We (myself and 7 friends) stayed at the Buccaneer Beach hotel on July 25, 2004. It was the worst hotel we have ever stayed in. The rooms were dirty, bedding was dirty, no light in the bathroom, the air conditioner was new but you had to get the remote from the front desk downstairs, and they took it back with them. They had one little old man that took the luggage up to the third floor. The same old man had to to come to the room to sweep and spray for bugs. The pools had debris in them. There was some awful smell like there was something dead nearby. We didn't sleep at all in the hotel that night....we stayed up all night at the Coral Reef Casino. I found the hotel from hotels.com which gave it a 3 Star....rating...it should have been with a minus sign. I would not recommend it to my worst enemy.

My husband and I stayed here in 1986 for our honeymoon...used to be called Club Paradise. So sorry to see that it is changed for the worse. Wish we could go back..it was a great all inclusive, extremely nice and lots of nice people. We made great friends there.

Too Bad

This was a terrible place. We needed a place to spend one night before flying home after having a wonderful week in Ocho Rios at Chrisann's (I recommend Chrisann's highly to anyone who is looking for a quiet, clean, and beautiful, reasonably priced beach resort in Ochi). On some websites the Buccaneer was rated a three-star. I would give it a one-star at best. Our room was dirty and dingy. There was only one electrical outlet, and that was under the TV. The AC was too small and did not cool the room well. Only the bathroom light and one table lamp worked, so the room was very dim at night. The locks on the door did not appear to be very secure, and the lock on the balcony sliding glass door was missing, and replaced by two pieces of wood to jam between the door frame and the sliding door. The bed matresses were saggy and old. I think one of the beds just had two ricketty boxsprings instead of a matress. I chose not to sleep on the linens and slept ontop of the bed spread if that tells you anything about their condition. About 8pm extremely loud music came up from the bar outside that was nonstop until 2am. I complained, but nothing much happened. Eventually I requested another room on the other side of the hotel where it was quieter. The next room was similar to the first, maybe worse in some respects. There were no drawers just a bare table. I had hoped that we might do some sight-seeing in Montego Bay after checking in to the Hotel, but it is very isolated at the end of a dead-end road, and there is not anything within walking distance. The streets around the hotel looked very rough. I didn't feel safe there, and felt kind of trapped until we left for the airport next morning.

I have vast experience travelling to different places, and the Buccaneer Beach Hotel was by far the worst hotel I have encountered. It set new lows in quality and service.

Right from the start of the vacation there were problems with the front desk reservation system. I booked two hotel rooms with queen size beds for my buddy and me on the web. When we arrived, the lady at the front desk said we only reserved one. After paying for another room, we were shown to our rooms that had two double beds each. I complained to the front desk about the beds and she said to come back a few days later to upgrade to rooms with queen size beds because they were supposedly taken. She also admitted they had made a mistake and we really had reserved two rooms. After complaining a few days later, they still had no rooms with queen sized beds. We never got the room upgrade.

The rooms had numerous issues. The room I used had broken and loose tile in the bathroom that moved as you walked around. The grout was cracked everywhere which probably caused water damage to the lower floors. The water pressure and temperature in the shower was a joke. At best the water barely trickled out, and at worse it came straight down from the shower head. Most often I turned on only the hot water since the temperature was too cold to even use the cold side.

They had a hanger rack but no place to store clothes. The one lamp in the room had no light bulb. The balcony had a sliding door that was stuck and immobile. The cable television had poor reception at times, but most of the time had a mediocre picture. The door to the room was too large and difficult to open or close without making a racket.

Moving outdoors, the pool had peeling paint and underwater lights that didn't work. Only two broken lawn chairs were available and a few white metal chairs. Jet fumes permeated the air since the hotel was so close to the airport.

Across the street is a small beach that all the locals visit. Although this is a nice place to snorkel and swim, it can also cause a culture shock for white people. The first time my buddy and I went swimming, we were the only white people on the beach.

Places to eat are a few blocks away. Taking the walk is torture since the locals tried to take advantage of us by offering everything imaginable: taxi rides, food, cocaine, marijuana, women, "tour" trips, and trinkets. Other people begged for money. We even had one guy (self named a "poet") tell us a lame story and demand money. After refusing to give him money, he got angry with us. We soon learned that on this island nobody is your friend. Just say "no" and most of them will leave you alone.

On the positive side, the food at the Buccaneer Beach Hotel was some of the best we had on the island. The fish, jerk chicken and curry chicken were excellent. The main problem I had with the restaurant was poor lighting at night.

The Buccaneer Beach hotel is a perfect way to see the "real" Jamaica, but for a good time I would recommend spending the extra money and staying at an all inclusive resort.