The stay was amazing. The resort was beautiful. The staff was lovely. The beach was clean. However, when got home we received our credit card bill with $800 worth of charges we didn't make. The only place we used the card was at the resort. Therefore, an employee there must have gotten the number and used it for their pleasure. The charges were made the week after we were back home.

We agree with the last review ("Too much $...") that with the amount of money people spend to stay here, you would think that the staff would be friendlier, the service would be a bit more personal, and the service would be way above average. First, I want to mention that the food at Bayside, Irie Grill and the "No Sandals Required" beach restaurant was delicious! No problems with that. However, the staff that was serving in the Criketer's lounge did not always seem aware that there were people sitting at the tables waiting for menus & service. Sometimes it seemed like it was difficult to get someone to simply acknowledge that they were even there. The first night we went, my husband relied on getting up and getting our own menus after wondering, for an extended amount of time, whether or not this specific restauarant required us to get our own before we sat down. Another night when we put our names on a waiting list at Bayside restaurant, the hostess recommended that we get a drink or a bite to eat at Criketer's since the wait would be about half an hour. So, we went in and once again waited quite a while for an acknowledgement that we sat down, that we might need menus, or that we would like a drink while sitting there...This time there was even a longer wait for our food after we finally put in an order. When it came out, the server apologized for the wait but the true point of this complaint would have to be the 3 bites of pulled pork that was laying on a bun that had been either reheated in the microwave too long, or had gotten rock hard from sitting out for a long period of time. I would have to guess that the microwave was involved since the cheese was also rock hard and no longer even looked like cheese. Oh, I recieved exactly 3 potatoe wedges too.

I will also have to comment on our first afteroon/evening there. My hubby and I were transported from Moon Dance Cliffs in Negril (wonderfule place to get married) to Sandals..about a 2 hour drive with some traffic--no problems! We were just happy to finally be there and see what Sandals was all about, since we have never been to one before. We got there, unpacked some things in our room, decided to go for a walk, rest on the beach, check out the resort, and then we went back to the rooms to take showers and get ready for dinner. We turned on the showers and there was no water...maybe a drip..of luke warm water. (By the way, the showers DID have black "dirt/scum" in them too as mentioned in a prior review.) We called the front desk and we were told they would send someone up. We waited about 10 minutes and a maintence guy came and did whatever he did in the bathroom. He then told us he did not yet fix it, and he would have to go back downstairs to see what else he could do. We then sat there for at least 15 minutes with no update of what was going on. My husband decided to take the initiative to call the front desk and he was told that they were still trying to figure out what was wrong. She proceded to give us the option to go to the "Depature Lounge" to take a shower! I couldn't believe that this was the ONLY option given to us at this time after dealing with this in the first place. (FYI we decided not to carry all our shower belongings and clothes to the depature lounge to take our well needed showers.) When we called them back to let them know that we didn't feel comfortable taking showers there, she said she would look for another room for us. Again, we waited for the call back to find out the details on the "other" room...and waited...and waited. Since all we wanted to do was eat at this point, we put on some clothes and went down to the front desk ourselves to let them know that we were going to get something to eat and we woould be back there to find out where we were going to stay for the night. The lady at the desk said "they were still looking for a room since there was high occupany" . We ate, we went back to the desk, she sent someone to get our luggage and they brought us to another room. This room was beautiful with a wonderful beachside view, AND it had a shower that worked. THEN, the next morning at 8:30 we get a wake-up call form the front desk saying, "Good Morning. We wanted to let you know that you'll be moving back into your room. Take your time because we want to make sure your room is ready for you before going back". At that point, as long as we had a shower that worked we didn't want to deal with the fact that we got moved twice and it was only our 2nd day (not even) of being there. (After breakfast we went back to the 1st room, and it still was getting cleaned so we went had to come back.) The staff said nothing else about it, but more importantly, there was no apology for this inconvenience of moving around from one room to another. Even when we depated from Sandals--nothing said, and not even, "How was your stay here with us?" (Oh, when we went back to our first room, the shower had water that "fell" from the showerhead--no pulse--but didn't feel like dealing with another call to the desk.)

