each other but you’re able to utilize the amenities on either side. It took about an hour between getting off the plane and pulling into the resort check-in. This experience varies in time depending on how smoothly everything goes at the airport and shuttle. We dropped our luggage off in our rooms at the Caribbean Village before taking a quick tour of the resort (Piña Colada in hand). I’ll always be the first to show appreciation for landscaping and was in awe of the beautiful, lush grounds.

If you’ve checked out my previous blogs on other Sandals resorts, you could guess that our restaurant choice for the first night is always SOY Sushi Bar since we not only enjoy their selection but it’s also one of the restaurants that doesn’t require a reservation. Since we’re unable to make reservations prior to arrival and we usually arrive after the reservation desk is already closed we just pick from the Walk-In restaurants. The popular restaurants are usually Reservation Only and may have a dress code so as a group of six, we discussed our selection prior to guarantee we dine together (and it makes it that much easier when speaking to the reservation desk).

In our group of six, three are certified Scuba Divers so while they utilize the free dive trips offered by the resort, the other three of us got to sleep in a little later before meeting up for brunch. By lunch time the whole group would meet up at one of the pools and we usually found ourselves at either the Ocean Village Pool on the Barbados side or the Main Infinity Pool on the Royal side. We didn’t have trouble finding seats to drop our bags on while we played in the water but since there were scattered showers during our visit we did try to get out early to score chairs under an umbrella. Our days were mostly spent hanging at the pool with cocktails then taking a break for lunch with the ocean as our backdrop. Even with a few sprinkles, we made the best of every moment (by sitting in the hot tub).

One thing we all appreciated about this particular resort is the nightlife. We would start our evenings by meeting at Sky Rooftop Bar on the Royal side and having a cocktail (or two) before going to dinner. (I’ll list our favorite restaurants at the bottom of this page!) There’s entertainment offered each night but the Bowling Alley was always lively since they have games and outdoor booths with individual tv’s.

Our main goal was to relax on the resort so we only booked one excursion, the Shipwreck Snorkel and Turtle Swim Adventure. While the resort offers free snorkeling to see turtles, we decided it would also be nice to watch the sunset on the way back to the hotel. We snorkeled at two shipwrecks and saw about a handful of sea turtles all while given an island tour as we go from one site to another. Towards the end, they turn up the music and serve some delicious island fare while we watch the sky turn colors.

Overall, Sandals Barbados ticked a lot of boxes for us. Friendly staff, clean facilities, comfortable rooms, excellent food and great night life. Our friends stayed in a room at Ocean Village and they had a gorgeous view of the ocean so that maybe something we book for next time. Yes, we would absolutely do a next time!

Our top Breakfast spots: Sweet n’ Salty’s (for coffee and donuts), American Tavern (buffet style) and Portofino’s (for made-to-order options).

Our top Lunch spots: Dinos Pizza, The Mariner Seaside Bar & Grill

Our top Dinner spots (my favorite meals of the trip!): Chi Asian Fusion, Bombay, Portofino’s (the salmon was a big hit with our group) and both Butch’s restaurants.

Our top Dessert spot: Sweet n’ Salty’s (I don’t want to admit how many donuts I had) and Cafe de Paris (I don’t want to admit how many crepes I had).

As this was our 3rd Sandals resort, I’ll list my memorable comparison of the three.

Sandals Grenada – The resort was minutes away from the airport which we loved. It was the smallest (most intimate) of the three and didn’t have much of a nightlife other than the British pub. Scuba divers were picked up straight from the resort which my husband liked.

Sandals St. Lucia – It takes about 1.5-2hrs to get from the airport to the resort depending on traffic (unless you arrange for a helicopter which gets you to the resort in about 45 minutes with transfer time included). The Pitons make for an exceptional view and the oceanfront layout makes hanging out at the beach more inviting. The main pools are pretty lively and they offer entertainment most evenings. Again, the Scuba divers were picked up straight from the resort and so far was my husbands favorite place to dive (noting that experiences will always vary).

Sandals Barbados – It took us about an hour to get to the resort after landing (a bit of a wait for bus pick up). This resort wins as far dinner options and nightlife, hands down. My husband had to take a bus to reach the scuba pick up spot but he was happy to see more turtles during the dives.

This is all based on the times we visited so there may have been updates but I’m sure you can assume that everyone’s experience will be different. I recommend you make your own comparisons when researching each resort to see which will best fit your needs. Our next Sandals will be at Grande Antigua… I’ll let you know how that goes!