Looking to visit a Sandals Resort in Saint Lucia? Well, Sandals is definitely the place to be since they have 3 different all-inclusive resorts located on the northwest part of the island. Sandals Regency La Toc is the most southern location in Castries. Followed by Sandals Halcyon Beach which is about 15 minutes north. Lastly, another 15 minutes north, you will find Sandals Grande St. Lucian. Which is located in Gros Islet near Pigeon Island National Park. Sandals has a policy called “stay at one, play at three”, so we did briefly go over to the Grande one evening and got a little taste of one of the other resorts.
Jake and I stayed at Sandals Regency La Toc and spent the majority of our time there. So in this post, I am going to give an honest review of Sandals Regency La Toc and tell you everything you need to know.
We paid for this vacation all ourselves, Sandal’s DID NOT sponsor this post. All opinions are my own.
Sandals Regency La Toc is one of the most beautiful resorts in St. Lucia. Jake and I visited the area for our honeymoon and got to spend 6 amazing days soaking up the sun here. Well, we did kind of visit during “rainy” season, so maybe not as much sun as we would have liked, but nonetheless, we enjoyed our time here.
In this Sandals Regency La Toc Review, we will cover how to get there, the best time to visit, what to do there, the restaurants and so much more.
How To Get To Regency La Toc From The Airport:
There are 2 different airports on the island of Saint Lucia, Hewanorra International Airport (UVF) and George FL Charles Airport (SLU). There are a few different ways to make it to the resort from either airport: shuttle bus (included in Sandals package price & most popular), luxury car (Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz, or BMW), or helicopter.
From Hewanorra International Airport to Any Sandals Resort: (Most Common)
Once you land in Vieux Fort at the Hewanorra International Airport, you will get off the plane and immediately head into the customs area. There were 2 planes that seemed to land around the same time, so sadly, the line was LONG when we arrived! It took us about an hour to make it through the customs line. So I’d say expect anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Do note, they let you off both the front and the back of the plane right onto the tarmac. So if you have a carry-on, be sure to have your bags near your seat if possible. Our bags were sadly way in the front of the plane, but our seats were located in the back of the plane. So basically we were last off the plane and last in the customs line.
Once you make it through the customs line, you will head straight to the Sandals Lounge. Which is located right outside the main exit doors of the airport.
Upon entering the Sandals Lounge you will be greeted by the staff and check in with the last name on your reservation. They will add a Sandals tag onto your luggage with your room # and place it in the appropriate shuttle bus.
We didn’t have to wait very long to get on a shuttle, but that might not always be the case.
In the lounge, they serve Piton Beer, water, juice, and other small snacks. It was a bit underwhelming in our opinion. But we also got onto our shuttle rather quickly, so we didn’t really hang in the lounge much. Do note, you are allowed to bring a drink onto the shuttle with you.
Flying from George F.L Charles (SLU) to Sandals:
I think really the only way you would be flying into this airport is because you are flying in from one of the nearby Caribbean islands (Antigua, Barbados, Curacao, Fort-de-France, Pointe-a-Pitre, Port of Spain, Saint Kitts, Sint Maarten, and Saint Vincent). The only airlines that fly into the George F.L Charles Airport (SLU) are Air Antilles, Air Caraibes, and LIAT.
Sandals will also provide a shuttle service here as well.
Helicopter Shuttle:
There is also a unique option for getting to the North Airport which is closer to the Sandals Resorts. The St. Lucia Helicopter’s transfer takes you from Hewanorra International Airport (UVF) in the south to George F.L. Charles Airport (SLU/HGR) in the north. But it is not exactly cheap, but can offer a very unique and beautiful experience on the island.
The cost for adults starts at $190 per person to fly from Hewanorra to George F.L. Charles. During the flight, the helicopter takes you over Mt. Gimie (the highest peak in St. Lucia), Roseau Dam, the Atlantic Coast and Marigot Bay.
