We stayed for 7 nights at this hotel commencing on the 25th November 2011. It was a real mixed bag with some good and some bad points. The bad points can and should be rectified by the hotel with little effort.

We stayed in a standard garden view room. Whilst the room was clean, it could do with a lick of paint and general maintenance upkeep. The sliding patio doors, for example, were difficult to open and close. On a positive note, the bed was large and very comfortable.

Staff are indifferent and will treat you with courtesy.
Drinks from the bar are of a good quality and served in a timely manner despite the bar being very busy at times. The same can't be said for the drinks service during breakfast and lunch time. It is common courtesy to be offered coffee/tea during breakfast or a cold drink during lunch and it does get tiresome having to ask for it halfway through the meal. This is where the hotel can easily improve and make the whole dining experience that more enjoyable.

Breakfast is served buffet style. Lunch and dinners are either buffet or a-la-carte with reservations required for most evening meals. The quality of all the meals we had was very good.

A live band plays 2 to 3 times per week with the remainder taped music.

Beach is very nice with plenty of sun loungers available though by 10AM you were out of luck if you wanted one. Same for the loungers provided by the pool. Generally the amenities were acceptable and clean However, there is only set of toilets (one female and one for males) provided in the main bar area which is not sufficient.

Overall, we had a good holiday and would consider going back.

The hotel is very clean, although there were a few smells from the so called swim up bar (the swim up part is not used, so you have to get out of the pool to get a drink).
The food is awfull, three a la carte restaurants, very poor choice, all menus very similar and take forever to be served. The so called childrens buffet (adults allowed) is the same every day, chicken nuggets, beefburgers, hot dogs and some sort of vegetable if your lucky. To eat out is very expensive.
Location can not be faulted but do not expect too much from St. Lawrence Gap, OK if you live in the country and have never visited a town.
Staff very polite but only a couple are friendly.
Entertainment, what entertainment, a live band (bring ear plugs) on the last night of a two week stay. The other nights was someone playing a keyboard but miming to a tape.
The rooms in the garden blocks are spacious but still dated even after the refit, small scratched baths, trickle of a shower, old beaten entrance doors with paint all over the handles etc.
If you have a child / baby sharing, you are forced to upgrade to a Superior Garden Room for approx

Having stayed at previous Almond Resorts hotels, we were slightly disappointed by the Almond Casuarina Beach Resort. I'm sure much of our disappointment were niggerly teething issues which will be resolved once this new hotel beds down.

Location could not be faulted. Hotel is on a wonderful sandy beach with light blue Caribbean seas. Plenty of sunbeds on the beach.

Room quality fine for hotel of this rating. Some items still missing from rooms (towel rails, handles on some doors, bedding valence).

Food in restaurants of a good quality and presentation style, but rather repetitive. The Pizzeria was still under construction, as was the kids buffet restaurant (but in fairness Virgin advertised neither) - this left the main restaurant (Waves), the Caribbean themed one (Enids) and the seafood one (Tides). Reservations are required for all three and you need to think about booking Enids or Tides about 3 days out. The menu in the main restaurant for dinner didn't change for 3 days and although it offered 5 choices for starters and 5 for a main dish, after three days I expected some more variety. The dinner menu at Enids remains the same. Not sure about Waves as we only ate there once at night. During the day you have the option of a lunchtime beach BBQ or to eat fromthe menu at Tides (or Waves if the weather does not permit a BBQ). Kids can eat from a kids buffet in the main restaurant from 4.30pm and this offered the usual kid friendly food, but our two kids got fed up quickly with the lack of variety there as well (pizza, chips, chicken nuggets and spagetti each day).

Pools OK but small if hotel is full (as it was during the second part of our stay). Usual sunbed issues (it's not the Germans but the BRITISH! who are guilty of reserving the beds very early then in many cases not appearing to use them until just before lunch). Hotel recently designated the larger pool by block 1 as adult only. Completely unreasonable (this pool is the nearest to the beach) and every oneignored the sign.

Staff need to sharpen up. Mixed bag. Some very good and I suspect came from other Almond Resorts (we met the same kids club supervisor from Almond Beach Village from two years previous who somehow remembered our kids and came straight up to them to say hello) - other staff needed a good shake to wake them up. Worst are the reception/guest service staff who needed a rocket placed somewhere!