Our trip was wonderful. I really couldn't have asked for a better vacation. We were very blessed to have had our wonderful butlers who made our experience exceptional.
The facility was beautiful and the staff wonderful. Thank you for making our trip memorable.

We traveled to Sandals Grande Ocho Rios for our honeymoon from June 16th to June 23rd. We flew into Montego Bay and went by customs and got our bags without any issues. We were directed to the Sandals lounge where the staff took our bags and told us that the shuttle would be leaving in twenty minutes. We thought we could sit down and have drinks and snacks but then two minutes later they said the bus was leaving. So we followed the airport skycap (who is not with Sandals) and he basically forced us to tip him before putting the bags onto the shuttle. His exact words were, "The first thing is going to happen is that you are going to take care of me and then I'll put your bags on the bus". We tipped him and then boarded the shuttle but it didnt leave for another thirty minutes. Finally the bus left and it was a two hour drive to the resort. It stops halfway at a shop (which is not Sandals affiliated) and you can buy beer and food. The tour guide was entertaining and he makes the ride go by really fast. We got to the resort and they brought us into a room where they served us champagne and food and they took care of our check-in. I think this service depends on what kind of package you purchased but I'm not sure. We purchased the honeymoon package in a suite with a butler and he brought us up to the room and gave us a quick tour. He also sat down with us and explained everything about the resort and what we could do. One important thing to note is that they have rooms where you have your own private pool with a butler but these rooms are on the other side of the resort. The resort is also split in two by a road. If you are on the other side you have to take a shuttle to actually get to the beach side where all the watersports and a majority of the restaurants are located. We stayed in the Riviera Oceanfront suite so that we could be close to everything so keep this in mind when making your choice. Our room had a separate living area and a huge bedroom and bathroom. We also had a balcony that overlooked the pier and we were right above the Bayside restaurant. The room comes with a fully stocked bar and our butler was pretty good at keeping it full. They also give you a butler phone where you can pay $40 to get unlimited international calls. The first night we went to the Manor side (which is the opposite side not near the beach) and had dinner at this welcome ceremony for all the guests. They had entertainment and tons of food. Another thing to note is that the resort only has Red Stripe beer which you can drink. If you want a Bud Light or another type of beer you have to go the gift shop. Our room was on the third floor at the end of the hall so we did not have anyone above us but we did hear pigeons scurrying along the roof plus you can fainlty hear dishes clanking from the restaurant so that was a downside. They turned down our beds that night but they only turned down our beds 3 out of the 7 nights we were there.

The second day they brought us breakfast and served it to us on our balcony. You order it the night before and it includes champagne and this is part of the honeymoon package. We spent the entire day at the beach and we went kayaking, rode aqua trikes, and sailed the hobie cats. They offer lessons for the hobie cats and windsurfing twice a day. We also went snorkeling and spent time at the pool. That night we had a candlelight dinner at the beach (which we paid for ahead of time) and the food was good.

The third day we went to Dunne's river falls and it was a lot of fun. Make sure you bring your waterproof camera and don't buy the DVD because it is a rip off. Also, after you are done try to hurry through the market place where they bug you to buy something. We were able to get out and as long you say no and keep walking you'll be fine. We saw some other people get hooked and were forced to buy something. Also bring water shoes with you and don't rent the ones they have. You can buy them for like $5 at a CVS and they work just fine. You can also wear sneakers and you should be fine. We had a great dinner at Valentino's which serves Italian food.

On the fourth day, we spent the entire time at the Manor side of the resort which has the big pool you see on the website. I think they have this huge pool to make up for the fact that it is far from the beach. We got there early and had breakfast at the Manor and we were at the pool pretty early. They have private cabanas where you can reserve but we weren't sure if this was included. They bring you food and drinks if you reserve one of these. Our butler actually brought us drinks and he came by to check on us. That night we had dinner at Orchids which serves Asian food.

On the fifth day we went Horseback riding. There are two horse excursions, Chukka cove horseback riding and the Hooves tour. The Hooves tour is the better one apparently because you spend more time on the horse. This was really fun and worth the price because you can ride fast on the horses in the beach water. When we got back to the room our butler had drawn us a bath with petals and music and decorated our room so this was a nice surprise. That night we had dinner at the Dunne's river Sandals at Kimonas which is a Japanese style steak house with a hibachi grill. You can also use Dunne's river's pool and any other Sandals resorts when you stay in Jamaica.

On the sixth day we did the mountain biking tour which is the all day excursion. I would recommend that people not do this tour because it is not worth the price. The bus ride there is way too long and you travel up the mountain in very narrow roads. Also, you end up rolling, not bicycling down the mountain on these old bikes from the 70's. They give you food which is ok but not worth the money. The ride back to the resort is even worse because you are tired from the whole experience. That night we ate dinner at San Gennaro's which is all Italian and the food and service was very poor at this restaurant.

Finally on the sixth day we just relaxed and drank at various restaurants and we had dinner at Arizona's on the beach. Arizonas is a Tex Mex place and the service here was better. We left for the airport the next day.