They also offer returning helicopter transfers for $205 per person. The flight is 5 minutes longer and experiences a few other unique sights on the island. Such as views of Marigot Bay, West Coast Shoreline (reefs), the Pitons, the rainforest, and the Soufriere Volcano.
You might also check out Island Route’s, but it does seem a bit more expensive.
Adult-Only & All-Inclusive:
All Sandals Resorts are adult-only and all-inclusive. Meaning all you can eat & drink, free shuttle services, free entertainment, etc.
Tip/Gratuity: No additional tips or gratuity is required or encouraged. It is already built into the resort price. The only time it might be acceptable is if you do a tour or get outside transportation.
Currency In St Lucia:
St Lucia uses the Eastern Caribbean Dollar. Although, most businesses will accept USD. Do note, not all businesses can take credit cards, so you should plan to bring extra cash or stop at an ATM if you plan to leave the resort.
If you do plan to travel with money, we recommend having smaller bills if possible. We often found that a lot of vendors or tours didn’t have change for larger bills.
At the time we visited (October 2022) the currency exchange was $2.67 EC to $1 USD.
Best Time To Visit Sandals Regency La Toc :
The best time to visit Sandals Regency La Toc is from December to April. This is their high season where you will experience the most sunshine and minimal rain. But, the prices also reflect it being peak season. You can also expect the island to be much busier.
Wet/rainy season is from June – November, so you will likely experience some rain during your stay. But you can also get better deals on accommodation. Plus the areas will be a bit quieter during those months.
We visited Sandals Regency La Toc during the rainy season in October 2022 and it was often cloudy most days with some sunshine. And it rained every day, but sometimes just a quick sprinkle, while other days we had rain for multiple hours. We extended our trip another week in a different part of the island, and the weather was much nicer and mostly sunny every day. So it is hard to predict the weather in the rainy season. But as long as you are okay with some rain along your trip, it can save you tons of money.
The weather stays in the 80’sF (26-32C) nearly year-round.
Restaurants At Sandals Regency La Toc:
At Sandals Regency La Toc there are 9 different restaurants to choose from. They are not all open at the same time. Only 2 restaurants take dinner reservations. I’ll include our personal review below on the food.
Here is a list of the different restaurants at Sandals Regency La Toc and the type of cuisine that is served.
Breakfast:
The Pavillion (International – Buffet Style)
Armando’s – Italian Cuisine
Lunch:
The Pavillion (International)
Armando’s – Italian Cuisine
Neptunes – Mediterranean Seafood
Bella Napoli – Brick Oven Pizza’s
Dinner:
The Pavillion (International)
La Toc – French Cuisine (requires reservation)
The Pitons – Caribbean Dishes
Armando’s – Italian Cuisine
Kimonos – Oriental Cuisine (similar to hibachi, requires reservation)
Neptunes – Mediterranean Seafood
The Cricketers Pub – British Fare (also open from 10pm-2pm for late-night snacks)
Soy Sushi Bar – Sushi
Our Review On The Food At Sandals Regency La Toc:
We personally thought the food was just okay for the most part. There were a few dishes here and there that really delighted us, but overall it was underwhelming. If we had to choose our favorite, we would probably say Armando’s had the best food overall.
But the two restaurants that required reservations (La Toc and Kimonos) were definitely a step up from the rest. Sadly, they book up quickly, so you really should visit the concierge the day you arrive to make some reservations during your stay. If you are stuck eating the buffet or lower-tier restaurants every night, you will miss out on the best cuisine Sandals has to offer.
The other regret we have is eating dinner after sunset too often (sometimes we have no choice because of reservations). So many of the restaurants at Sandals have amazing views, but once the sun goes down, that part of the experience is lost. So we would recommend trying to time your dinner at sunset or earlier. We also missed the entertainment when eating late.
Armando’s is located near the bluff and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We always got in right away for breakfast and lunch. But did have to wait over an hour for dinner (no reservations accepted).
We also really enjoyed Kimonos and La Toc. Both places required reservations, so overall I think that helped the overall experience. But the apps and entrees were quite good at both.
