As a travel agent, I try to get first hand experience with the destinations that I book so that I can make the best possible recommendations to my clients (it’s one of the perks of the job). Recently I had the opportunity to visit both Sandals and Beaches resorts in Negril, Jamaica to see for myself why these resort are so popular with guests.
Sandals and Beaches are Luxury All-Inclusive resorts located in the Caribbean. Sandals is for adults only, and Beaches, the sister resort, is open to families. Both Sandals and Beaches are known for their amazing beachfront locations, a wide variety of delicious food options, unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, impeccable service, and a plethora of water and land based activities all included in the one price. All this, including tips, are included in the cost.
Sandals and Beaches are Luxury All-Inclusive resorts located in the Caribbean. Sandals is for adults only, and Beaches, the sister resort, is open to families. Both Sandals and Beaches are known for their amazing beachfront locations, a wide variety of delicious food options, unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, impeccable service, and a plethora of water and land based activities all included in the one price. All this, including tips, are included in the cost.
Arrival
We flew into Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica. After a long travel day, getting through immigration and customs in Jamaica can be a bit chaotic. I recommend using Club Mobay which is a VIP service that will whisk you through the express lines and have you sipping on rum punch before you know it! Once through immigration and customs, we checked into the Sandals lounge. The Sandals lounge has cold drinks, snacks, restrooms, and a comfortable place to rest while you wait for your shuttle bus to the resort. We only waited about 10 minutes and then we were escorted out to the shuttle.
The ride on the shuttle from the airport to Negril is about 90 minutes, mostly along the coastline, with some gorgeous views of the Caribbean Sea. Once we arrived at Sandals Negril, we entered the spectacular open air lobby and were greeted by the friendly, welcoming Sandals staff and a cool wash cloth that was surprisingly refreshing! Check-in was quick and easy and we were on our way to our beachfront room.
The ride on the shuttle from the airport to Negril is about 90 minutes, mostly along the coastline, with some gorgeous views of the Caribbean Sea. Once we arrived at Sandals Negril, we entered the spectacular open air lobby and were greeted by the friendly, welcoming Sandals staff and a cool wash cloth that was surprisingly refreshing! Check-in was quick and easy and we were on our way to our beachfront room.
The Rooms
Sandals Resorts have 3 categories of Rooms: Luxury, Club, and Butler. We stayed in the Paradise Honeymoon Beachfront Walkout Club Level Room. The absolute star of the show in this room is the balcony view right out onto the beach and the sea. On the westernmost coast of Jamaica, Negril offered us some of the most beautiful sunsets we have ever seen, many of which we viewed while sipping cocktails on our private balcony. If we were in our room we were on that balcony! The rest of the room was beautiful with tile floors, a 4 poster king size bed with the most comfortable bed and pillows ever, granite counter tops and a rainfall shower head in the bathroom. One of the nice things about a club level room is the fully stocked mini-fridge which had water, soda, beer, wine, cocktail mixers, and premium liquors. The club level rooms also include room service, concierge services, and special events like exclusive wine tastings and cocktail parties.
Sandals Resorts are known for their Butler category rooms. These rooms include a personal butler who is at your service 27/7. During our stay, we met several people who were staying in the Butler suites who could not speak more highly of the experience! Several of these guests have returned to this resort year after year and request the same butlers at every trip. The butlers are amazing at anticipating your needs before you even think of them. Want to relax on the beach? Your butler will reserve chairs and bring you a cooler of water and drinks. Hungry for lunch? Your butler will bring your food right to your chair on the beach. Want some privacy in your room after dinner? No problem, your butler will draw a bubble bath filled with rose petals, and then disappear into the night. If you are looking for the ultimate service and pampering then a butler category room is the way to go.
