Sandals Montego Bay

This was our first trip to Jamaica and first stay in an all-inclusive resort. Jamaica was very nice and exactly what I expected, but I cannot say the same for Sandals. 1. The resort is located on the airport grounds and we were unable to sleep or talk when the planes landed or took off. The windows shook. 2. The concierge did absolutely nothing for us no matter what we asked. (i.e. no room service, no dinner reservations, no tour pamphlets, etc.) 3. The check out time was 8 AM (I have never heard of this early of a check-out anywhere.) 4. The service was C-. I would give it a D but there were two nice/helpful people working there. 5. The food was C. Nothing was terrible but nothing was spectacular. It was edible. 6. We were unable to get 'reservations' at any of the restaraunts. They were all booked from the time we arrived until the time we left. We had to eat buffets every day. 7. The photos in their advertising are very misleading about the size of the resort. 8. The catamaran tour to Margaritaville was terrible. They did not take us to a good snorkelling area and were only allowed at Margaritaville for 30 min. 9. The town around the resort does not offer much in the way of shopping or entertainment. 10. The price is not comparable with the quality. There were some good things about Sandals: 1. Our room was very pretty. 2. The food was beautifully displayed. 3. There were many activities both in and out of the water to participate in. 4. The beach and water were nice. 5. There were nooks & crannies all over the resort for you and your loved one to find privacy. 6. The landscaping was lush and varied. 7. You never have to wait for a taxi at the resort because they have plenty. 8. The whole resort was well maintained with fresh paint and decorations (except for the couches in the main area) and clean. 9. They have FREE SCUBA diving and diving lessons if you aren't certified. 10. You can go to any of the other Jamaica Sandals and eat and visit for free. In summary, we will never stay in an all-inclusive resort again and we will probably never go back to Jamaica.

Just returned from sandals montego bay. To put the trip in a nutshell, if sandals offered me 5 nights free I would NOT GO.We booked 4 nights in the beachfront honeymoon gran luxe suite with concierge service.let's strart with the concierge service, what a complete waste of money, they do NOTHING i will repeat NOTHING. we got no reservations in any restaurant. no room service, we called and we were told it is not available. we asked the concierge about a tour and were told to see the tour desk. no easy check-in no easy check-out, it was not bad service there was NO service.The room we stayed in was nice,clean and well maintained however we made friends with a couple who booked a standard room and their room was identical, The food was okay standard buffet style i cannot tell you about their fine restaurants we were not able to obtain reservations.We went on one tour a catamaran ride from 3pm to 6pm, they took us to a dead reef to snorkel and look at rocks, then they took us to margarita ville for 30 minutes then back to the room, i wish i stayed in the room watching t.v. and all that crazy fun for 96.00.the resort itself is right next to the airport i mean right next to it. the first night i could not believe the planes flew so close and they were loud, however by our last night it was the highlight of our trip.The beach was nice and the water was pretty clear the beach bar was fun also. drugdealers come up to you in little kayaks while you are swimming and thank god for them, they made this trip bearable so hats off to all you little kayak paddleling drugdealers you saved the day.Finally the overall service and attitude of the staff was very disappointing.So if you have read this and you still want to subject yourself to this "resort" please do NOT upgrade your room and absolutly, positively, under no circumstance pay for the most insulting waste of money i have ever seen, the "concierge" service.

Just came back from Sandals Montego Bay, when we got there we were greeted by 20 or more other couples waiting for there rooms, we were offered a drink and told to go view the property and come back at 3:00 to get our room. After waiting 2 hours in the hot sun, we were taken to our rooms, the property is beautifully landscaped but, if you do not care for cats, then this is not the place for you, it seemed as if a truck load of cats had been dropped off at this property, anyway, the room was nice and cute but the mattress had many miles on it, it was sunken in the middle, we requested another room and found the same problem, we gave up! The food was not at all what we expected but, the staff and the entertainment was excellent, everyone was sooo nice. if you are looking for fun and a good party this is the place, if you are looking for elegance try Beaches Royal Plantation or Sandals Royal Carribean. I do not think I will return to this particular Sandals Resort.

