Beaches Negril

My family of five, kids ages 13,10, and 9 stayed at Beaches Negril Nov 23-28, 2003. We stayed in a suite which consist of a king bed, sitting area with a double pull-out sofa bed, roll-a-way, T.V., plenty of dresser drawer space, large dressing area with double sink, and bath. We had concierge service-which consist of stocking refrig., turndown service, making dinner and tour reservations. The kids had the time of their lives with the Fun Pals doing pool and beach activities. My oldest daughter loved the teen disco. My husband and myself felt safe because Lady Nordia (AWESOME FUN PAL) stayed with the teens every step of the way. The food was great to good, depending on the restaurant. We found that the Seville, Teppaneski(Japanese-what fun!), and the beach bar-b-que theme night to be the best. The food court has something to please any kid. The water activities and beach are great. There is snorkeling, sailboats, hobiecats, watersking, banana boat rides, scuba dives, and a huge fun water trampoline. The water is clear and the beach goes for a few miles. The night entertainment range from great to funny. We enjoyed the light hearted Jamaician entertainment. The only complaint that I have is for the money, room service should be offered at the suite level. Shop around for the best deal and enjoy!!! We all had a great time.

i stayed with a group of 7 with me and my lady in a garden view room in march of 2003- the resort wasnt bad but it felt like we where not welcome- gaurds with shotguns and so on- the drinks werent good at all and the service was really bad- im a person who can put up with a lot of #$%@ but to pay over $1500usd for bad service is very sad- also the location stank- i went to party but the age group was more 13-17 and 26 and up which just wasnt me- overall the place was nice but i think staying anywhere in the carribean is just not worth the cash- now i hear that day passes to natives are given out which is totally rediculous- if a native stays there for the same price as me ok- but to mix middle and high class people with the natives of Jamaica is a serious mistake in managment- if you go book activities way in advance- watch what you eat and dont expect much for your buck-

My wife and I, plus 11 yr old son, had a fantastic holiday at Beaches Negril. Our room had a king bed and sofa bed for Luke. The room was spacious, adequately furnished, with fridge, hair dryer, iron / ironing board, remote controlled a/c. The food, the staff and the activities were first class. We made an effort to speak 'patois' and the staff and locals responded with charm and friendliness. We walked along the beach to other resorts, such as Beaches Sandy Bay and Sandals but were happy to return to our home, Yeah mon! The water sports were great fun, though there appeared to be little or no tuition available, especially for water skiing beginners. The beach is beautiful and the sea lovely and warm. The grounds are immaculate and full of birds (feathered and non-feathered variety!). The only negative thing to say about the holiday concerned Air Jamaica, who offered a lousy service, with long flight delays and no communication with their customers. I will return to this resort, but not with Air Jamaica!

We've just spent a week at Beaches, Negril and I would like to strongly advise this resort to any families planning a vacation in Jamaica. Myself, my daughter, son-in-law and 1 year old grandson enjoyed beautiful accommodations, great food, loads of activities, very friendly and accommodating staff along with the most beautiful beach in all of Jamaica. The only complaint I have is with a few of the guests who chose to be rude and overbearing to the staff of the resort or got obnoxiously drunk forgetting that they were in a family resort. I would rate this as excellent value for the money.

