Jamaica

Sandals Montego Bay, Jamaica

 

It was our three year wedding anniversary and because we had been so busy with work and setting up our new home, Darshan and I had barely gotten any quality time with each other. So when it came to celebrating our special day, all we wanted to do was spend some time away from home and be with each other without an itinerary in mind.

Darshan had previously been to Jamaica and since then he had boasted nothing but amazing things about the food, culture and beaches there. So we decided, to do a short getaway to Jamaica as it seemed like a perfect spot for us. When it came to booking a resort, our main criteria was booking an adults only resort. There are a few resorts in Jamaica that offer a adults only option, one of them being Sandals Resorts.

We have all seen the massive roadside billboards and TV ads for Sandals Resorts boasting beautiful white sand beaches and luxurious amenities. Sandals Resorts also advertises all-inclusive couples packages with free flowing drinks, food and water activities. Based on all what Sandals had to offer, we decided to pick Sandals as the resort for our trip.

Because we were doing a short four day trip, we wanted to be close to the airport to cut travel time. Sandals Montego Bay was the perfect choice for us as is located minutes from the airport and has recently gone through major renovations.

LOCATION

Sandals Montego Bay is located a short ten minute drive from the Sangster International Airport and is set on its on stretch of private beach. It is also located a fifteen minute drive from the hip strip which is known for its local food joints and nightlife.

CHECK IN

Montego Bay is a short four hour direct flight from Toronto. After we had passed immigration and picked up our luggage, we were greeted by an airport employee who escorted us to the  beautiful Sandals Airport Lounge. At the Lounge we were greeted by a Sandals employee who took our luggages and handed us our champagne to start our vacation. She also took our information and told us to sit back and relax until they were ready to transfer us to the hotel.

The private lounge at the airport was also stocked with beer on tap, coffee, tea and a variety of juices. Since we were booked in a club level suite, we received a private airport transfer in a luxurious BMW 7 series.  In less than 10 minutes we were in front of our hotel beautiful Sandals lobby.

Our club room also gave us priority check-in in a private Club Sandals lounge which meant that we were immediately greeted by a concierge with a yummy tropical mixed drink. Our check-in was quick and we were shown to our Club Sandals swim up room. 

ROOMS & SUITES

Our first two nights we stayed in a swim-up Club Sandals room as we wanted to enjoy some nightly swims in our own semi-private pool. Our room was located in the Almond building of the resort. The room was spacious with a king-sized bed, a large dresser, flat screen TV, living space with a large couch and a walk out balcony. The walk out came with its own sitting area, beach chairs, floaters and the famous tranquility tub. The bathroom was enormous with a huge walk-in shower, large sinks and some of the most amazing toiletries we have been provided in our hotel stays. We also had a fully stocked bar in our room that was all included as well.

The last two nights we upgraded our room to a Romeo and Juliet Suite for our Anniversary and boy….. was it an upgrade. The room was located with the ocean steps away from us, gorgeous views from our own private balcony with its tranquility tub and seating space. The room also had a large bathroom….almost the size of our bedroom and living space combined. The bathroom had a beautiful stand alone round soaker tub with lots of natural light coming in through a huge sunroof ovetop. The standing shower in the room was by far the biggest we have seen in all of our stays at a resort. It was large with not one ..not two…but FOUR separate shower heads. We definitely felt like royalty in this room. If you are celebrating a special occasion, we highly recommend the upgraded room.

Both the rooms offered room service for food, top of the line premium alcohol including double black label whiskey and bacardi. We also had a butler during our stay who was readily available for any of our requests.

 

POOLS

Sandals Montego Bay has four pools, four whirlpools and one swim up pool. During our first two nights, we decided to enjoy our own semi private walk out pool to get more privacy and quiet time. The walk out pool was large and gave us the privacy we wanted to spend time with each other as a couple. It also allowed us to interact with the neighbouring guests as the pools were all connected. The pool came with our own personal floaties and lounge chairs. The ambiance at night was absolutely perfect for people who fancy night time swims.

