The resort was great. All the resort staff was friendly, polite and graceful with great smiles. Water slides were such a fun that my daughter spent so much time for them. Almost nonstop music at the main stage that we could even hear from our room was great, too. The Elenore restaurant was very nice. Other restaurants were OK. The beach itself was a disappointment, though. In the shallow water, it was too rocky to even walk and the beach is so small. Water sport scheduling was a kind of inconvenient. But overall, we had a great 1 week long vacation.

This was my first time staying at a Beaches resort and my first time in Jamaica. I found the resort staff extremely helpful, to the extent of going out of their way to help you. They were very firendly, making our stay more enjoyable. Always with a smile. In my opinion, the resort is family oriented, targeted more to the younger aged kids. My teenage girls were looking for more things to do by the end of the trip. Overall, I would recommend this to younger family.

Recently returned from Beaches Boscobel with my family and everyone had a great time. The water slide pool and Xbox room were a huge hit with the kids. Down on the beach they offered Free sailing, banana tube, snorkeling and water (pedal) bike activities. We stayed in a honeymoon suite above the main lobby and had a great balcony view of the ocean. We had 5 people in our room and never felt too cramped with two roll-away beds in the room. They restock your mini fridge each night and also offer turn down service. Restaurants were good and convenient too. We also spent a couple of days off-site as I can’t go to a foreign country and just hang out with a bunch of Americans. The staff was more than friendly and accommodating. The rooms are a bit dated, but we are not hard to please as long as it’s clean and smells nice.
The highlight of the trip was tubing down the White river. This is a slow 3 mile float through a pristine forest with stops along the way. My wife and kids also climbed Dunn’s River Falls and really enjoyed it. I hired a private taxi one day to just take me all over the surrounding areas and captured some great photos. We went through the Fern Gorge, and visited a lot of spots only the locals go. The people I met off-site were generally just as friendly as those at the resort. I did pay each local I took pictures of $5 for their efforts. This included Fisherman, Beach Bums and Rastafarians.

On the negative side, the beach is small but very nice and had a lot of rocks in the shoreline. We did have issues with our room not being ready upon a 4p arrival which was a hassle. My kids are 8 and 10 and had no interest in the Sesame St Characters that roam the place and appear very much out of place. The Golf isn’t really free once you pay for the ride out, the mandatory caddy and the golf cart. But our biggest complaint would be that they don’t have pool side or beach side bar waiters running drinks. This would have been a huge plus as it was a pain having to dry off then carry several drinks back to the beach.

As always, you must remember that you’re in a 3rd world country and everything will not be like home or at the Hilton in San Diego. The resort was very reasonably priced as well compared to other places we have visited in the Caribbean.

