This hotel is closing from 31 August to 3 October 2008 for an extensive renovation. The changes include new soft goods, lighting fixtures and bigger flat-screen TVs in the 112 guest rooms. Two new limousines will be added for guest transfers. Also, Sandy Lane will be working on a new line of treatments and products in the spa, and new furnishings and decor in public areas. The resort's Bajan Blue restaurant on the beach level, one of four restaurants on the property, is undergoing a total overhaul.
On the west coast, about 1 km south of Holetown, this fabled property reopened in 2001 to mixed reviews but appears to have righted most of what was wrong with it. This is now considered to be, if not the best, at least one of the most extravagant hotels in the Caribbean and the world.
Unfortunately, its reputation tends to draw a comical cast of Hollywood, Bollywood and jolly London-town celebs, hob-nobbers and voyeurs with generally more money than taste or sense. With the dollar at an all-time low on the world market, Americans ordering a Coke and a burger with fries by the pool should be prepared to drop about US$25. Couple that with erratic service (sometimes prescient, sometimes slow) and a recipe for frustration is created. Still, some folks think this place is nirvana.
Built in 1961 for socialite Ronald Tree as a plush roost for visiting friends and illusive celebrities, this recast coral-stone fantasy rests in the hands of cunning Irish investors. Their main intent, or so at times it seems, is to lure the ultra-rich on holiday and then convince them to buy extravagant residences up on the hill beside the notable new 27-hole golf course.
Once inside the lobby, new arrivals are greeted with the pomp and circumstance of a visiting dignitary. The general manager and his entourage attempt to greet arrivals with bows and handshakes, while attendants offer freshly squeezed juice and orchid-draped towels, chilled and ready to refresh.
Guests are then escorted to some of the largest and best-equipped hotel rooms on the planet. The lobby sets the tone, with exceptional English colonial appointments that stand out amidst the custom contemporary pieces.
Dining here is among the most expensive on the island, though some argue its position in the ranks, with the Restaurant at South Sea being the main contender for quality and imagination. L'Acajou, the fine dining venue, overlooks the beach. Many of the chef's French-inspired selections are accented with Asian influences. Seafood is prominently featured, and the service and wine selection are superb.
Bajan Blue is aptly named for its Bajan-inspired fare and blue-water vistas. All meals are served here, and the breakfasts (thoughtfully included in the rates) are lavish and fresh. Thirsts are sated in four bars, including the born-again Monkey Bar, where a delightful tropical mural is the backdrop. There are also beachside and poolside watering holes, as well as a fancy bar and grill overlooking the 18th hole of the golf course.
Recreation is on an unprecedented scale, with an enormous free-form pool. The 47,000-sq-ft spa offers a long list of heath and beauty treatments, an excellent gym, saunas, whirlpools and changing rooms. In the 
impressive sauna, a heated amethyst boulder radiates healing steam.
Watersports are equally exhausting, and the children's club is an educational center as well as a play land with professional staffers. Duffers enjoy two superb 18-hole Tom Fazio-designed golf courses, as well as the original nine-hole Sandy Lane course. The tennis club includes nine lit tennis courts with two different surfaces. Equestrian pursuits (trail rides, or lessons in dressage, jumping or polo) can be arranged.
Five meeting rooms for up to 200 people (outside of winter season,) tony shops and a talented concierge round out the facilities. Parking is free, and pets are allowed. For an additional charge, guests are whisked to the airport in the hotel's Bentley.
The generous accommodations (averaging 900 sq ft) are slathered in creamy marble and appointed with quality reproduction furniture. Both housekeepers and maintenance work hard to keep these units looking great. The king beds are piled high with throw pillows, and Porthault bedding and imported mattresses ensure sweet dreams.
The amenities roster incorporates such high-tech goodies as electronic do-not-disturb signs and bedside control panels. The geeky phones are complicated—one careless move, and the maid, room-service staff, the general manager or doctor is liable to be ringing your soothing little doorbell.
Minibars, TVs, and DVD and CD players are disguised in period cabinetry. 
Safes hide in vast closets alongside robes and slippers, and baths offer soaking tubs, stall showers, above-counter mirrors with anti-fogging devices, and parabolic speakers. Separate WCs are a nice perk.
If that weren't enough, the living room-sized terraces are furnished with sofas, armchairs, coffee tables and lamps. There are a small number of garden-view units, Orchid Rooms, but anyone who can afford to stay here and dine on-site would be foolish not to opt for one of the Ocean Rooms.
The suites are even larger and more sumptuous, with the top choice, the two penthouse suites overlooking the beach. For those who sprinkle diamonds on their cornflakes and think nothing of it, the extravagant five-bedroom Sandy Lane Villa offers more than 7,000 sq ft of luxury at upwards of $20,000 per night.
Room service is nonstop, housekeeping makes multiple daily stops, and turndown, fresh flowers, shoeshine, and optional valets to unpack and press guests' wardrobe are the norm.
Some returnees complain of too much glitz, and some new arrivals have expressed their distaste at the cold demeanor of this sunshine resort. But there is no denying that the owners and management of this fashionable fortress have left no stone unturned in their search for ways to impress Sandy Lane's wealthy and demanding clientele.
