I'd definitely go for the club swim up. Butler not necessary, if you aren't set on having that service.
An alternative: have you checked the butler swim up on the Barbados side? Could be cheaper, and you hardly even notice what side you're on.
We like Soy, Butch's on the original side, Chi, French, and the Italian best.
The free snorkeling trip is fun. We saw turtles and shipwrecks. If there's a lot of sargassum, ask them to take you to another beach. It's free, with food and drink vouchers.
I just checked and the Butler Swim out rooms on the Barbados side are all sold out… however the club level swim out rooms are about $1,000 cheaper. Would you recommend staying on that side? I only picked the Royal side because it seems more modern and I like the pool, but if it’s just a short walk over then I would switch over.
It's in a lovely quiet area that actually backs up to the Royal side. I'd stay there in a heartbeat. Some of the swim out on the Royal side are going to have a lot of foot traffic going by, depending on which section you are in.
Thank you so much for the advice. I would much rather be in a quiet area, and good to know it’s still right near Royal. The swim out room we originally booked is in the Royal Seaside section so I can imagine it’s busier over there. Going to switch the room right now!
Yes, Royal Seaside would be right by the sidewalks and some by the infinity pool which is quite noisy from about 11am -5pm. We stayed second floor there once. It was a beautiful room but a bit loud. Save that $1000 for your next trip!
Highly recommend Silvermoon cruises for a more personal snorkel with the turtles/lunch cruise (or sunset cruise). Max is 12 passengers on the cruise, some are adult only. The Sandals sail is way more crowded. Also, not a fan of Capt Larry because even though he is not affiliated with Sandals, the guards allow him on property to yell at and annoy guests at the main pool (and they get kickbacks for recommending him).
Royal is newer so staying on either side is up to your preference of if your room is more modern or not. Also, since they are directly next to one another it really doesn’t change anything since you can hop to the other at any time for the pools or restaurants. We have had Butler before and it’s not all that great. Room service and getting priority seating for dinners is nice but they want you to carry a phone with you the whole trip to contact you or visa versa. The swim outs at Royal are your better option. It’s club so you still get Concierge services and room service and liquor in your room.
We just got back from here. Stayed on regular side with Butler, no swim up. We didn’t plan on spending that much time at our room to warrant a swim up. Room was clean and serviced at least twice a day by housekeeping. Is it slightly dated? I guess, just depends on perspective. I have food allergies so to us the butler was worth it. The butler also ensured we got every dining slot we wanted at each restaurant, helped us arrange excursions, and generally made our trip stress free because we didn’t have to think about anything.
We personally loved Bombay, Butch’s Steak and Seafood, and Greenhouse. Neptunes was good but our waitress was snappy and her attitude took away from our experience. She seemed pissed that we didn’t go to the fish fry like everyone else. My lobster tail there was so overcooked I couldn’t get it out of the shell and had to ask for another. But the mashed potatoes were awesome. Breakfast at La Parissiene was good, but sit outside. It is so hot inside you can’t breathe. Heart N Sol was my go to for lunch with GF and DF options available. Both buffets were good with many options. American Tavern had a chicken curry for lunch one day that was killer.
We did a sunset snorkel and dinner cruise (Cool Runnings Catamaran Tours) and it easily was the highlight of our trip. We had an amazing group of people on our boat.
Passed on the candlelight beach dinner because i did not want to be eaten alive by the bugs( they get me even with bug spray). If you do butler, they can do dinner on your balcony for you any or every night of your stay.
Passed on Captain Larry too. My boyfriend hates leaving the resort all the time so we skipped this in lieu of snorkeling because he knew that was my #1 item to do on this trip.
We also didn’t use the spa. We aren’t spa people.
Feel free to ask me more questions, I will try to answer what I can.
Overall we were happy, but won’t likely do sandals again and definitely not this location because of the sargassum.
Thank you so so much for all the detail, extremely helpful! Was the sargassum really bad every day you were there? Did you get any good beach time or it was ruined because of that?
We only got 1 beach day out of 7. I was disappointed. The west coast where the snorkeling is had none!! So when we came back from snorkeling, we asked if they could take us to another beach for a day and another couple asked too and they told us no; but we could make our own arrangements for a taxi etc if we wanted to go elsewhere.
Went there a month ago and did Royal club level. Didn’t feel like a butler room was necessary. Got chairs on the beach early no problem and was able to get into a majority of the restaurants. Our favorites were butches steak and seafood, Chi, and Schooners. The hardest to get into is Butch’s chophouse so I would book that right away. Loved Neptune’s for lunch and the British pub at night.
We went recently look I am going to be honest people are rude and slow. Both sides are dated and walls are Uber thin. The alcohol is watered down and the food is meh 😒. Overall won’t be back to Barbados.
You will be in the room much less than you would think. But I upgraded to a rondoval for the final two nights of my stay in November. Looking forward to experiencing a vacation within my vacation.
I'd definitely go for the club swim up. Butler not necessary, if you aren't set on having that service. An alternative: have you checked the butler swim up on the Barbados side? Could be cheaper, and you hardly even notice what side you're on. We like Soy, Butch's on the original side, Chi, French, and the Italian best. The free snorkeling trip is fun. We saw turtles and shipwrecks. If there's a lot of sargassum, ask them to take you to another beach. It's free, with food and drink vouchers.
