Sandals Royal Caribbean Hotel

We got married at Sandals Royal caribbean Montego Bay on 10.12.2003 & it was FAB. We were worried about some of the stuff we had read but it was great. Travel tips: have some US dollars small denominations with you. Although there is a tip-free policy in the hotel this doesn't apply to the bag carriers at the airport and after a 12 hour flight u may give them too much just to get rid of them. Also our rooom cleaner laid out such beautiful flowers on our wedding day that we just had to leave her something in the room. Also, take a few photos yourself as the photo quality is not always US/European standard.

My husband & I just returned from SRC(1/15-1/21/04) and had a very relaxing and beautiful vacation. We've visited many other AI before but felt SRC was one of the best thus far. We had a honeymoon, beach front conceige room, breakfast on our patio daily, gourmet dinners ( all good except the Pavillion-so, so), lobster dinner (request it the day before at the Regency) and top notch drinks. We also requested a late check out and had no problem getting it. Our flight was at 5pm and we were able to stay in our room until 2pm. Upon check out we were given a bottle of Bailys' Irish cream and driven to the airport in a limo. The staff went out of their way to appealing to us. The rooms are a bit small as well as the beach but there is a private island which makes up for it all. I recommend SRC to all if your visiting Montego Bay.

First reaction was one of disappointment, the resort certainly does live up to the image potrayed in the Sandals brouchure. We had a room upgrade because we were celebrating an anniversary, at best it was a good 3*. The beach was not as beautiful as illustrated. I think the resort is ready for a refurbishment. Would we go back? Yes! The food was great & the staff were excellent. Most relaxing.

This site (the reviews) helped me in making my decision on where to go on my honeymoon that I must now give back to help the future honeymooners/vacationers. First of all, I have to admit that I was a little worried after reading some of the bad reviews. My wife and I were married on December 27th, 2003 and left for Jamaica at 6:00am on December 28th, 2003. We arrived in Montego Bay, Jamaica at 10:30am so needless to say we were dead tired with little sleep. Once our plane touched down, we got our luggage and went to the Sandals desk. At the airport, there are guys (they don t work for Sandals) who will take your luggage to the vans. Be prepared to tip them! Also, be prepared to tip the van driver. Our driver was not affiliated with Sandals, which was surprising to me because I thought it was included. Anyways, once we entered SRC, we were immediately greeted with a smile and a cold towel! We didn t have to touch our luggage from that point. We were seated in the lobby and given a glass of champagne while we filled out our registration paperwork. Our room was not ready until the afternoon so we were taken to the fitness center so we could change. We were able to relax and eat/drink before our room was ready. In some of the reviews, they say to make reservations as soon as you get there. They are right! Once you are finished with the registration, go to guest services and make your dinner reservations for the nights that you would like. We stayed in a Grande Luxe Beachfront room in the Windsor Block (right in front of the volleyball court). I recommend staying on the 1st floor. We had a patio that walked right out to the beach! I think it is definitely worth any extra money! My wife wanted a 1st floor room so when we were filling out our paperwork, we just requested a 1st floor room and got it! I guess since we were there so early in the morning, we were able to get it. They told us that we originally were going to be on the 2nd floor. So just ask and maybe you ll get it! The beach is not huge but it was big enough. We never felt as though we were crowed which was a plus. Whether you want to lie out on the beach or the pool, be sure to get your chair early in the morning. SRC is definitely for people who are laid back and want to relax on the beach (which we are). It was a mix of young and older people but probably a little more of the older crowd. The Players were great! They definitely got you on your feet to do the fun activities that they have. My wife and I won a ton of points! The food was great! Most mornings we had breakfast at the Regency (buffet). They had almost everything you could imagine. We also had continental breakfast served in our room. That was nice because we could sit on our patio early in the morning and watch the ocean while we ate. For lunch, we mainly ate at the Beach Grille. I recommend the jerk burger and jerk chicken. Good stuff! In terms of the drinks, the alcohol was flowing!!!!!! My wife and I loved the hummingbird . It s a must! Some reviews have said that they don t give you enough alcohol. If you don t have enough, ASK FOR MORE!!!!!! Believe me, they have plenty of alcohol to serve! I never had to wait too long for a drink. There were always enough people there to serve drinks. For dinner, we ate twice at the Royal Thai (private island). It s a must! The food was ok but I loved being on a separate island for dinner. The atmosphere was awesome to spend with your loved one. I would also recommend eating at the Courtyard. We didn t eat there until our last day so I think we missed out a little. We spent a day at Sandals Montego Bay but were not impressed. If you are a person that likes to party and need to have a lot of things going on, then Sandals Mobay is the place for you. Their beach was huge and nice but we thought that resort was just not what we were looking for. So to finalize, Sandals RC is an awesome place for honeymooners/vacationers to relax and enjoy. I would definitely recommend this resort for it s excellent service, food, and activities. Once you step on the property, you really didn t have to lift a finger! My wife and I are planning to try another Sandals resort for our one-year anniversary. I can t wait!!!!!!!

