The Sands at Grace Bay

This was my 5th visit to the Sands at Grace Bay. Hubby and I have visited and I have also visited with family. This stay was for two weeks beginning on May 4th. I stayed in the Junior Suite Oceanfront room on the 3rd floor. I will include photos because it may help with booking, if you are not familiar We chose this room and book about a year ahead. It's in Building 3, which is closest to the pool and Hemingways. Building 3 also has an elevator. We love this room for so many reasons..it's steps away from the pool, the restaurant (Hemingways) and the beach and the view from sunrise to sunset is stunning! There is a difference between Oceanview and Oceanfront. In this building there are 3 Junior Suite, Oceanfront rooms, ground floor, 2nd and 3rd floors, all in the same spot, same view, just different floors. The first year they upgraded us, same building, one bedroom deluxe oceanfront, corner room right by the pool, because our junior suite had a problem with air conditioning, I believe. I thought this may help because I see a lot of reviews where some were confused with oceanview and ocean front There are a few ocean front rooms not in this building, but the building next to Hemingways. Building 4! If you do like the view I am showing you, it is in building 3. There are Oceanview rooms in Building 3. Oceanfront is direct view of the pool and ocean. Please be specific when you book your room. The reservationists are there to help you. Explain the view you want and the building. Google The Sands at Grace Bay Building Map. I stayed on the third floor this time. Junior suite has a refrigerator, microwave, coffee pot, sink, living room area with a screened in balcony that overlooks beautiful Grace Bay. You can relax and watch pretty sunsets or enjoy an early cup of coffee and listen to the ocean and enjoy the peacefulness. I was reading from someone that there was no pool service for drinks. There are very hardworking staff who bring drinks and food to the beach. They have also walked around the pool area, asking guests if they would like anything. If you walk right into the restaurant, Hemingways, steps away from the pool, the very friendly bar staff will make their wonderful frozen drinks for you and I have also ordered a drink and someone brought it to my lounge The waitstaff at Hemingways are the amazing and very helpful. It's one of the reasons we love The Sands, because there are no long walks...the pool, restaurant and beach are within steps of one another. The pool staff, as well, are so friendly and helpful. It's so nice when you return and the staff remembers you and you remember them an it feels like family. We have even asked the kind beach hut staff if they would please set up two chairs and umbrellas each day during our stay. They are so helpful and friendly. We do tip them each day...they have one of the hardest jobs there, setting up the chairs and umbrellas. We have had little issues with the room, nothing big, but they have always come to the room to help. When you first get your room, check everything. The faster you call, you more time you have to enjoy your vacation. Hemingways, we love so much! I have a review from a year ago on TripAdvisor if you'd like to check it out We don't leave the resort. The chef is amazing, the staff we have gotten to know so well, since 2018 and it says a lot about a restaurant and resort when the same staff is there, year after year! If you have any special dietary needs, the chef has always been able to make little changes for us. I cannot have creamy sauces, so he makes the pasta dish with oil and garlic. Another reason why we love The Sands is that you can stay in your beach coverup and enjoy breakfast and lunch, snack, drink during the day. We eat an early dinner usually but dinner is casual dress. Remember you have screened in balconies, so you can order and take a meal to your room. We also love the resort because we get away to relax. There are no loud bars, just one restaurant (with enjoyable entertainment some evenings). So enjoying a drink up on your balcony, overlooking the pool and ocean at night and hearing the waves is so peaceful. You can order food and water ahead of time through Goods2Doors. You can call the hotel for other suggestions. They actually stock your refrigerator for you. Definitely advise ordering bottled water, juices, ,paper goods. If you have a full kitchen, you can order food to cook. Taxis will charge you back and forth to the market. It was less money to order food through a delivery service. Be careful booking excursions. Ask the concierge desk or beach hut by the pool. We took a sunset cruise through the Beach Hut. They now pick you up right at the beach. Ask them for a referral for a pick up for the airport or taxi service while you are there. We already booked for next spring. I honestly feel if you have conversations with reservations, concierge and front desk before your stay to make sure you book the building you like, the view you want, if you want a room steps away from the pool because you have issues with long walks (as hubby and I do) your stay will be a happy one. We would never stay anywhere else. Love this resort and the staff, the beautiful views and it feels like home away from home! See you soon... Thank you for always making our stay special! Read less

We've traveled a lot to tropical places and this rates last in way of staff and friendliness. It felt like a bother to them that we were there to the point it got comical. The lobby smelled like sewage too. The rooms are nice enough but the hotel itself is dated. That would have been ok had it not been the way we were treated by majority of staff at front desk, gift shop and especially in Hemmingway's. No one came around pool or beach to serve drinks and you had to walk into the restaurant to order and hope they'd bring it to you at some point. Most locals too, extremely rude or put out. They are all on island time for sure. The water is beautiful but the humidity in Turks is worse than here in Texas. Overall, would not return and will just go to Mexico where the locals are lovely. Read less

I have been staying at the Sands for almost 15 years. The quality has declined a lot yet the price has continued to increase. Examples: - the pools are filthy, murky with lots of algae on the edges. - booked an ocean front room this time, we overlook the restaurant and the pool. If there is a building in front of you it’s not ocean front…our ocean view room was a lot better. - sink in master doesn’t drain…let front desk know x 3 no resolution - outer door broken, attempted to fix for the 3rd time today we shall see how that goes. Pros: - staff on the beach are excellent - beds are comfortable - hemingways is lovely - grace bay is perfect - the palms is a sister resort and you can walk there…their pools are immaculate Read less

I had high hopes after reading all the wonderful reviews of this property but we were disappointed in the accommodations. What is advertised online is not what is provided. The property grounds are beautiful and well maintained. I wish I could say the same for the actual rooms themselves. We booked a one bedroom for our family of four. Upon entering the furniture looks new and updated. I walk into the bedroom and we noticed there was a full size bed, not a queen or king that was in the description of the room online. ( pics for reference as the bed does not fit the frame. It looks as though there was a queen at one point). Zero side tables. The tv was placed on a side table in the corner of the room. The pull out sofa was larger than the bedrooms bed. It was uncomfortable sleeping arrangements for sure. We had constant overflowing of our toilet that we had to wait a very long time to have cleaned up and fixed. ( waiting on it to be fixed currently as we are at the resort now). So, the bathroom with 2 adults and two kids out of commission for over an hour multiple times was/is very inconvenient. No sense of urgency. Thankfully my husband scooped water from the toilet multiple times so it wouldn’t spread further into the unit. The staff is not friendly and you feel like your an inconvenience to them. Servers at the pool are non existent. I love the island itself and we had a wonderful time but I can not recommend this hotel. It’s a 3 star at best. We are well traveled and stay at 4 and 5 star resorts and this one is by far the worst. Read less

We stayed 6 nights in April. Booked a 2 bedroom 2 bath room because that was what was available & even though we were just a couple it was great space! Nice to have the extra bath + additional bed in case someone was snoring or wanted a nap. The room was like a condo with full kitchen, living room, & dining table but there is also Hemingway’s restaurant on site. We ended up eating there almost every breakfast & lunch and consistently very good with lovely staff. You can walk to town for other restaurants plus don’t miss the Thursday night fish fry for local fun!! Also walking distance. There are no elevators & 3 floors so if you want the best view like we did, you have some stairs. It was fine for us for the privacy & beautiful view. Otherwise request a 1st or 2nd floor room. There were a few more kids than we preferred, they could easily designate an adult pool as there are 3 pools & that’s why I gave 4 stars. Read less