Sandals Royal Bahamian is Perfect!
Written: Aug 23 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: secluded beach, friendly staff, excellent value for money spent
Cons: if nightlife is important, go off-resort
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| dmezell's Full Review: Nassau |
My husband & I spent our honeymoon (July 1998) at the all-inclusive Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort and it was worth every penny we worked tirelessly to save.
FOOD - For the most part the food was outstanding, the only exception being their French restaurant, Baccarat - the Host was pompous and the food was exceptionally overcooked and bland. The Crystal Room served consistently excellent food (particularly the salmon dishes) & the breakfast buffet at Spices was superb. We lunched often at the open air cafe, Royal Cafe Grill - good "grub" food. The resort has it's own private island across the shore, accessible by boat. The restaurant located on the island, Cafe Goombay, serves authentic Carribean cuisine (awesome lamb) - the ambience is grweat, if you can tolerate the mosquitos. Needless to say, the food was so good we never ventured to eat off-resort. Booze is obviously free & Red Stripe is king.
ROOM- Was by far the ritziest I've been in - mahogany kingsized bed, very clean, large bathroom. Much to my embaressment, our toilet overflowed 1 morning (my fault)but staff were there to quickly rectify and clean-up.
Upon check-in & orientation you are given a bag of decent-size toiletries, including shampoo, conditioner, aloe, shower gel. I preferred to use my own.
FITNESS CENTER - Being a major fitness enthusiast, I was really impressed with the high-quality equipment - treadmills, stairmasters, bikes & strength training equipment, all with a fabulous view of the water.
WATER SPORTS - All non-motorized watersports (except water-ski, which was included) are included & we did them all - the best being a bicycle built for 2 which looked innocent but was a major workout! Snorkeling is okay...they drop anchor about 6 miles off the resort coast & there were a fair amount of interesting fish. We opted not to do the scuba-certification as it takes a godd 1/2 day to complete.
STUFF WE PAID FOR - the resort includes a full-service spa. We elected to have massages (about $50 each) out on the pier overlooking the water. Seemed very romantic BUT, it was a bit windy and 1 grain of sand plus massage oil equals minor skin irritation. Advice - have your massages INSIDE. You can elect to get married at Sandals - A couple from Ireland were married about 6 feet away from our place on the pier. Being massaged in a partially unclothed state while watching a couple exchange cows is quite a surreal experience. The nightlife at Sandals is lacking - we saw an excellent show "Carribe" at one of the hotels nearby - worth the $30 apiece. The Straw Market is accesible by cab & okay - you can see all the cruise ships. Dowtown Naussau is dirty. Watch your wallet. I picked up a straw basket for about $5. We took a scuba excursion on a large catamaran, chartered off of paradise island. (A list of excursions are available through the resort.) The ride out, about 45 minutes, was interesting - saw the island that houses a recording studio rumored by the captain to be owned by Eddie Murphy (?). We docked off a secluded island and snorkeled for about a half hour - much more to see then what Sandals offers, including a barracuda that fascinated my husband but sent me hightailing it back to the boat. The water was a lot saltier than resort water. Rum punch was included. About $60 apiece. The only other $ was for cart fees at the Sandals-endorsed club. The course was so-so, worth it only because green fees were waived.
P.S. Panhandlers are not permitted on property & I've never seen a more beautiful sunset. Water is crystal clear & sand is very white.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dmezell
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Reviews written: 1
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