At Kimonos, it is definitely more about the experience (Hibachi), although we did enjoy the food as well. The chef essentially puts on a fun cooking show and tells many jokes throughout the dinner cooking process. You did get to try all the different meats being cooked, so you don’t get menu fomo. We were seated with 4 other couples, so it was fun to meet some new people around the resort.
We thought the pizza at Bella Napoli would have a few more options, they only had 5 different pizza’s. And one being a dessert pizza. We kinda just felt like there was a lot of crust for a small amount of pizza. They also offered a seafood pizza, which I think just ended up being the leftover seafood from the night before, because it was very chewy and had a fishy taste. There was really no option for both meat and veggies, rather just a vegetarian or pepperoni. This was however the best restaurant for carry-out to the pool. You could simply walk over and place an order, and pick up your pizza like 15 minutes later.
Neptunes was pretty underwhelming each time we went. The views here are great because it’s right on the beach, but the food never really impressed us. The fish had bones in it, steaks were tough, and just nothing really had top-notch flavors. Also, there are a couple of stray cats that like to hang around the tables, which we didn’t appreciate.
We sadly never got to make it to Soy Sushi Bar. We tried going before our reservation at Kimonos, but the wait time was over an hour. Although we did meet another couple that raved about it and spent 2 of their 3 nights at Soy Sushi Bar. So I would definitely say you should try to go here if you get the chance.
The Pavillion is the main buffet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We only made it there for breakfast, and found it to be pretty subpar. Can’t comment on the other meals.
We were never hungry after dinner because we often had a late dinner reservation, so we also never tried out The Cricketers Pub. But we did hit this place up for drinks on Karaoke night, and it was very busy and lively.
Do note, you are welcome to make reservations at some of the other resorts as well. Or simply visit their restaurants that don’t require reservations. So if a different resort has a restaurant that caught you eye, you can try it out!
Overall, the food at Sandals had some highlights amongst mostly average food. I know it’s hard to keep the quality high when you are serving a large all-inclusive. But I would definitely aim for the restaurants with reservations plus Armando’s.
Alcohol At Sandals Regency La Toc:
Sandals Regency La Toc offers all-you-can-drink beverages. The best part is they offer some higher quality liquors, which are included. So you aren’t always getting bottom self like some other resorts I’ve been to or have to pay extra for the more premium liquors.
They offer a decent variety of different specialty cocktails. But we often found them high in sugar and low in booze. So we often opted for more generic cocktails such as vodka soda’s, wine or beer. Some days we felt like we had so many drinks overall, but barely felt a buzz. And personally, we don’t want to spend our calorie intake on sugary drinks that barely get you buzzed. But, that obviously might not be the case for everyone!
Sandals Exclusive Wine: Sandals has their own brand of wine. It’s Twin Oaks by Robert Mondavi. They offer 6 different varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, and Shiraz.
The wines seemed pretty average to us. We aren’t huge wine snobs or anything, but they were nothing to write home about.
For beer options, they only have Heineken and Piton. Jake and I love trying out new beer, especially IPA’s and Pale Ales. So the beer selections at all-inclusives always underwhelms us. We personally wish they would add in some local craft beer from the island or surrounding areas. We get tired of lagers after just a few.
At the end of the day, it’s all-inclusive, so you don’t have to think about the price because you already paid for it in your Sandals package. So it’s nice to just sit back and have as many or as little cocktails as you want.
The Beach At Sandals Regency La Toc:
The beach at Regency La Toc is simply just okay in our opinion. But it appears that other guests agree since it seems like less than 20% of people would sit or swim on the beach at any one time. I think the 2 other Sandals resorts have more desirable beach access.
While the water is warm, the shoreline is rocky and has a big drop-off. And if there are big waves, the water turns murky and loses that beautiful sapphire color that people come to the Caribbean for. It might be just the rainy season, but several times the ocean got pretty churned up and not inviting.
