A Caribbean Christmas, Anyone?
The Sandals Regency La Toc on St. Lucia.
by Wendy Perrin
If you're looking to get away for Christmas but haven't made plans yet, you're in luck. Thanks to the troubled economy, a surprising number of rooms in warm-weather locales are still available for Christmas week, some at significantly reduced prices, and many at all-inclusive properties.
One all-inclusive deal you might consider comes from Sandals Resorts. Sandals is advertising "up to 55% off regular rack rates" at 12 of its properties in the Caribbean, for travel through December 26 of next year. To vet what appears to be a good deal, we phoned Sandals three times, pretending to make a reservation at each of three different properties for a 7-night stay starting Sat. Dec. 20 and ending Sat. Dec. 27. We learned that the greatest savings are for the most expensive room categories, but there are still good prices available even for the cheapest rooms. Here are the prices we were quoted for an all-inclusive week:
Sandals Grande Ocho Rios in Jamaica: $2,366 (which represents 50% savings)
Sandals Regency La Toc in St. Lucia: $3,003 (45% savings)
Sandals Royal Bahamian in the Bahamas: $3,326 (45% savings)
These prices are for two people sharing a room for seven nights and include food, drinks, most activities, airport transfers, taxes, and tips/gratuities. (Spa treatments and tours are additional.)
I've never stayed at a Sandals Resort myself (though I've interviewed its CEO about the company's many eco-friendly and socially responsible programs), so of course I'd love to hear from anyone who has stayed at a Sandals property: Please click on "Comments" below and tell me whether these prices sound like a good value for everything you get.
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Sandals is our favorite relaxing just the 2 of us vacation. I've stayed at or visited them all, so ask if you need details! Darn now I am missing my Caribbean before the holidays trip, but Mexico calls instead! Lori B : 0)
Posted by: lorib | November 21, 2008 at 02:43 PM
We stayed at the Sandals Grande in St Lucia for our honeymoon and it was overpriced then so the discounts they are offering are still not good value as the rooms are meldew, cockroaches and the food is not very ggod as they advert luxury included but they really try and put one over on the guests as even the General Manager is was not friendly, more interested in the young male staff.
Posted by: conradblack | November 26, 2008 at 08:19 PM