We traveled to Sandals Whitehouse for our 25th Wedding anniversary and was a little anxious about the trip from Montego Bay to the resort because of some of the reviews written about the bumpy roads. Yes, the roads are bumpy, but my concerns were not relaxed. Good conversation goes a long way.

After we landed in Montego Bay we went through customs with no problems and was invited to relax in Sandals refreshment center. We waited approximately 15 minutes before it was announced that we were ready to load for the trip to the resort. Unfortunately, we ended up waiting another 20 minutes after we loaded the van because the other couple that was coming in flight was delayed. The driver loaded us and walked away. We had to inquire to find out what was going on. We took the the drive to the resort in a very comfortable van with relaxing pleasant ragae music.

Upon arrival we relaxed in the lobby with champagne and after completing some paper work we were assigned to the Italian Village; the best village of all. We booked a deluxe and was upgraded. This was a special treat. In addition, the food, entertainment, staff, were all great. Our favorite restaurant was Bayside because they offer the best food and service.

The resort provided us with a cake and champagne for our anniversary and they announced it in their daily newsletter. This was my all time favorite vacation and we can't wait for our next trip. The weather was perfect; approximately 85 degrees each day. The worst thing about the trip was that we did not stay long enough.

My new bride and I visited Sandals Whitehouse from December 17th-22nd. To say that this was a perfect would be an understatement.

We flew into Montego Bay and were immediately pointed in the direction of the Sandals lounge. Once there, our baggage was handled by the stewards and we were allowed to get a quick beverage (Red Stripe on tap) before our bus was announced to be leaving. The driver for our bus was very nice, told us a few things about what we were seeing on the way to Whitehouse. I had heard all the stories about how the trip was long and motion-sickness inspiring. I have no complaints about the trip. It was right at 1.5 hours. You do go through some rugged terrain, but once you get used to the way that people drive in Jamaica, it is no trouble at all. NOTE: Neither the bus drivers or the stewards at the airport are Sandals employees and they should be tipped accordingly.

It is amazing that you drive through such squalor and simplicity for 1.5 hours, then once you make that right turn into Whitehouse luxury awaits. The resort entrance looks like something out of a movie.

We booked a Concierge Suite for our honeymoon and once we got the resort, we were whisked to the Concierge Lounge and were given champagne while we waited to register. After a whole day of travel we were ready to be in the room, but the beverage and nice air conditioning made this tolerable.

Once in the room, we were extremely satisfied. The room was spacious, with a four-post king bed. There was a sofa and chair, and a balancony with a table a two chairs. Our view was of a palm tree, but your could clearly see one of the pools and the ocean from our room. The refrigerator included with the Concierge level did have water, juices, sodas, beer, champagne, and white wine and it was restocked every day. There was Appleton Rum, vodka, gin, scotch, and a red wine in the bar. These were also restocked/refilled every day.

Most of our time was spent enjoying the pools and the beach. There are three pools. The Main Pool is incredible, with a swim up bar. There are chairs and floats galore for everyone to use. The swim up bar was fully stocked and they would willingly make anything you wanted. You can sit at the bar at this pool and watch the ocean, and even the sunset later on in the afternoon. From 10am until about 12pm, there are activities at the main pool and the music gets a little loud, but not too disturbing that you would want to leave. The French pool actually was our favorite. It was always VERY quiet, and never had more than 12 people in it. There is a swim up bar there, it is right by the beach, and it is near Bluefields. This pool is a little far from the main resort area, so if you are looking for secluded sunbathing this is for you. The Dutch pool was right outside our room, but there was always a larger group of 50-somethings that were there all day. They were a little obnoxious and we chose to stay way from them. This pool has a bar, but it is not swim up. All of the pools have whirlpools.

The food was INCREDIBLE. There are four full-service restaurants (Bayside, Eleanors, Jasmines, and Giuseppes), two other restaurants (Arizonas and Bluefields), and a pastry shop (le Cafe Paris). Monday night at Bayside was our favorite meal - it was a HUGE buffet on the patio with roasted pigs, jerk everything, salad/cheese/& dessert lines...in short it was fantastic. Jasmines was OK, it was my least favorite, but my wife loved the Toffee Apple dessert. I love Italian cuisine, and I tend to be picky, but Guiseppes was very good. I was pleased from my Caesar salad all the way to my Tiramisu. Eleanors we got "to go" on the last night we were there and it was my wife's favorite entree. We both had filet mignon and it was excellent. Arizonas was good when you needed a cheeseburger to remind you or home, or a plate of nachos late at night. Bluefields had excellent jerk chicken, and it is right on the beach at the end of the property - a nice secluded lunch spot.

We went on the glass-bottom boat ride, took out an aquatrike, went kayaking, and snorkeling. The aquatrike I could do without, it is more work than fun. Kayaking was a lot of fun, and we got some good pictures while we were out. The glass-bottom boat ride was a little disappointing, but the guide explained that the waters around the resort are part of the biggest fishing village in Jamaica and there wouldnt be a lot of fish where we could see them. Snorkeling was nice - neither of us had ever been before. They gave a 30 second lesson and dumped us in the water! It was really all your needed, so much of it you have to figure out on your own. I really do encourage you to do this if you havent before. You will see a lot of "Nemos & Dorries", as well as urchin, remora, starfish, etc. The reef is beautiful.

