Airport Transer:
This time round for me was very smooth with no long queues, didnt wait long for my bag and the transfer bus was organised

Hotel:
This was my second stay at Sandcastles and this time my room was slightly better than the first time in August. A spacey room but very dated and not exactly comfy, but it was clean and the ceiling fan and air con worked fine. Water pressure in my shower was fine and had no problems with the overall look of the bathroom just needed a lick of paint. I didnt see one cockroach while in the room, and hardly any ants! Amazing! The maid always came in the afternoon, which was a bit of hassle as when you came back from the beach sometimes there was no clean towels. I will say if your looking for a 5 star hotel then dont stay here, i like it because it is near to everything i want and i dont spend a lot of time in my room, i always eat out and roll in early hours of the morning so as long as i can get into a clean bed im kool.


The grounds are nice and well kept and i had a sea view so that helped. Reception wasn't very good as there is always only one person there and a few hard rings of the bell and they finally came to the desk. You need to pay a deposit of $10 dollars to get the remote for the TV, however you do get this back when your leaving. Wasn't happy that there was no safe in the room, meaning i had to literally take everything of importance out with me (thats a pain) as you dont really want to take all your cash and passport with you onto the beach.


The Beach

The beach is nice, small but not very packed. You do get a lot of guys coming up to you trying to get you to go on the Jet Ski's or buy shells that you cant take home with you. Cruise ships dock quite frequently but its not a problem as it doesnt really block any view as its just a view of endless sea. The swimming area of the sea isnt very big as it is roped off other wise you would get hit by boats of jet ski's

On the street
be prepared to get hassled by people selling weed , jewellery, hair braiding, etc..a firm NO and they leave you alone, but dont be scared to venture out as everyone is freindly and Ocho Rios is relatively safe, if you dont go out and spend all your time in the resort you are truly missing the real Jamaica and the local produce and excellent food. You got to try the fish! for those who cant do with out there fast food then you have KFC and Burger King.

I hope this review helps any question dont be afraid to ask

My boyfriend and I planned this weekend in Ocho Rios at the last minute so there were no good resorts left with availability by the time we got online to find a place to stay.
We found this hotel thru Orbitz and the price was right and the pictures of the hotels webpage looked pretty good. We got to the hotel at noon and found out that checkin wasn't even until 3pm so we found stuff to do and killed some time. When 3pm rolled around we got back to the hotel and upon checking in, we needed to pay a $10 USD deposit just to use the remote control for the TV set and were told that there was no safe in the room and that if we wanted to store anything in the safe, we could use the hotels safe in the office for $3USD a day. That was a little strange.
We get into our room and although nice and clean, there were no light fixtures to cover the cieling lights in the room and there was just a light bulb like the kind that you have in your utility closet at home. Strange again...
We stored some food on top of the refridgerator and left for the beach. Upon returning from the beach and now back in the room, we turned the lights on and roaches scattered from where our food was. Quite disgusting.
Shower time and there was no water pressure. Water was either scouring hot or it was simply cold but there was no in between.
Room smelled a little moldy and overall, if you are looking for a discount hotel and don't care about much more than a shower and a short nights sleep, this place is the place for you but if this is your honeymoon, I suggest that you find a great hotel with amenities such as a safe and remote control!
Happy Travels

Wow...where can I begin!

This hotel (if you can call it that ruined my first ever holiday in JAMAICA) for your own good don't go there!

Basically where can I begin, firstly there is only ever one porter at reception...so as my fairly large group of 14 people arrived we waited almost a hour to get our bags brought upstairs...after a long 9 hour flight and the drive from montego bay, we wasn't impressed!

