So before my recent vacation I did some searching and didn’t find any in-depth articles on /r/travel about Sandals Resorts in Jamaica. There were quite a few question and answer type posts, but no extensive reviews so, now that I’ve returned, I thought I’d add to the collective knowledge. I apologize in advance for the wall of text.
Background: This 7 day trip was for a belated honeymoon for my wife and I (work prevented us from taking our honeymoon immediately after the wedding). We live in California so we wound up leaving at 4pm local and flying all night before arriving at the Montego Bay airport at 10:00 local. We chose to stay at Sandals Montego Bay because it had the reputation for the youngest and hardest-partying crowd and we could still visit the other two Sandals resorts on Montego Bay for free. Because this was our honeymoon, we splurged and went with a Butler-level suite. The entire package for the both of us, airfare from CA included, was just under $6k total. Sandals promises that all of their butlers have been trained by the Guild of Professional Butlers and assures that no request you make of them is impossible. Although we became very close to our butler, I will not be providing his name, just to be on the safe side. I am a fairly frequent traveler, having spent time all over North America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Africa while my wife has traveled abroad somewhat less.
Arrival: The Montego Bay airport is not air-conditioned, however as of 10:00am it wasn’t uncomfortably hot. Customs and immigration were a breeze with very low waits so I wouldn’t recommend purchasing any of the arrival lounge passes. If you’re staying at a Sandals resort, they have their own arrival lounge anyway that comes with your stay. Porters will take your bags and get your transportation situated. Although tipping on Sandals property is not allowed (with butlers being the sole exception), the porters and drivers are not Sandals employees and do expect tips. A few dollars per bag should suffice.
Check-in: Despite all of the correspondence we had with Sandals prior to our vacation (and them repeatedly asking our flight arrival time and us repeatedly providing it), they failed to mention that official check-in time is 3:00pm. So when we got to the resort we expected to be greeted by our butler as the videos and pamphlets all show, but instead no one was ready for us. We were shuffled into the Club Sandals lounge (Club Sandals rooms are the middle-tier at Sandals resorts) and waited about 20-30 minutes before our butler arrived and informed us that our room wasn’t ready because check-in wasn’t until 3pm. This was the first we’d actually been told what was going on, but the butler made the best of it. He led us to a restaurant, got us drinks, got us lunch, and then left to prepare our room. This only took him about an hour to get ready and then he came back for us. All of this was just to let people know that there is a check-in time and if you plan on arriving early, you should expect there to be some delays in accommodating you. After we were settled in our room, the butler provided us a cell phone we could use to call him from anywhere in the resort (although service was a bit shoddy in our room).
Tours: We did one official tour that Sandals offered: the Dunn’s River Falls tour. Dunn’s River is located in Ocho Rios and if you plan on taking this tour just keep in mind that it will take up almost an entire day. We left at 0800 and didn’t get back until almost 3:00. The falls themselves were very pretty, but considering Sandals charges $90 per person for this and the Dunn’s River park admission is only $20, you might be better off getting a taxi, depending on the size of your party. I know the butlers are capable of arranging this for you and it will certainly cut down on your time away from the resort as you won’t be stopping by other hotels to pick up fellow tour-goers. In retrospect, I wish we would have gone that route, rather than buying into the hard-sell we got from Sandals prior to our arrival.
Our butler organized the other tour we took. We mentioned we wanted to eat some authentic Jamaican food (i.e. not resort food) and maybe see some of the culture. Our butler got us a Sandals-approved cab driver, organized the whole thing, negotiated the price, and gave clear directions on where we wanted to go and when we wanted to be back by. We explored old town Montego Bay and saw both the wealthy and poverty-stricken areas. We stopped by the Montego Bay craft market so that we could look for souvenirs and actually ensure the money stayed local instead of buying things from the resort. I’ll talk about that experience a bit further down, but it was certainly a nice chance to mingle with non-Sandals vetted locals. We then swung by one of the big duty-free shopping centers before heading back to the hotel. The entire time our driver kept up a running commentary on things we were seeing and was more than happy to answer any question we could have, from local customs, to perceptions of the tourism industry, to politics. The entire venture only ran us $35 per hour and lasted about three hours and was WELL worth it. This tour will probably be one of the main things I remember from this trip.
Activities: Sandals Montego Bay offers scuba diving, windsurfing, sailing, snorkeling, paddle-boarding, and kayaking. We partook in nearly all of it, but we especially enjoyed the sailing. Neither my wife nor I am certified, but Sandals offers a PADI-certified “Discover Scuba Diving” experience for $90 per person. This includes a quick classroom training followed by a pool session and then a guided dive on a reef. It took less than two hours from the start of classroom training until we were in the ocean diving. A neat fact that they don’t really advertise is that once you’ve finished this course you can go on one guided dive per day at no additional cost AND your first dive will count toward certification back home if you choose to do so. Be aware that they argued with us that the first dive would only count toward certification if we took the Sandals course, but the PADI website proved this to be false. I don’t recommend getting certified at Sandals as they charge around $400 per person and most stateside instructors seem to be around half that.
Food: The food was pretty good, for resort food. It certainly doesn’t compare to most stand-alone restaurants, but all things considered its good enough. We particularly enjoyed the Oleander room (Robert was an excellent server). Bear in mind that men must wear long pants, collared shirt, and closed-toed shoes to some restaurants, so be sure and pack at least one pair of slacks. Also, the food tends to be served in European-sized dishes so if you’re expecting all-you-can-eat or American-sized platters, be prepared for the difference.
