My sister selected Beaches by Sandals Ocho Rios, an all-inclusive family resort, as the destination for her wedding. As mentioned in my packing for Jamaica post, this was my first time ever vacationing at a resort! Here’s a review of my experience:
Customer Service
When I arrived at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, I picked up my luggage and went to the Sandals lounge to check in for my shuttle. The lounge’s decor was bright and they had light refreshments, which I greatly appreciated after traveling for 8 hours! A porter transported my bags to the shuttle after a short 15-minute wait. He also made sure to very politely say that he’s not a part of the Sandals staff (i.e. tip, please).
The shuttle ride was pleasant – it was well air-conditioned and the driver was super friendly and gave us a lot of great history about Jamaica. We were all eager to get to the resort, so we didn’t take a rest stop. According to my shuttle driver, Beaches is advertised as being in Ocho Rios for marketing purposes but it is actually a couple of minutes outside of the city. To get to Ocho Rios from Montego Bay is a 1.5- 2 hour shuttle ride.
We were welcomed by friendly concierge staff who grabbed our bags and delivered them to our room. While checking in, I was offered champagne and a staff member escorted me to my room to complete registration on an iPad.
Room
We stayed in a Caribbean Luxury Family Sized Suite Double. It was an air-conditioned room with two double beds, a double pull-out sofa bed, and a cot. We fit four people comfortably. The wi-fi in the room was free and had a strong signal. My favorite part was waking up to the beautiful view of the hotel grounds with the ocean as a backdrop.
Pro Tip:
Be mindful that the room key card is extremely sensitive and will deactivate when next to your phone.
Food/Drinks
I was really disappointed with the food and drinks. I tried 4 out of 7 specialty restaurants on the resort and thought 2 of them were decent. I recognize that the resort has to cater to people from different origins who may want food they are familiar with. However, when I travel to a country, I want to eat their local cuisine and not items I can find at home. My favorites were the Bayside Restaurant, which had buffet-style breakfast and lunch with a few traditional Jamaican dishes on the menu, and the Out of the Blue, which was a pop-up bistro that featured seafood with a Caribbean flare. Also, I’m convinced that when Beaches said all-inclusive food and drinks, they meant all-inclusive food and bottom shelf drinks. I’m not a big drinker. I like to say I have a cost-effective tolerance – after 2 drinks, I’m good for the night. But I travelled with people with a higher tolerance and they complained about getting headaches from drinking the cocktails.
Pro Tip:
Get off the resort for authentic food! Scotchies was recommended to me by a friend and a bunch of locals. I had the best jerk chicken in my life there! That $7 meal was the culinary highlight of my stay.
Excursions
Also, along the lines of getting off the resort, book an excursion or two! Jamaica is a beautiful country with a rich history and plenty of adventured-filled activities. I went to the excursions table to book our activities 24 hours in advance. Given our limited time (3 days), we only had 1 day that could be used for excursions so we wanted to do as much as we could within that day. After consulting with the excursions representative, we decided on the following:
Horseback Riding on the Beach
Horseback riding in the water on the beach is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. We started our day at 8:15 am for our guided tour on horseback with Hooves Jamaica. I highly recommend this company for your horseback riding experience. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. They carefully select a horse for you based on your size, help you mount the horse, and give you a brief orientation on how to control the horse.
The tour began with a 30-minute trek through a forest, which led to the 15 minute trek on the beach and in the water. While at the beach, we received complimentary home-made limeade and plantains which were AHHMAZING. I really respected how they gave the horses a break to eat and relax before going into the water. The beach riding part was a little anti-climatic for me. I was with a group of 6 and while in the water, multiple horses ahead of me pooped, so I spent a lot of time trying to dodge poop from touching my leg. Floating poop on my leg was not in my horseback riding on the beach day dreams! But besides that, I really enjoyed myself.
Pro Tip
I learned that typically people horseback ride with long pants on, but alternatively you can use a towel to sit on. Also, don’t forget your sunscreen and insect repellant.