Sandals Resorts are known for their Butler category rooms. These rooms include a personal butler who is at your service 27/7. During our stay, we met several people who were staying in the Butler suites who could not speak more highly of the experience! Several of these guests have returned to this resort year after year and request the same butlers at every trip. The butlers are amazing at anticipating your needs before you even think of them. Want to relax on the beach? Your butler will reserve chairs and bring you a cooler of water and drinks. Hungry for lunch? Your butler will bring your food right to your chair on the beach. Want some privacy in your room after dinner? No problem, your butler will draw a bubble bath filled with rose petals, and then disappear into the night. If you are looking for the ultimate service and pampering then a butler category room is the way to go.
Activities
Before I went to a Sandals I was concerned that I might get bored after a few days of lying around on the beach. Boy, was I wrong! Once we were there, I realized that there are so many activities that we didn’t even have time for everything we wanted to do. They have just about every watersport that you can imagine: kayak, paddleboard, aqua trike, hobie cats, paddle boats, water skiing, tubing, wake boarding, and more. Want to see under the sea? Take a trip in a glass bottom boat or go snorkeling! Are you scuba certified? Head out for an underwater adventure at no extra cost. Not certified? Sandals has master trainers that will certify you for an extra cost. Scuba to much for you? Try Snuba, a combination of snorkeling and scuba that gets you closer to sea life than snorkeling. Land activities include beach volleyball, shuffle board, lawn chess, croquet, pool, board games, or just relax in a hammock and take a nap. My favorite activity was the water skiing. I have not been water skiing in many years, but I decided to give it a try and realized that it came back to me very quickly. I had so much fun and the staff was wonderful at making me feel comfortable and safe. We set out kayaking on the sea and saw many paddleboarders. Many of the guests were trying something they’ve never done. Since it’s all included, why not give something new a try!
Food and Drinks
One of the first things we did after we got settled into our room was to make our dining reservations for each night of our stay. Since we were staying in a club level room, we simply walked down to the Sandals Club Lounge and the helpful concierge staff handled all of the reservations for us. At Sandals Negril there we 7 different dining option, some require reservations, and some are first-come, first-served. There was a huge variety to suit every taste including steak, seafood, lobster, chicken, burgers & wood fired pizza. We loved trying some of the Jamaican specialties such as Jamaican Beef Patties, Jerk Chicken, and the national breakfast dish, Ackee and Salt Fish.
Many of the restaurants are completely open air and right on the beach. It was beautiful to watch the sun setting over the Caribbean Sea while sipping on a cocktail and enjoying some appetizers. Speaking of cocktails, each restaurant has its own signature drink and I highly recommend you try them all. That is the beauty of all-inclusive. You can have as much as you want, and try anything you want. One night our server offered a choice of 3 different deserts after dinner, but I couldn’t decide so just asked her to bring one of each. I also learned that several of the restaurants have secret menus, so be sure to ask me later about that.
When it comes to drinks, there are 5 different bars to choose from. Each bar has its own unique character, and you will quickly find that the bartenders are some of the most friendly staff you have ever met. We loved chatting with the bartenders and trying their unique signature drinks. If you can think of it, they can make it and of course when you are on a tropical island, you have to try some of the frozen specialties.
As much as we loved the restaurants, we also loved the convenience of the room service. Whether it is coffee and breakfast in the morning on our balcony or a late night snack, it was awesome to have so many choices. If you order at prime meal times it may take a while to get your food, but it was well worth the wait.
Many of the restaurants are completely open air and right on the beach. It was beautiful to watch the sun setting over the Caribbean Sea while sipping on a cocktail and enjoying some appetizers. Speaking of cocktails, each restaurant has its own signature drink and I highly recommend you try them all. That is the beauty of all-inclusive. You can have as much as you want, and try anything you want. One night our server offered a choice of 3 different deserts after dinner, but I couldn’t decide so just asked her to bring one of each. I also learned that several of the restaurants have secret menus, so be sure to ask me later about that.
When it comes to drinks, there are 5 different bars to choose from. Each bar has its own unique character, and you will quickly find that the bartenders are some of the most friendly staff you have ever met. We loved chatting with the bartenders and trying their unique signature drinks. If you can think of it, they can make it and of course when you are on a tropical island, you have to try some of the frozen specialties.