If you are searching for the right place to host a destination wedding, Beaches Negril is it! We originally booked our wedding and honeymoon at Couples Swept Away, and then we took a weekend trip to Jamaica to view the resort, and decided that Couples was not what we were looking for! Don't get me wrong it was a very nice place, but it just was not a good fit! It was too laid back for our taste, we wanted something a little more upbeat! We had 10 family & friends that would be attending our wedding, and we needed somewhere nice, and affordable for them too! Some of our family & friends stayed at Sandy Bay which is also owned by Sandals, which also owns Beaches. Sandy Bay was less expensive than Beaches,and they had fewer ameenities, but the best part was that if you stayed at one of the Sandals resorts, you could play at any of them, so some of our more budget minded people stayed at Sandy Bay, and spent the entire day at Beaches with us for the entire day! Other times they stayed at their own resort which provided great service,and activities as well as entertainment. Frustrated, and not sure what to do, we struck out walking down that pristine white sandy beach, and we looked at several different resorts. Sometimes we were stopped by security, and we simply told them that we were there to see the wedding coordinator. As we walked along the beach we came upon Beaches Negril, and people were having a good time, there was music,and it was lively! We looked at each other and said "now this is what I'm talkin about." We walked onto the property, and went to see the wedding coordinator. She was not available, but the sales manager (Nicole) was available and we explained our situation to her,and she was more than happy to show us around the property, which by the way was absolutely beautiful! She then took us to several spots that they hold weddings, and said that we would be able to choose. Once I saw the gazebo on the beach I knew that this was the place for our wedding. Because we only had a little over a month to change our arrangements Nicole gave me a thorough list of everything that I would need to do to meet the filing deadlines for the license. Couples was nice enough to forward my paperwork over to Beaches, which meant less work for me. Not only was Beaches beautiful, but everyone was wonderful. The wedding coordinator (Nadine aka Keisha) was also wonderful as well as helpful. She made sure that everything that I needed,and wanted for my wedding day was in place. It was so strange how everything went so smoothly. It was as if it had been rehearsed! Everyone knew their role,and performed it exceptionally well, from the coordinator to the waiters,and waitresses. I guess its because they do this so much! They are definitely experts in my book! If you asked them to do something their response was "no problem maam" The best advice that I can give is to take the trip down to see the resort, if you can, they offer an over night trip to see the resort at a reduced rate, and if you can't go take my word for it you will not be dissappointed. Also you can save money by taking your own decorations for the gazebo, and take your own toasting glasses,and cake knife. They get you on the extras ie... cake knife $45.00 from resort, cake knife from walmart $9.00. Also don't forget to go to Beaches website and look at their specials,and download the brochure. They also offer the weddingmoon, which is a free wedding if you stay 5 days. If you decide to have your destination wedding there, just be patient they are not the qickest responders to emails,and phone calls, but they will get back to you! Not in your time, but in Jamaican time, they do not get in a hurry for anyone, for any reason, so don't put yourself thru the frustration, just leave a message and or send an e-mail, and someone will get back to you! This turned out to be one of the best decisions my husband and I could have ever made concerning our wedding! I felt like a princess on my wedding day! We will go back every year for our anniversary!

After spending countless hours searching the web for all inclusive family resorts and obtaining opinions from friends and travel agents, my wife and I decided on Beaches Negril. The trip included our children who are 19, 16 and 14 and was a celebration of our 25th anniversary. Not knowing what to expect and after reading the various reviews, we were cautious and curious. Beaches Negril could not have been a better choice. Our children are already asking when we will go back. Don't expect lobster, prime rib and champagne but expect to find what you've paid for, a fun filled family resort with good security and plenty of things to do. Beaches will be our choice in 05.

I read most of the reviews on this website and I will have to admit that I was a little skeptical about going to Beaches Negril. However I found some of the reviews to be true and others not true. Before I tell you how my vacation went you need to keep in mind that you cant please everyone. Recently my girlfriend and I visited the Beaches in Negril Jamaica the first week of September 2003. We had a wonderful time, first we flew out of Philadelphia on Air Jamaica the plane left on time and we arrived in Montego Bay on time. We were directed to the welcome desk for Beaches and Sandals. We gave them our names and were told to stay with our luggage and porter came and took them to the bus were we had about 1-1/2 hour bus drive to Negril. Everyone there was very helpful along the way to Negril we stopped at a small rest area that was operated by Sandals and were told that we could get a drink but it was not included in our package. We did not mind this since it was hot there. Upon arriving at Beaches we were told that our vacation started here and not to worry about anything. The young man asked if we wanted a drink and to please sit in the welcome area. After a few minutes he came with the keys plus he indicated that we were upgraded to another category. Arriving at our room it was very clean, the view was wonderful and the refrigerator was full with bottle water, soda and beer. The first thing that we did was that we went to the Dive shop and sign up for the scuba diving. The guys at the scuba shop were wonderful Tiny, Clink, and Calvin. We went diving for 3 days and I will have to admit the diving it self is not as good as Bonaire, Cozumel and Turks and Cacios however these guys made it all worth while. The food was great you can always find something there that you will like to eat. Since it was September they did not do all the activities that they had on their handouts. We had to go to the activity board everyday to see what has changed. The shows were great especially the Mad Hatters Dancers. We also took the trip to Dunns River Falls and of course climbed the falls. This ride is very long and the road is still under construction from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios but definitely worth the trip. We also left the resort a few times and felt very safe. We first went to Margaretville and had a wonderful time there no problems with any of the locals. We even had a very nice long talk with Stacy who was our waitress. Another time we went to Ricks Café this definitely worth going to see the guys jumping and diving off of the cliffs. One day we did have a maintenance problem but after calling the front desk they were there to fix the problem in 10 minutes or so. The guys at the pool bar were great they made sure that your drinks were full regardless whether they were alcohol or not. The fruit at breakfast was fantastic and the jerk pork and chicken was fantastic also. My girl friend and I are single parents and we are definitely considering bring our children to Beaches Negril. This was a fantastic trip and I will be turning to Beaches Negril one day.