IMPORTANT.....I am an extremely high expectation/picky kind of girl!
My husband and two girls ages 3 and 13 visited Beaches Boscobel from Thursday, June 25th to Monday, June 29th for my brother's wedding. It was our first time in Jamaica and at an A/I resort. We opted for a private transfer to the resort so we could get there faster. We used Andrew Moodie Taxi Service. Got out of the airport at 4:00 and arrived at the hotel at 6:30ish. My brother got off the plane at 2:00 and used the shuttle and arrived at the resort at 6:00 so it was worth forking out the extra money for the transfer. Pulled up to the resort and didn't get the friendly reception I was expecting but then again we pulled up in a taxi and not the shuttle. I had to ask for some rum punch. Went up to the front desk and again was not overwhelmed by friendliness but the guy that took us to our room was very friendly. Our room was in the right wing if you are looking towards the ocean. I guess the east wing. We were on the second floor, room 1204. The room was conveniently located right by the stairs which led to a walkway either to the pools/beach or to the lobby. In my opinion it was a very good location. We got a Luxury Family Suite and it was nice and big and clean. Yes, the tile work was very bad but who cares. We had a big king size bed, our sofa bed and a cot was already made up which was nice. We had a TV. a coffee pot and a mini fridge stocked with sodas, water, and juice which I wasn't expecting. Our balcony was big with a view of the grounds and the ocean and had a towel rack that you could hang up your bathing suits on. The bathtub also had a clothes line which you could hang your wet suits on. My family were all staying at the beachside rooms on beach level and third floor and spent a lot more money then we did and except for the fact that they were closer to the beach, had liquor in their room, and access to the ONE concierge....our room was bigger and I was very glad that we didn't upgrade. Our room was cleaned everyday with no problems and turned down every night and some of my family either didn't get their room cleaned or they came really late in the day.
On to the food...
we ate at the Bayside Cafe the first night for dinner and it was ok. It reminded me of Golden Corral. The jerk chicken and pork was good though. The breakfast we ate their every morning was good. Fresh made omelets, French toast, pancakes, waffles, eggs, every kind of meat, cereal, smoothies, ect...The BBQ park was very good. I loved the Jerk Burgers. And it does state that they are beef. In fact I think they have them imported b/c I overheard them talking about it on the radio. We ate at Venetians the second night and I wasn't overly impressed. I got chicken and didn't like it. My husband got steak and he said it was good but not great. We are from Texas so steak is hard to beat. Our family did like what they got. The last night we ate at Arizona's. This was my favorite. It is open air right by the ocean and had buffet appetizers/salad/deserts. I got steak and it was good. Although I didn't have any major problems with the food I do wish they had more options. One thing I must comment on is EXCELLENT SERVICE!!!! Honestly, it is the best I have EVER received. They really do work hard and I felt myself compelled to give them a very generous tip.
Pool....
The main pool is big enough to accommodate the guests and has a swim up bar and a volleyball net which we had a blast doing. It is also right next to the stage so you can swim and enjoy the music during the day and the shows at night. The Bayside Buffet and the Bayside Bar is right next to the pool. The water park is awesome. My 3 year old LOVED it!! Ok and so did I. They have a total of 8 slides not including the three children's slides. Right next to the water park is the BBQ park and a self serve soft serve ice cream, slushy, soda, and popcorn station.
Beach....
Considering it is a man made beach it is really nice and quaint. I never saw any problems with sea weed. When walking into the water it is better if you have shoes on since there are some small rocks that can hurt your feet but it is not necessary. If you are wanting a stroll on the beach boogie board kind of beach then it is not for you. But if you want to wade in the water, play in the sand, listen to the water, and enjoy the view it is PERFECT. They keep it very clean and there are plenty of loungers and shade if you want it for everyone. They also have a massage hut on the beach and I did see them set up a make shift bar a couple of times. I see absolutely nothing to complain about.
Water sports...
Decent....but not A+ quality. We did the glass bottom boat and snorkeling and wasn't impressed by either one. My oldest daughter did the banana boat and thought it was lame. She also did the aqua bikes and said never again because it was such hard work. They also have available mini catamarans/sail boats and kayaks.
Entertainment...
Every night starting at 7 p.m. they have a kids show with the Sesame Street characters and the kids LOVED it dancing around to the music and they do get the crowd involved. Then after they have the adult show with bands/singers,ect...that goes to about 10:30 at night. During the day they have contests and play music. Michael Jackson died the day we got there so they would play some MJ. One night they had a big inflatable screen and showed Bolt the movie for the kids. They have a piano bar that stays open until 2 where they have a guy playing the piano singing to a song you pick out of a book but unfortunately they are not very good at all. But you get a good group of people and liquor involved and you have fun. They also have a Disco that stays open until 2 a.m. which is in all honestly lame and more for the teenagers but then anyone under 18 has to leave by 11:00. A group of 6 us did go one night and we had a blast.
Resort grounds...
Beautiful and well kept up. Yes you can see that the paint is bubbling/chipping off and they really should strip it and re-paint it but they work VERY hard to keep the place clean and fresh. It is an older resort so there is only so much you can do. It is not as big as everyone makes it out to be. It is very easy to get around. The only "problem" would be getting to the beach which is four floors down from the rest of the resort but there is an elevator which we used a lot and had no problems with it.
Kids Club/Gift Shop/Spa...
Used the kids club one day for about three hours in the afternoon so we could go shopping in Ochi. They went swimming, painted faces, and watched a movie. My daughter seemed to enjoy it. You don't have to drop them off first thing in the morning if you don't want to. The gift shop is decent. Has a good choice of souvenirs and necessities but kind of expensive. Only used the Spa services by the pool to get my girls hair braided which I wish I would have asked how much because we were charged $100 to just braid the front of both my girls hair...should have gone next door off the property and bargained with the ladies instead. My mom and aunt got massages and facials in the SPA and they enjoyed it. I really wanted to get a massage on the beach because it looked so AWESOME but I didn't have time.
PHOTO services...
They have staff going around taking snap shots of guests and then they give you an armband so you can go look at your photos later. You can even schedule a shoot say for family pictures by the beach ect. They have a photo shop that you go and look at your photos on a screen and then you can order if you want. They are a bit expensive but they take such good pictures that you will want to buy them. I really wanted to get my family pictures done there but didn't have time. My brother had his wedding photos done and they came out great.
Going back to the airport...
We took the resort shuttle. Our flight left at 10:45 in the morning. The resort schedules your check out and shuttle to make sure you get to the airport in time. The day before we were to check out they left a note saying thank you and our schedule for departure. They picked our bags up at 5 a.m. check out was at 5:30 and the shuttle left at 6 a.m. We got to the airport at 7:20 enough time to check in and still have plenty of time to eat breakfast and shop for last minute gifts.
Misc...
On the beach next to the pier there are some really nice locals that try to get you to come next door to their craft market to buy t-shirts, crafts, get your hair braided. My aunt went over a few times. You have to sign out when you go over and sign back in when you come back. There are also vendors wading in the water selling shells, jewelry, and crafts but they are not bothersome. Just make sure you bargain with them!! Taking the shuttle to Ochi costs $50 roundtrip for four people of $12 per person over 5 people. Your bus driver will take you wherever you want to go and will hang out for however long. He will give you info about the town ect to work for his tip...hint...hint... Shopping at the craft market in Ochi was interesting. At the time we were the only tourists there so everyone would come up to us and say come look at my stuff, bye something from me, ect.... we got some good things for good prices but be prepared to barter and be friendly but strong at the same time.
Summary....
Had an AWESOME time and wish would have stayed longer than four nights/three days. I think a week would have been ideal. There was a British family that had been there for a month!! I'm pretty sure we will go back if not to that Beaches to another because they do a really fantastic job of catering to all age groups and made our vacation the best we have ever had! I really think reading the reviews and participating in the forums helped me prepare for our trip and so I wasn't disappointed in the least bit.