Sandals Royal Bahamian

“Amazing 10 year anniversary trip!”

We recently stayed at the Royal Bahamian for our 10-year anniversary. We stayed in a butler honeymoon hideaway swim up suite. First off I want to start by saying that we had the best time, better than I ever imagined and we cannot wait to go back! This was our first time at any all-inclusive resort… more

We recently stayed at the Royal Bahamian for our 10-year anniversary. We stayed in a butler honeymoon hideaway swim up suite. First off I want to start by saying that we had the best time, better than I ever imagined and we cannot wait to go back! This was our first time at any all-inclusive resort so I will leave my review below, breaking it into categories in hopes that it will help future newbies like me feel encouraged and inspired to take the trip and ignore the bad reviews! ROOM Our room was very romantic, tucked away on the far end of the West Bay building. Yes, it technically faces a parking lot but we didn't know it on the first floor, the swim up hideaway pool was secluded, quiet, and romantic. It was perfect for us. Beautiful greenery to look at. A few times I heard a car door close in the morning as staff arrived but did not bother me in the least. Room was clean, comfortable, spacious and very well stocked. I did notice on hotter days when we walked to our building the hallway smelled a little bit musty, but that's to be expected on a tropical island especially on the first floor where the moisture builds up more. We did not see any mold. Inside the room smelled fine. I have pictures of the hideaway swim up pool if anyone is looking at this room and wants more details. Would definitely book this room again and hands down would always get a butler room. BUTLERS We had Eric, Zhaly, and Keisha . They were all amazing! Eric was super fun, always smiling, packed our cooler and brought it to us on the dock when we were waiting for the boat for the island, reserved us great seats on the beach and always had our cooler stocks, brought us drinks unexpectedly, and even brought us Hawaiian leis as a throwback to our honeymoon in Hawaii. Zhaly was our favorite and went above and beyond every day! She was truly amazing if you can get her you hit the lottery! She made these personalized decorations in our room every night to make it romantic and just over the top. She brought us surprise drinks and snacks all the time and on our last day she set up to have cracked lobster tails brought to us, they were so amazing and was a special order with the chef, they're not on the menu. She took photos for us when we were all dressed up for dinner, escorted us to dinner and made sure we had the best table. She also made sure we had our drinks as soon as we sat down at the restaurant and she went to the bar to make sure they were perfect. We saw her throughout the night and she would always jump in to take more pictures of us, she was so friendly and is one of the highest rated butlers there and it shows! Keisha was also wonderful, super sweet and very attentive. We didn't have her as much but the time we did she was great. She also was very responsive to our messages, brought a surprise things and made sure we were happy. FOOD/DRINKS Overall we were very happy with the food and drinks. Our favorite meals were at La Plume, Tesoro, Butches, and Gordon's. If we had enough nights to eat a second time at La Plume that would have been my first choice. The coq au vin was spectacular, I was truly blown away with how amazing that meal was. Not every meal blew it out of the park but overall every meal was very good and if you didn't like something, you just order something else. It's really nice to have that option and not be pressured and just make sure you're happy. I found the pool drinks not as strong but very tasty, if they weren't strong enough I just hit up my favorite bartenders and told them to kick it up a notch and they did. But when we went to Butch's to get cocktails at the bar, they were very good every time and we never had to ask for a stronger drink. The breakfast buffets were good, I found the two, at Tesoro and the Caribbean restaurant to be similar. Caribbean was definitely more popular. But food was very similar. I really enjoyed having coffee delivered to her room every morning, I found that coffee better than the coffee at the food truck and the restaurants. You can set it up to have it delivered at a specific time and they were always on time and very friendly. STAFF I found the staff overall extremely friendly, very social, and incredibly hardworking. At the pool bar our favorite bartenders were Tevin "T-Money", Felicia, and Saddhea. They were so much fun, made great drinks and we had a blast with them. Don't be turned off by Felicia, I found she didn't smile at first towards me or most people, but I made fast friends with her and she made me some of the best drinks. She is an extremely hard worker, she moves quickly, she's attentive to the staff, she's really focused and I really appreciate it how hard she works. She made the best pornstar martinis and Mai Tais. T-Money was the life of the party, super fun, made great drinks and we really enjoyed his company. Saddhea is super sweet, she has the best smile, made very good drinks and she loves making you shots lol. We also loved Hope and Marva who are at the Butch's bar, they made excellent