Sandy Lane Hotel

In Depth

The view from the top of the amphitheatrical stairs at Sandy Lane is one of the loveliest in the Caribbean. Beneath you the arms of the coral stone staircase descend left and right in graceful Palladian curves, embracing the central patio. Your eye is drawn over the parasols and slender metalwork chairs to the mighty mahogany trees and beyond, over mounded, white sand to the sea horizon. Sandy Lane sits on its own stunning bay at the heart of West Coast, on one of Barbados’s loveliest stretches of sand.

As you arrive at Sandy Lane, the hotel announces itself in a series of coral stone obelisks on either side of the road. To the right are the golf courses and the villas that surround them, but to enter the hotel itself you turn left and cruise down among enormous mahogany trees to the neo-classical portico. Through the foyer, where the reception and the concierge are based, you come to the head of the amphitheatrical stairs. And to the view.

The hotel is laid out before you. The dining rooms are to your left -- L’Acajou upstairs, for more formal, gourmet meals, and beneath it Bajan Blue, the breakfast and more casual dining room. Beyond it and on the northern side are wings of rooms, four stories and fronting onto the beach, with balconies that look out to sea through the trees, suites on the top level. The twenty-six Orchid Rooms are set in the garden but have an angled view of the sea. Inside, the huge rooms are cool and calm, laid with marble and furnished with sleek wooden reproduction antiques. The rooms have all the modern accoutrements you would ever need, such as a huge flat screen TV. The bathrooms are laid with marble and have seven-jet showers.

While the main activity of the hotel is obviously centred on the main patio and the beach, Sandy Lane’s huge pool is set in the garden. Next door to it on one side is the Children’s area (with its Treehouse Club for three to twelve year-olds and The Den for teenagers) and on the other is the large spa building, with its eleven luxurious private treatment rooms and a small restaurant serving light fare. And tucked away behind this is the ultimate in privacy, a private five-bedroom villa within the compound of the hotel, with its own pool protected within a walled enclave. On the other side of the road (which you can reach via an underpass), are the nine tennis courts and the pro shop of the Old Nine golf course. The Club House for the two new courses is much higher up the hill.

Sandy Lane has been a flagship hotel on Barbados since the 1960s. It closed for a while at the turn of the millennium while it was completely rebuilt, but now has come back, fully revamped, and has pitched itself firmly as the leading hotel in the region. The hotel tends to bring strong reactions (often from people who haven’t been there) and is widely touted for being flash and glitzy. This may well be true in the season, when a host of the world’s stars gather here, but it is not the case year-round. It is true that Sandy Lane is flamboyant and suits a certain style of traveller who enjoys the West Coast scene. The management however, is easy-going and turns what might be quite a pretentious environment into something far more comfortable.

In its architecture Sandy Lane is a modern hymn to a Bajan neo classical theme, with pillars, porticos and triangular pediments given a slightly leaner look and sweeps of bottle shaped coral-rock balustrades. But some Bajan touches also lighten the effect, including the stylised dolphins of its emblem, clam-shell sconces and many plantation style features, such as the white louvres and wooden shingle roof-tiles. The whole resort is built in beautiful coral rock and render, giving a sandy colour that is offset by the delicate pink of the resort, which you will see in the marble, in cushions, in the staff’s shirts and of course in the Champagne. The ubiquitous green monkey also runs through the resort like a leitmotif, in the paintings in the rooms, in the Green Monkey Bar downstairs and of course on the golf courses (where real green monkeys roam).

Sandy Lane first opened in 1961, one of the first hotels to open on the West Coast. It was built by Ronald Tree, the consummate host, (who also wrote a history of the island - A History of Barbados, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1972) and its roll call of famous guests and celebrities was established early on, with visitors such as Maria Callas, Aristotle Onassis and David Niven. The hotel was sold in 1970 to Trusthouse Forte, which ran it for the next 26 years.

In 1996 Sandy Lane was bought by its current owners, JP McManus and Dermot Desmond and Partners (there are five main owners). They took the decision to knock down the old hotel and to rebuild it completely. Sandy Lane is much larger now, and has lost the slender architectural elegance of the old resort, but it has been designed to appeal to the modern luxury travellers’ expectations of style and facilities.

Beach & Swimming

The beach at Sandy Lane is excellent. It is set on its own wide, broad bay which has perfect sand that shelves gently to a sandy bottom. The loungers, beautifully pink in colour, are contained within wicker beds and the beach attendants will appear at the raising of a yellow flag to provide a chilled towel or a sorbet. It is definitely worth swimming out to one of the platforms in the bay just for the view - the hotel looks wonderful in amongst the vast mahogany and manchineel trees that line the beach. At night too, the view from the beach is equally spectacular, as the white walls is lit with luminous blue lights (these are used in order not to frighten off turtles that come to nest between March and August).