The pictures they show on the Sandals Regency La Toc website show a much bigger, white-sand beach with beach chairs all along it. Apparently, the bay is less protected, so it may be why the beach has eroded a bit. The water in the middle of the beach comes up too close to the wall for beach chairs, so the chairs are only placed at each end of the beach. The photos on the website are basically false advertising at this point.
There is also no bar on the beach, so you either have to walk all the way up to the pool bar for drinks, or wait for a server to come around. The service was not nearly quick enough to satisfy us. Although some rooms at Sandals come with a personal butler, and they would be able to bring food, drinks, or whatever you want down to the beach.
The Pools at Sandals Regency La Toc:
Sandals Regency La Toc is definitely a pool resort in our opinion. They have 3 different excellent pools located around the property.
The largest pool is right outside the Pavillion overlooking the beach. There is a swim-up bar in the middle of the pool. This is where most of the entertainment, like trivia and DJ’s play during the day. It’s definitely the party pool. You will find most of the beach chairs around this pool deck. There are also 2 hot tubs.
If you plan to hang out at this pool deck, we suggest setting out some towels and maybe something you can tie onto a chair or set on the chair to mark it yours. The chairs were full every day by 10/11am.
Although, sadly, we did try to save some beach chairs one morning looking out over the ocean and someone moved our stuff to chairs along the pool edge. Be aware that it can get oddly petty when it comes to “saving’ chairs. So our best suggestion is to head down to the pool early, so you don’t have to worry about anyone moving your belongings. Or wait til lunch when people sometimes clear out.
Another pool is up at the Pitons, which is located between the main pool and sunset bluffs. We love the views from this pool that really feels like it should be an infinity pool. If you are looking for some peace and solitude, the Piton Pool was very quiet with no music. There is no bar at the pool deck, but a server that can grab you some drinks during the day. Or there is a bar located outside Neptunes which is just a short walk. There is also a hot tub right next to the pool.
This is definitely the pool that the older folks gravitate towards because it’s away from the riff raff.
The third pool is up at the sunset bluffs. This pool has awesome views and fake waterfalls that pour into the pool. They have a swim-up bar and Armando’s restaurant looks out over this pool. They have a hot tub with some amazing views of the bluffs. However, there is no beach access from the pool, the shoreline below is just rocky.
Sandals Regency La Toc also has many rooms that have private pools if that is your thing. Or some with soaking tubs. But do expect to pay quite a bit higher of a price for your room.
Our Room At Sandals Regency La Toc:
The rooms at Sandals Regency La Toc can be all over the place in value. We feel as though we got very lucky with our room. We had room 701 which was the top corner of the largest building in Emerald Village overlooking the ocean. The views were very impressive from our corner room.
The rooms were clean upon arrival, housekeeping came daily to tidy the room and restock with toiletries, towels, alcohol/drinks, etc. There was also a safe in the room which fit everything valuable we needed to stow away during the day.
But like mentioned above, the resort is rather large, so their are some rooms that might not have as good of a view or might be in a completely different part of the resort all together. Which is where the butler service often comes in clutch. The butler service can bring you around to anywhere on the resort via golf cart.
There is also a shuttle that runs every 5-10 minutes which will bring you around to any location around the resort.
For example, above is the Sandals Regency La Toc map from their website. Emerald Village is the “main” area of the resort. This is where you will find the front desk, main entrance, largest pool, beach access, etc.
The Sunset Oceanview Bluff Village & Millionaire Suites have quite a jaunt to the Emerald Village Area. People staying over there are likely to just use the sunset bluff pool or their own private pools (which comes with many of those rooms). They are also likely to visit Armando’s for many of their meals. Or they probably want a shuttle down to the main area, as it’s probably a 10-15 minute walk.
The Piton’s Oceanview Village has quick access to the Pitons pool, but as stated earlier, it seems like a “quiet” pool. So if you came on vacation and are looking for complete solitude, these might be the right rooms for you.
The Honemoon Hideaway Villages sound very romantic, but it is definitely separated from any main area of the resort. You will likely have a long walk or commute to any of the restaurants around the village. BUT, these rooms also do often have their own pool.
