Sandals Halcyon Beach St. Lucia, Castries

Annoying panhandlers on beach. Gift shop is very small. Snorkle tour was way too short!

We booked our Sandals Honeymoon throug a travel agent almost a year in advance of our honeymoon. When we arrived at the hotel they gave us a key to our room and the friendly bellhop took up to our "upgraded" room. The room was smaller in size of the room, the bed, and the bath tub than the room we had booked. In addition we were on the first floor with our patio in the middle of a walk way intersection and a bar. On top of that there were families with kids on either side of us. Halcyon was suppose to be a couples only resort. When we complained about our room, they told us they didn't have the room we booked available and that they couldn't move us until two days later. On a five night honeymoon that's not a good thing. The desk clerk, who told us she was the manager (she wasn't) said she wouldn't help us at all because of my husbands ton, and said that he was shouting at her. Which led him to start shouting at her and her to shout back at them to the point where I basically had to seperate the two of them because she was just making things worse. When I asked her if she didn't have the room at this hotel to move us to another hotel she said she wouldn't we were finally moved to our correct room when I threatened to call my travel agent. In addition I was balling in the middle of the reception area, it didn't look well. The next morning at 8AM we were called into the general managers office and told we had to apologize to the desk clerk becaue she was accusing my husband of attempting to assault her. The General Manager explained to us that Sandals over booked the whole hotel and that they put everyone they can in the cheapest rooms possible no matter how early or who you booked your reservation with. So basically Sandals is telling people they are getting upgrades to cheaper rooms and Sandals is making a killing. We never saw the front desk clerk again after we emailed our travel agent and she took care of things. The two restaurants at the resort were great, but the service during lunch and dinner was typically slow and rude. Or course that could have been because of the way we started at the resort, the General Manager threatened that our treatment not be good because we got upset about our room. We saw other couples having the same problem at the Regancy. My advise if you want to go to St. Lucia, which is a beautiful island and we had a blast on the tours, book at the Grand the service there was attentive from the second we walked in the door, and they were prompt and polite no matter where we went in the resort.

We honeymooned at the Halcyon ten years ago and came back to renew our vows. Truthfully, we were a little afraid because ten years had passed and things change. Well, things only got better. We had a fabulous time and were treated like royalty! Our beachfront cottage was as spectacular as we remembered. The staff and service was impeccable - many thanks to such wonderful staff like Christopher, Vanessa, Agnes, Kim, Garfield, Isla, Julian, Wayne, Cindy and last but certainly not least, our wonderful concierge Melissa! (If we forgot anyone, we are sorry - you were ALL GREAT!) Of course the food was terrific, as were the drinks. All this, and our new friends we met, made it a number one trip for us. The other Sandals resorts we've been to are very nice. But if you prefer excellent service and an intimate atmosphere in beautiful well-appointed surroundings over glitz and glamour and lots of people, you will quickly appreciate Sandals Halycon. We'll be back in two years! Oh - say hello to Rasta Charlie and tell him Loretta and Blair miss him!

My wife and I had our Honeymoon at Sandals Haylcon Beach for a week (Aug 07). Our first 3 days were great. This resort was very quiet and relaxing. It was a bit older, but I thought our Beachfront Room was well maintained. If you want a new and crisp-looking resort, I would recommend the Grand. The food at the snack-bars & main buffet-style restaurant was average. The formal restaurant food was quite good, and the staff was friendly. Prior to Hurricane Dean, the islanders said it had been about 20 years since St. Lucia had seen a hurricane. The Sandals manager did an average job of briefing everyone at the resort. (He wouldn't give any detailed information about the storm, since I'm sure he didn't want to give out anything false). Obviously, some of the activities and restaurants had to get shut down early, so preparations could be made for the storm. They kept the main buffet open as long as possible. The eye of the hurricane didn't hit the island, it actually went between Martinique and St. Lucia. However, when it passed through, the resort experienced Hurricane-Force winds. It was a little unsettling, trying to sleep in a Beachfront Condo during a Hurricane. I awoke at about 4am (when the waves started coming over the beachfront wall). Surprisingly, we still had electricity, so my wife and I were watching the local news. Within 5-10 minutes, the Assistant Manager knocked on our door and told us to put our belongings up high (on top of the TV case), and go to the main lodge. So we did it as fast as we could, grabbed the essentials (passports/valuables), and went to the main building. They had fresh blankets & pillows for us and gave everyone another update on the storm’s progress (that it was going to be past in an hour or so). We settled in on a couch in the corner of the room and tried to sleep for a bit longer. By 7am I had a cappuccino, and they opened the buffet only 1 hour later than usual. After breakfast, my wife and I went back to see our room. There was about 2-3 inches of sand from the beach all the way up to our door. Water did get inside the room, but it was just by the door. It was a bit difficult trying to ask for assistance, since the reception desk was boarded-up, and everyone (including the Resort Manager) was in goulashes, cleaning up debris. However, it was completely understandable – we were just hit by a hurricane. So my wife and I hung out in our room for a few hours. Around lunch time, we were visited by the Manager, and he said they had another room ready for us. It was also a Beachfront room, but twice as far away from the original beach. But since the “beach” had moved inland a good 30 ft, we took him up on his offer. The remainder of our stay was relatively boring – all the pools had to be drained due to the debris, the Pier Restaurant had the entire sea-side wall collapse during the storm (so that was out of commission). Sandals recognized that our vacation was cut short by the hurricane, and we were offered their guarantee. I didn’t have to ask, they just dropped off a letter that explained how we had another week vacation (non-airfare) to use at any of the Sandals resorts. If I wouldn’t have gotten the guarantee, obviously I would have been outraged and this review would have been very different.

