Lee Cundiff
We purchased our vacation through Travelzoo as a promotional offer during the soft opening of the resort. After reading some of the reviews, we were concerned but went in with open minds.
After doing some research, I found out that there was no shuttle from the airport, so I purchased a private car service for $60. Pleasant enough, but not worth that much money.
Our check-in experience was very pleasant and the staff was very friendly at the front desk. We submitted our travel vouchers from Travelzoo and I was under the impression that my financial obligations were complete (minus the taxes which I was aware of). More on that later...
Our room was amazing! We had a great view of the ocean and main pool from our balcony. Each day after being at the pool or the beach, we had our very comfortable lounge chairs to relax on in the afternoon as we were in the shade and could just enjoy. Probably our favorite part of the trip!
We agree with the reviews of the restaurants in that the buffet always had plenty to choose from, the bar grill by the pool was a nice alternative, and the fancier restaurant for dinner was nice, but we were unimpressed after eating there twice and seeing the same menu options. The food was good there, as was the service so no complaints in that regard.
Overall, we saw some growing pains and we knew that the resort was still in its infancy with opening. As we walked to and from our room, we would see some trash in the stairwells, and the common areas could use a good cleaning especially in the elevator areas. Speaking of, watch those doors going to the elevators! The doors are heavy and solid, and it's possible to be inadvertently whacked by other guests approaching the elevators!
There also could be an improvement with restrooms near the pools. The main pool has restrooms near the buffet but it's a bit of a walk. The Lantern pool has restrooms right next to the bar, so that was nice. But the spa pool has NO restrooms, and that is likely the pool most adults without children are likely to go.
We also agree with the assessment of the beach. The beach in front of the hotel is nice, but you definitely can't swim there. It's also a public beach, so you may be approached by some locals looking to make some money.
We did not leave the resort for any excursions including the private beach, as we felt that you would be there for 5 hours and still have to pay extra for chairs, towels, drinks, etc. It was just easier to stay at the resort with everything close at hand.
Upon checking out, we had to schedule a taxi to the airport a day in advance. That was only $28 which was much better than what we were charged when we arrived.
We really enjoyed our time there and recognize that the resort is still improving the experience for their guests. We did not have a bad experience with any member of the staff, and we thought we were treated respectfully and with smiles.
Kshama Pandya
I hate to write this, but I feel that it may help other clients. First of all, I have to say most of the staff were amazing, helpful, and hard-working. The cons, the property is far away from everything, if you want to experience anything off-property, everything is a good 45-50 mins drive and the price is around $70 each way, super expensive. It's beachfront but you can't really enjoy the beach as it's super rocky, lots of seaweed, and the tide is so high, that there is no way you should go into the water, it's way too dangerous. The property is brand new, but from the looks of it, it looks like it's been open for over 5 years or so, there was rusting in our room, things were already broken, etc. The room was not cleaned well at all, hair all over the floor, hair in the bathroom, shower felt gross. One of the days no one cleaned our room, we complained to the front desk 3-4 times and nothing, finally when my husband got really upset someone finally came to clean the room. The property only has 3 restaurants, 1 buffet place, 1 grill restaurant that serves bar-type food, and 1 fancy place that doesn't allow kids under 12, keep in mind this part is not advertised on their website. Basically, we ate at the buffet place every night, which was just not fun especially when we've went to other all-inclusive resorts and most of them have at least 7-8 restaurants to try out. Overall, the staff was super sweet, but I do not recommend this property, it's too far from everything and it's too "new" that they are just not ready for a big crowd.
Philipp Unger
I stayed at Wyndham Grand Barbados for a couple of days in March '24 with my partner and we had an all around great stay.
We really enjoyed the food, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner, especially in the grill bar by the pool as well as the a la carte fine-dining restaurant. And the best part: everything was included.
We spent a few days in the hotel by the several pools and relaxed on the cabanas. Everything is very modern and the friendly staff fulfilled every wish we had, be it specialty cocktails or fetching fresh towels. Our highlight: taking a swim in the natural tide pools on the beach in front of the compound.
And when we felt like doing excursions and exploring the island, the front staff gave us great tips and assisted us with everything.
All in all a great couple days on Barbados, we will come again!
Eva L.
Our family had an amazing stay at the Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lord's Castle Resort. We stayed 5 nights in March. We knew the resort is still in the process of being finalized (spa, gym etc.), we knew exactly the location of the resort and we rented a car to move around the island. The reservations team was so helpful and responsive - Michelle, Jennifer from the reservations team. Check in was done by Tanya, very friendly and quick process, she also gave us a tour and showed us to our room. I also want to thank Concierge team - Shivonne, she was very responsive whenever we needed something during our stay and HUGE thank you to Raquel in Concierge/Guest Services who was a pleasure to work with. Always so nice and professional and arranged decorating our room for my son's birthday! It was truly appreciated! We loved all our interactions with the wonderful staff, namely Jahshaydi, Vanessa, the great pizza chef (I forgot his name) who made sure that my kids had fresh and hot pizzas. Thank you to maintenance team who helped us resolve the ceiling fan issues, to our room attendants who kept our room clean and stocked up. The staff was great! We loved everyone! Thank you to all the hardworking people at the resort.
Gina Dollmann
My boyfriend and I spent a couple of lovely days at Wyndham Grand. The food was great. Most days, we ate at the buffet restaurant, which offered a wide variety of delicious options, including fish, meat, and always very tasty vegetarian options. We especially enjoyed our dinners at the à la carte fine-dining restaurant (amazing and delicous high quality food and beverage) and having lunch at the grill bar by the pool (they serve amazing shrimp tacos). The staff was very friendly and fulfilled our every wish, be it making blended iced coffees at all times of the day, mixing delicious cocktails (they freshly mix basically everything you could wish for), or giving advice for daily activities or trips.
We loved relaxing at the numerous pools in our private cabana or taking swims in the hidden tide pools at the beach.
The rooms were huge, modern, very clean and we had an amazing ocean view from our balcony.
All in all, we had a great experience at Wyndham Grand Barbados and will definitely revisit soon.