The Oceanfront Two-Story buildings (not pictured on map) have beach access and are a large unit. If you like space, a little solitude, but also being in close distance to much of the resort, these are a great spot.
When picking your room, pay attention to this map. If you want to be in the action, you might want a room in Emerald Village. If you want peace and solitude, you can choose a room with a private pool or any room not part of Emerald Village.
Free Shuttle To Other Resorts:
One cool feature for staying at Sandals Resorts in Saint Lucia is the “stay at one, play at three” perk. You can take the free shuttle to the Sandals Grande St. Lucian & Sandals Halcyon Beach.
Whether you want to spend the day up at one of the other resorts, or make a dinner reservation at one of the over-the-water restaurants, you can get there for free. The shuttle runs about every 2 hours. The shuttle goes in one direction, always stopping at Halcyon Beach in the middle each time.
From Sandals Regency La Toc, the drive up to Halcyon Beach is about 20 minutes and to The Grande, about 30 minutes. It can all be dependent on traffic and the time you go.
We did find the shuttle times to start a bit too late in the morning. You can’t really get over to the other resorts til the afternoon. Personally, we wish you could get over there a bit earlier, such as 9am, so you can at least spend a decent amount of time over there before dinner.
And the last shuttle is at 10pm which is right when the entertainment ends, so we had to leave a show a little early to make the shuttle.
But we were happy to have the option to explore the other resorts. Our quick takeaway is that the beach at The Grande is much nicer, calm protected water, whiter sand, and more toys, swings, hammocks, etc. And the nearby mountains make for nicer scenery. We wish we spent a beach/pool day over at The Grande.
And we went to dinner at Gordon’s over-the-water restaurant, and it was definitely one of our favorite dining experiences.
Entertainment At Sandals Resorts:
Sandals Resorts puts on some great entertainment. But we did find it difficult to figure out what entertainment was going on each night. The Sandals App was a little confusing in this respect. We also found the timing to be difficult with dinner. With late reservations and sometimes long waits to be seated, most of our dinners began late (7 or 8pm). So we would often miss the show just due to poor timing with dinner.
But we did catch the tail end of the Hollywood Show at our resort and it was very well done. We wish we could have seen the whole show.
We also caught a fire show on the beach at Sandals Grande before the last shuttle home and we loved it. They had local dancers put on a unique show with fire. Sandals Resorts really brings some talented people to put on these shows.
Our opinion of Sandals Entertainment is it’s very well done. You might just need to ask the front desk when and what is going on every evening at Sandals Regency La Toc. But I think it tends to always start around 8pm, so plan your dinners accordingly.
They also have entertainment during the day as well. If you hang in the main pool, they always have trivia, battle of the sexes, riddles, etc. Or they often have a DJ playing some music or some sort of party. We were surprised one day with a foam party in the pool.
As mentioned above, we never really knew what entertainment was happening during the day or night, but they definitely had entertainment going on most of the time. Some of the day activities were cheesy, but entertaining at least.
Watersports At Sandals Regency La Toc:
A nice perk for guests staying at Sandals Regency La Toc is the access to water sports. You can sail, kayak, paddleboard, snorkel, and windsurf all for free. There is a watersports hut on the beach where you can check out any of these water toys. They provide life vests for your safety.
What’s not included at Sandals Regency La Toc is waterskiing, wakeboarding, and tubing which you need to visit Sandals Halcyon Beach and Sandals Grande to participate in. We were a little bummed that they don’t offer waterskiing and wakeboarding at Regency La Toc. Apparently, the bay is a bit unpredictable, so they discontinued these water sports at the Regency La Toc.
But with the free shuttle to the other resorts, you can venture to one of the other 2 resorts to waterski, wakeboard, or tube.
Excursions/Tours At Sandals Regency La Toc:
Sandals offers a bunch of great excursions and tours that leave right from the resort. They pair with Island Routes and offer many different styles of excursions. From sailing, land adventures, and snorkeling to safari tours, etc.
