The Barbados resort with complimentary Rolls Royce and unlimited booze (2024)

THE black Rolls-Royce causes quite a stir as it glides up to the Departures terminal of Grantley Adams International Airport.

Heads turn and camera phones are raised ready to snap the mega-rich superstar inside.

Simon Cowell, perhaps. Elton John? Or Kylie. Oooh, maybe Beyoncé.

Nah, gotta be Cowell. He’s in Barbados more than local girl Rihanna is.

There is a palpable sense of disappointment, then, when a decidedly unfamous middle-aged couple emerge and are handed some rather tatty luggage by the chauffeur.

That’ll be us then . . .

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There’s a palpable sense of disappointment around me and my wife, too.

We’re going home after ten days at the exclusive, all-inclusive, adults-only Sandals Barbados resort and it is a wrench.

The complimentary Rolls-Royce to the airport feels like a kind attempt to soften the blow.

A gentle “sorry, you really do have to go home now — but we’ll let you ride in this nice car as a final treat”.

All-inclusive hotels can be hit or miss, particularly when the word “all” translates as “some” in the small print.

Sandals has a different approach. From food and drink to activities and entertainment, it really is all included in the price.

Nowhere is this more welcome than with the meals.

Instead of the often ho-hum, all-you-can-eat buffets, Sandals does fine dining.

There are 20 restaurants spread across Sandals Barbados and its next-door sister resort, Sandals Royal Barbados.

It is no exaggeration to say this is foodie heaven — subtle, tasty, beautifully presented dishes from across the globe.

And there is none of that supplement business, where you realise you pay extra to eat at the one restaurant you actually fancy.

Try seafood at Schooner’s and steaks at Butch’s Chop House.

Or go for an Indian at Bombay Club, Italian at Portofino’s, gourmet French at La Parisienne (next to a rooftop bar with stunning views) and US dishes at The American Tavern.

In theory you can eat at a different one every night.

Or discover a favourite and eat there a couple of times during your stay. (We really loved Chi, an Asian fusion place.)

But you need to reserve a table, they quickly get booked up.

Sandals Barbados, set on the beach on the south coast’s St Lawrence Gap, is a couples-only retreat where everything is geared up to provide the right loved-up experience.

Want to be romantic? Sit in the hot tub on the balcony of your suite with a glass of bubbly before your “date night” at one of the above restaurants.

Or have a candlelit dinner on the beach as the waves gently lap the sands a few feet away.

Wanna party? The booze flows all day at the main pools while the music thumps away until sunset.

Then head off and enjoy the (pretty good) live entertainment until the early hours.

Want to chill? There are quiet pools where you can sit and read in the sun.

Or you can head to the Red Lane Spa, in the resort’s lush, peaceful gardens, for a massage or sauna.

The rooms are designed for romance, too. We had a fourth-floor suite withthe hot tubanda view of the ocean.

But for more dosh you can stay in swim-up suites (with a private mini pool at the front) or in a beachfront penthouse with a butler on call.

Ah, yes, the butler service. If you want someone to go down to the beach first thing and reserve your sun loungers, then bring you a picnic lunch later on, this is for you.

But you probably don’t NEED one — apart from to show off about it to your mates.

We found it was always possible to find free loungers and the friendly staff were constantly popping over to see if you wanted snacks or anything from the bar.

While you are on the beach you can try your hand at scuba diving, kayaking and windsurfing.

Again, it’s all included, no matter how many times you want to do them.

And it is a great beach, too — golden sand and warm waters protected from the rough Atlantic waves by a breakwater. Go snorkelling and see the fish — amazing.

We were at Sandals last October when Barbados was working hard to keep Covid at bay.

This meant a 9pm curfew across the island, so trips to Bridgetown — the buzzing capital with its Unesco World Heritage colonial architecture — and further afield were a bit truncated.

Crucially, it meant no Oistins, the famous Friday night party, that is like a brilliant cross between the Notting Hill Carnival and a German bierkeller, with sound stages, food, booze and dancing.

What Covid did prove, though, was that Sandals was perfect for this odd “confined to barracks” situation in which we found ourselves.

(One of the madder moments of Covid policing at Sandals was when a fire eater, who had spent ten minutes gargling petrol and blowing flames, finished his act — and was immediately handed a facemask.)

Of course all this exclusivity has a price. Sandals IS expensive — but you do get a fair bit for your money.

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And for that special birthday, that dream holiday and, of course, the fantasy Instagrammable wedding on the beach, it is ideal.

So when you fancy a walk on sun-kissed Caribbean sands, you really do need Sandals.