My husband and I had a great time at SRC. We were kind of worried from some of the reviews we read but I don t know where they stayed because our stay was perfect. We eloped and with a few home matters in the air and not knowing how our families would take the news we were kind of nervous and anxious. When we arrived at SRC we were toted to a seating area with two other couples for registration and were given a glass of champagne or what ever we wanted to drink. Our travel agent Evelyn from Professional Travel had our pre-registration already confirmed so our wait was shorter than the other couples there with us. We all received very nice toiletry bags with a nice sized bottles of Shampoo, Conditioner, Shower Gel and Lotion which was very nice, the bag came in very handy for a tiny purse. As we were also getting married at the resort we had a welcome letter from Vannette, the wedding coordinator, letting us know when we were to meet with her and Rev. Gordon who was absolutely delightful. Our room was a deluxe category but we did not have concierge service but I don t think we missed out on much. Our room had a beautiful view of the courtyard right by the lawn chess and close to the pool and beach grill, we even had a hammock in the back of our room. Since we eloped and had no one at the resort with us Vannette and Federico, a F&B manager in training will be going to their new resort opening in April called White House, were our witnesses and we actual formed a good relationship with them through the week. Our wedding took place at the East Gazebo right on the Sea, it was breath taking, it was 10 am not a cloud in sight, we did experience a plane but Rev. Gordon stopped the ceremony until the plane passed. Our video of the wedding is excellent, very professional and way more then we expected it to be, and we got it the next day. The editing and effects used to put the tape together is special and our families loved it. It is definitely worth the $150.00 also the photos were perfect, the photographer was great and we had first oinly purchased the 12 photo package but the quality of the prints plus the fact you get your negatives for reprints was worth it, we actually upgraded to the 24 photo package and were very happy with everything about the wedding. The meals were excellent. Our Wedding dinner menu was personalized for us and the meal was divine, the only meal we did not like so much was dinner at the Regency, I definitely recommend going to Montego Bay and having the Italian and as a very special treat we even had lobster! I simply put a request in on Tuesday of our stay and we had a wonderful lobster dinner on Thursday. Great Service and they exceeded our expectations. We have always done the all-inclusive resort for our vacations but this year it was top notch. I have never met a staff friendlier then the Sandal s staff. I am in the industry and wish my maintenance staff went out of their way to say hello to every guest as they walk by. It was absolutely more then we expected. WE also loved the wild life, ie peacocks and cats, and my husband hates cats. The only down note I have to say were the land sharks on surf boards, but security made sure they didn t bother you unless you wanted them to. We will definitely be joining the Signature Guest program and thanks to Federico showing us the White House plans we will be visiting him there next year. Enjoy your trip we loved ours.

I thought this was a great place to spend a honeymoon! After the bad reviews I read I was concerned but I thought it was great! The Montego Bay airport was a little sketchy but as soon as we met our Sandals Rep we were taken care of. Our bags were taken and we were headed to the shuttle bus to our resort (porters are not part of the Sandals package and they flat out ask for tips). The trip to the resort took only 10 minutes including a stop at Sandals Montego Bay and we were greeted with champagne upon our arrival. Our room was nice, although nothing fancy (it was a Premium room) but it had a nice view and balcony. Most of our days were spent first going to breakfast buffet at Regency (great breakfast buffet's but I would skip lunch next time--stick to the Beach Grill. Good hamburgers, nachos, fries etc) then we tried to snorkel each day however the water was too rough every single day. So we would head to the beach (small but nice) or the island (beautiful, peaceful, good bar, clothing optional), have some drinks, play pool, swim, then get shower, get dressed for dinner, have a few drinks, dance and go to bed! Resturaunts were very nice, we liked the Courtyard the best, loved the no tipping. Yes, the beach vendors were annoying, and the shower went from freezing to steaming in a split second, but it certainly wasn't anything to that would RUIN a vacation!!! Overall, a great, relaxing, honeymoon!