Watersports are available on the beach including windsurfing, kayaking and small boat sailing.

The large fresh-water swimming pool sits in the gardens behind the hotel, next to the spa building. It is multi-level and meanders among pretty foliage that creates several areas for sunbathing. There is a waterfall at one end in a grotto (grottos do date from the same time as palladian architecture, after all) and you can get a drink either at the swim-up, bar or in the spa building itself, where the Spa Café serves light fare.

Spa

The Spa at Sandy Lane is set in its own building and it continues the neo classical theme that runs through the resort both outside - with two wings either side of a cupola - and inside, where the centrepiece is an elegant curved marble staircase.

From the foot of the staircase, corridors of marble and coral rock render lead to the eleven treatment rooms behind hefty mahogany doors. Most of the rooms are in fact suites, with more grotto-like outside space and plunge pools, where you can relax after the exhaustion of your treatment.

A vast array of treatments is available at the Sandy Lane Spa, including (just a few examples) synchronised massage, detoxifying treatments, wraps, facials, foot zone therapy and aromatherapy. Staff will prepare half-day and full day programmes for one and two people.

Also on the lower level of the Spa you will find a panoramic sauna, steam room, Rhassoul, ice cave, relaxation rooms and men's and women's changing rooms. Outside visitors are permitted into the spa (only) between 9am and 3pm, by appointment, t 444 2100.

Sports & Recreation

On the floor above the spa you will find a shop (mainly casual clothes and beauty products), a beauty room, an exercise studio and fitness studio (Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, Pilates, Spinning and Boxercise classes), a personal training room, a lifestyle consultation room and, if all of these seem too much, then there is a meditation room.

Tennis at Sandy Lane - There are nine floodlit championship tennis courts (just across the road from the main hotel) with a tennis pro who will take lessons or give you a game.

Golf at Sandy Lane - Sandy Lane has long been famous for its golf and with the new development there are now three golf courses on the estate. The first course you come to across the road (or cross underneath it through the underpass) is the Old Nine, which was first built in 1961. The fairways wind among the pretty old stands of mahogany trees and the villas of the original estate, clambering up the limestone cliff that runs the length of the West Coast of Barbados. It has its own pro shop down below.

The two new eighteen hole courses, both designed by Tom Fazio, are served by a new clubhouse, t 444 2500 (to which there is a shuttle from the hotel) high above the coast inland. The Country Club course is a 7060 yard, par 74.7 course that uses the best of the space on the rising ground. The fairways are open but sometimes angled and often sloping and most holes have views of the Caribbean Sea. The Green Monkey course has some very challenging holes, built into a former quarry (over a hundred feet deep in one place).

For the Green Monkey and Country Club courses there is a mandatory caddy rule of one caddy per cart. Caddies themselves charge US$40 per round, paid direct. Carts are equipped with gps. There is a driving range close to the clubhouse.

The World Golf Championships was hosted in Barbados in December 2006. Backed by the International Federation of PGA Tours, the World Cup saw 24 nations in competition for a purse of US$4 million. The tournament was played on the Sandy Lane Country Club Course and was won by the Germans, with Bernhard Langer and Marcel Siem taking home US$1.4 million between them.

Staff

The General Manager is Robert Logan, who was appointed in September 2008. He has over 20 years of experience of top level hotel management, most recently at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore.

Many of the staff have been at Sandy Lane for decades, some for over 30 years. Jeffrey Holder and Angela Atkinson arrived in 1976, but they are both topped by Vincent Haynes who has worked on the golf course since 1969.

The Rooms

The rooms at Sandy Lane are all extremely large (they average 900 square feet) and the decoration is unfussy while still being elegant. There is a theme of marble and dark, polished mahogany, in slender-legged reproductions of tropical antiques, offsets by a colour-scheme of sand and gold (in the picture frames and curtain). Everything is electronic (curtains, lighting, even the Do Not Disturb sign) and controlled from a number of pads around the room. The beds face across the room at a large flat-screen TV on the opposite wall. The bathrooms are also enormous, with marble, mahogany and frosted glass. The bathroom products are provided by Apollo.

Each room has a large balcony, its view framed by pillars and a wrought-iron balustrade, and furnished with a glass table with chairs and a sofa.

The Villa at Sandy Lane

The villa at Sandy Lane really is the ultimate in privacy and luxury, a five-bedroom villa set in its own walled enclave within the grounds of the hotel itself. It is so well tucked away that you might not know it was there if you didn’t look for it, but it is located next to the spa. The villa’s main access close to the entrance of the spa, but there is also a secluded path by which you can access it when you are coming back from the beach and the main hotel areas.