We just returned from Beaches Negril, where we stayed 5 nights. We celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary by renewing our vows on the property and letting our 4 1/2 year old be the flower girl. Overall we had a great time, but there were a lot of things that could be improved to make Beaches Negril a better resort. The wedding staff was fantastic and did a great job. The photographer did an amazing job and our pictures are the best memory of the trip. The open air gym was very nice with lots of machines in good working order. There was always food and drink available and for the most part it was all good. The beach is truly one of the best I have ever been on - crystal clear water, the softest sand ever and plenty of chairs, palm trees and places for shade. The room was spacious and nice - we reserved a beach front suite with a stocked mini bar and concierge service. I would say the concierge service is a must, because this is who we called for more beer, water, milk... to the room and they reacted quickly. If you don't have that service - there is no room service or in room drinks. Bottles of water cost without the service. It was more expensive than the Honeymoon suite because it was supposed to be the absolute closest to the beach - but that was the ONLY difference they said. Well we faced the beach but were by no means closer than any other room - in fact I would say we were the farthest room away that was still facing the beach. Go for Honeymoon and save some money. The rooms all use the low wattage lightbulbs and it always seemed dark even if we had every light on. There were several spots in the ceiling that were constantly dripping. The safe was mounted so high that I could never see what was in there. I requested a wake up call one morning a when I answered the phone it was a loud buzzer - how much more would it cost them to just have a recording that says "Time to wake up." The 2 biggest disappointments were 1) the kids club and 2) the overall level of service. The kids club was more of a Disney Channel TV watching room. The rooms are very small and dark with a few bean bag chairs on the floor and the camp counselor basically just sat in the corner and watched TV too. There was an activity or 2 that my daughter did enjoy (tye-die shirt making, but when we showed up they informed me I had to bring something for her to tye-die! A quick purchase at the gift shop solved that.) I never felt the counselors went out of their way to greet the children either. They seemed pretty lazy. I did notice a male counselor in the older group who seemed to be really nice, so I guess it just depends on the person you wind up with. Which brings me to #2 - service. It was inconsistent. And it was definetely based on the person you were dealing with. The buffet restaurant staff was the worst. You felt guilty asking for anything and no one EVER smiled. I had to ask for silverware and napkins every morning and water and coffee refills were literally splashed into your cup. They always started breaking down the buffet 10 minutes before it was suppose to end, so don't wait until the last second to eat. The bar staff was mixed. There were certain teams of bartenders that made it so much fun to sit at the pool bar and have a great time and then there were some that made you feel guilty for asking for a drink. Overall we had a great time. It just could use a little tweaking and service improvements to be a really excellent place.

As a family of 4 (kids aged 3 & 5) we had a great time once we actually arrived at Beaches. The trip there (via Kingston) was a marathon nightmare and the direct flight home even worse. Sandals also own Air Jamaica and it is the worst airline I have ever flown with. The staff we rude, the food dire, plane dirty and lots of seat facilites were broken (lights, sound etc for movies). Our flight was cancelled after an 8 hour delay and the whole thing was handled very badly without an apology. However, the bit in the middle was good! The rooms are a little worn and shabby but the kids facillities are excellent and some of the great staff more than compensate for the miserable ones. The all-inclusive format is great for kids, and the entertainment is geared to them really ie kids fashion shows (other than the beach party nigth which was a riot!). You do get encouraged to stay onsite and can feel a bit stir crazy but watching the conveyor belt weddings on the beach is hilarious (as you sip another cocktail) and the diving was safe, well organised and excellent. If you are after a chill time, loads for the kids and beautiful surroundings this is good. We didn't pay full brochure price as we booked late if we had paid full price I would have been disappointed.

Beches Negril was sold to us as a LUXURY resort, when we arrived it was clear that it was not, paint was peeeling,tables in the restaurant were dirty! As the day progressed (we were there for two weeks in July 03,) we began to count them down to the day we could escape. The food was an odd mixture such as vegetables and goat curry. The guys on the beach were lazy and rude and wanted to sit in the shade all day, when they did work they were sloppy and dangerous. When you complained the management listened but did nothing, for the money paid to stay there you would have expected far better than this resort which is owned by sandals. The whole place has an air of dilapidation about it, and is used mainly by Americans on short breaks, but if you have to stay for two weeks it a nightmare with no night time entertainment, limited seating and no air conditioning. If you are thinking of the caribean dont think of beaches resorts.