Review by Valerie, 5/26/17
What were some of your favorite things about the destination and resort? The location is beyond amazing – super blue, warm ocean, huge pool, and beautiful grounds. I’m so disappointed in myself for not taking more pictures of the landscape…so pretty. This is probably the best vacation we’ve ever been on – so relaxing and perfect.
How did you like having the butler service? Would you recommend that to other travelers? The butler service was nice, but the only reason we got it is because of the room category we were in – we wanted to be oceanfront. We were in unit 8103 which is the villa at the far end with the pool in the middle. It was away from everything, but we LOVVVVVVVED it! The butlers were nice – I think the perks were the dinner and excursion reservations and when they brought us snacks and drinks at the pool (no poolside service like Mexico).
Did you go on any excursions and if so, would you recommend them? We did the swimming with the pigs and I can’t recommend it enough – and not because of the pigs (that kind of freaked me out). They stop at 5 places I think – the scenery was unbelievable and something I will never forget.
If you happen to have some pictures of you all that you could share, we would love to see them! A few of our favorites below. The first one pretty much sums it up. :-D
After going to a Sandals we would like to try another one. I think the only “negative” was the service in Mexico is better. It was by no means bad, just different.
Loved, loved, loved Exuma and will go back someday! Thank you so much for the AWESOME recommendation Kim!
Review by Tim, 5/18/17
We had a great time and Michelle was very surprised. Resort is kept up beautifully and the staff was great. Food was very good. Not a place to go if you are looking for a lot to do which was what were wanting. Very relaxing and laid back for the most part. Lucked out for the most part on the weather. Mid to upper 70's for the most part with clouds on and off and breezy most of the time. Really enjoyed the staff and nightly entertainment they provided - Returning guest dinner, Martini party, chocolate party and local and staff entertainment.
Wife isn't a golfer but I did play in a 9 hole scramble one afternoon. She just rode along in the cart. Played the back 9 which basically has every hole on the ocean which made for some great scenery. Course was in great shape.
Review by Nolan & Maggie, 4/18/2017
Hi Dave-
YES! Exuma was awesome…we can’t wait to return. Everything went great, even with the jeep, our butler sprang into action and got it all sorted out.
I definitely think the butler service is worth the money. It is such a unique experience and if you’re really looking to make it a special trip i don’t see how you can do it any other way. We probably didn’t use our Butlers for everything we should have, but to have them booking reservations, holding places, just generally looking out for you made for again, a great experience. In fact, we loved it so much, we locked in a rate for Barbados for a similar setup (great room, butler, etc) for Fall of 2019 (we will likely reschedule for the spring). I understand we can transfer the trip to you so you can earn credit? We should talk about that sometime to get that sorted out. That trip we will likely make with friends, so we should come up with a game plan if Sandals is offering greater deals for the opening of the new resort our friends could take advantage of.
The restaurants were really great…you should update your resources, there are now 9 restaurants at Emerald Bay…French is #1 for sure.
Our favorite of part…jeez thats tough. Sandals and Exuma seems to have everything. We liked how you sort of could choose your own adventure. if you want to have a day of just being together and romantic, very easy to do on the property (don’t have to lock yourself up in your room). if you wanted to really party and meet people and have a good time, you could easily do that between the pool, staff and drunken duck. if you want to do something fun and different you can’t do anywhere else, you can take an excursion (or a jeep) to see some sights you’re only going to see in Exuma.
All and all it was a beautiful awesome trip. We can’t wait to go on the next adventure and whether its Barbados in 2020 or someplace next year, we will definitely reach out to you!
All the best,
Nolan and Maggie
Review by Patty, 4/4/17
Yes we had a great time.........we swam with the pigs.....drove to almost the end of island to visit Santana's and Mom's Bakery. Best thing was having a butler to take care of us! We loved our stay and everyone was great. The only downfall......in the evenings it took FOREVER to get a cocktail. We did play golf...did not take our own clubs so the free golf cost us about $200-and I only rode along.....and the only cocktail you could get was the couple of beers they gave you at the clubhouse before we started our round. If we would have known that we could have had out butler prepare cocktails for us before we left. We had no service on our phone out on the course. All in all pretty prefect. Just what we needed. I have attached a few pics. Thanks once again for all of your help.