My husband and I just got back from this trip with another couple and had a really great time. Here is the low down:Air Jamaica is a great flight to take- it is the shortest and they are connected to Sandals so you can check out easily right from the resort.Some people had to wait awhile to check in, but if your room includes concierge service it is very quick.I don't know how often they offer this deal but when we got there we saw you can upgrade the level of your room for only 100 dollars for your whole trip. Worth it. We got a 2 bedroom suite right on the water and it was the most relaxing perfect beautiful setting. It also came with a minibar restocked everyday (beer, water, juice, soda, wine and several big bottles of alcohol). This is nice if you don't mind paying the extra amount.Only red stripe for beer. BRING a couple of plastic cups! They sometimes had really small cups next to the water/soda fountains and you'll be glad you brought your own!The staff are SO nice and HAPPY all of the time. It is really hard to be in a bad mood here. The swim up bar is small but definitely fun.Make Reservations for dinner the minute you can! They book up quick. Tokyo Joe's was great.We did not see too many guests over 50. It seemed like quite a younger crowd, something to keep in mind.The planes do fly by and are quite loud, but we didn't notice them after the first few.A highlight was the Chukka Blue Horse Back riding tour through rainforest and into the ocean. You'll see a different part of Jamaica this way.Overall this resort is awesome, definitely the best of the 3 sandals in the area. I would highly reccommend it to friends!

Just returned from our Honeymoon of 6 nights from aug 9-15. We ariived at the airport and proceeded through customs and immagration( Fill out your immagration card on the plane to make the process faster). We proceeded to the Sandals booth. Prepare to tip the guy who takes your luggage and the bus driver as they do not work for Sandals. Bus took us to the resort. My wife and I stayed in a suite so we had a different check in process. We waited about 30 Mins to check in. Very Nice. Make sure you make reservations for dinner because they fill up very quickly! Tokyo joes is the best resturant but fills up quickly. The food was good, not beef wellington or filet mignon so don't expect that. It was fine for my wife and myself. The beach was nice a good 150 to 200 yards long. There are peddlers on kayaks trying to sell you stuff , but if you say not interested , they won't haggle you. I can not say enough good things about the playmakers(entertainement staff)! They made the trip so much fun!!! Make sure you get to know Chris, Sherrie, Ziggy, Shontel, Ace, Takeisha, B.B., C.J., and Chico!!!!!!! We played beach volleyball and pool volleyball every day. We took slsa and reggae dance lessons and played pool and horseshoes. By playing the games my wife and I met a group of about 8 to 10 couples who we hang out with for the rest of the trip. The water sports were fun too. Kayaks and windsurfing, hobie cat sailboats and other things like that . We took the wet n wild party boat, and that was awesome. Cost about $50 but worth it. You go snorkling and go to Margaritaville with its slide and water trampolines! Beach Party was a lot of fun!!! All in all we had a great time and will go back in the future. The Drinks were good and Bartenders fun . If you are open to a fun time and arent to smuggy , you will have fun. The piano and swim up pool bar are small but lots of fun! I don't know why all these people are bitching about the place , cause we had a blast and will go back for a reunion to see our friends! By the way to help out my wife and I are 25 and 23 years old , becuase Sandals Mo bay caters to a younger crowd! overall rating 15 out of 10!

First impression of Sandals Montego Bay terrible because: Reception person offered us drinks, which was good. What was not so good was that she subtly mocked me for my choice of water -- this after 5+ hours of air travel when I was just plain hot, tired, and thirsty -- for water. Because of a sudden rain storm, we waited about 3 hours before being allowed to go to our room. They were not willing to take our luggage (or us!) to our room until the rain stopped! And we only waited a mere 3 hours because that was the point at which my partner insisted we be taken to our room. Also, during this 3+ hours, our luggage was clustered in the resort's main thoroughfare. A staff member told us our bags would be looked after while we had lunch and waited for our room. But while our bags were being "taken care of," a demin jacket I had carried with me to keep warm on the plane disappeared from among my belongings. All this unpleasantness is simply inexcusable from a customer service standpoint, and most of it could have been avoided by letting us into our room right away! My impression was that the Sandals staff were quite aggressive about providing great customer service ACCORDING TO THEIR DEFINITION, but not nearly so attentive about actually considering the needs and desires of the customers themselves. Other observations: Food so-so, expected spicy, got bland (wanted spicy)! Air traffic noise was a distraction! Noise and general chaos in the central lobby area were unwelcome -- we were there to get away from noise and hectic activity. Plus, our room was right above this hectic area and the noise (especially at night during the entertainment), was unavoidable. The noise from the band was so loud we would have had to shout to have a conversation in the "privacy" of our room! The beach was tiny and the sand was NOT the pristine white portrayed in the ads. The carpet outside our room smelled of urine. There was no place to run and 2 of the 3 treadmills in the fitness center were broken. Sorry, wish the positive stuff like the overall friendly staff and the lovely environment outweighed the negative, but in this case it did not...

