Sugar Beach A Viceroy Resort

We have just had an amazing week at Sugar Beach in room 403. Everything was perfect from the moment we arrived and the staff could not have been more attentive or efficient. Special thanks to the butler team who looked after us. The views from our room were incredible and the cottage was very luxurious. All the restaurants were fabulous and the Great Room was quite an experience. The beach was lovely and we enjoyed the water sports. Our only recommendation would be to have electric buggies as shuttles which would be more environmentally friendly and quieter!

I was at Sugar Beach for 2-weeks. The place was packed my first week there, as it was a school vacation week. There were loud, unsupervised children all over the place including on the beach and in the restaurants (I like children, but not when they're loud and allowed to run amok, disturbing everyone in their wake). It took at least 3 or 4 tries to get hold of our butler (the arbiter of all shuttles and restaurant reservations), there were long wait times for the shuttles, restaurant reservations were impossible to get between the hours of 6-8pm, and most outrageous of all, there weren't enough chaises on the beach to accommodate all the guests! When I'm paying over $1,300 per day (not including meals), I expect there to be a chaise waiting for me on the beach, period, end-of-story. Instead, after 2-days of not being able to sit on the beach, we complained to deaf ears. The manager of the beach told us "It's first come, first serve," and did nothing to accommodate us. Basically, if the place is full and if you don't want to get up at the crack of dawn to secure yourself a beach chaise (it's not true that beach staff remove a guests belongings if they're not on their chaise -- many chaises that have been "claimed," go without anyone on them for hours on end), than this is not the place for you. Do yourself a favor and book at a hotel that can accommodate ALL of their guests, period, end-of-story. When the resort is full, staff are harried and overworked. I don't fault the staff; they try to do their best. I fault management. Sugar Beach is poorly managed, pure and simple. The food is very expensive, but good. We ate in all the restaurants on the property and every meal was excellent -- no complaints as far as the food is concerned and we're foodies. Be prepared to be charged up the nose and you'll be fine. When the resort emptied out for our second week, it was a different place -- a much nicer one. The wait for a tuk tuk was minimal, restaurant reservations were easy to come by, and best of all, chaises on the beach were plentiful. Our accommodation was lovely; spotlessly clean and beautiful. If you decide to come here, make sure the resort isn't full when you do. They honestly cannot accommodate a full house. Some hints: when they ask you in the restaurants whether you want bottled water, say "regular water please." Instead of being charged something like $15 for a bottle of water, you'll only be charged $5 or so for the perfectly fine but generic stuff. Instead of buying the hotel excursions, walk a few feet over to the dock and you'll be approached by any number of locals offering the same tours that the hotel offers, but for far less money. Go through the locals rather than through the hotel -- you'll not only save a lot of money, but your excursion will be more authentic. We did the mud baths and waterfall and botanical gardens and then we did a separate snorkeling trip, which was terrific. If you enjoy loud, unsupervised children, a very crowded beach (BTW -- the beach isn't all that nice -- just saying -- lots of motor boats spewing fumes right near the beach area), difficult to get restaurant reservations, crowds, long waits for a ride to and from (the property is very hilly and shuttles are necessary), and generally bad service, go when the resort is full. If you want a relaxing vacation where you feel you're getting your moneys worth, go during a quiet time, when the resort isn't at capacity. I think there are much nicer places to go in the Caribbean for the kind of money Sugar Beach charges. If you ask me, the price is just not worth the performance.

This resort is incredible. Its location alone (between the Pitons) is enough to make it the best location and place to be on the island but the staff and service put it over the top.The staff were caring, attentive, fun, and exceptionally professional. Our room (Sugar Mill) was phenomenally gorgeous and had everything we could possibly need. And if we didn't have it, staff ensured it was brought to us. I could go on and on but the best advice I can give is to go and see for yourself. Sugar Beach is a remarkable place.