Our third visit to a Jamaican Sandals resort went beautifully! We were there over Thanksgiving from November 26th thru December 3rd. As always, we hate leaving the gorgeous island and wonderful people. I just can't believe the negative comments people have and want to say that a vacation is as good as you make it. Yes, things move more slowly and there are local vendors to deal with, but hey, your're in another country and that's how they do things. SRC was not as nice for us as the Negril resort because it was a little more laid-back and we like to party, but we had as much fun as we always do going to Sandals. The food was extremely good to us (as we're not used to luxury dining so it was exceptional) and the entertainment was fantastic. Casino Night was a total blast and the Beach Party too. We participated in quite a few "events" and had a great time. I highly recommed playing Jamaican Baseball and pool or beach vooleyball, as both are a great way to meet people from all over the world. If that's too active for you, lay by the beach or pool and participate in the trivia or Jamaican history-learning hours. The only downside to our trip was that due to high winds the water was too rough to snorkel. Other than that, we made sure to have a good time. Granted, Sandals is pricey, but if you want super-pampering, or to be catered to every minute, it's not the type of resort for you. The staff at Sandals are there to help you have a good time. Not force you! All the more reason to ensure you yourself have a great time and go with the flow of the island. If you do that, "everyting wil be irie, mon!"

This being our fourth trip to a Sandals Resort, we had high expectations of Sandals Royal Carribean. Although we had a good time, our trip to SRC did not meet our expectations. It was difficult for us not to compare to Sandal's Ochos Rios, Negril, and Dunn's Resorts; but if it had not been for the Concierge Service, this trip would have been very dissappointing. Here's the skinny -- PAY FOR THE CONCIERGE SERVICE; especially if you are a returning Signature Guest. Because we paid for Concierge service, we were whisked away to a private Concierge room where we were given the utmost attention. Our room, a beachfront honeymoon suite, was pretty nice except the Watersports equipment was stored in front of our room every evening around 5:00 PM. We were expecting to be in the Kensington Block (away from the main hub of the resort) but the rooms in that block were being renovated. Bummer! The room we stayed in was located in the Windsor Block, where it was noisier than we would have liked. The in-room mini-bar is to die for. The room service comes in handy...please believe me! The food leaned toward a Jamaican cuisine. I usually do not have a problem adapting to the food, but, I struggled this time. The selection was average at best. The Royal Thai Restaurant was excellent. We really didn't have any interest in trying the other restaurants on the property. They just didn't look appealing. The Beach Grill was good, but it got old after a while. I recommend dining at Sandal's Montego Bay Resort's Tokyo Joe's. Also, the Beach Party Buffet was excellent and is far better than any buffet at SRC. SMB's beach is far superior than SRC's beach. Don't even think about going over to Sandal's Inn (Sandals should drop that resort from their franchise, seriously). Since we are in our 30's, we are active and enjoyed playing all of the games that are offered (we won a bottle of Rum, two Sandals Necklaces, a Sandals Key Chain, and a Sandals RC Commemorative T-Shirt signed by all the playmakers because we totaled a very high number of points for participating in the games). My wife was offended at the Beach Party when two guys exposed themselves during a couples game of switching clothes in 60 seconds. That was wild. He should of went to Hedonism! The Piano Bar Sing along was very fun. The Karaoke was fun as well. I was able to Scuba Dive (you have to pass a fitness test) and it was great. Overall we had a good time, but we expected better treatment as returing Signature Guests. For example, when we went to Sandals Ochos Rios for our second visit, we recieved a chilled bottle of Champagne. The next day we received two thirty minute massages. The next day after that, we received T-Shirts, Blue Mountain Coffee, and a bottle of Rum (beautifuly packaged). At SRC, on the second day, we received two T-Shirts, a bottle of Rum, neither were packaged...they just handed the items to us. I tried to place it on the bed and make it look pretty for the sake of my wife, but, my attempt was futile. The kicker was that they handed us a coupon which gave us a 15% discount on any $50 or more purchase in their gift shop AND a promotional offer that would give an 'Enchanted Evening' if we got three other couples to purchase any tour outside of the shopping tour. What the heck!? As a couple returning for the fourth time, as Concierge, the 'Enchanted Evening' should have been a gift. Our Concierge, Veronia, did everything she could to make our trip enjoyable, but some things were out of her control. Again, we had a good time, but, I honestly cannot recommend SRC. We simply expected more, based on our experience with other Sandals Resorts. The only perk was that it is close to the airport. If you can spare the extra dollars, go to SMB. The beach is bigger, the food is better, and although there is a lot more action, you can request a room away from the main hub. By the way, you get used to the planes after a while. I would recommend Sandals Ochos Rios for first timers. I would recommend Sandals Negril if you want to simply relax, watch spectacular sunsets, enjoy highly interactive playmakers, and get a whiff of the Hedonism Resort which is next door (we are not into that kind of stuff, but, my curiosity was killing me). For the total package, Sandal's Dunn's River Falls should be your choice (minus the sunset and plus the hour and a half drive to the resort). We really like the Sandals franchise and we will continue to spend our vacations at a Sandals Resort. Our next trip will be to St. Lucia, however, if we decide to go back to Jamaica, it will most likely be Sandals Negril.