On picking our holiday we was looking to top Moon Palace, Cancun where we had a fantastic time, therfore we picked Sandals for it's supposed Ultra inclusive stance. On Arrival, first thing you are asked for is a credit card for any expenses Rooms are OK but donot have a fridge/mini bar which is standard in most all inclusives, this becomes a real problem when you want a drink before 11 o'clock as the bars are not open, only juice at the restaurant. Whilst on the subject of restaurants, they all have varying opening times & we were refused entry to a restaurant at the Royal carribean because our manual was not upto date and i was wearing Jeans which wasn't mentioned Also you need to reserve straight away especially the Thai at the Royal Carribean, we only got in once in 2 weeks If you want a quiet holiday this is not ideal considering the airport runway sits literally behind the hotel and there are jets taking off every 30 mins Be aware the bar does stock all international brands only some spirits & no choice of beer just Red Stripe There is a nightclub which is very rarely busy, reason being they finish the entertainment but don't open the club until later by which time people had left, we asked why they don't just open straight away but the manager said " can you imagine my bar bill", this budget consciousness becomes more apparent when they are clearing the bar very early & understaffing bars On the positive side the staff are really friendly particularly the bar staff at the piano bar, Grant, Oreth & Hector The playmakers also work tirelessly and certainly earn their money (very talented) In summary OK if you never been to another all inclusive, but if you have a let down after the way sandals is marketed

My boyfriend and I stayed at Sandals Montego Bay from July 27 to August 1, 2003. Since this was a quick and short getaway for us, we wanted to be as close to the airport as possible to enjoy the most time having fun in the sun. Taking a direct flight from NY (early morning flight in and last flight out) enabled us to get a full six days! Please note: if you fly Air Jamaica and stay at Sandals Montego Bay, you receive the luxury of airline pre-check-in at the hotel. This was a wonderful treat! Our flight left for home at 5:10 p.m. and we were waterskiing on the beach until 3:30 p.m. After that, we showered in the Sandals departure lounge to clean up and get another drink before getting on our 4:00 p.m. bus back to the airport. Not having to carry our luggage or wait on those interminably long lines as the airport was pure heaven! Coming from Queens, the close proximity of the airport didn't bother us much, although we did find it quite amusing when other vacationers would run for cover the first time they saw a plane taking off so close to our hotel. We were given an upgrade from the low-class economy rooms (these are known as Deluxe on the SeaGrapes block, toward the back of the hotel) to a beachfront cottage after waiting for three hours to check into our room. However, if you have some sense, pack your bathing suits in your carry-on, skip their little welcome party (where they supply a warm glass of champagne and explain how important it is that you attend orientation) and get up on the beach and start enjoying yourself. We never went to orientation (thank goodness). From what we were told, it was basically a sales pitch to take all of the off-property tours. Our room was on the second floor, right next to the swim up pool bar, but being watersports fanatics it was a little too far from where we chose to sit on the beach each day. It was also a far walk to any of the restaurants. The room was clean, the decor was non-existent, the tv was fairly old and the air conditioning never really cooled our room. It seemed that it wasn't big enough to really cool it down. The food in almost every restaurant was mediocre. The jerk pork at the beach bar and the linguine pescatore at La Cucina was probably the most flavorful (a little hot and spicy) things we ate. It seemed that all the food was very bland. Upon arriving at the hotel on a Sunday, we immediately tried to get reservations for the Thai Restaurant at the Royal Caribbean, but they told us there were no openings available until Saturday evening. We explained that we were leaving on Friday, but they told us that Sandals Montego Bay was allowed to reserve only 4 couples per night at the Thai Restaurant. They put us on a waiting list, but we never called. We didn't expect the best food at Sandals, but be warned, nothing at this resort is as it is pictured in the brochures. Last year we stayed at one of the Grand Lido hotels in Jamaica. The prices were comparable to Sandals, but the service, food, decor, and rooms far surpassed anything at this Sandals resort. At the Grand Lido, the staff was much friendlier, hospitable and eager to help. It seemed to take a few days before certain staff members warmed up to us at Sandals M.B. The crowd was mostly younger (20's and early 30's) honeymoon types, but everyone was nice. I kind of wish people would give their age range when they write these reviews because it seems that younger folks really felt they were getting first-class treatment and LOVED the place. However, after talking to many of the young honeymooners, they had not really travelled anywhere else and had nothing to compare the resort with. We are in are mid to late 30's and I guess, just expected a little bit more. Since we are watersports nuts, we went to bed early every night so that we would be up and out on the beach at 7:30 a.m. when the motorized watersports opened. Every morning, no matter what, we never seemed to be water skiing at 7:30 a.m. It always took them two hours to get the boat in the water and ready to go. This was quite frustrating. There were a number of us that would wake up early to do this and there was always some excuse. One full day, they never even took the boat out, saying that the driver's seat was broken. They kept on saying that it would be fixed in an hour and we never saw anyone working on it. Most of us were convinced there was nothing wrong with it. The next day, however, when a bunch of travel agents were down on site to check out the property, we got the ROYAL treatment. We had a manager come out early to give all the beginners water skiing lessons. His name was Barney; he was patient, kind, considerate, friendly, all the things you'd want in an instructor. Mostly everyone in the class was able to get up on the skis after his lesson. It was a shame he disappeared after the travel agents left, because we never got the same kind of treatment. It was as if most of us were bothersome to the watersports personnel. The motorized boat shut down at 12:00 and was to re-open at 2:00 and run until 4:00 p.m. Again, there would be a line of us at 2:00 p.m., but we were told they couldn't find the captain of the boat (meanwhile we saw almost all of them driving the boat). Sometimes they didn't have the boat back up and running until 3:00 p.m., but they sure would close up at 4:00 p.m. sharp. Experienced travelers be warned! It's not worth the money, however if you have a only a short time for a quick getaway the resort is conveniently located close to the airport. It you combine that with the quick pre-check in for Air Jamaica flyers, it can be a lovely vacation! We're going back to GRAND LIDO next month and can't wait!

