We visited Beaches Boscobel from May 18-May 25th and had a great time!
At the airport, we did not have to wait long in the Sandals/Beaches lounge before they called us. It's a nice place to wait with free snacks & drinks. The ride from the airport is not as bad as I had read about. The roads are paved the whole way there. Our driver did stop about halfway at a little jerk stand on the water. We enjoyed the ride to the resort...plenty to see. I guess it took about 2 hours. Going back to the airport only took an hour and a half. No stop, as we didn't want one, and I think this driver maybe went a little faster.
Yes, this resort is an older property, but for the most part is in good condition. Every day there were things being fixed up or repaired, painted, etc. They were in the process of putting new covers on the pool lounge chairs the week we were there.They do make an effort to keep the place looking good. And most of the employees are very friendly and go out of their way to take good care of you.
Check in was fairly smooth. I had checked in online prior to leaving home and this seemed to help. We were offered fruit punch or rum punch as soon as we arrived at the resort.
Our room was a grand luxe oceanview suite. This was located in the main building on the 4th floor. We did have a view of the ocean, but there were palm trees right outside our balcony. Still a beautiful view. The room itself was very spacious...plenty of room for the 4 of us. Yes, what I read in some reviews was true; the sleeper sofa was not perfectly clean. OK...it's a resort for families;I wouldn't expect every piece of furniture to be in new condition when kids are involved. And the sheers on our windows were in bad shape. But that's really all I can fault in our room. These are not the kind of things that bother me and would certainly not ruin my vacation. Loved the mini fridge with cold water, juice and soda.
The resort itself is layed out on several levels and has a lot of stairs. My family actually liked this; it gave the place a lot of character. There are elevators for those who can't or don't want to do steps.
The beach is small, as many reviews have said. The Beaches website does not really show how small it is.It was fine for us. It is a little bit rocky at the shoreline, so I would recommend beach/water shoes for little ones. And the water is very shallow as well, but clear and warm. The locals selling souvenirs out in the water at the beach did not bother us either. They are not pushy and we bought some jewelry from them. We did not have an issue with seaweed the week we were there.
Beach activities; we did the glass bottom boat...it was OK. Also did the snorkeling. We enjoyed it, but it is probably not the best snorkeling experience I have had as far as what there is to see. Also did the banana boat....lots of fun! Tried to do the water trike, but was told they were not working. Kind of funny, since I had seen others using one of them the day before. We didn't do any other water sports, but saw others take out the kayaks, sailboats, etc. Looked like it was fun. They do have sand toys on the beach, so no need to bring any.
My two boys, ages 11 yrs & 14 yrs both enjoyed the resort. We did not utilize the kids club at all since the boys are older, but from what I could see, the staff interacted well with the younger kids.Things that the boys enjoyed; the waterpark....loved those water slides. However, the waterpark closes at 5:00 every day. The main pool stays open, but the lifequards quit at 5:00 PM every day and the waterfall at the pool is shut off at this time too. You can still swim, just no lifeguards. The Xbox room...not their first choice as far as games available, but good to get out of the hot sun. They also enjoyed the self serve ice cream and frozen drinks. The main pool was a big hit as well. Yes, it was clean the whole time we were there & I saw them regularly checking the water chemistry. Did not use the disco that teens are allowed to be in from 10:00 -11:00 PM. Took a look in there once, and it was a musty, smelly room that we had no interest in hanging out in. I was concerned that there wouldn't be kids there the same age as my boys. But there were several and they made friends with some and swam and played in the Xbox room with them. I felt very comfortable letting them go off and do their own thing. There was a guard on either end of the beach as well as roaming the resort.
Entertainment; Sesame Street for the little ones. Usually something on the stage early evening involving Sesame St. One day there was a parade that some families participated in with the characters. Later in the evening there was usually a live band/singer. Sometimes different games that involved participation from the guests. Every evening when housekeeping turns down the beds, they leave a newsletter detailing all the activities for the following day. That was nice. Most nights, the main stage wraps up around 10:00...sometimes a little later. Overall, entertainment was good. Nothing spectacular, but good enough.
Food; food was good, not great. I had expected better, but we certainly didn't go hungry. Mostly we ate at the buffet. We enjoyed Arizona. Did not care for the Venetian. And we did not get to Eleanors either, so I can not comment on that. The BBQ grill was good too. Again, my kids liked the self serve ice cream and I enjoyed the self serve sodas and frozen drinks as well as the popcorn machine.
Bars; There are several bars if you want to drink, as well as someone who will bring you drinks at the pool. The Appleton Bar closes early...10:00 I think. There were never many people there, but it was nice. Swim up pool bar always had a crowd, as well as the bar that was near the bayside restaurant.
Excursions; we booked 2 excursions through the tour desk. Dunns River Falls with the jeep safari tour and the canopy tour. Enjoyed both of them. The safari tour is about 3 hours of traveling around Ocho Rios and seeing a lot of Jamaica that you would not be able to see just staying at the resort. It is a beautiful country and I would recommend doing something more than staying the whole time at the resort. Safari tour may not be good for little ones as the ride can be quite bumpy. Same with the falls....can be a little tricky for little ones to climb.We enjoyed the safari, the falls, and the canopy tour.
I did use the spa for a massage. IIt was my first one, so I can not compare it with anything, but I did enjoy it.
I had read some reviews where people said they had money stolen. So I locked anything valuable in my suitcase when it was not in my possession. The exception to this was on our last day. Our bags had to be ready an hour before we needed to be on the bus. So I left my carry on bags in our room and we set the rest of our luggage in the hall so they could pick it up.while we had breakfast and took a swim. My carry ons were in our room for about an hour unattended. Upon arriving at the airport I went to get money to tip the driver and discovered that I was missing $2,000.00 in Jamaican money. This is about $30.00 US dollars. I know that it was there the night before, so I can only assume that someone entered our room and helped themselves to a tip. I hate to think this, but it is the only explanation I can come up with, as I kept a tight leash on that money until that morning. Lesson learned for me.
Overall, we had a fantastic time in Jamaica and enjoyed the resort. It is a beautiful country with many wonderful people. As one tour guide said, "There are no strangers in Jamaica, only friends who haven't met". I would stay at a Beaches resort again if I were to go in the next year or two, before my kids get too old. I think it is best for families with smaller children who can take advantage of the kids camp. I would also return to Jamaica again, no question.