In our opinion, you must go to Soufriere or at least get a view of the Pitons while in Saint Lucia. Otherwise, did you even come to Saint Lucia?! Many of the boat tours will bring you here by boat, or you can do a shuttle to some of the famous spots in Soufriere.
Must-do activities on a tour are the Sulphur Springs Mud Baths, Toraille Falls, and snorkel at one of the beaches. Most of the tours leave by boat and bring you to these destinations. Inclusive of drink & food/snacks. Also, one of our absolute favorite hikes on the island was Tet Paul Nature Trail. This hike provides one of the best views of the Pitons.
Scuba Diving At Sandals Regency La Toc:
If you are scuba certified, you can scuba dive with Sandals Resorts for free, which is an incredible perk for the right person. They offer 2 tanks per day per person. So you can scuba dive once per day with 2 tanks or 2 different times with 1 tank. You can scuba dive every day except when you arrive and when you take off.
If you aren’t certified they offer a couple of unique opportunities. You can take the Padi eLearning course, which is an 8-hour classroom course you can do at your own pace at home before arriving. Or Sandals offers a 3-hour course on-site for a 1-time scuba dive.
With the Padi eLearning Online Certification, you go at your own pace and take a quiz online. Then you take the practical exam on resort with Sandals PADI certified professionals. This certification allows you to dive anywhere in the world and dives down to 60 feet.
But if you just want to try out scuba and are not really sure if you want to go all in on the sport, then Sandals offers a free 3-hour course that allows you to scuba dive once during your stay down to 40 feet deep.
Jake and I didn’t scuba dive while we were here, but I think Sandals offers a very unique opportunity for anyone who loves scuba diving or anyone who maybe wants to try it out.
Butler Service At Sandals Regency La Toc:
One perk Sandals has added to their resort stays are butler service. Essentially you have a butler assigned to you, and they will bring you drinks, food, room service, or really any service all over the resort. Plus they will also bring you to and from your accommodation to the pools, beach, restaurants, etc via golf cart.
Butlers add that extra luxury to your stay at Sandals Regency La Toc. They will go above and beyond to make your stay extra special. From turn-down service before bed, or bringing you room service at midnight.
While it’s not required, it is optional to tip butlers for their service.
We personally did not use a butler for our stay, but we were located in the main part of the resort. So we never found it hard to go get drinks, food, or to and from restaurants. But if you have accommodation that is further away, I’m sure it is very nice to have a butler. Especially for getting drinks on the beach, as the only bar is located up on the pool deck. Or if you are far south on the beach, Neptune’s bar is the closest.
Golf At Sandals Resorts:
There are 2 golf courses associated with Sandals Resorts. One is directly on the property at the Regency La Toc and the other is north-east of The Grande at Sandals Golf And Country Club, Cap Estate.
Green fees are waived, but clubs are about $50 per person. You might want to rent shoes if you visit during the rainy season, as the course often gets muddy. So ends up being quite expensive if you need to rent gear.
Sandals also offers complimentary shuttles to both golf courses from any resort.
Tennis At Sandals Regency La Toc:
Sandals Regency La Toc offers tennis for free. It is located outside the main entrance of Emerald Village, across the street.
The caveat is the tennis rackets and balls are at Red Lane Spa. Here, you will have to check them out before heading over to the courts.
The courts are made of turf and with the humid weather in St. Lucia, you can expect to sweat profusely. But overall, it was a fun experience and a good way to get some exercise in the morning!
Red Lane Spa:
Red Lane spa offers so many different luxury spa treatments from massages, mani-pedi, fitness classes, and more. But do expect to pay a pretty penny when choosing your spa treatment. We decided to skip this luxury part of the trip and spend our money elsewhere. But if you are on vacation for a special occasion, maybe it’s the time to splurge. You can search through all the special spa treatments at Regency La Toc by Red Lane Spa, here.
Fitness Centers At Sandals Regency La Toc:
There are 2 different fitness centers at Regency La Toc. Both near Red Lane Spa in the main area and up by the sunset bluffs. We found the fitness center to be a bit underwhelming. They have a few different weight machines, a weight rack, and a few cardio machines to choose from.