Review by Wendy, 4/3/2017
Hi! We loved the resort…the food was very good, the grounds beautiful! Our room location was perfect. The beach and water were just gorgeous. We did the half day excursion with Island Routes that included swimming with the pigs. Overall we had a great time!
Thanks so much!
Wendy
Review by Jeff, 10/22/2017
Kim and Dave,
Thanks again for all of the help! Sorry it has taken a while to get back to you - things have been crazy...The honeymoon was absolutely fantastic! The resort was gorgeous and the staff were all extremely friendly. The Ocean Cays Safari was a blast and Justin (the guide) was great! We ended up cancelling the Jeep rental and instead we did the Stocking Island trip, which was also fantastic - I swam with a barracuda and we hung out with a couple of stingrays! We played a bunch of golf and the course is amazing!
All-in-all it was a beautiful trip and we are both so happy we picked Sandals Emerald Bay. Thank you all for the help and we will definitely use Love to Travel again!
Jeff
Review by Calli & Curtis, 8/10/2016
Hi,
Sorry I’m just now getting back to you! Our trip was AWESOME! Loved every moment of it but the highlight of our trip was definitely the swimming with the pigs! We highly recommend it to anyone who visits Great Exuma.
The resort was very nice and food was pretty good. We went to everyone restaurant on the resort. I think our favorite was the Italian restaurant, we ate there three times 🙂
I am so happy we were able to experience the butler service! It was nice to have a spot saved at the beach as well as a cabana at the pool. The first day we spent all day at the beach and completed roasted! The butler brought us lunch and drinks to us which was very convenient! So the next day we spent most of our time under a cabana away from the sun. We had great butler service however some of the butlers were slower than others. We obviously had a lot of time on our hands so it didn’t bother us one bit!
Thanks for all of your help! We will be back soon to book another trip.
I will also send pictures!
Thanks,
Calli and Curtis
Review by Amanda, 7/29/2016
We had a great time in Exuma! We did do the Safari tour and it was awesome. The captain was great and we got to do so much more than just swim with the pigs. We would absolutely recommend Sandals in Exuma. It was a great way to spend our first week as a married couple.
Review by Bridget, 6/20/2016
What were some of your favorite things about the destination and resort? Being able to run around and do whatever we want. It was nice that there were so many different places to hangout or relax. Two pools, different games outside( I.E. Shuffleboard, bocce ball, life size chess, croquet, etc). We also enjoyed having the dinner reservations and being able to use the ocean activities.
Did you both enjoy having your own butler during your honeymoon? Yes it was great! It was
sometimes tricky because they like to plan ahead for you and sometimes you’re not sure what you want to do but it was never a problem! They were super friendly and awesome!
How was swimming with the pigs, and would you recommend it to other couples? It was awesome!
I do recommend it, it’s just a good time overall.
Review by Brian, 2/29/2016
Hi Dave,
We really had a nice relaxing time. Vacation is a little different with a pregnant wife for sure! She obviously had zero cocktails and i figured it out that i averaged just less than 3 drinks per day including wine at dinner. Which was great for a nice “chill” vacation. The resort was good, dinners were really good except we didn’t like Il Cielo very much. Just kinda ok. We had a lunch and dinner at Barefoot and a dinner at Cafe De Paris (OUR FAVORITE).
The wind was howling the entire time so they had the red flag out every day. Not that big of a deal for us because we really weren’t planning on doing anything anyway!
The golf was fantastic. I played twice. Both times around 1pm by myself with not too many golfers around me. Megan joined me for the back nine the 2nd time and really enjoyed those views right on the ocean. The course is really nice, was in really good shape, and is very challenging especially from the back tees. 25+ mph winds made for some interesting shots, but i had 3 good nines and 1 very forgettable nine. I could play their every day and love every minute of it.
Megan had a spa day the first day i played golf and said the massage was just ok (they didn’t go deep enough for her because of the pregnancy liability) but the facial was fantastic.