cocktails, I loved their dirty martini and key lime martini the best. Kevin who was head of the entertainment staff was hilarious and so much fun. He has the best smile, is super energetic and is always making sure everybody is having a great time. Do the night entertainment with him especially if it involves dancing, you won't regret it! Take a sailboat tour with Granville, he is a super sweet Bahamian and we absolutely adored him. We had a great time with him on the boat, he is such a cool dude and we really enjoyed our time with him. We interacted with a lot of staff while we were there and I can't say anything negative about them. We were also very vocal with them about how much we appreciated their work, time, and attention and they treated us very well. RESORT OVERALL Was a very clean, beautiful, well-maintain, modern, picturesque and comfortable. Nothing bad to say. I worked out in the gym a few times, enough space and good equipment and the balcony on both sides of the resort from this level we're pretty spectacular. I just wish we booked a longer stay and had more time to enjoy everything they offer there. PRIVATE ISLAND DO IT! Definitely go more than once. It is so beautiful, romantic, pool bar was so much fun but not crowded. A ton of daybeds, lounges, cabanas spread out all over the island, you have your pick. Go in the first boat in the morning and stay the whole day, we left on the last boat. Food at the restaurant was very good, my husband loved the smashburger. We had a massage on the private island overlooking the water and it was incredible. Definitely a must do. We brought our own snorkeling gear and snorkeled on the back side of the island which was pretty cool. I loved walking around the island with a cocktail with my husband and just taking in the gorgeous scenery, it felt like a dream. The water was crystal clear turquoise blue and the sand is so soft it didn't feel real. It's like this on the resort beach as well. We love the beaches there, unlike any other Beach we've been to and we spent most of our time on the beach and in the ocean with cocktails in hand. NIGHT LIFE All of the nightlife was very good. Go to as much as you can. The fire show was really cool. We got the tail end of a singing dance show, our dinner at La plume was just too good to leave lol so we got the tail end of the show and the singers were incredible. Our favorite time was at the silent Disco, I had never done one and I never danced or sang so much, everybody was having a great time and we just partied and it was so much fun! The piano bar was also hopping and a lot of fun, they made pretty good drinks there too. WATER SPORTS We did the sailboat tour with Granville. Highly recommend. Would have done again if we had more days. Would have also probably tried some other activities on the water but we just didn't have enough days there. OFF RESORT We tried to save space with luggage and decided to buy sunscreen there but the resort gift shop was a bit pricey so we heard about a pharmacy across the street, literally across the street from the resort you can get there super fast, much more reasonably priced. Limited options but was fine. They also had a lot of other necessities like toothpaste, shampoo etc if you want to save on space or forget something. WOULD WE GO BACK? HANDS DOWN, YES, IN A HEARTBEAT, CANNOT WAIT UNTIL WE CAN GO BACK! Keep in mind we had nothing to compare this to and we also went in with a positive attitude knowing that this was likely a once in a lifetime trip for us and no matter what we were going to enjoy ourselves and we totally did, no forced happiness whatsoever. I was pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed ourselves and laughed at myself for worrying about all the negative reviews I obsessed about beforehand. Take the trip, this was a wonderful resort and we definitely recommend it!

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“Quick trip to Sandals Royal Bahamian”

Celebrated 35 year anniversary here and it was gorgeous. If you love the pools this was a great spot. Two very good sized pools. The beach at the resort was small. To the left of the pier it was very rocky. To the right it was much nicer but not a lot of room. The private island makes up for all of… more

Celebrated 35 year anniversary here and it was gorgeous. If you love the pools this was a great spot. Two very good sized pools. The beach at the resort was small. To the left of the pier it was very rocky. To the right it was much nicer but not a lot of room. The private island makes up for all of that, go there. If you’re a hot tub person, you’re out of luck. They weren’t hot or bubbly. Kanoo was always a good buffet and Tesoro was very good for dinner (lamb chops). In all fairness we didn’t stay long enough to visit all of them. The room we booked was club level at the back of the resort. It was roomy, clean, and had a great bathroom. The resort itself was laid out funny in our opinion. One pool did not have a flat deck around its entirety and you had to walk up and down to go around it. You also had to walk around the pools to get anywhere. The travel to and from the resort was quick and easy. I loved the fact that customs was done before our return flight and not on the return home. It made it much easier. Bottom line, it was good for a quick trip.

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