 The villa is built in Sandy Lane’s lean neo-classical style and centres on a courtyard in which there is a large rectangular swimming pool (with built-in, outsize Jacuzzi). Around it is a colonnade off which four of the bedrooms lead. The master bedroom is upstairs in the main house at the western end. Altogether the villa measures just over 7,300 sq feet (680sq metres) in size.

Downstairs in the main house is the main living room, where you will find a home entertainment system and fully stocked bar. It is open on both sides, giving onto the courtyard on one side and on the other onto a garden. Here there is a gazebo, which is used as the main location for dinner and seats up to fourteen people.

The bedrooms are all en-suite and are equipped with flat screen plasma televisions and DVD and CD players, but the most spectacular is of course the master bedroom, which is simply vast. It has his and hers dressing rooms, a Juliet balcony looking over the pool and courtyard and an ocean view on the other side.

The villa has its own staff of butler, chef, housekeeper and 24 hour security guard and a restaurant-standard kitchen, where the chef will prepare gourmet meals at your direction. Villa guests have access to all the facilities of the hotel including tennis, golf and the Spa, and a vehicle.

Butler duties in villa:
The following are duties performed by the Butler.

1) Registration of all guests in the Villa.
2) Give a full orientation of the Villa and hotel.
3) Offer and provides packing and unpacking.
4) Makes reservations for (restaurants, golf and other activities).
5) Prepares guest Laundry & Dry Cleaning for going out and returning to the Villa.
6) Offer pressing.
7) Offer shoe shine.
8) Organize and assist with F&B Functions/Events.
9) Conduct daily inspections and follow up on any issues as it relates to Housekeeping and Engineering.
10) Serve cocktails and bar snacks.

Inclusive Features:
Roundtrip airport transfers, welcome by airport concierge on arrival, champagne on arrival at the hotel, in-villa registration, tropical fruit in room on arrival, complimentary non-alcoholic beverages throughout stay, daily full English breakfast and afternoon tea prepared by villa's chef, unlimited use of floodlit tennis courts at night, unlimited motorized and non-motorized watersports, use of fitness facility at the Spa, a US$100 spa voucher per adult, 24-hour security and room service, use of vehicle throughout stay, an international and local newspaper daily, personal staff butler, housekeeper and chef, complimentary daily green fees at the Country Club or Old Nine.

Dining

Acajou is Sandy Lane's formal dining room, which is open for dinner. It sits above the ground (on the first or second floor, depending on how you view these things), and has the atmosphere of a drawing room giving onto the night air, with curtains collected at the pillars. Service is candle-lit on white tablecloths and stylish, tall-backed chairs. The menu offers light gourmet cuisine de Provence with flavours of the Mediterranean.

Bajan Blue, on the ground level, looks straight out onto the beach and is open for all three meals, offering a contemporary/Caribbean fusion and themed buffet evenings.

The Spa Café is next to the hotel pool and offers a light dining alternative with a tempting array of salads and sandwiches.

The Country Club Restaurant has a fantastic view over the golf courses and the Caribbean Sea from the Club House itself. It showcases 19th hole favourites, seasonal specialities, homemade desserts and an extensive menur of cocktails.

Twenty-four hour room service is available to guests.

Useful Hints

Sandy Lane's check-out time is 1pm and check-in is not available until 4pm.

Children

The Treehouse Club is designed for children from toddlers to the age of twelve. There is a playground, but there are also organised activities including painting, arts and crafts and karaoke. Children can be taken on excursions to snorkel, look for turtles and wildlife on land. If they are enjoying themselves too much, then they can be accommodated over lunch and dinner.

The Den, on the downstairs level, has facilities and activities for teenagers from age thirteen, with computers, pool tables, table tennis, foosball, air hockey and a jukebox. There is direct access to the pool.

Practical Facts

Annual Closure dates: n/a

Dress Code: Elegant yet understated. Gentlemen should wear trousers and collared shirts in the restaurants and public areas after 7 pm. Pool and beach wear is not appropriate for restaurant and bar areas, and cover-ups should be worn during the day when not actually at the pool or beach

