I have been to both the Sandals Grande on St Lucia as well as Sandals Negril so perhaps could offer you a view on both. Congrats by the way, we are also going on our honeymoon this October! After having been to the Caribbean a couple times in the not so distant past, we have decided on 2 weeks in Hawaii this time around, we cant wait. But on to Sandals.
If I had to take a step back and decide again whether or not we would go back, we probably would not. We are definitely in your camp though, we really wanted to have all inclusive. And even after being disappointed in Negril, we gave Sandals another try, in hopes that it would get better. But once we got there, it was sort of like well, its all included, but the meals are average at best, and the drinks arent that great either. Maybe one beer or two on tap at the most (red stripe in jamaica and piton in st lucia) then miller lite in cans (no bottles at either resort). The mixed drinks at both resorts were just OK, they were served in tiny cups and werent all that great. So yes, it is free and yes you can drink as much as you want, but it wasnt anything to write home about. It was nice getting Pina Coladas and bringing them down to the beach, but by the time you get all set up, your drinks are gone, and they arent keen on serving you more than one at a time.
Sandals, I think in all cases, takes over older resorts and slaps their name on them. We found the suites to be just that, older rooms with a new coat of paint. But as we talked to other couples, we got the feeling most of their resorts were like that.
It also depends what kind of vacation you want. We were really looking for a more quiet laid back vacation and figured we had it made at a resort that had no kids. No such luck. Sandals are very, very heavy into their "Playmakers" (activity hosts) getting you into their games during the day- you can win little prizes for each game you play and at the end of the week they give away bigger prizes for the people with the most points. Im not kidding some people REALLY get into this. So instead of a bunch of kids running around screaming, you have 50+ year old drunk adults playing pool twister or having 3 legged races on the beach all afternoon. Its cool if thats what you want, but you couldnt sit and read a book by the pool. It was not what we were looking for at all, but its really up to the individual going to decide what they want.
When we finally got back from St Lucia and I priced it out, we could have stayed in a suite at the Ritz Carlton St Thomas and had $200 a day or so for food and drinks left over. I mean, we paid something like $900/night in high season, which looking back on it was ridiculous. But if you look on Sandals site, $400 per night per person (once you add on taxes) is average if you look at all their resorts and room categories, depending on what time you go, so by no means did we pay a lot of money in comparison to some of the higher room categories.
But when I think about it now, no way I would pay that much again to go there, too many other resorts I could go to and have money left over. Is it a pain to always pay for drinks? Sure, but at least if I want a Sam Adams or Heineken I can get it, and not settle for whatever shite beer they have. Some little things got to me too, like the bars werent open in the morning, so if you wanted a bloody mary, or mimosa, it took an act of god to get one. And it makes you feel like, shit for this much money, and for something you claim is ALL-inclusive, does the attitutude need to be included?
Anyway, sorry to vote 'no' on this.
