We stayed at the Sandridge for two weeks and returned on Sunday 4/5/08. Yes it is closing soon and we cannot do anything about it.
We love it!! The food is excellent. The staff, in spite of some of them being laid off last week, were excellent! What can you say about Martin? EVERYBODY who stays there will know he is the hotels biggest ASSETT. He organises the free boat trips and picnics and is always helpful and considerate.
The new buildings(6) next door are still noisy and dusty especially if you are in standard rooms, as you look out on them. Better to upgrade to at least a studio room on the opposite side of the hotel.
The Sandridge might be closing but it will last forever in the minds of all who stayed there.
A TRULY WONDERFUL HOLIDAY HOTEL

I have just returned from a 10 day honeymoon at the Sandridge, and can thoroughly recommend this hotel. Even though many of them are due to lose their jobs when the hotel closes, the staff are wonderful, very friendly and helpful, the views are amazing and the food is fabulous - even my (very picky) husband came back raving about it and all the people I spoke to there remarked on how good it was. I was surprised to see one reviewer said the food was inedible - I can only imagine that they eat a very limited diet at home and find new food a challenge as there was a good variety of food for every meal. Despite having an allergy to wheat and dairy I always had plenty of choice.

The only criticisms I would have were that:

i - Depite signs up saying that if you vacated a sunbed for more than an hour you lost it, people were super-territorial about their patch, even when they went off at 10am for three or four hours. By about 7.30am (yes AM) all the sunbeds would be taken, and god forbid you asked to take a chair or bed someone wasn't using as some of the guests behaved as if they had literally brought the sunbeds and umbrellas with them.

ii - the constant hassle from men on the beach... I have no problem with people making a living selling stuff, but you literally could not get rid of the men and the constant propositioning was boring, then, after a while, offensive, particularly when you have told them you are on your honeymoon and your husband is three feet away. I went on the beach twice, once with my husband, then alone then gave up. After that I stayed by the pool because i just couldn't be bothered - shame as I love the beach, but having a freshwater pool more than made up for it.

Despite enjoying the hotel, I would not be in any hurry to go back to Barbados. Although there is a lot of natural beauty there, there is also a lot of poverty - far more than I expected - and it sits right up against unadulterated luxury and wealth. Also, I found the relentless cat calls etc as you walked through the local town just got on my nerves after a while and for not responding I got called "Whitey" and "a stuck up *****" and told not to come to Barbados if I didn't want to talk to a black man (I found this especially amusing as my husband is black). If the Sandridge was going to stay open I would consider returning to Barbados, but I'm guessing it will be a once in a lifetime experience....

We stayed at Sandridge Beach for a week in March, we got a good deal via Virgin Holidays.
The rooms are a bit tired and the shower was not powerful and very often not hot, but seeing the hotel is being demolished in January I guess this is to be expected.
The food, contrary to some recent reviews was excellent - there was so much choice and, unusually for an all inclusive resort, lots of healthy options. Drinks were included and a good variety was available.
The building work next door is intrusive at first but you got used to it very quickly and I can honestly say I hardly noticed it after the first morning. The stretch of beach outside the hotel was lovely with lots of people offering jetski rides, etc. The beach sellers were inoffensive and not pushy at all. There were plenty of sunbeds
All the staff were really friendly and helpful.
I would stay here again (if it was still available that is!)

From the ten days is which me and my family stayed at Sandridge, there were very few points to moan at. EVerything is clean, spotless and well looked after.

Before i had arrived i didn't think there would be much for the kids & teenagers, but they seemed well entertained by the kids club activities, the pool and if that wasn't enough, there were canoe and skiing opportunities out on the beach.

Both Sandy's restaurant and Chattel Bar served lovely food. There were variations in the menu every night, and there wasn't much waiting on most of the a la carte nights. However when the staff were a behind, they were behind by quite a huge amount of time. The one night we had booked a table for 8.00pm and in the hour we had only been given a glass of water and a boul of soup. I didn't really mind the wait as they had entertainment that night, but ofcourse my OAP father who is very impatient was gettin crosser by the second.

Most people probably choose this holiday for relaxation, but if this isnt always your style, the virgin rep is there most days to help you find an activity for every day of your stay. I would like to recomment the island safari and the catamaran cruise, as bouth are enjoyable for people or various ages..however, they do come at a heafty price. Although, Martin does a very entertainingt bottomless boat trip, where you can to look at the underwater sea-life and even take a swim with the turtles. He also does a fishing trip later in the week which i thought was very fun.

The staff were quite friendly. Out of the 3 receptionists that i had come across at the hotel, 2 were very friendly. The one woman was very rude and stubborn and didn't seem to want to help or coordinate with the customers. On the leaving day, we requested to keep or rest in a room as we had to check out at midday but wern't leaving until 7pm that night. However as the day arrived and we requested for a room, she was very abrupt and there wasnt a slight hint that she was interested. But the rest of the staff were very friendly. Malcome & Matrin were my favourites. The bar staff were also very kind and we gave them tips most evenings.

I see people have not liked the buildingworks that have been happening next door. If you have booked a studio suite, you will not be affected. We had a studio and didn't hear a thing, apart from the birds singing and the odd monkey call! The only time we found any hassle from the building works was when we went for a swim on the far side of the beach outside the hotel. about 100 yards down the beach, you would have been right infront of the building works, but it wasnt the noise that bothered me, just the fact that most of the builders would whistle/make strange noises just to grab attention. Maybe i should have seen this as a compliment but it was a bit strange.. although quite amusing!

Overall, my holiday and sandridge hotel was very enjoyable, i would love to go again, but sadly this will never happen as they plan to demolish the hotel for 2009 where it will be used as car park space for the new appartments/hotel that is being built next door. I hope to return one day and see what was once sandridge hotel.