The other two days, we spent at the main pool. At first, we were disappointed that the main pool did not have a swim up bar, but the service for drinks was prompt and we quickly forgot the lack of a bar around us. The main pool also has amble day beds that are shaded which were on a first come first serve basis. We never had a problem getting a spot even when we arrived late during the day to relax by the pool.

BEACH

Sandals Montego Bay is located right on its own private beach which is nothing but a long stretch of beautiful white sand that is nice and flat with warm blue caribbean water. Sandals has a special closed off area where we could swim without worrying about stepping on sea urchins as there are workers who clean the bottom of the beach every morning to ensure safety of all guests.

Sandals beach also had some very comfortable round shaded chairs on the beach where you could relax. In the water, Sandals also provided you with large round floaties with lounging chairs over top. This is perfect for the sun bathers who wanted to lie in the sun and float around in the water. For couples looking for privacy, we could also reserve some over water huts, which were shaded and equipmed with comfy beds.

The beach also has two restaurants, a bar and some amazing activities. There is an area with two pool tables, a foosball table, a basketball court, lawn chess, shuffleboard, volleyball and football. This would give us an excuse to get up and be active as we indulged in some of these games with other guests and entertainment crew.

One thing we were pleasantly surprised was that all the water activities like kayaking, sailing, tubing, water skiing, paddle boarding were all included with our stay at no extra charge.For guests who are scuba divers, that’s also included as long as you’re a certified diver.  If not, you can easily take a resort-certification scuba diving course (at a small extra fee) and enjoy scuba for the rest of your trip.

The resort also has an onsite company called Island Routes that offers daily local tours and other activities. We chose to do the Reggae Catamaran Cruise during the day time to enjoy a good mix of party and adventure. The cruise was for approx 4 hours and it included a stop over for snorkeling and Margaritaville. The cruise is all inclusive as in you have unlimited drinks and food on-board alone with some of the best entertainment crew to keep the party going. We had an amazing time and we had a lot of fun getting to know people on our resort.

HAPPY BELLY

The food was our favorite part of Sandals after the beach. Sandals had some of the best dining we have ever had at an all-inclusive resort. They have a variety of nine different restaurants, one of them is a buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Apart from that there is a French restaurant, Italian restaurant, Jamaican restaurant, Asian Restaurant, a pizzeria, a seaside bar, a pub and a cafe.

We loved all of our dishes at each of these on-site restaurants. For lunch we opted for the beach restaurants, that were the seaside grill and pizzeria. You have to try their curly fries….they were perfectly seasoned and made for a good mid- day or late night snack. The food from both these restaurants was fresh and perfect to order on the beach as it did not require us to leave our spots on the lounge chairs.

For dinner, we decided we would check out the more fancier restaurants that had a dress code. At the French restaurant we loved the Lamb Shank. At the Jamaican restaurant we loved the crab cakes and lamb chops. We had a late night meal at the Asian restaurant and it was perfect as we were able to get our food made right in front of our eyes using ingredients we wanted.

Last but not the least is the cafe which is located by the main pool. This cafe was heaven for someone like me who has a sweet tooth.  They had a variety of flavors of ice creams, specialty baked goods, cold coffee, frappuccinos, cakes and pastries. They also would make crepes on demand. This used to be our last stop before we would go back to bed or late night beach walks.

RED LANE SPA

On our Anniversary, we decided to indulge in a couples massage at the Red Lane Spa located right on Sandals property. The spa was clean and customer service was excellent. This was the perfect way to end our special day. The spa also has his and her steam saunas, a jacuzzi which we were able to use even if we decided not to avail any of their services. Our massages were amazing and were the perfect way to end our trip.

 

OUR VERDICT

Sandals Resorts markets itself as a five-star luxury all-inclusive resort, and they certainly walk the talk upon arrival. We cannot get over how perfect our four day getaway was. We would highly recommend Sandals Montego Bay for couples who are looking for a romantic and relaxing getaway.