I really, really wanted to give Sanderling a 4/5 star rating. After launching the Yelp app, I actually stared off into the distance for a few minutes trying to mentally rationalize why I should give a higher rating. Let me start with the good. We are set to leave tomorrow and the accommodations are excellent. The resort is a nice size. Not too large; very comfortable. Very clean, nice "beachy/ Restoration Hardware" feel throughout the property. We stayed in a first-level suite with our 2 kids. I'm usually not a fan of having a ground level room, but it ended up being perfect because we had easy access to the adult pool, family pool and beach and the room was great! Huge bathroom, nice common area and separate bedroom with a bed that has a killer pillow top or something because you kind of sink into it. The staff are very friendly. I don't think I passed an employee that didn't give me a genuine "hello" and smile. We had to call guest services a few times for a couple of small things. I'm used to calling the front desk for something and then going on to do something else for 20 minutes or so while I wait, but it almost felt like they were at the door before I hung up the phone. Housekeeping staff was very pleasant. Also, there are a lot of little things that really added to the experience. There are fire pits with chairs surrounding them that they fire up at happy hour time. A simple ask and someone sets up four chairs and an umbrella on the beach for you. They have lots of cool simple activities that you can do if you want to switch things up: paddle boarding, surfing, bocce ball, corn hole, beach bikes, kites, etc. While we didn't do any of these activities because we were in full pool / beach mode the whole time, it was nice to know they were there. Also, while the resort caters nicely to families with children, you never feel as if your are at a "family resort". You feel as if you are at an adult resort which families integrate nicely into. Very effortless feel to the whole place. I guess the moment which most aptly underscores this is the fact that my wife was totally relaxed and she's not the type that relaxes easily (Type A). I can't remember the last time we stayed somewhere with a spa that she hasn't used. I asked her yesterday why she hadn't made an appointment here and she replied that she is so relaxed that she didn't feel a need to.
OK. The reason for my mediocre rating is the dining experiences I had. If you're the type that doesn't care too much about dining service you might find this review a bit overly critical, but I do attribute a lot of value to this. I only ate at two of the four dining options. We had lunch three times at the Sandbar (bar/restaurant by the pools) and had breakfast three times at the Life Saving Station restaurant. In EVERY SINGLE instance, except for one, I had to actually get up and asked to be served! And then once the initial exchange at the table happened it was 20 minutes before we got our drinks. At our most resent lunch I got bold and decided to ask for a refill on my Diet Coke. My son, as a joke because we had already had 4 poor dining experiences, actually timed the time from request to getting the Diet Coke and it was 16 minutes and we had finished our meals. Now, I was a server in Los Angles for five years through school, so I know how to assess whether a staff is just slammed or simple ambivalent and it was definitely the latter. At no time was more than half the restaurant or outdoor seating filled. Additionally, servers would look directly at me and proceed to do other side work or chores. The last time I had my 9 year old son track someone down to take our order. I thought it was just me until I saw two other tables do the same thing. You may be asking yourself, "why would someone eat at a place after such a poor experience, a second, let alone third time?!" Two reasons, (1) the convenience of just being able to walk a few yards to grab a meal and get back to the pool/beach instead of having to jump in a car and drive a few miles and, (2) the thought that there's no possible way the same thing will happen again (Anyone know the definition of "insanity"? Apparently I don't)! Anyway, if this is something that isn't that big a deal for you, then disregard and reread the first half of this post. I will say that once "located" the dining staff were nice people, they just need to be retrained.
Net, net the Sanderling is a very good, chill, well done resort and I would stay here again without a second thought. I would just have breakfast and lunch somewhere else. read more