We had such a great stay. The hotel was beautiful and the staff was very helpful and accommodating of all our needs. Do the all inclusive, you won't regret it. This is a wonderful value for those of us that budget. Tip your staff, because they deserve it. The only negative was that some of the planned activities were cancelled because of the slow season. If you get bored, just drink more Rum!!!(I believe that is the island moto)
This place is an absolute dump. Smoking in the pool is encouraged by the bartenders. The walls are literally rotting. There are broken electrical fixtures everywhere. Our AC didn't work and they could only apologize as we stayed awake nights sweating,
yet they could charge me 30 bucks for an accidentally broken Christmas ornament in the gift shop. The egg chef yelled at me for looking at what he was cooking. Our phones, in both rooms, we had two, never worked. One night a fight broke out amongst guests. There was screaming and death threats that several other guests reported to the front desk, the police were about to be called but they weren't as it seems it was a near fight between hotel staff that were actually living in the hotel. The hotel staff gets served prior to the guests. I think there's a room and board arrangement going on for hotel staff. The beach is a dirty mess. They bring out bug spray to keep away the sand fleas but everyone is bitten. There are plates left out in the hallways for days following a room service delivery. There is bird and lizard feces all over the place. The food is terrible. The alcohol is of the poorest quality. There were domestic fights between trashy couples with physical abuse including punching and biting and loud obsenity yelling all night long. There were places that you could smell rotting meat for days at a time. The rooms are disgusting. The bathroom door didn't close and it was slatted so not very private. The fans in the bathrooms were broken. The toilets didn't flush right. They never restocked your fridge. The toilet paper would make a decent sandpaper. The balconies are dangerous as the metal railings are loose. The rooms are supposed to be nonsmoking yet they stunk like cigarettes. The power goes out at least 3 times a day. We got married there 10 years earlier when Wyndham operated it, it was managed much better. This is no longer that resort. We had a terrible time. It was a waste of money, I would never go back. We brought or kids and that was a mistake. Not safe for children! The only decent thing about this cesspool is that there are a few, very nice and helpful staff members. Go somewhere else!!!!!
The place is beautiful all though going under repair
The experience was OK....
Positives: THE VIEW is Amazing. We were upgraded to an ocean view and the best ever!!!! Though we didn't have an iron, a working phone or safe, or stocked fridge when we arrived, that was quickly rectified as soon as we went to the desk. The BEST part of all was that the staff was EXTREMELY friendly and remembers your name throughout your entire stay! They were quite helpful at locations to visit outside of the hotel and were very personable - remembering every detail to connect on daily. LOVED THEM....
Watchouts: 1. We stayed from Friday-Monday and there were only 2 restaurants open the entire time. The Hibatchi / Sushi Restaurant and the Italian Buffet in main lobby. The Hibatchi is great food!!! HOWEVER short staffing led to an hour wait for a reserved seating. 2. The advertised Iguana Feeding was a no show by staff on two attempts 3. Night Life in hotel is very limited - would have expected more options 4. No 24/7 room service as in most all inclusives 5. Liquor was not top shelf
All in all....I would go visit the staff which was AMAZING however would choose another all inclusive location to try in St. Thomas when returning
Amazing place for the price. Don't let the negative reviews keep you from experiencing this place. The new owners have been upgrading and repairing the stuff that Dreams Resorts (the previous owners) let fall into disrepair. Most of the negative reviews you see now will be about the food. I challenge you to find an all-inclusive resort for less than $1,000 per night that doesn't have negative reviews about their food. There are 3 things that make Sugar Bay more affordable than most...
1. The food is not great... it's OK and there is a lot of variety. Take advantage of the carving stations at the buffets. Also utilize the a-la-carte restaurants (Asian and Italian), the breakfast chef (eggs and omelettes), and the pool side snack bar (burgers, dogs, chicken). All of those choices make your food to order. When you go all-inclusive at Sugar Bay, they include ALL dining and bar options. If you want to sit at a hibachi table in the Japanese restaurant, you need to make a reservation. Everything else is first come, first serve. You will not go hungry, the menus change daily, and there is something for everyone. We ate way too much each time we went. I know what to expect at a resort that is about half the price of most resorts.
2. The beach is small and every large storm removes more sand from the beach under the water line all around the small bay. This exposes the flat rocks under the water which make up the island. That being said, the views from the beach are stunning, and it sits next to the cliffs the resort sits on (one of the reasons it's somewhat small). It is not usually busy, so you feel like you're the only people on that side of the island. It cuts into the mountain, so you can't see the beaches in either direction. If you want a big beach, there is a public beach to the right of Sugar Bay's beach and cliffs... about a half mile down. There is always Coki Point Beach on the other side of the peninsula that forms the bay. It is VERY busy there, but it is beautiful. I prefer the seclusion and beauty of nature. The resort cleans the seaweed off the beach by hand every morning. I will try to post a picture of the view from the beach. I was in the ocean every day... swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, and paddle boarding (all included). There is also a jet ski rental place in this small bay just before Coki Point Beach ($65/half hour or $100/hr) with no guide. You just take the jet skis out. Day cruises to private beaches, other islands and snorkeling spots pick up on the beach, as well as parasailing, which I recommend.