Mostly we just slept in, ordered room service for breakfast, walked on the beach, hung out at the quiet pool, and read a couple of books. After dinners we came back to the room and watched movies. It was very relaxing for sure!
Thank you so much for hooking us up. We will 100% be booking our vacation travel in the future with you guys!
Brian
Review by Scott & Jeri, 2/24/2016
Dave and Kim,
We had a great time at Emerald Bay. We literally did nothing! It was very windy most of the time we were there so we happily laid by the pool and soaked up the sun. We really like the all-inclusive type resort and will most likely be doing another one at some point.
Thanks for all you did!
Scott and Jeri
Review by Shannon, 11/20/2015
Hi there!
Everything was really great. I miss it!!! We had never seen water so beautiful. The beach was breath taking. Pool was fantastic. The hotel seemed a little older than I imagined. I did not realize it was an old Four Seasons. I think I like the resort in Negril a little better, but still really, really nice.
The ceremony was fine. Unfortunately, it poured down rain at exactly 3:00 on Wednesday. As soon as I got down to the beach, Chris, the photographer, and the priest were running up screaming “its coming!!” Haha, I got pretty drenched before he even saw me (bummer). We went up to the café to try to wait it out. I was so pleased the coordinator let us do that. I was afraid if we didn’t get married at the backup location right away, then we just weren’t going to get married. Luckily we still had it on the beach. It was VERY windy, but ultimately everything I wanted.
We were also very pleased that they still booked us a photographer, even though we did not pay for one. She allowed us to just choose the images we liked instead of committing to an entire package. That was exactly what I wanted and I was so happy. The coordinator was very nice and helpful. We also really like Kenny, our photographer.
The airport transfers went well.
I don’t really have any suggestions for you guys. I was very happy the way everything turned out. I definitely see us booking with you again. Hopefully in the NEAR future. I feel like I am addicted to beach vacations!
I have attached some pics. The Ocean safari was AWESOME! So glad we did it. We also rented a car and drove up to Santana’s. The lobster was fantastic.
Thank you!
Review by Mary, 11/18/2015
The resort, accommodations, beach, and ocean are absolutely beautiful! Staff is super friendly and accommodating, best anywhere. Food was very good at the restaurants and the Junkaroo street party and dinner was fabulous.
The Ocean Safari and swimming with the pigs was well worth the cost.
Yes we had individual taxis. I highly recommend taking a later shuttle on Sunday to the airport no need to go at 10 you can easily make your flight by waiting until 11:15 or so. No extra charge just sign up the night before at the main lobby desk.
Review by Mindy, 5/23/2015
Hi Dave!!
Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, we have been so busy since we got back from the trip!
We had a wonderful time on our trip!! The resort was so nice and service was great. We got upgraded to being in one of the beach villas which was really cool. We were on the very end which was nice because it felt like we were far away from everyone. We met some fun couples so always felt like we had plenty to do! The week went by way too fast.
We wound up not going out on our own because no jeeps were available the whole time we were there. We did get to see a little bit of the island when we went on the pig excursion. We are really glad we did that. It was so fun to get out and see all the different islands and of course the pigs and iguanas!
Only issue was that I did get a ton of bug bites. I think I got a few and then my skin reacted. Tyler had no bites though so it’s weird how it varies by person whether or not they bother you. I went to the nurse on site to get some medicine and they also sprayed our room for us bc we kept seeing small bugs randomly – so they did make an effort to help us out which was nice.
Thank you so much for all of your help! We are ready to go again!!
Review by David 10/23/2014
All was great on our trip. All the travel went off as planned with no hiccups. The resort is amazing, as this was our 4th or 5th trip. We did rent a boat and highly recommend getting out on the water via 4C’s excursions. It is worth every penny.
Review by Bridget 9/11/2014
We loved it! The island was beautiful the people so friendly and the trip was not difficult at all! I was pleasantly surprised by sandals thinking it was going to be cheesy but food, staff & resort was amazing! Thank you for the recommendation!
Thank you!