This resort was absolutely horrible and bore no resemblance to the experience described or resort depicted on the hotel website. We booked a "Luxury Oceanview" room that was severely lacking in both luxury and view. We looked out on to the garden (admittedly, facing roughly the direction of the ocean, but without a view of it). The room was dark and dank. The mattress was old and tired. The wall was cracked from floor to ceiling. The bathroom was infested with ants and the bathroom window had no glass. The floor was institutional tile. The service was horrible. The bugs in the room were outrageous (I woke up several mornings with more bites than I had at bed time). Oh yes... and the same key opens all the rooms at the resort, based on the fact that our key bore no indication of what room it was for, and yet at check-out was tossed into a pile with the keys of all the other guests departing that day. The food was mediocre at best. No accommodation was made for allergies. Beverage service at breakfast was limited to champagne-based drinks, although we were always asked if we wanted coffee or tea (my husband asked for coffee every morning. He actually got it without asking at least 3 times ONE morning only). The beach is small, dark, and public... inhabited by peddlars and drug dealers. And the bar staff were seen handing drinks over the wall to these individuals on the beach. Our favourite part of the resort was the shuttle bus to the other Sandals properties on the island which do appear to live up to both the Sandals reputation and the images on their website. We would not recommend Sandals Halcyon Beach to anyone we liked remotely.

We were in the middle of our 9 day Sandals vacation when Hurricane Dean was bearing down on the Island of St. Lucia. We managed to get the last plane off the island only to find out that in order to obtain the "Hurricane vouchers" for our entire trip we were required to stay on the island during the hurricane. Does Sandals really want to be responsible for the safety and well being of its guests during a category 5 storm? Don't be misled by the hurricane guarantee. Sandals cares nothing about "total customer satisfaction". Sandals only cares about manipulating its policy to its own advantage. Will NEVER go to Sandals again and will tell all my friends to stay far away!!!!!

WE loved everything, It was peaceful and beautifol and the food was great. There were no intrusive vendors liek at every other resort we hav been to.

We loved everything about st. lucia , but most of all we loved the people.We made many friends over there. We visited the town a good few times and people were so friendly. We are still in contact with people we met from St. lucia. Also the food in the hotel was fantastic and we were so delighted that you could drink the water. we have never gone to a place abroad before where you could drink the water, always bottled water. we were so comfortable in the Hotel Halcyon It was perfect so near the beach, we had our watersports near us swimming pools all around us and hot tubs what more can you ask for? Most of all we want to compliment the staff If more people were like them we could have a better world.

This was the best vacation ever! The grounds were beautiful. It was so easy to get from your room to the beach. Service was great. It wasn't very crowded, which was nice. There was never a problem finding chairs by the pool or beach. It was very laid back. On the nights that we wanted a more lively atmosphere we went to one of the other Sandals Resorts. But as far as daytime relaxation, this was the place to be!

My boyfriend and I booked this trip 4 months in advance and paid $4500. This was the most money we ever paid for a one week trip but we read so many things saying how gorgeous St Lucia was--it wasnt as nice as it seemed. We picked The Halcyon because it was the cheapest of the 3 sandals on the island, it was also the smallest and it was horrible. Our room was all the way to the back of the resort away from everything, just to walk to the beach or to dinner was a mission. The room was also right on a busy road. One night at 2am, a car idled by our back door for 10 minutes with the base to the radio thumping. The lighting in the room was horrible as well. There were 2 little lamps on either side of the bed but they were more like childrens night lights. If we wanted adequate lighting we'd have to leave the curtains open but the room was ground level and that left us no privacy. Aside from the lighting, the bed was gross. The sheets were musty and smelt like wet dog. The bathroom was good. We asked for our room to be changed and we were told it would cost us an additional $725 because they were near capacity and the only thing available was ocean view. The food was edible. It wasnt great but it didnt make us sick so little complaint. The restaurant, The Pier, was really nice, the portions were tiny, and the air was so hot but it was a fun experience. However, I didnt like the NO SHORTS rule. If they expect you sit in the sweltering restaurant, at least let us wear shorts!!! As far as the buffet, it was average and the drinks from the bar were decent. There were maids at this resort? Funny, I didnt receive one clean towel the entire trip and our bed was never made. There were a few things to do at the resort. They had the sailboats and the big water bikes for two. They also had shuffle boards courts, giant chess sets, and they put together volleyball games. The first day we were there we booked a couples massage so we relax side by side. When we went to the appointment there was only one massuase for our couples massage. We had to have it one after the other. I should probably mention that my boyfriend and I are in our mid-twenties and everyone at the resort was our parents age (with the exception of 3 or 4 couoples getting married). After we got home, I wrote a letter to complain about our experience. I told them about how we wanted our room changed, how the sheets were musty, and how the traffic was unbearable behind our room. The manager wrote back and was completely unsympathetic and offered no compensation of any kind. He didnt even offer a discount on a future trip. It just makes me so mad that we spent so much money on the trip and Im left with such a bad taste in my mouth. I will never stay at another Sandals or Beaches resort.