Sandals Montego Bay Review

For our one year anniversary, Matthew took me to Sandals Resort in Montego Bay Jamaica!  We were both looking forward to having an all inclusive vacation and being able to eat great food whenever we wanted!  After stepping off the plane we were instantly greeted and seated in Sandals private room at the airport while we waited on our cab.  A very nice man then greeted us and drove us 5 minutes down the road to Sandals, and he was a GREAT driver.  I was nervous because I had heard horror stories about the cab drivers and how they drive crazy.  One of the reasons we chose Montego Bay was because it was only a 5 minute cab ride to the resort, versus a 1 1/2 hour cab ride to Ocho Rios or Negril.  Checking in was a breeze and the week before they called to upgrade our room to a much bigger room with 24/7 concierge service.  Our new room was right in front of the volleyball court, which then walked out onto the beach.  It was also far enough away from the night life spots that it was very quiet at night :)  If you are looking to stay in Jamaica for a vacation, I have written a few pros/cons/tips below.  I'm not sure that I would recommend this location to someone for an anniversary trip, simply because it was a little crowded and it didn't feel like we had a lot of private, secluded time during the day.    Our trip was January 19-24th, and we assumed that it wouldn't be crowded since it was January, but there were mornings that all umbrellas were taken and beach spots were hard to find...if you are staying at Sandals Montego Bay, read the "tips" section in order to get a good umbrella :)

Pros:

1.   Food:
We had great experiences with our food choices.  We would recommend the Oleander Room, a Jamaican Restaurant that is on the beach.  The atmosphere is dark and quiet with candlelit tables and a 5 course meal is offered of your choice.  During the day, there is a restaurant set up right on the beach that offers brick oven thin crust pizzas (Matthew's favorite) and Cheeseburgers, Nachos, Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Quesadilla, and Grilled Cheese all at your request.  The cheeseburgers were amazing!


2.  Room Upgrade:

The week before we left for Jamaica, Sandals called and asked us if we wanted to upgrade our room to a bigger room that was on the first floor (versus the third) and that walked out onto the beach.  This room came with a 24/7 concierge service that basically did anything you wanted at your request (clean your room, stock your fridge, bring you towels, make dinner reservations, stock your snacks, etc).  Looking back I am SO thankful for this service and would recommend it to anyone going!  Our room walked right out onto the beach and we had a porch to sit and eat at or watch from.  It made things so easy for when we needed to use the restroom or wanted water/towels from our room.  From other reviews I've read, it seems pretty common that Sandals will offer an upgrade, if they don't offer it to you, I would ask.  Ours wasn't free, but it was definitely offered at a major discount and it was WORTH it!




3. We didn't have to leave the resort:
This was a big deal for me because I wasn't interested in going on excursions or braving the Jamaican Market.  On Fridays, a market actually comes to the resort and sets up tables on the volleyball court to sell crafts and such so if you do want souvenirs you can get them.

4.   Spa:
On our actual Anniversary (Jan 21st) and the day before we left we visited the Red Lane Spa at Sandals and loved it.  We got couples hot lava stone massages on our anniversary, and a full body couples massage on the other visit.  I would recommend the hot lava stone massage!  The spa staff were very nice and very good at their job!  I will warn you, after you massage they will try to sell you products from the Spa so just be prepared :)



5.  Candlelight Dinner on the Beach

Matthew had this set up with the resort for our Anniversary night.  When we first arrived at the hotel, we each got to pick from a variety of foods to create our own personal 5 course menu.  Matthew and I both choose the Lobster Tail & Steak as our main course and we both agreed it was the best lobster we've ever had.  To begin our dinner, our waiter "Junior" came to our room, balancing plates on his head and walked us out to a private gazebo on the pier where he served us an incredible meal.  Junior was wonderful at taking care of us, but also giving us our space so that we could enjoy our dinner.  He also offered several times to take as many pictures as we wanted which meant a lot to me because I love having pictures for memories.  Though it did rain during our meal, it made for a good story and the storm quickly blew over :).

5.  staff
Throughout our entire stay, the staff was incredible.  They are all so very nice and work hard to make sure you have everything you need.  One of our favorite staff members was Robert who works at the beach bar.  Robert is in school studying tourism management and hospitality and dreams of one day owning his own resort.  Robert is very hospitable and would find us constantly throughout the day lounging in the sun or under our umbrella to make sure we didn't need anything.  If you go to Sandals Montego Bay, look for him!

Cons:

I hate even writing a "cons" section because we truly did have a WONDERFUL time, but for anyone that is reading this and traveling to Montego Bay Jamaica, I think it is helpful to have a healthy expectation of where you are going.  

1.  Desserts:
I am a dessert snob.  There I said it.  A restaurant can totally win me over if they have good desserts.  I am  if I ordered the wrong thing, or if all Jamaican desserts are like this but the only one I was impressed by was the Bananas Flambe at our Candlelight Dinner.  The rest of the desserts throughout the week were nothing to write home about.  The cakes are a wet, spongy texture, and the chocolate is bittersweet.  They are very PRETTY... but they look better than they taste :)

2.  Airport:
As I said in the beginning of this post you are literally 5 minutes from the Jamaican Airport.  And the runway is pointed directly at Sandals.  Therefore, throughout the day, commercial airplanes are taking off over your head and they are loud.  You get used to it after a while, but be prepared when the first one comes roaring through the sky it's a little startling.





3.  It was a little crowded.  It may have just been the week we were there, but the resort was pretty packed.  This made getting a good spot on the beach and a beach umbrella a little difficult.  However, on the second to last day there, we figured out a trick :) see the "tips" section :)

4.  The photographers.  Sandals has a photo shop on site and that means that a handful of staff walk around each day and night looking for photo opportunities.  At first I thought it was fun, but by day two, I was annoyed at them interrupting my beach nap to snap pictures of Matthew and I.  All the pictures are saved to your room number so that at anytime you can go to the photoshop and buy them....for 1 million dollars.

5.  The Room was a little outdated.  Granted the scenery of Jamaica is beautiful and you aren't in your room a lot, but the rooms probably haven't been updated since 1990.

Tips:

1.  Make friends with the staff.  Because our resort was a little crowded, like I said earlier it was hard to get a spot under an umbrella.  Matthew and I would recommend getting chairs in the sun and chairs under and umbrella to go back and forth when laying out.  Though Sandals advertises itself as an all inclusive resort and that no tips are necessary, if you slip a staff member some american money, they will reserve you and umbrella at 6am and decorate it for you.  Matthew gave one of them $30 and he took care of us for the rest of the week AND brought us ice buckets to keep our drinks cold on the beach.  Though they aren't SUPPOSED to accept tips...none of them turned away the money.  

2.  Visit the Thai Restaurant.  When you stay at Sandals, you have access to the two other Sandals Resorts in Monetego Bay.  My recommendation is take the shuttle to the Sandals Royal Caribbean and eat at the Thai Restaurant.  The restaurant is located on private island, that you arrive on by a shuttle boat.  

3.  And speaking of dinner, if the resort is crowded when you get there, my recommendation is to sit down and decided where you want to eat each night, then make your reservations on your first day.  We learned this the hard way.  We weren't able to eat at some of the restaurants we wanted to, because we tried to make dinner reservations the day of.  :(  Matthew and I LOVED the Oleander Room, but we didn't get to try Tokyo Joes or the Thai restaurant because we didn't make our reservations early enough.


All in all we had a wonderful time at Sandals Montego Bay and the pros far outweigh the cons.  Hope this blog helps anyone that is looking to travel there!
-  make dinner reservations when you get there for the whole week