Dunn River Falls
I talked to many locals and asked them about the must-see places near Ocho Rios, and they all recommended visiting the Dunn River Falls. After the horseback riding tour, we came back to the hotel for lunch and headed to the falls at 2pm. This was one of my favorite traveling excursions EVER partly because of the people I enjoyed this with. This was my first international family vacation and it was my mom’s first time out of the country. She’s never done anything adventurous like climb up a waterfall! She didn’t know what to expect and when she saw what we had to do, she gave me the “I’m gonna kill you eyes” but ended up really enjoying it!
There are several levels to the falls and at each level you can exit if you choose to. But my mom made it to the top level. Go Mom! I also went with my cousin and my 10 year old nephew who was oozing with excitement (see picture above). He told me, “Auntie, this is going in my favorite memories ever book stored in my head”. My heart melted.
Long story short: don’t leave Jamaica without visiting the Dunn River Falls!
Pro Tip
You can choose to do a guided or unguided trek up the falls. I highly recommend going with a guide. The guide pointed out several dangerous spots that you should avoid stepping on. Also, do not buy the “personalized video” they sell to you at the end. My cousin and I got a deal to get two DVDs and my DVD just included the history of Jamaica segment and her DVD only had 3 video clips of us. This was my first travel swindle of 2017! Luckily, I asked my guide to take pictures of us throughout the excursion and got really good shots from him. I propose you just tip your guide to take pictures of you or get a Go-Pro or a reliable waterproof case to take pictures yourself.
Overall Experience at Beaches by Sandals Ocho Rios
I am not a resort type traveler, but I must admit it was an unique experience. The resort grounds at Beaches Ocho Rios are stunning and interacting with their charismatic and helpful staff was a pleasure. Although, the resort was advertised as having something for everyone to do, I felt that most events catered to children.
Would I Return?
As a single person with no children, I wouldn’t return the Beaches Ocho Rios resort. Right now, I highly value good authentic food and drinks and I wasn’t fulfilled with either. However, I would return later on in life when I have children because they did a great job catering to them. Also, because of the superb customer service, I am definitely open to experiencing Sandals adult-only resorts.
Have you ever been to a Sandals resort? What was your experience?
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This Post Has 18 Comments
Totally agree with you on food! Love finding hidden local gems!
Yes!!! It’s the greatest 🙂
I agree that I am not a resort traveler either. I love to find my own adventures and hang with the locals. This is a beautiful place for a wedding though.
I agree! I think I would only go to resorts for a special occasions like a wedding.
Beautiful photos! Thanks so much for sharing an authentic review of your experiences. I always like to know the pros and cons when choosing a resort, especially internationally.
Thank you for reading!! I find these reviews to be helpful for travel prep. There are so many resorts to choose from. It’s nice to read honest accounts.
Tropical beaches are never boring! Your pro tips are good! Always nice to hear it from someone with first-hand experience. I’m a BIG fan of trying local food! 🙂
Thank you!! Yes local food is always a great idea!
The resort looks lovely. I am with you though on the food. I have found the food disappointing in most all-inclusive resorts I have stayed in.
Yea, I guess it hard to appease everyone’s taste palette. So glad I got off the resort for a good meal.
The beaches are truly spectacular 🙂 While spectacular scenery from a beachfront chaise lounge set on the sugary sand facing the crystalline Caribbean Sea, soothes away all concerns ! You could spend carefree days sipping icy, tropical concoctions in the warm, island sunshine ! It seems a lovely place !
It was amazing!!! Super relaxing experience!
Really great review to read! I visited Jamaica with my family when I was really young (my only memory of the trip is a pool with a small waterfall), so I would love to visit the country again one day. I will definitely consider this resort!
Thank you!! Jamaica is a beautiful country! Glad you are considering the resort!
Resorts aren’t my cup of tea either. Like you, I prefer to see the area and taste the local food! Looks like you made the most of it though 🙂
I have to say I winced at the riding without hard hats and with a towel on! I’m horsey and have my own, but I know things are different outside the UK and safety standards might be more relaxed! Glad to see the horses look in good condition though because often, tourism is about profit not care.
Yea, they had helmets available, but only children were required to wear them. I also appreciated how much they cared for the horses and gave them numerous breaks.
It looks like such a relaxing holiday! I could definitely leave on vacation right now haha
Thanks! It was so relaxing!!