FYI: You might have to deal with very limited amount of restaurant options at various time/days, and staff that seem like their just not happy to be there. Like I said, the food was awesome at most of the restaurants, but we just felt like we were one of many other people there that they HAD to serve. Sometimes it felt like it took SO much to get a smile out of the waiters/waitresses. There is nightly entertainment at Sandals, but it was very commercial--steel band (great performers), group participation activities, contests, singers, their version of "The Newlywed Game", etc. So, Sandals is not truly a perfect setting for younger couples/newlyweds, or if your looking for personalized service & extremely friendly staff. When they are "high occupancy", you may feel like an inconvenience if there is an issue with your stay OR your needs may not be accomodated like they should be. The best part of the stay was going out on the tours to see how the Jamaicans lived, and viewing the authenticity of Montego Bay.

Here is a short review for our second trip to Negril.

Most of the staff is very good. The beach grill/bar is the best service.

Food is good but not great. Sadly, bayside had the best diner food service for dining but the food was more average here.

Resort is a just a FEW minutes from the airport. You get an airplane about once an hour which is about 15 sec of "annoyance." The bars here were always full. This is a much "younger' resort than Negril. If you are interested in a bit more life night on resort than at say WH or Negril without leaving, I recommend this resort. IF you want real intimate time, go to a different Sandals location.

Overall, I'd give it 4/5 stars. We did Negril for our honeymoon in 06 and found this Sandals to be very enjoyable but not as couplish or as beautiful as Negril. Also, I recommend leaving a couple buck tip for the room service & fridge service. boy do they go the extra mile!

First off, let me say that we are a young couple in our 30's, renewing vows for 10 year anniversary, traveling with 16 friends. We are not spoiled brats, most of us are teachers that just work very hard for their money. We are not picky, I just was very dissapointed in this hotel:

Beach: Beach was beautiful, but not cleaned daily. Kayak vendors constantly bugging guests.

Pool: Pool's were tiny, tiny, not clean, hottub smelled of urine a couple of times, they tried to kick us out of hottub to clean about 4pm. The pool swim up bar would not even serve us a glass of WATER until after 10am. The main swim up pool/bar had the pool light floating in the middle of it. (Very unsafe) .

Service: Service was not to my standard. Upon arrival we were put into a dirty room that had not been cleaned, and had to move rooms. About 1/2 the waiters were friendly, other 1/2 NOT. I felt like all STAFF WAS looking for tip.

Food: In the 1st hour we were there, we tried to make reservations for the 10 of us. They were only able to accomodate 1 night out of 5 for our group. We couldn't even get in to Tokyo Joe's. The food was good that we ate. But when I think of how much we paid to go to Sandals, I would expect way more! Ex:(At Riu resorts for breakfast I would say that there were 100 choices, and at Sandals, there were like 10). i couldn't believe that was all they offered.) I asked my husband when we walked in, "Is this all?"

Rooms: For the most part clean and well kept. Bathrooms were outdated, black gross around tub area.

Entertainment: One night was good, the other 4 nights was LAME. I would say this is the quietest hotel i've been to at night. No place to dance. Playmakers at hotel were good, but didn't have much to offer. They play bingo, have a band one night. If you are a looking for nightlife/music/dancing, THIS IS NOT your place!

Renewal of Vows: Wonderful. Great service during the event, and good pictures. This is about the only positive thing i can say.

Would you return: NO WAY! I realize this is the Flagship Sandals and is old, but we expected so much more! I would only recommend this hotel to quiet, couples getting married on grounds, couples wanting no partying, and strictly romance. I would not reccoment to groups. We will go back to Riu next time.

Would you recommend this resort? nope

Any additional comments: The hotel doesn't "make" our time. We have fun no matter where we go. We had a wonderful time in Jamaica and with our group. The renewal of vows was the best! It was beautiful and marriage personel was SUPERB. However, if I were a couple choosing a sandals, i wouldn't go to Montego Bay Sandals, I would still choose another Sandals location.