There were cockroaches in our room, so we had to move to another, then there was no hot water, so again we moved to a place with faulty AC and a door that could only be locked with the key and so when i went out, in order for the door to be locked, i would have to lock my mother indoors. We were only there for 2 weeks, but it felt like we were there forever with all the problems. My cousin, almost drown in the pool, whilst the lifeguard stood there thinking he was playing around (sure after being under water for 2 minutes...and not coming up for breath) Also I had my grandparents coming to stay....they make no facilities for disabled people, we were told they would have to go to the top floor...which we said no as there was no way they would be able to walk up all those stairs...finally they gave us a ground floor room.

Many other problems that i don't have the time to say, mainly that we were there when the hurricane stroke in August, no lighting, electricity or hot water, and so as a hotel in a tourist area, you would have thought they would have had a generator they didn't and could just about give us candles.

As visitors to a hotel, you shouldn't have to buy your own cockroach killer to kills the cockroaches and clean the rooms properly as the maids do a crap job.

We did self catering, with miminal cultery and pots in the kitchen, i would say in you insist on coming here to do all inclusive,...don't even bother as to what i saw it was hardly all inclusive!!

The only thing that made me smile, was when i left there and got to see Jamaica, the beautiful country that it is , and the beach as well :)

Take heed, and be warned, they don't deserve your money for the standard you should pay a lot less.

Thanks for listening!!

My boyfriend and I were planning a trip to Jamaica. We were staying at the Holiday Inn Sunspree in Montego Bay and wanted somewhere different for the week before. Well, we ended choosing Sandcastles, based on the price.

Once we got into Jamaica, (after the long wait at customs or whatever it's called) we looked around for our bus. We ended up asking bus drivers where they were going and if they could take us. No one seemed to know where we were supposed to go! Finally a bus driver told us he was going to Ocho Rios and he'd take us. The drive is about 1 hour 30 mins on a bumpy road...but who cares! You're in Jamaica!!!!

We enter our hotel which looks like an old mansion. Very quaint. But, traveller beware, it is smack dab in the middle of the town. This was a beautiful feature for my guy and I. He is of Jamaican descent and hadn't been back to the "main land" since he was a child, so he loved being surrounded by it's raw beauty...which includes people asking if you want to buy their mix cd, weed, or homemade wine. But, if you are one of those people who call this being "bothered" then, don't bother with this place. However, if you want to experience the "REAL" Jamaica, this location is perfect.

Checking in wasn't so great however. The guy there wasn't overly polite and didn't seem to care too much. Also, we had paid for all-inclusive and he had originally given us "european plan" bracelets. (Good thing I asked. I recommend you make sure they give you the right bracelet too!) You also have to pay a deposit of 10$ US for a remote. (no probs getting money back after..)

We were finally taken to our room after a lengthy wait. Our room was pretty nasty. Almost "hostel" like. But I had antipated as much so told myself to make the most of it. 20 mins later, we get a call from Front Desk advising they had put us in the wrong room (which, from what i've read, seems to happen fairly often). Our 2nd room was absolutely wonderful. Clean, big, we had our own kitchen...we were very pleased!!!

The pool is ok although I didn't go into it once. The service was alright, however, the lady bartender wasn't a big fan of me. Hahaha, I think she liked my boyfriend.

We didn't do any tours through the hotel as it was WAY more expensive. (60$ US per person to go do a day at Dunn's River Falls....so we took a cab, paid our own fare at Dunn's River Falls and paid 20$ US per person! The Falls are a MUST SEE!)

The food was good, very true to jamaican culture. (But where's the oxtail?) The entertainment...well...there wasn't really any entertainment. 1 band, 1 night...1 song : "Shy Guy".

We ventured in town and tried "Mother's", which is a fast-food chain in Jamaica that offers various types of the "jamaican patty". We also went to Margaritaville, which was a blast! We ended up purchasing my engagement ring in Ocho also! (lots of wiggling room, in terms of negociating!)

So all in all, we had a great time. We plan to go again. You must have an open mind and be ready to make the most of your stay and venture out of the hotel.

REMEMBER: you don't travel to experience the luxuries of home (comfortable bed, food we're used to, top-notch 24hour service)...you go to experience that country! Make the most of it!