Sandals Grande Antigua Tips

Photo Credit: Erika Gregory iPhone 7s

So, I was going to create a post about do's and don'ts for Sandals Grande Antigua. I decided just to create a tips post.  A lot of these tips are good in general.

Photo Credit: Sandals Grande Antiguan Photographer Delmore James

• Do go with great friends. This one is from my good friend and photographer, Tyjuana. I definitely echo this tip. We had so much fun with them and the J's.  So much fun in fact, we are planning future trips. 

Photo Credit: Erika Gregory iPhone 7s

• Take advantage of the check-in process at club-level resorts. Take the wet towel, drink the welcome drink, sit in a big comfy chair while they take care of your bags and the check in. We've heard people complain that the process (not just here, but other resorts)  is too slow. They just want to get into their room and start vacation. I say, slow down. The process is meant to ease you into relaxation mode. Arriving at the airport, going thru customs, getting your bags and sometimes the scary ride to the resort are enough to have even the calmest person on edge. This process takes that edge off.

• Do make your "reservation required" restaurants plans early. I would say during check in. This is probably more true for parties of 6 or more. We were unable to get a group reservation at Eleanor's because we waited too long. Of course, it didn't spoil our fun, but it would have been nice to dine there for dinner. 

• Do take a tour of the property during the day and in the evening. The fire pit area above looks completely different in the evening.  We like to get a lay of the land before we even arrive. This helps us get our bearings when we are on the resort. 

• If you see something you might like, buy it. Specifically handcrafted items. Fortunately, we ran into David our basket crafter a couple of times on our trip. I regretted not purchasing one of these baskets while we were in port on a cruise. Fortunately, David was one of the vendors on the beach and came by regularly. He wasn't pushy at all and his handcrafted items were beautiful!He actually made our baskets while we waited. It was a pleasure getting to know him and finding out about his life and his family. 

• Don't fret about the "all of the  beach chairs are taken" reviews. We were able to find six - yes, 6 chairs - together every day. Well, a few times we had to move the chairs a few feet, but that's ok. No one got up extra early - though we had planned on taking shifts - lol.  It was fine. 

• Do try out the specialty drinks - even the virgin versions.  We always asked for an extra rum because they are a little weak.  Also, we asked for coconut rum in our pina coladas. DELISH!!! My favorites were the Hummingbird (shown above on the left). It;s a delicious concoction made with rum, cream, coffee liquor, strawberries, bananas and crushed ice.  It is by far my favorite adult beverage. 

I hope this little post helped you out if you are planning to visit any sort of resort in the near future. 

What tips do you have? 

Antigua 2017

Two years ago, our friends, the J's, invited us on a couples cruise. Three couples attended and we traveled to Excellence in Punta Cana. We had a really good time and promised  to so it again the following year.

Fast forward to 2017 -  still three couples. This time our good friends, the S's, joined us and the J's.
Our choice of all-inclusive, all-adult resorts was Sandals Grande Antigua. Ken and I have vacationed at  Sandals Negril. So, we were well aware of the excellent service and beautiful grounds. I must say, as nice as Sandals Negril was (is),  Sandals Grande Antigua was over the top awesome.

We were greeted with champagne and rum punch upon our arrival at the resort. I must say we felt welcome from the minute we stepped onto the resort.  I am a huge researcher of everything. I checked just about every site I could and all of the reviews mentioned the general manager, Mr. G. Guess who was one of the first people to greet us? Yep, Mr. G!  The super cool thing is that he managed the West Baden resort in French Lick, Indiana. How cool is that?

So, once we checked in- which really didn't seem like the typical check in at all - we went to our rooms to freshen up before dinner.  The rooms, the rooms! I love a Sandals resort room. We were all on the Mediterranean side of the resort in Grande Luxe Oceanview Rooms. For a full look at our room, check out my link on Instagram here.  Side note: I have an obsession with pens. These Sandals pens are amazing:

Photo Credit: Tyjuana Hill-Smith Photography

After a full day of travel, we were ready for some dinner. There are at least nine restaurants on the resort. Anxious to get our toes in the sand, we opted for Barefoot. Barefoot is right on the beach with sand underneath your feet. During the day, the menu is jerk chicken, hamburgers  and salads. By night, they serve salmon, mahi mahi, filet, etc. Both menus are delish!  I have to tell you this was the best food on a resort I have had. I mean everything was prepared to perfection.  The cool thing about all-inclusive resorts is that you can order as much as you want. We opted to all order a few different things and were more than eager to share. Believe me, nothing went to waste.

Once we finished dinner, we listened to a local band performing island songs. There are several areas with fire pits that were perfect for relaxing after dinner.  Final stop for the night? The Drunken Duck - an English style pub - with a pool room. Of course, we had to shoot a few - right?

The next day was beach day and boy was I ready! Be sure to follow the blog for more reviews and to detail our couples trip to Sandals. Included is our special sunset photo session with our great friend, Ty and Delmore,  the Sandals photographer.

Here's a glimpse of the beautiful Dickinson Bay until my next post……..

All photos unless noted are from my iPhone 7s.  Thanks to Tyjuana Hill- Smith Photography for taking the pen photo. Be sure to check back for more of her professional photos from our trip.