Our stay at Sandcastle last year was very good, but the side effects of our stay have been devastating.

Reviewer from the East Coast, USA


We have gone to Sandcastle for 8 years and always had a wonderful time filled with great island people and a staff that was like coming home each year we arrived.

This past trip in 2007 there was a goat that ran throughout the property - kitchen, bar area, dining room and lived upstairs over the dining room with the on-site managers. It seems that someone at Sandcastle ran over the goat when it was young and the on-site managers decided to nurse it back to health. In doing so they allowed the goat freedom to run amok and intermingle with guests. After returning from our vacation, my husband became ill and it took 4 months for doctors to diagnose his problem - Q Fever. It is an airborne bacterial disease that you get from sheep, cows and of all things GOATS! He has what is described as Chronic Q Fever. Most people who come down with the disease don't even realize they have it. They feel like they have a bug or the flu that just won't go away for anywhere from 2 - 3 months. It is never diagnosed as Q Fever. They feel better after 2-3 months and only if they have blood tests for Q Fever will they ever know if they had it. This is acute Q Fever. Once you have it, you will always carry the indicators and be immune for the rest of your life. By the way, the goat died of peritonitis which can be a deadly side effect of Q Fever. It is my understanding that when the goat died, the on-site managers called in a Vet from Tortola to perform an autopsy on the goat. They must have known that other guests/patrons had caught Q Fever from the goat.

Have you been to Sandcastle between Nov 2007 and March 2008 and felt ill or gotten sick after returning?

Sweetie wasn't so sweet to my husband.

Sandcastle (and Soggy Dollar) is the just an amazing place. It is really impossible to describe how magical and beautiful of a place that it is. Experiencing it is kind of like owning/riding a Harley Davidson ("If you have to ask you wouldn't understand..."). The water is a color of blue that can't be described, the beach is soft, white sand, and the people that work there make you feel like old friends. It is a magical place that everyone needs to experience at least once in their lifetime. Thank you Tina, Clayvorne, Mic, and everyone for just an incredible stay. We will see you again in April 2009!

This place is Fantastic!!! If you are not laid back and want luxury, this is not the place for you. This place is a "go with the flow" kind of place. We never go to the same place twice . This was our first time there and we have already made reservations for same time next year. The staff treated us so special and the other hotel guests did as well. They are truly what makes the place so incrediblel! The AC room was clean and had everything we needed. It was literally just steps away from the beach. The dinners were fantastic and the painkillers were perfect. Tina arranged for us to be picked up from the ferry dock and had made our dinner reservations in advance so we were never hungry. We made some lifelong friends and I will never forget this little piece of paradise!

My husband and I stayed here for 2 nights as part of our honeymoon (we also stayed at The Little Plantation, a villa on St. John, my favorite part of the honeymoon, and Peter Island Resort). The 2 days here were our "party" days. The hotel itself is interesting. We stayed in cottage #3. It's octagonal. The cottages are either on the beach or a short sandy walk away. It's impossible to keep the sand out, but they leave a bucket of water by your door in attempt to keep your feet clean ;-) Just forget about shoes. You don't need to wear them anywhere. In general, it was clean, but not for the faint-hearted. This is nowhere near a "Marriott" clean.

The staff is so amazing. The beach itself is probably the most beautiful of anywhere. Impossibly white soft sand, and a great sort of dip just offshore, which is why the boats congregate here (and the painkillers...). You can literally just spend your day lazing in the amazing water. The painkillers were delish, and we spent our 1st afternoon drinking them and mingling with the boaters. The second morning dawned and it was so beautiful and peaceful. It made sense then why the staff gets sick of the non-stop boat party. Although we intended to "party" both days here, the island sort of has a way of taking hold and making you relax. We spent the second day in the hammock watching the crowd rather than joining in.

This is the kind of place you have to experience at least once. However, if you are offended by very young, very drunk, somewhat obscene college kids (?) I wouldn't recommend staying here. It's hard to avoid this in the middle of the afternoon. The mornings and the evenings make up for it, but I was glad we only opted for 2 days.

The island seems to shut down by 10:00. The first night, we had dinner at Foxy's on the other side. Everything was pretty much closing up when we were done. We ended up indulging at the "honor bar" back at the sandcastle. I'm not quite sure if the honor bar is still an acceptable practice. Most things were locked up, but we managed a few drinks and wrote down what we took, and it showed up on our bill, no questions asked. The 2nd night, we ate at the hotel (good) and walked down the beach to find a bar. Again, everything was dead and closing down.

I would definately go back, but again only for 2 days, and maybe visit by boat someday.