3. The stairs from the rooms and lobby to the pool/beach area. 99 Steps to be exact. I have a bad back and as a result... weak legs. I still prefer this walk over the optional golf cart ride they will give you down. The views are wonderful and it is a grand, tropical walk over the pool's grotto and waterfall onto the wooden suspension bridge over the pool. The pool area is designed to look and feel like a tropical lagoon, and personally (aside from the views from the room's balconies), this is my favorite part of the resort... including that walk down the stairs, which aren't steep and have several platforms if you need a rest or want to admire one of the amazing views. I will also try to post a picture of this walkway. Again though... they will happily drive you to the pool or beach in a golf cart. They run all day and night.
All rooms have a balcony here. I prefer the standard ocean or bay view rooms. All rooms except mountain view face the ocean, cays and islands (even the bay view rooms). I had a hard time figuring the difference the first time I booked here. Trust me... you don't need to pay for the Premium ocean view (this is the same view, but you are in the outer rim of buildings, so NOBODY can see your balcony. Unless you plan on hanging out nude (which I still do in the standard room's balcony), it is an amazing view. Again, I'll try to post a picture of the standard ocean view room, which I had for the last stay. My first stay was a bay view, and it was just as amazing.
The honeymoon from HELL!! When arriving to our room, the closet door fell on me. Our "ocean view" in which we paid extra for was looking at the rooftop and the beach access. When we got switched to a room they considered it as an "upgrade". It is not an upgrade when you don't get something you paid for. To go on...it took hours to get our food at the French Restaurant...we were starving! Customer service was very POOR! When at breakfast, I had needed silverware in which I asked for...the staff member had grabbed the used silverware from the table across from us in which the couple just left. I replied with that is used silverware as that couple in which I pointed to just left...she argued and said no these are clean....do not expect clean silverware! If you ask for something....you will get it much later! There is no food offered from 4:30pm-7pm and 10pm-6am and if you expect food, they run out of things such as hot dog buns for hotdogs, chips, american cheese for hamburgers and coca-cola in which none of this is replaced when they run out. While my husband and I were at dinner form 7pm-9:30pm, we came back to our bed made (which they call this turn down by housekeeping) I left my wallet under clothing and and envelope before we left for dinner and came back to my wallet exposed and my money stolen along with my husband's cologne bottle emptied along with his lotion emptied and replaced with water. Dreams Sugary Bay staff was no help in this situation....we had plans to go out with a couple in which this was their last night but instead had to spend the night giving a report to the police 2 hours after the situation. They told us to wait in our hotel room until the police showed up.....only to hide the situation as it makes them look bad with police showing up....we waited in the lobby instead with the 12 other couples we met (they also had a horrible stay)...The next morning we talked to 2 general managers in which one was useless and the other was extremely rude to the point he laughed at the serious situation of a felony!!! He basically told us we did not matter as other people were pleased with their stay when I mentioned all the bad reviews....he asked me to challenge him...every SINGLE couple we talked to that stayed at Dreams had a HORRIFIC stay just as we did down to a glass shower door falling on one couple, a group of 14 having a shower curtain as a mattress pad, pink mold growing in the shower, 2 couples on their honeymoon got a room with two twin beds...I could go on.....We met great couples and that was the ONLY great thing about our stay....the beach pictures on the website look nothing like the real things. If you want to pay a starting rate of $150 for a romantic beach dinner, expect other guests to be 20 feet from your dinner as that is where the smoking area is. To get to the pool/beach area you have to travel 105 steps or wait for a shuttle to pick you up but hopefully it is not busy otherwise you will be waiting at least 15 minutes. If you expect a classy resort in which you pay for, this is not it! Unfortunately, my husband and I spent a lot of money to only have a honeymoon from HELL! We will NEVER return to Dreams Sugar Bay nor suggest this resort to anyone!! And..to top it off my husband and I are two of the most easy going people in the world except when Dreams Sugar Bay housekeepers invade your privacy and steal your money.....This is only to keep people aware before traveling the distance as we gave DREAMS a chance after reading the bad reviews....the bad reviews are the TRUTH! It is ridiculous how horrible this resort really is even after changing hands...words cannot even describe our honeymoon from HELL!
I work as security and the staff are very good, I greet everyone and THANK YOU.
My experience was not what I expected, very unorganized at check in . The dining room never had spoons , and they ran out of salt and pepper. There were 35 people who traveled with me for my wedding there at Sugar Bay and everyone complained. The best thing was the view and meeting other people who were traveling also. I have sand bug bites all over just from sitting by the pool. I have never experienced anything like this before . It was horrible. They need to treat the pool area because I'm sure they know they have a bug problem. It's not fare not to warn your guests about the sand bugs . Unfortunately I had to find out on my own. Not the best place to stay and definitely not worth the price they charge to stay here. And also there were items stolen from my room. Horrible!!
My son and I went in 2017. We had a fantastic time. Definitely worth it. Hotel and beach were stunning.
My room was completely swarmed by insects, and the front desk told me that it's mother nature and there is nothing they will do. They refuse to put me in another room, then demeaningly asked me whether or not I understand nature on the islands, and suggested I go somewhere else. These people do not about you, about your stuff, only about your money.
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