There is not much space for more than 4 people at a time to use the gym. And there was only one rack of weights.
Jake and I like to do HIIT workouts where you need weights for 20-30 minutes during the workout. We felt bad taking the set of weights for a long duration of time without bothering other guests. They did not have resistance bands which is another thing Jake and I often use.
So we personally felt like their fitness centers could use a little extra love and maybe additional weights of the most common sizes.
Resort Shop:
There is a gift shop located right near the main entrance. This is where you can pick up anything you might have forgotten or some souvenirs. Be prepared to pay extra for everything you find in the gift shop. We paid $58 for 2 bottles of sunscreen. Which essentially is the price of a checked bag roundtrip.
It might be literally cheaper to take a taxi to a market in Castries to buy sunscreen.
They do accept cards and cash (both USD & EC).
Free Weddings At Sandals Resorts:
Sandals offers free weddings to guests staying for 3 days or longer. Of course, your guests will also need to pay to stay at the resort as well.
You can also use the Red Lane Spa for hair, makeup and nails to pamper yourself on your wedding day.
The free Sandals wedding includes your own personal wedding planning team, bouquet and boutonniere, a complimentary wedding photo, wedding cake, cocktail reception with sparkling wine and hors d’oeuvres & more. They will also include the necessary marriage license, registry, and customizable website.
A 1-hour cocktail hour is included with the wedding package, therefore guests will likely be on their own for their dinner at one of the restaurants included. But there is always the option to pay extra for a reception on the resort.
You can customize just about anything for the wedding. Some ideas might cost more than others, but their wedding planning team can help make your dream wedding come to life.
There are extra perks if you stay longer than 7 nights or book at least 5 rooms or more. Click here for all the extras that come with purchasing more nights and rooms.
Sandals Resorts App
Sandals has put together an app that puts just about everything you need to know in one place. From restaurants, a resort map, shuttle times, local weather, resort activities, and more.
We especially found it helpful for knowing what time restaurants opened and closed. And the resort map for knowing where things were around the resort. But we wish there was a daily calendar to see everything happening. Otherwise, you need to flip between a bunch of tabs to find all the options.
Wifi/Cell Service At Sandals Regency La Toc:
Sandals Regency La Toc does have wifi, and we found it to have decent speed. Although, we weren’t really on our phones or laptops much during our stay. But it is especially nice for using the app and checking the weather along our trip.
Saint Lucia is international for most cell-phone plans. Therefore, check with your phone provider to see what their international plan is.
Power Outlets:
Sandals has both Type B & G outlets.
Saint Lucia uses plug type G. The country runs off of 230V supply voltage and 50Hz.
For reference, the USA uses plug types A & B and runs off of 120V supply voltage and 60Hz.
If you don’t use these two types of plugs, you might want to consider an adapter.
Coming from the USA, we had everything we needed to stay powered during our stay.
Things we didn’t love so much about the resort:
Overall, we did enjoy our time at Sandals Regency La Toc. But with the good comes maybe some less ideal situations. So we want to share an honest review of Sandals Regency La Toc, and touch on some things we didn’t exactly love about the resort.
Bones In Some Of The Fish & Meat Meals:
When paying for luxury, you kinda want the hard part of eating to be done for you. But on the first night, we ordered the snapper and it had all the bones in it. And same goes for jerk or creole chicken dishes. So it kinda took extra work to eat it and uncertainty with each bite. It kinda steered me away from many of the fish dishes on the menu. We think this might just be a cultural thing, but we wanted to take every bite with confidence, but we often just came up with a bone that we had to spit out.
Service Can Be A Little Bit Slow:
Service was not always super fast, but at the end of the day, you are on vacation, so just relax. But I just thought it was worth noting. Especially when the sun wasn’t out all day to play, you were kinda bummed if you were inside eating lunch when the sun came out and the food was taking 30+ minutes.