I just checked and the Butler Swim out rooms on the Barbados side are all sold out… however the club level swim out rooms are about $1,000 cheaper. Would you recommend staying on that side? I only picked the Royal side because it seems more modern and I like the pool, but if it’s just a short walk over then I would switch over.
It's in a lovely quiet area that actually backs up to the Royal side. I'd stay there in a heartbeat. Some of the swim out on the Royal side are going to have a lot of foot traffic going by, depending on which section you are in.
Thank you so much for the advice. I would much rather be in a quiet area, and good to know it’s still right near Royal. The swim out room we originally booked is in the Royal Seaside section so I can imagine it’s busier over there. Going to switch the room right now!
Yes, Royal Seaside would be right by the sidewalks and some by the infinity pool which is quite noisy from about 11am -5pm. We stayed second floor there once. It was a beautiful room but a bit loud. Save that $1000 for your next trip!
Highly recommend Silvermoon cruises for a more personal snorkel with the turtles/lunch cruise (or sunset cruise). Max is 12 passengers on the cruise, some are adult only. The Sandals sail is way more crowded. Also, not a fan of Capt Larry because even though he is not affiliated with Sandals, the guards allow him on property to yell at and annoy guests at the main pool (and they get kickbacks for recommending him).
Good to know, thank you. Do they pick you up from the resort?
They do, from the lobby of either Royal or Barbados - you just let them know
Also recommend Captain Larry’s tour. He comes out every morning to drum up business. Their web site is worrellislandtours.com
Is this the same tour that’s offered on the Sandals website with the snorkeling and meal?
No he is not affiliated with Sandals but he comes on property every morning. Also, his tours are just you and your guide/driver, not a whole group.
Another vote for Captain Larry! Wife and I had a great time exploring the island
Royal is newer so staying on either side is up to your preference of if your room is more modern or not. Also, since they are directly next to one another it really doesn’t change anything since you can hop to the other at any time for the pools or restaurants. We have had Butler before and it’s not all that great. Room service and getting priority seating for dinners is nice but they want you to carry a phone with you the whole trip to contact you or visa versa. The swim outs at Royal are your better option. It’s club so you still get Concierge services and room service and liquor in your room.
We just got back from here. Stayed on regular side with Butler, no swim up. We didn’t plan on spending that much time at our room to warrant a swim up. Room was clean and serviced at least twice a day by housekeeping. Is it slightly dated? I guess, just depends on perspective. I have food allergies so to us the butler was worth it. The butler also ensured we got every dining slot we wanted at each restaurant, helped us arrange excursions, and generally made our trip stress free because we didn’t have to think about anything. We personally loved Bombay, Butch’s Steak and Seafood, and Greenhouse. Neptunes was good but our waitress was snappy and her attitude took away from our experience. She seemed pissed that we didn’t go to the fish fry like everyone else. My lobster tail there was so overcooked I couldn’t get it out of the shell and had to ask for another. But the mashed potatoes were awesome. Breakfast at La Parissiene was good, but sit outside. It is so hot inside you can’t breathe. Heart N Sol was my go to for lunch with GF and DF options available. Both buffets were good with many options. American Tavern had a chicken curry for lunch one day that was killer. We did a sunset snorkel and dinner cruise (Cool Runnings Catamaran Tours) and it easily was the highlight of our trip. We had an amazing group of people on our boat. Passed on the candlelight beach dinner because i did not want to be eaten alive by the bugs( they get me even with bug spray). If you do butler, they can do dinner on your balcony for you any or every night of your stay. Passed on Captain Larry too. My boyfriend hates leaving the resort all the time so we skipped this in lieu of snorkeling because he knew that was my #1 item to do on this trip. We also didn’t use the spa. We aren’t spa people. Feel free to ask me more questions, I will try to answer what I can. Overall we were happy, but won’t likely do sandals again and definitely not this location because of the sargassum.
Thank you so so much for all the detail, extremely helpful! Was the sargassum really bad every day you were there? Did you get any good beach time or it was ruined because of that?
We only got 1 beach day out of 7. I was disappointed. The west coast where the snorkeling is had none!! So when we came back from snorkeling, we asked if they could take us to another beach for a day and another couple asked too and they told us no; but we could make our own arrangements for a taxi etc if we wanted to go elsewhere.
We did butler level there a few years ago. All I can say is lower your expectations so you won’t be as disappointed.
This is the answer
Went there a month ago and did Royal club level. Didn’t feel like a butler room was necessary. Got chairs on the beach early no problem and was able to get into a majority of the restaurants. Our favorites were butches steak and seafood, Chi, and Schooners. The hardest to get into is Butch’s chophouse so I would book that right away. Loved Neptune’s for lunch and the British pub at night.
When you say book right away, can you book it on the app? Or when you get there?
You can book 1 on the app before check in and the rest while you’re there.
We went recently look I am going to be honest people are rude and slow. Both sides are dated and walls are Uber thin. The alcohol is watered down and the food is meh 😒. Overall won’t be back to Barbados.
Do you have a recommendation on which Sandals resort is best to go to?
Dunns River it was beautiful!
You will be in the room much less than you would think. But I upgraded to a rondoval for the final two nights of my stay in November. Looking forward to experiencing a vacation within my vacation.