Facilities: Four restaurants and five bars - L'Acajou, Bajan Blue, The Country Club Restaurant and The Spa Café The Monkey Bar, The Beach Bar, The Pool Bar, The Coffee Bar; The Country Club Bar. Spa facilities include 11 VIP suites, relaxation and meditation rooms, Rhassoul, panoramic sauna, ice cave, a hydrotherapy pool, full service John Frieda salon and 5,000 square feet of fitness facilities. Swimming Pool: Free form 7,500-square-foot swimming pool in garden patio setting, with adjacent changing facilities. Beverages and cocktails available poolside at the swim-up Pool Bar. Three golf courses: Guests can choose between playing on the Old Nine course, a nine-hole course or at the Country Club, a Tom Fazio designed 18-hole course and The Green Monkey, another Tom Fazio-designed 18-hole course currently being offered with limited tea times available between 8:30 and 9:30AM. Tennis Club: nine championship floodlit tennis courts with 2 different surfaces, a tennis pavilion and professionally recognised tennis management. Fitness Facilities: A 2,500-square-foot gymnasium plus a state-of-the art exercise studio, personal training room, and fitness consultation room located in the spa. 1000 ft Beach - services include reserved seating, refreshing cold towels, tropical drinks, sorbets, fresh fruit, water sports, and beach attendants. Business Centre: on the reception level with computer terminals for internet access. Shops include: The Collection (Sandy Lane logo items), The Gatsby (high-end resort wear), The News Stand, The Jewellers and The Pro Shop at the Clubhouse. Conferences: There are three meeting rooms on the reception level and other venue choices within the resort for discreet and elegant functions. Special rates and group programs on request.

Complimentary: Welcome by airport concierge on arrival, transfers to and from the airport in an Executive car, in room guest registration, complimentary fruit in room on arrival, unlimited use of tennis courts and lit courts at night, unlimited non-motorised watersports including:- Windsurfing, Hobie Cat Sailing, Kayaking and Snorkelling, complimentary fitness facility, and a variety of complimentary daily group exercise sessions including floor aerobics, body sculpting, yoga & Tai chi.

Other Services: 24-hour concierge and room service, 24-hour pressing service, maid service twice a day, laundry and dry cleaning services, nightly "expression" treat, personalized private bar, storage of luggage, personalized in-room registration, chilled ice towel and cocktail upon arrival, Bentley and luxury car airport transfers, library.

Children: Welcome. Children up to 2 years stay free in parents room when using existing beds in room. Children aged 13 years and older are charged fully.

Accommodation: 112 rooms plus a 5-bedroom villa

Room Types: 26 Orchid Rooms (779 sq.ft.), 6 Luxury Orchid Suites (1,575 sq. ft.): all have garden views. 10 Ocean Rooms (707 sq. ft.), 60 Luxury Ocean Rooms (867 sq. ft.), 5 Dolphin Suites (1,443 sq. ft.), 3 Luxury Dolphin Suites (1,575 sq. ft.) and 2 Penthouses (3,971 sq. ft.). Averaging 900 square feet, rooms are spacious and each uniquely feature a large private veranda, LCD flat-screen television, DVD and CD player, private bar, phone and control panel on each side of the bed, reading lights, specially designed multi-spray showers, heated mirrors in the bathroom, electronic "Do Not Disturb" and "Make Up Room" features, and parabolic speakers on veranda and in bathroom.

Credit Cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa, Diners Club.

Locality

Sandy Lane is just south of Holetown, right at the heart of Barbados's West Coast and its independent beaches. The hotel is within a five to fifteen minute drive by car or cab of most of the finest independent restaurants on the island. These range from The Cliff, The Tides and Lone Star to the Fish Pot, besides the pizza parlours and beach bars if the endless meals begin to pall. Nightlife is also just a few minutes away. You will find very lively bars in the restaurants in 1st and 2nd Street in Holetown which collect a good crowd of regular winter visitors.

Holetown itself, the spot where the English first landed in 1625 and came back to in 1627 to settle, is a small local community with a police station, a post office and, this being the West Coast of Barbados, a patisserie. There are two shopping centres where you can find a supermarket, a bank, photo centre, duty free shops, video rental, and various shops and boutiques. Opposite here is a gas station (as petrol stations are known locally). Next door, the Limegrove Lifestyle Centre is a recent addition with a range of designer shops, an art gallery, bars, cafes and restaurants.

Meet & Greet

You will be met on arrival at the airport by Sandy Lane's concierge team. The ride from the airport is around 35-45 minutes, depending on the traffic. Registration takes place in your room.

Getting Around

Hiring a car to explore the island or go to a different beach for the day is easily arranged. Book via your tour operator or direct with Stoutes Car Rentals, who will deliver to the property and issue your Barbadian driving licence. Vehicles can be returned at the airport or be collected from the property at a pre-arranged time on your departure day. Be aware that in the winter season there is often a shortage of cars, so you are advised to book well in advance. Also book early if you want one for a week or more because the pre-booked rates can be more advantageous.

Taxis are readily available through reception, through drivers who remain on property. A perfectly good bus service passes straight in front of the hotel, heading north to Holetown and then Speightstown and south to Bridgetown.