My fiance and I stayed at Beaches Boscobel for a week in early May. We are a young couple (18 and 20), and after reading some of the negative reviews were a bit nervous.
The staff treat you amazing. We got to know all of the bartenders and waitresses and they all remembered us when we walked around the resort. We felt very "at home" while staying at the resort. I read some reviews about the beach being too small and the pool being busy, maybe it was the time of year that we went but we never had a problem with finding a pool chair or towels. There is lots to do for free at the resort, we stayed for seven days and only spent 30 dollars on crafts made by the locals.
I am a picky eater and still found the food amazing. There are many restaurants to choose from and I could not pick my favourite.

My wife, my four year old son and I stayed from May 16 to May 23. We book this resort right from the Beaches Website and were not sure what to expect after reading inconsistent reviews posted here. The bus ride was long but manageable. It took a solid 2 hours to get to the resort but it took only 90 minutes from the resort to the airport with absolutely no traffic. Once at the Mo Bay airport, they take your luggage and I never laid hands on them until they show up in my room. I tipped the airport porter only since everyone that works for Sandals/Beaches are not accepting tips. They have a lounge at the airport with a beer tap. You can have a few drinks prior to boarding the bus but do watch out on the liquid consumption as there are no service stations along the route for bathroom breaks.



Room

We booked and paid for a Luxury Family Suite (in main building). 1 week prior to departure received a phone call asking if we wished to upgrade to Ocean Terrace Suite for $350 (a $600 value at the time). We declined and when we got there, they gave it to us anyways for free so that was a pleasant surprise. From my room it was 26 steps of stairs to the beach and the room came stocked with a wet bar with concierge service. It even has a microwave.