When Restaurants Don’t Take Dinner Reservations:
Sandals tries to make it so you don’t have to make reservations to make it to dinner at a certain time. BUT, that also means you sometimes have to wait 1-2 hours for dinner if you go during peak times.
So with only 2 of the restaurants taking reservations, you either needed to go to dinner super early to get a seat right away, or put your name on a list and basically just sit around the area until a table opened up. So personally I wish a few more of the restaurants had a reservation system so we didn’t have to wait so long.
For the more popular dining options, we often had to wait more than an hour.
Red Lane Spa Heckling:
They will heckle you about getting a spa service while you are at the resort. Which did get annoying after a while, since we weren’t interested. We felt like we had to come up with a new excuse every time they asked us about when we were going to get our spa treatment. And they love to repeatedly ask you when your last day is, which is the last thing you want to be reminded about everyday on vacation.
We did learn that you should just say, “I’ve already had one” and then they might leave you alone. But the service prices were simply too high for us to really feel like it was worth it.
So nearly daily and sometimes multiple times a day, they would try and get us to sign up. We just wish they left us alone and let us decide whether or not we wanted one on our own.
Trying To Get You to Sign Up For Another Vacation:
Sandals is very persistent on trying to get you to sign up for another vacation while you are there. I’m not really mad about them trying to do this, and offering a great deal. But, we were on our honeymoon which is why we spent the money on an all-inclusive resort and kind of “ball out” on a luxury vacation. I don’t want to worry about finances while on vacation, rather just enjoy my time and relax.
Therefore, I just thought they were a little persistent with both the spa treatments and booking another vacation. I’m not personally good at saying no, so it was hard to have to come up with an excuse every time they walked up to you while you were just trying to relax at the beach or pool.
Shuttle Times To Other Resorts
We felt the shuttle times left too late in the day. With the first shuttle leaving at 11am, and it taking 20-30 minutes to get to the other resorts, you are nearly starting your day at noon. And you no sooner get there and are probably ready for lunch. Therefore, we really wish they had an earlier shuttle to get you enjoying the day over at the other resort sooner. You can pay for a taxi if you want a quick fix.
Having To Fight Over Beach Chairs
The beach chairs were often full by 10-11am. Many people go out and set some stuff up on the chairs to mark it theirs before breakfast. But as mentioned above, we did have an incident where someone moved our stuff to take our chairs. So I didn’t like the anxiety of getting chairs and having the feeling of someone taking your stuff or moving it. Luckily they moved it to other available chairs…. but why didn’t they just take the available chairs? The chairs were facing the other direction overlooking the pool.
Takeaway | Sandals Regency La Toc Review
Overall, we had an amazing time, and we are likely to return to a Sandals Resort in the future. If you follow along with our blog, then you probably know we tend to steer toward adventurous outdoor activities and we feel Saint Lucia is probably one of the best Caribbean islands for that. Plus we tend to find ways to save money on accommodation to have the freedom to explore more places overall. So Sandals is more of a splurge luxury trip for us.
Sandals Regency La Toc was the perfect place to start our honeymoon. From showing up at the airport and being greeted at the lounge with a smile, to all-you-can-eat food and drink and everything in between, we can say Sandals Regency La Toc is a great place to vacation. Jake and I like to try new things, so with that mentality, we would probably choose a different resort or different island overall to explore next time.
We never got to visit Sandals Halcyon Beach, but after viewing Sandals Grande St. Lucian, I think we might have enjoyed Sandals Grande a little more. Their pool and beach access seemed more ideal. Plus they had some of the watersports we would have enjoyed doing during our stay. But Sandals Grande does typically cost more.
We personally feel it would probably be hard to have a bad time at any Sandals Resorts. The staff was overall very friendly and accommodating. With the all-inclusive food and drink, free shuttle services, watersports, entertainment, pools, and beaches, you can choose many ways to enjoy your luxury vacation. You won’t get bored with the same experience everyday, we almost felt like 6 days wasn’t enough time to explore everything available.
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