SANDALS HALCYON FULL REVIEW

I spent 3 great nights with a host of other travel advisors at Sandals Halcyon in St. Lucia!

This was actually my second trip to St. Lucia. My first trip was 13 years ago for my honeymoon. We stayed at the Grande St. Lucian for our honeymoon, but we visited La Toc for dinner one evening. This was my first ever visit to Halcyon.

I started this trip unlike any other! I chose to take the helicopter transfer! Sandals does provide complimentary shared shuttles to all of their resorts, but the trip from the airport to Sandals Halcyon is about an hour without traffic. It can be 1.5–2 hours with heavy traffic.

HELICOPTER TRANSFER FROM UVF TO SLU

The helicopter can land at certain resorts in St. Lucia; however, it cannot land at Sandals resorts. So, my helicopter landed at the smaller SLU airport. Then, I had a 5 minute shuttle transfer to Sandal Halcyon.

My first impression of this resort was that it was unlike any Sandals location I've visited in the past. Halcyon is a small, intimate resort. All of the buildings are two stories or under.

The rooms in the Vieux Fort Building

The stone details in the architecture reminded me of an Alpine Lodge. However, the light teal contrast color made me think of roadside motels of an age gone by. Call it vintage or outdated, it is what it is.

The long pool was definitely a highlight of the resort! I spent at least an hour just floating around. I loved all of the foliage around the pool. It's not a lazy river with a current, but there are several waterfalls throughout the pool.

The food was pretty standard all inclusive resort food - decent. That's right. I don't LOVE the food at Sandals. In all fairness, I haven't been to Curacao or St. Vincent yet and those resorts are supposed to both have great food. I find dishes and restaurants that I enjoy at every resort, so the food is never a deal breaker for me when it comes to Sandals. And I have to add, the presentation is usually on point - see below.

For this resort, you can't beat the views at Kelly's Dockside Restaurant. I had a decent steak and the desserts were yummy as well. We did meet honeymooners on our shuttle back to the airport who were self-proclaimed foodies and they raved over the food! Maybe I just make bad choices...

Pro-tip: The espresso machine in Bayside is self-serve, so sneak in early and have a cappuccino! (Now that's all you're getting for free!)

A co-travel advisor that I was traveling with has several food allergies including gluten and dairy. She alerted the server at each restaurant and the chef at several restaurants came to our table to double check her allergies. She did have a couple of times were her dishes were served with cheese. She just alerted our server each time and a replacement was sent out.

Sandals does make a decent mocktail and I love that about them! I think it's amazing that people who do not drink alcohol have the option to choose a delicious drink!

I was disappointed that the Red Lane Spa at this resort only has one indoor session room and no water therapies available to all guests. The other St. Lucia resorts have steam rooms/saunas/cold plunge pools, etc. I do love their in-room products, though! The scent of the body lotion takes me back to the islands every time!

We also got to see an event set up. The decorations for this were more in line with a social group, but weddings can have receptions or cocktail hours in this space with a little more elaborate decor.

Group dinner set up in the Paradise location.

Overall, I'd give this resort a 7/10. The club and butler level rooms are updated and very comfortable. It's a easy walk around the resort to all of the restaurants and bars. There is some road noise for rooms that are at the back of the property and near the road. The food is pretty standard, good, but not exceptional. There are plenty of water sports and a nice long beach you can walk. I think this resort could be perfect for a friend group or someone's first visit to an all inclusive resorts. The rates here are pretty decent for St. Lucia!

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