Our positive experience started with our warm and welcoming arrival. Greeters with cool menthol wipes and ice water welcomed our four families. The check in process was organized and pleasant. We were assigned a GO that was available to us for
more +our questions and even joined us for lunch and provided tips and suggestions on making our stay that much more enjoyable.
The food was much better than I had expected. Good basic choices (pasta, burgers, hot dogs, etc..), variety (french, mexican, seafood) and delicious daily offerings (lamb, mahi mahi, steak,) Food was prepared in smaller quantities so that it did not sit that long. It felt like you had a 4 star chef at each section. The only thing that would have made our food experience better would be another dining option. The property offers two locations: Buffet and a sit down with a limited menu. Maybe a bar and grill, snack bar, cafe, something more casual.
Multiple pool offerings each offering something a little different but all were clean, comfortable and although well attended you did not feel overly crowded. There was a kid splash pool, a deeper pool with swimming lanes, adult/kid pool and adult only.
So if you just want to eat, drink and relax that could be fully enjoyed here but what I found to be the more enjoyable experience was participating in the plethora of activities offered. Trapeze school, ultimate frisbee, paddle boarding, ping pong, sailing, golf, Big Ball Tennis and regular tennis...just to name a few. Fellow vacationers offered friendly competition and play was guided by extremely friendly and engaging Club Med staff. One GO Anna stands out as you felt that she wanted you to have fun and enjoy some new experiences. She invited four of our party on an early morning paddle boarding adventure around the river. She taught a bunch of us have to sail so that at the end of the week we came in 2nd in a 8 team regatta.
One of the main reasons the four families settled on this vacation was the option of Kids Club for our 10 kids ranging in age from 4-11, which was included and available morning to dinner. Needless to say almost unanimously the kids did not like the club. They experienced 2hrs on our arrival day and cried to not make them go back. There were claims of the counselors being mean and I will say we did witness some curt and snotty behavior but these counselors are managing alot of children of different cultures and languages so that may add to the frustration. The Kids Club was not short on activities: trapeze, art, circus school, swimming, games, snacks, etc...I did not witness other children enjoying there time. If I had to do it again I think I would have confronted the counselors immediately to see if we could work together to make Kids Club work for the kids...I may have even tipped them (even though tipping did not seem prevalent)to see if that would warm the waters.
All in all I would recommend the vacation and would vacation again at a Club Med property.
Date of Stay: 07/30/2011
Children in Party: 1
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Club Med Sandpiper Bay
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