- Sandals Royal Bahamian left a newly married couple upset after spending 3 days of their honeymoon there.
- The couple paid nearly $5,000 for their stay, but said the all-inclusive resort was “not a vacation.”
- Sam Doll said staff “harassed” them into spending more on photos and activities.
A Canadian couple expected three days of peace when they booked a stay at an all-inclusive resort, but they say that’s not the case.
A woman known online as Sam Doll has gone viral on TikTok after she posted details of her honeymoon with her husband at Sandals Royal Bahamian. She said their three-day stay consisted mostly of a cold pool and their relaxation was often interrupted by workers.
Sam told Business Insider that the couple spent nearly $5,000 on the all-inclusive resort to avoid the hassle of planning or thinking about money while on vacation. BI has seen the payment confirmation Unique Travel Corp sent to Sam and her husband.
Instead, Sam said the couple were “harassed to pay more” by staff trying to sell photo packages and trips. Sam’s talk about her first time at Sandals has received more than 6 million views in less than a week.
“Sandals were not a vacation,” she said. “The whole point of this particular experience is so I don’t have to think about spending any more money.”
Her previous positive experience at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico inspired her to book at Sandals Royal Bahamian.
Sam said she and her fellow guests avoided eye contact with Sandals employees in the halls in an effort to reduce the chance of another sales pitch. But she told BI she chose not to make a fuss to management about people doing their jobs “extremely well.”
Instead, she blamed what she described as Sandals’ no-tipping policy on workers she thought might be desperate for a commission.
She said that in addition to human “pop-up ads” — as commenters called the workers — employees ignored the privacy sign on the couple’s door.
Her video about her experience has received more than 650,000 likes and 20,000 comments, but Sam said they have yet to hear anything from Sandals regarding her negative review.
Sam recommends the company encourage tipping and discourage workers from talking to guests one-on-one if they’re trying to relax.
BI reached out to Sandals for comment and clarification of its tipping policy, but did not receive a response before publication. In a 2020 blog post, Sandals said there is no need to tip any employee other than the butler since the tip is included in the upfront cost.
Although Sam said she probably wouldn’t return to a Sandals resort, regular visitors have reached out with recommendations, including another Sandals location, for any future all-inclusive vacations in the Caribbean.