Jamaica prizewinner's trip
We had a very comfortable flight into Montego Bay with Virgin Atlantic and on arrival checked into Sandals Royal Caribbean. The resort is close to the airport so a quick transfer - we could see the aircraft but they weren’t intrusive and after a welcome drink of rum punch we settled in for our 2 night stay. The unique features of the two hotels in Montego Bay are that Royal Caribbean has it’s own off shore island and Sandals Montego Bay has it’s own wedding chapel in the grounds. Common to all of the accommodation in all of the resorts is a king size bed, decent bathroom and plenty of a la carte dining choice – plus the premium drinks and fantastic watersports. We met one of the butlers at Mo Bay – she had been to the UK to train, was totally charming and had some amusing stories of the things the butlers have done for their clients – including surrounding one of the cottages and all the butlers singing happy birthday to the client when they had their breakfast in bed delivered!
The evening we spent on the off shore island was something I will never forget…. we went over by boat and everything was lit by torchlight – beautiful. The restaurant was Thai and the meal was excellent. Over coffee we had local acapella singers to entertain us and afterwards we tried out the beach cabanas under the stars whilst waiting for the boats to take us back. As with all of these trips we spent most of our days doing site inspections of the resorts.
Our cases packed we transferred to Ocho Rios to the newly refurbished Dunns River Villagio Golf Resort & Spa for our next 2nts. As the name suggests, most people in this area will climb Dunns River Falls which is a fun trip to do and not too difficult. We were also very pleased to be able to visit ‘Royal Plantation’ for lunch & a site visit. This boutique property is owned by Sandals but it’s not part of the ‘dine around’ and isn’t an all inclusive. The impression is one of elegance and privacy and several famous names stay regularly - in fact there was a well known singer in residence so we weren't allowed down on the beach because he was relaxing in the sun...
Part of the Sandals ‘Ultra’ All Inclusive package is their extensive leisure facilities. Some of our guys that were interested in golf, undertook a few holes here whilst the rest of us checked out the spa, snorkelling, watersports or scuba. The green fees are included for the golf, a caddy and buggy are compulsory but it's still a very good, cheap round of golf whichever way you look at it and we compared notes over dinner at Kimonos. This is a very sociable way of eating with approx 12 people around the table and you have your own teppanyaki chef who cooks in front of you. After seeing more of this property and Sandals Grande the next day we moved on to Sandals Negril for the next 2 nights. The Grande Ocho Rios is in two parts, villas set on the hillside with their own restaurants, pool etc and then the original property is down on the beach.
Negril is know for it’s laid back lifestyle and it’s 7 mile long beach. As well as the Sandals properties here we also visited two 'Beaches' family resorts and met up with the Sesame Street Gang at a character lunch! Whilst in Negril some of us took a trip on the Black River to see the crocodiles and do something a little less ‘touristy’. It was a quiet and peaceful trip through the mangroves and our guide was very knowledgeable.
Our last night was spent at Sandals Whitehouse. This is the only mainstream hotel on the South of the Island. As it is fairly isolated, it’s a large resort built around themed village areas. The beach is huge compared to the other resorts we visited and we didn’t see a single beach hawker!