As much as we loved the restaurants, we also loved the convenience of the room service. Whether it is coffee and breakfast in the morning on our balcony or a late night snack, it was awesome to have so many choices. If you order at prime meal times it may take a while to get your food, but it was well worth the wait.
Beaches Resort for the Family
While Sandals is an adults only resort, Beaches is focused on the whole family. Beaches Negril is about 2 miles down the beach from Sandals. You could walk along the beach or the front desk staff will be happy to call a taxi for you. We decided to spend a day at Beaches, to try some of their restaurants and see if it is someplace that we would want to come back to with our kids. The answer is YES!
Beaches Resort has so many different options for all ages. We loved the waterpark with a lazy river, water slides, and a water playground. Of course they have amazing pools and a gorgeous beach with loads of different water sports. When it comes to food, there is a pizza shop, soft serve ice cream stand, a FroYo shop where you can add dozens of different toppings to your frozen yogurt, and a French Café where you can get crepes and baked treats. Families can eat everything from Japanese Hibachi to Italian to Sushi, and everything in between.
There is an XBox lounge and a kids camp that takes kids from newborn to 10 years old. The staff in the kids camp are all members of the International Nanny Association with special training in safety, nutrition and child development. The Beaches Kids’ Camp is an Advanced Certified Autism Center, so families with special needs can know their children will be well-cared for on vacation. Tweens and Teens have their own special programs and spaces that include dance parties, karaoke, pool Olympics, and dive-in movies. We overheard one pre-teen telling her family how cool the kids camp was and how she couldn’t wait to go back after lunch. Kids were playing everywhere! Older children and teens were heading out to the FroYo armed with room numbers to get treats all on their own. The beachside bars make virgin frozen drinks for the kids to enjoy. Thinking of our own children, I cannot imagine how much fun they would have with all the opportunities to run around on this resort. Beaches has an amazing energy and it was incredible to see so many families having fun and making memories together.
Beaches Resort has so many different options for all ages. We loved the waterpark with a lazy river, water slides, and a water playground. Of course they have amazing pools and a gorgeous beach with loads of different water sports. When it comes to food, there is a pizza shop, soft serve ice cream stand, a FroYo shop where you can add dozens of different toppings to your frozen yogurt, and a French Café where you can get crepes and baked treats. Families can eat everything from Japanese Hibachi to Italian to Sushi, and everything in between.
There is an XBox lounge and a kids camp that takes kids from newborn to 10 years old. The staff in the kids camp are all members of the International Nanny Association with special training in safety, nutrition and child development. The Beaches Kids’ Camp is an Advanced Certified Autism Center, so families with special needs can know their children will be well-cared for on vacation. Tweens and Teens have their own special programs and spaces that include dance parties, karaoke, pool Olympics, and dive-in movies. We overheard one pre-teen telling her family how cool the kids camp was and how she couldn’t wait to go back after lunch. Kids were playing everywhere! Older children and teens were heading out to the FroYo armed with room numbers to get treats all on their own. The beachside bars make virgin frozen drinks for the kids to enjoy. Thinking of our own children, I cannot imagine how much fun they would have with all the opportunities to run around on this resort. Beaches has an amazing energy and it was incredible to see so many families having fun and making memories together.
Overall Impressions
Sandals Negril is beautifully maintained, with flowering gardens, pristine beaches, palm trees, palapas, hammocks, hanging swings, and fire pits. We saw staff out early every morning raking the beach, setting up beach chairs, and making sure every detail was perfect for the day. There is something for everyone, whether you want action and excitement, or just want to relax. The main pool with its swim up bar is a hub of music and activities all day long. Other pools were quieter for those that just wanted to lounge with a drink or read a book. The resort sits on 7-mile beach with beautiful, calm blue water and waves that gently lap up on the sand. Every evening we watched the sunset from our balcony or the beach before making our way to dinner in open air restaurants. In the evenings, the main stage lit up with various musical performances and entertainment depending on the theme of the night, and many of the guests gathered to mingle in the main bar. The whole atmosphere of the resort was very laid back and was the perfect getaway for fun in the sun and to refresh our spirit.