My husband and I just returned from Montego Bay, which was our first experience with Sandals. Prior to going, I researched the trip advisor site, so I knew what to expect regarding the airplanes. The planes are loud, but not that bad, You sort of get used to it, and it's not going on every second of the day. If you don't want to hear any noise at all, then you may want to avoid staying at this particular resort. Overall, I was pleased with this vacation. We ended up changing our deluxe room-(located in the heart of the resort) to a luxury room b/c of the noise coming from the wait staff preparing for breakfast in the early morning (5:30am) I am a light sleeper so this bothered me. I didn't have a problem with the room itself, so if you are a heavy sleeper, it shouldn't be a problem. The staff was extremely friendly and eager to please. I especially enjoyed hanging out at the pool bar with the bartenders there-they were hysterical! Some people wrote that the staff was asking for tips, but we did not get asked for anything during our stay. The food was average, but didn't bother us since we were not there for the food. I do recommend making reservations as soon as you can though, as the restaurants seem to book fast. We tried to get reservations for the Royal Thai at the other resort and could not. One thing that was strange was the stray cats that lived at the resort. They would come up to your table at some of the outdoor restaurants, and wait to see if you would feed them. I definitely had a relaxing, fun and entertaining time, and would consider coming back here or possibly trying another Sandals resort. I have also been to the Bahamas and Cancun, and found this trip to be much better.

My husband and I stayed at Sandals Montego Bay and had a very nice time. The airport and customs were stressful though, but that is to be expected at times. Be prepared for that and just get through it to the hotel.I wasn't thrilled with waiting for my room for about half an hour in my hot plane ride clothes but I dealt with that as well. Patience is something you really need because once you settle in, it really was very nice. I got a tequila something or other and sat on the sand in my hot dress and caught a little buzz.The good things: we cheaped out and chose the standard room which is directly above the main building and it was newly renovated, directly overlooked the beautiful pool and was just lovely. I was so happy to just run down the stairs to the beach or to everything we needed. That was great. The bed and decor was clean and just fine.The food was great for an all inclusive. I was not impressed with the asian place at all. I thought the best bet was the buffet breakfasts and lunches as there was an excellent variety and everything tasted great. The drinks were excellent and the lines were not bad at all and when we were there, it was a full house.Don't get the premium rooms. The standard are better and cheaper. If you want to upgrade, stay in the Almonds or beachfront. The premiums are in an awful location in the back away from the ocean breeze and just sticky looking.The entertainment was silly but hokey fun. Just go with it and enjoy yourself. We went to bed really early because we loved the sun in the morning onthe beach. The bad points: Yes, they do take tips. It really ticked me off too. Because people were getting cabanas set up for them "reserved" supposedly. I didn't have the energy to complain because I was naive at first thinking I was misunderstanding what was happening. We did get beach chairs but forget about the grass umbrellas that were so lovely. You have to pay off a beach employee to save you one. I was annoyed at that. I don't like that exchange stress and uncomfortable position to have to "on the sly" approach someone and give the money...it was annoying.The party boat was so much fun. Those two brothers were so much fun. That Margaritaville was insane and most memorable. I loved it. You have to go on the slide and jump on the trampline in the middle of the ocean. It is such a rush. The rum punch helped my fears as well. DOn't drink more than you can handle though because sea sicknesses is not fun. I became a little dizzy and stopped to drink plain juice the rest of the ride. Ladies: the water makes your hair like straw, I swear. MY hair was flat a dead looking the whole week so i wore it up everyday. That stunk a little but I survived.Would I go back, no. There are too many other beaches that are wider and much more beautiful. The weather was great, the people were very nice, the food was very good, the room was very nice but it just didn't WOW me. If I am going to travel that far, I need to be wowed.I liked sanibel island in Florida much more. That beach was something to write home about. Gorgeous. Montego Bay was fun and really worth the money. The beach was not the expanded stretch that I imagined. If it were, I think I would return. Good luck.