My wife wanted to see Dunns River Falls, so we paid to go on the Ocho Rios Hi-Lite Tour. This was by far the low-lite of our trip. We knew that is was a "three hour tour," but I suppose we expected a little more out of it. The guide told us very little about what we were passing. When we saw "tour" we thought we would get a "tour." He talked to the driver or napped for most of the trip. We did stop at three other Sandals resorts on the way there and back, either for breakfast, lunch, or a restroom/snack stop. If I had paid to stay at one of those resorts, then visited Whitehouse, I would have been livid. They are nowhere near as nice as "Jewel of the South." Montego Bay is old, looked dingy, the staff wasnt nearly as friendly, and it is literally right at the end of the runway from Sangster Airport. Ocho Rios is older and had an odd odor - not sure what that was. It is one of the larger properties, and not all of the rooms had a view of the ocean from what I could see. Also, it is in the middle of Ocho Rios, which would be a big deterrant for me. Grand Carribean was the nicest of the three, but still a long shot from Whitehouse - not even in the same ballpark.

We went to a dduty-free mall while on the tour, which was another let down. All the store sold the same T-shirt and souvenir crap. They are all apparently owned by the same Indian family. Also, either they didnt pay their electricity bill, the power was out in the area, or they chose to keep all the lights and the AC off during the hottest part of the day. Awful! Next we went to the craft market where they also all sold the same homemade goods and molested you non-stop to come to their booth, let you braid their hair, or to buy their drugs. Finally, when we left we were on the way to the Falls.

Dunns River is really beautful. We took a guided tour up the falls, and the guide would take pictures of us with our camera. These are some of our favorite pics of the week. There were some lowpoints that I will discuss about Dunns River. First take watershoes (not flip flops) if you dont have them, you will have to pay $5USD each to rent them. Second, one of you guides will hard-sell you a DVD of your trip. They start at $40, but we walked away and eventually ended up paying $20. There were several on our trip that paid $40. Third, the guide will expect you to tip him, and will follow you to the bus to make sure he gets it. He actually waited outside the bus for his last tip for about 10 minutes before he finally discovered that the redneck couple from Tennessee was stiffing him. He really wasnt all that helpful and went up the falls WAY too fast for people with short legs, like my wife. Still, I tipped him for the great pics he took.

In short, this tour was a bust. Including souvenirs, cost of the tour, tips for driver, guide, Dunns river guide, we were out about $400. It also took from 7:30am-8:30pm, so we missed out on a lot. We decided that when we go back, we wont take any tours! We will just enjoy what is on the property!

Check-out the next day was a breeze, however it was very sad. We did have some things taken out of our luggage while at the airport. It must have looked expensive in that Sandals bag, even though it was just our souvenirs from the duty free mall. It was really disappointing to not have anything to give our four young nephews, though.

If you decide to go to Whitehouse, you will not be disappointed. It was first rate all the way. I think my wife wants to go back jus tfor the late night chocolate buffet.

We stayed at Sandals Whitehouse from Dec 12th - 19th and we thoroughly enjoyed our vacation. This is our 2nd visit to a Sandals resort (the other being in St Lucia).

I'm not sure what all of the negative reviews are about, except that people's expectations must be really high.

Whitehouse resort is beautifully landscaped, all of the employees were VERY friendly, the food was very good (a few exceptional meals and a few not great meals), there were activities all day long if you wanted to participate. Our drinks were never watered down, as some have said. Quite the opposite, some of our drinks were too strong. The beaches were very well maintained and so were the water sports equipment. We went out on the Hobie Cats severals days in a row and enjoyed sailing in the bay. There was entertainment EVERY evening which was pretty good. The restaurants were very good too. We never waited for a table. When we arrived our tour guide told us the peak dining hours were 7:30-8:30 and there could be 1/2 hour wait. We avoided those times and never had a problem.

The only issue I had with the resort was that the restaurants required closed toed shoes for men. I knew the dress code was "Evening Resort Wear", but I found nothing written regarding men's shoes. Unfortunately, that required us buying a new pair of shoes for my husband.

Otherwise, everything was very nice and as expected. To those couples who felt Sandals was way overpriced, I would suggest they try some of the other resorts or staying at a nice hotel and buying meals daily. I think they will find that Sandals is not overpriced.

The Sandals Whitehouse was an amazing experience. This was my first time to Jamaica and to an all inclusive resort. Let's put it this way: my boyfriend almost booked another trip for next year because we loved it sooooo much!

The drive is long to the resort but I enjoyed the sights and sounds, along with a great driver who explained some culture to us. The drive is worth it when you see this beautiful resort. The grounds are beautiful and very well kept. We were greeted with a cool towel and glass of champagne. Check-in was a breeze and we were in our room in 30 minutes.

The rooms are very nice and clean with all the basics included. We were in the Dutch village on the first floor; had a great view of the beach and ocean so don't worry if you are not on the top!

The food was great- never had a bad meal and felt like I ate around the clock! Cafe De Paris was the best part- pastries and coffee from 6am-11pm. The midnight buffets are really nice too- so try not to miss them. A word about the dress code: my boyfriend hates to dress up but didn't mind because the food was so good. He wore causal pants, hawaiian shirts, and closed toed Birks and was fine. After dinner he would change and we would go back out to the shows and bars.

Drinks- wonderful! We would just ask them to make us something and they would do an awesome job! One of my favs was the Jamaican Smile and our favorite bartender was Elton! One evening my boyfriend wanted to bring me a glass of champagne and Elton gave him the entire bottle!!!

Must do: Sunset photos. The picture turned out great and the sunset was incredible (especially after it rains). You can take all the pics you like and see them all in the photo shop- no pressure to buy!

Sand fleas: they did come out and get me after it rained but I didn't have my OFF on either. If you keep the OFF on you will be fine!

We didn't do any excursions because the resort was so nice and had everything we needed. One word of advice: shop at the airport! You can get everything you need there!

Overall, it was great time and a great resort. We are ready to go back!! I booked this resort based on reviews from this site and was not disappointed. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

rlfnurse@yahoo.com