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This review is difficult to write because The Sanctuary has held a special place in my wife’s and my heart since our honeymoon in 2014. We have stayed here five times, and during our first visits it truly defined what a five-star resort should be.
From check-in to check-out, every detail was exceptional. The turndown service, lighting throughout the property, signature scents, beautifully lit walkways, pool ambiance, and the staff’s attention to every need created an experience that felt genuinely luxurious.
Unfortunately, as ownership changed over the years, so did the resort. The thoughtful details that made The Sanctuary unique have steadily disappeared while prices have skyrocketed. In 2014, we paid about $475 per night for the Diamond X Spa Suite. Today, that same room during the same season is over $1,500 per night, yet the quality has declined just as dramatically.
Our most recent visit was the final straw. We booked five nights but checked out three days early because two nights were all we could tolerate.
When we arrived, we headed to the pool and were stunned. The entire area looked abandoned, with trash left everywhere as if a large party had ended and no one had cleaned up. The Jade Bar patio appeared closed, and as we walked back to our room, much of the pathway and landscape lighting that once made evening walks so beautiful was gone, leaving the property feeling dark and neglected.
The following day, we returned to the pool for lunch and drinks only to find loud children throughout the area, despite this previously being an adults-only resort. One child was yelling profanities while chewing on and spitting out pool floats, and staff made no attempt to intervene. To make matters worse, heavy construction equipment, jackhammers, and other machinery operated throughout the day with no warning from management before our arrival. Paying $1,500 per night to relax while listening to construction noise and screaming children is the opposite of a five-star experience.
Later that day, our room’s air conditioning failed. Maintenance responded quickly, but it stopped working again overnight, leaving us to sleep in an unbearably hot room. The next morning, rather than offering another room or any meaningful accommodation, management’s solution was a complimentary fruit bowl. For a resort charging these rates, that response was simply unacceptable.
At that point, we decided to end our vacation early and leave after only two nights.
What makes this even more disappointing is that after checking out early, no one from management ever contacted us to acknowledge what happened or attempt to make things right. They had every opportunity to recover from a terrible experience and chose to do nothing.
It genuinely saddens me to say this because we loved this resort for many years, but I can no longer recommend it to anyone. The Sanctuary deserves ownership and management willing to restore the standards that once made it one of the finest luxury resorts. More importantly, its guests deserve the five-star experience they are paying for.