Food

I’d score this an ‘Average’. There are good days and there are bad days and the buffet (Bayside) is unpredictable. We were actually a little disappointed at the food knowing that this should be a 5 star resort. I ate at Arizona 3 times for lunch serving Tex Mex food. The BBQ park was so so and I’d stay away from the hamburgers as the colour of the patties don’t look right. Also, the pizzas are a bit under cook. Had dinner on the second day at Venetian and the food was okay. Did not try Eleanor since it is only for 12 and above. Not about to pay extra for nanny service just to dine there. However, with our package we got a candle lit dinner right on the beach and the food is from Eleanor so technically I ate there too. My ranking of the 5 restaurants are (1 being best): 1-Eleanor, 2-Arizona, 3-Venetian, 4-BBQ park and 5-Bayside.



Activities/Amenities

Waterpark was the best hangout. Main pool is of a fair size given the size of the resort. During our stay they weren’t fully booked so there were empty lounge chairs to be had any given time of the day. The beach is small but I did not find it crowded. There are workers combing the beach every morning and they even collect rough stones and shells (and literally haul them away in bags) to keep the sand smooth. The maintenance guys worked so hard to keep the place clean and I could see maintenance workers spending every daylight minute doing something. From painting and or installing hand rails to replacing canvasses on lounge chairs, I can see the effort to keep this resort looking like new. (Note: They moved the lounge chairs with new canvasses to the 3rd level of the Ocean Front Terraces and take the older ones to the pool. The older ones in the pool they move to the beach and the old ones from the beach gets new canvasses.



Kids Program

Nothing but praise. Spoke to a few parents while there and they all have the same comment. The counselors to kids are at most 1 to 3 and the daily program was packed from 9:00 to 6:00 (for kids the age of my son). They have so many activities (my son likes the baking with Cookie Monster best) that by the time I pick up my son at 6, he’s completely exhausted. The best news is that they take them to lunch too and they make sure everyone gets to eat. My son actually ate better with the kids camp than he would otherwise. I left him in the kids camp 3 days out of the 7 and he was quite happy. Character breakfast is a must (extra $$) if you have little ones. They hold the event twice (Weds and Fridays at the Venetian restaurant). The food was slightly below average but hey you are not there for the food. Each of the 7 characters took turn entering the restaurant and you get plenty of photo opportunities close up.



Golf

Only got one round in as we did not bring our clubs (too many pieces of luggage to handle) and it’s $60 for 2 bags each round. Cart was $45 and Caddy fee $25. I tipped my caddy $40 (general rule is $15 to $30 per bag) so all in for one round is $205. I’d strongly recommend a cart as you will only need to hire one caddy (for the twosome in a cart) as opposed to 2. Plus it really was too hot to walk. The course is fast (both playing speed and ball speed – dry fairways and greens). We finished 18 holes in 3 hours since the course was practically half empty. First time golfing in the tropics and not used to seeing fallen mangos and oranges around some tee boxes. The only down side was the food we ordered from the course was overcooked and it took way too long, not to mention the price you have to pay ($7 for a sandwich when you can get food for free back at the resort).



Not about to write a book about this resort but if you want more info on any particular activities, drop me a line via email. My overall experience is above average and I would come back here again.

I shot 200 + pictures and will likely have a picture of what you are looking for. Not about to post them all but feel free to ask via email.

I was hesitant after reading some of the reviews from other travelers concerning Beaches Boscobel. I don't know what planet these complainers (or, as the kids say "haters") are from, but my family and I had an excellent time! The staff was friendly, prompt, and always available. My daughter spent time at the Kid's Camp and had more fun hanging out with the kids than with us! The certified nannies who ran the Kid's camp were fun and professional! I never worried one bit. Our room was clean and spacious. The fridge was restocked daily and security was not an issue. If you are worried, use the hotel safe and make sure your room is locked. The food was great; we ate at Eleanor's, Arizona, and the Bayside Cafe. I am no stranger to Jamaican food, the Bayside had Jamaican dishes for breakfast and dinner in addition to standard American fare. The beach may be small, but the water is warm and clear and there were lots of places to relax. There were very large pools, water slide area, and a kiddie pool. The only downside is that the resort is far from airport, but our driver gave us a nice tour along the way.
All in all, I, and my family had a great time (and we had an 8-eight year old along with my brother, his expectant wife, and their toddler)! We will go again!