Drinks: The alcohol was poured very freely by very friendly bartenders who knew just about every drink you could think of. Our room came stocked with complimentary 10 year-old Appleton rum, Crown Royal, Johnnie Walker Black, Red Stripe Beer, and Beringer wines. Absolutely no complaints about the alcohol whatsoever and we are both complete converts to Appleton rum.
Butler: So the big question is: was having a butler worth it? This question is somewhat hard to answer as Sandals pricing fluctuates so much. When we booked, the difference between our butler room and a non-butler room was actually pretty small (less than $100 per night if memory serves) so we figured we might as well for our honeymoon. That being said, the main benefits you seem to get from the butler (reserved beach chairs, restaurant reservations, etc.) weren’t applicable to our time because the resort seemed fairly empty while we were there, though we were told it was at 90% capacity. He was able to bring us afternoon snacks each day, take care of any issues we had, and help arrange our in-town tour though and those were all very nice. Our butler also happened to be a bit overbooked during our stay. Typically the butlers work in pairs and take shifts while serving two different suites, but for our week, our butler’s partner was on vacation so he was left balancing seven different couples by himself (something he did extraordinarily well). On top of this workload, he still took the time to chat with us about himself, Jamaican culture, and anything else we could think of to ask. One day, without us even thinking of it, he actually went into town and bought us a local beef and cheese dish as well as the local version of coconut macaroons. On top of that, he went out of his way to surprise us at the airport when we departed. We had an early flight and thus had to leave the resort before his shift started, but when we got to the airport he was waiting on us so he could say goodbye. We were blown away by his thoughtfulness and generosity. Would we do it again? Absolutely. The small price difference when we booked certainly helped make the decision easier and I don’t believe for a second that not having a butler seriously damages the quality of your experience, but having that personal connection to someone on property just made a world of difference to us.
Nightlife: We chose Sandals Montego Bay over the other Sandals resorts because it had a private beach that wasn’t shared with cruise ships or other tourists and because it was supposed to have the wildest nightlife because it catered to a younger crowd. Frankly, we were rather disappointed by the nightlife. That may be because it was our first time at a couples’ only resort so our expectations might have been off, or maybe just because the resort wasn’t very full, but each night there really wasn’t a lot of people out having a good time. We expected some areas to have a club-like atmosphere and that simply was not the case. If you visit during other times, your experience may vary, but if this was the wildest Sandals, I’d hate to see how quiet others are.
Shopping: The on-site resort offers Appleton rum, Cuban and Jamaican cigars, and other Jamaican crafts for a typical resort mark-up. They do have daily specials that are advertised throughout the resort though, so keep an eye on that. During our city excursion, we stopped by the Montego Bay craft market. Much of the items being sold in each stall were the same and there is plenty of room to haggle. The vendors were pushy by American standards but were still polite and a firm “No thank you” would be respected. I can’t speak for the authenticity of the crafts, but everyone from our cab driver to our butler assured us that, although they were the same things in each stall, they were all made in Jamaica. We also stopped by the Rose Hall duty-free shopping center. Online advertisements and signs throughout Jamaica promised 20-30% off luxury watches and even steeper discounts on jewelry, but this absolutely did not prove to be the case. I’m a watch guy and even with the 15% “discount” offered by the jewelers, they were all still at least $500 over Amazon prices and every one of them refused to haggle. For example, a Hamilton automatic that typically retails around $1k was being offered for $1,700 after their "discount" and Tag Heuer Links were about $500 above normal US prices. My wife looked at some yellow diamonds and other gemstones and experienced the same thing: a 70% “discount” was still well above the price you could get in the US.
Departure: We purchased tickets for the Club Mobay VIP lounge through Sandals. They failed to mention that this is a Priority Pass Select lounge, so if you’re a frequent traveler or a credit card enthusiast, you probably already have access to it so don’t bother purchasing a ticket. That said, it was only $30 a head and they escort you through security, have complimentary high-speed wifi, drinks, food, and everything else you’d expect from an airport lounge. When we flew out (11:00 on a Tuesday) there weren’t any lines so the main benefit, a fast line through security, was kind of wasted. If you’re traveling during peak season, however, its probably worth it. The entire departure section of the airport was air conditioned and full of duty-free shops, although the prices weren't any better than out in town. Like I mentioned earlier, the best part of the departure was our butler surprising us at the shuttle drop-off.
Miscellaneous: We got a chance to eat at the Royal Thai restaurant at Sandals Royal Caribbean, which was just up the road. The food was fantastic and, while we didn’t get to see much of the resort grounds, it appeared to have much nicer architecture and decorating while not having a beach that could compare to Sandals Montego Bay. If you want the tropical sunsets while you lay by the beach after having spent all day on the water, I’d recommend MoBay over Royal Caribbean based on what I saw. That being said though, RC did seem to have a much livelier nightlife.
Jamaica as a country was fantastic and is my new favorite island in the Caribbean. The people set it completely apart from the Bahamas or the Virgin Islands. Every single person we met had a smile on their face and seemed to be truly happy to talk with you. I can’t tell you how many locals thanked us for visiting and helping to support the tourism industry. I know Sandals is a pretty commercialized and cliché vacation, but we were very interested in how the local community feels about it as an employer and, from what we could tell, every employee seemed to be very happy with their job. They seemed to feel they were paid fairly and genuinely appeared to enjoy getting to interact with guests from all over the world.
That’s all and I’m happy to answer any questions. If you’ve made it this far, I am duly impressed.
TLDR: Took a cliché honeymoon to Sandals Montego Bay, had an awesome butler, got to see the “real” Jamaica a bit, 10/10 would go again.