We recently returned from Sandals Royal Carribean (11/24 - 11/28/03). I'm quite annoyed at how Sandals is letting the "beach vendors" on their surf boards / canoes pester the clientele incessantly - especially "Tony". He was the reason we left the beach!! He started calling to us to see him and when I declined he kept badgering us which turned our vacation into a VERY unpleasant experience. ALL the vendors were allowed inside the swimming area ropes and they pestered anyone who entered the water! I mean really, can this be stopped? Why can't they allow them to set up a stand on the resort and tell them to shut up and let people who WANT to sample their wares come see them - instead of being pestered enough to be forced to leave the beach to still keep that "vacation feel" alive. We paid for a luxury vacation and that should have included a pleasant and relaxed stay. Sandals is SUPPOSED to be a top-of-the-line super inclusive resort (six golden star), but I must say I've stayed at both Riu and Iberostar resorts (five star) that were just as clean and NO pestering at all. Will Sandals do something about this??

Warning this is not the vacation you expected. Seven months ago, we (6 couples - all co-workers) booked a long weekend (4 days/3 nights) at Sandals Royal Caribbean (15 minutes from the airport). Our first glitch occurred at the airport, when Air Jamaica could not find some of our reservations in the system. Instead of giving us our pre-assigned seating (which had our group together), a few couples were scattered throughout the plane.Upon arrival in Montego Bay, there was a Sandals representative to greet us. Once she had all of our names, she informed us that our rooms had been upgraded to a luxury room at Sandals Nigrel (1.5 hours from the airport) because the Sandals Royal Caribbean had been overbooked. She did not apologize for the inconvenience and told us in a way that we easily could have missed the fact that we had been switched until after we were on the bus to Nigrel. We explained that we were only here for a long weekend and that we did not want to loose a day between traveling to and from the Nigrel property to the airport. The representative kept repeating that this was an upgrade and there was nothing that could be done. The Nigrel property has a higher rating by Sandals because it has spa facilities, which we had little interest in utilizing. Our rooms were upgraded to Nigrels luxury status, but had no advantage beyond the deluxe rooms at Royal Caribbean. After spending over a ½ hour trying to get them to honor our reservations at Royal Caribbean, it became apparent that nobody from Sandals was willing to assist us. We repeatedly asked to speak to someone at Sandals with some authority to try and rectify the situation. The lady at the front desk kept saying that if we had an issue we needed to call the 800 number. When we asked her to connect us, she refused, saying that she cant dial that number from her location. The Sandals representatives at the airport and the manager of the Royal Caribbean offered no apologies and extended no complimentary services or refunds for the inconvenience. They told us that they are not responsible for reservations at the hotel. While we spoke with the Sandals representative, the individuals at the Sandals desk were discussing our situation with other travels, pointing and laughing at our group. Clearly, they found our situation rather amusing.When we arrived at Nigrel, nobody was prepared to deal with our special situation. Instead of treating us as a single party dealing with a major inconvenience, they attempted to push us through their normal check-in process and pretend there was no issue. Our new luxury rooms were classified as luxury because they were centrally located on the property. However, several individuals in our party had difficulty sleeping because all of our rooms faced a noisy highway. Management assured us that our rooms were located in the same block, so that our party could be together (as it was to be at Royal Caribbean). After check-in, we regrouped to discover that one couple was on the first floor, another couple was on the second floor and 4 couples were on the third floor.It was disappointing that the resort they upgraded us to had fewer pools and lacked the private island of the Royal Caribbean. One couple in our party had stayed at Royal Caribbean a year ago and felt the food was superior to Nigrel. The manager at Nigrel did however give each couple a complimentary 35-minute couples massage.I understand that mistakes occur, however, the most frustrating aspect of the entire experience was the fact that not a single Sandals representative seemed concerned about the inconvenience or had any desire to make up for it. Had they simply told us they had a problem when we arrived at the airport and offered a real upgrade such as an ocean front room and a spa treatment it would have made the inconvenience more acceptable. A Company that prides itself on its service should have a better idea of how to treat its guests.