Here are my tips if you plan on going to Ocho Rios:
- At first we didn't think the butler service was worth the price but we realized that the butlers make all the dinner reservations for you and they get priority over other people. We also had the best seats in every restaurant and never had to wait and they booked all our excursions for us. They were also very friendly and we didn't call them as much as we could have but they still took care of us and made our stay enjoyable so if you can afford it I would suggest doing it. We also tipped them at the end.
-Try not to do all day excursions because it takes up a whole day. Only do excursions that are a few hours so you can relax at the resort.
-We did not do the shopping tours but other people told us that it is a waste of money. The bus basically drops you off at the shopping district and you spend half the time haggling with the locals.
-Bring lots of ones for your tour guides on the excursions.
-Make sure you allow yourself at least 4 hours for your ride to the airport on the wayback. The bus ride is two hours long plus there is a stop and the Montego Bay lines get very long. Our flight left at 12:15 and we had to catch the 8:00 am bus. Keep in mind there will be those people that are always late and the bus didn't leave until 8:30. We made our flight with no problem but there were other people who cut it very close.

We would definitely visit another Sandals resort at a different location.

We stayed at SGOR from June 29th – July 5th. I wanted so badly to love this place but I was a little disappointed.

Check-In – It takes about 1 ½ hours or so to get from the airport to the resort. Airport shuttle dropped us all off on the Manor (mountain) side of the resort to check in. Afterwards, those of us who were staying on the Riviera (beach) side of the resort hopped on a shuttle to head over to our side.

Room – We were upgraded two levels to a Riviera Cottage Room. These rooms are basically exactly the same as the lower level rooms in the Bamboo Grove building except they have refrigerators. Also, from what we saw, these rooms were the only ones on the resort without a four-poster bed. We had a white wicker headboard. That was a bit disappointing; the room just didn’t feel as luxurious as the website pictures showed. Mattress was a bit hard. The A/C was great, not loud. The bathroom was rather tired, pink countertops, pastel tiles, the tub had chipped paint (yes, the tub looked like it had been painted several times). But, they did provide large, 4 ounce shampoo, conditioner, aloe gel and lotion which were all really great. The room safe was very small. (Not sure if the size of these varies room-to-room?)

Pools – Pools were all OK, they were very warm (almost too warm) but most were large. There are so many pools at this resort, it was great. Bars at the pools were a great place to get some shade if all the umbrellas were taken. The Manor side pool was huge and a really fun place to hang out.

Beach – As mentioned in other reviews, they are a bit small. There are basically three separate beach areas, all fairly narrow. But there were always plenty of lounge chairs around. Only complaint about the beach areas is that they tend to BLAST very loud American pop music, we heard a lot of rap and Brittney Spears. We kept asking if they’d change the music to reggae or something at least local, but they never did.

Food – This was a disappointment for us. We’re not very picky but more then once, we had to leave our main course and head to the snack bar. (Snack bar at the Beach Club has really great chicken skewers and french fries!) The salad bars were always fantastic, but the main courses were often overcooked, dry, and not as described. For instance, I ordered a pasta dish that was supposed to have eggplant, mozzarella, and basil. What I got was a canned meat sauce with chunks of eggplant. We did have two really great meals, one at Orchids on the Manor side and one at Kimonos at the Dunn’s River resort. Also, we ate several wonderful breakfasts at Valentino’s - it’s pretty dead before about 9:15 or so and service is faster then.

Service – I can see why opinions on service vary so widely. I would say that almost all of the employees at this resort were a bit distant to border-line rude at first. However, once you started up a conversation and/or tipped them, they suddenly livened up. Almost all meal service is absurdly slow. Yes, I’m on vacation, no I don’t mind waiting a bit for my meal. However, waiting 2+ hours for dinner – every single night – was beyond irritating. We wanted to enjoy every minute we could, not spend a huge amount of time every single night sitting at a table.

Activities – We did the Catamaran Party Cruise – really liked it for the most part. You get to sail, snorkel, and see the Dunn’s River Falls. Just be sure to bring $$ with you, the tour guide at the falls wants a tip, the people at the falls taking your picture want a tip, the people on the catamaran want a tip. Be careful about the locals selling things on the beach – don’t tell them your name (they’ll start to carve it into things then guilt you into buying them) and don’t hold anything they ask you to “try out” because they’ll refuse to take it back and demand money. Back on the resort, we took out one of the hobbie cat boats and the giant water bikes, both of which were really fun.

We did visit Sandals Dunn’s River and enjoyed that property a lot more. It’s nicer and cleaner and the people there just seemed to be happier. The Tree Bar was awesome and Kimonos was a really fun place to have dinner. If you’re interested in having dinner at Kimonos, make reservations for it your very first night.

Overall, we would not go back to SGOR but would be willing to try another Sandals Resort.

We just spent a week at Sandals Ocho Rios. Overall, this was a very pleasing vacation and we wanted to share our experiences:

1. We stayed at a pool/ocean facing room in the Manor building. The view was awesome! The room was clean but outdated. The bathroom was even more outdated with moldy grout, bad caulking job around the tub, leaky faucets. The vanity sink leaked so much that we called a plumber to fix it.

2. The main pool on the Manor side was very nice with nice pool and bar service. The pool is open 24 hours and a lot of people enjoyed it what seems like all night.

3. The food was plentiful but very ordinary. Their approach is to compensate quality with more upscale service. You won't be hungry and pleased with presentation, but we've had better food at 2-star restaurants back home. We really expected a lot more. Seafood lovers, don't expect more than deep fried fish. The best we saw was shrimp a few times. With all that said, the atmosphere at the restaurants, especially Arizona on the beach, made the dinning experience quite pleasing.

4. There was a lot to do on the beach with many of activities available for no extra cost, including diving, snorkeling (off a boat), sea kayaks, sailboats, etc. I’d say, this is a lot more than we’ve seen available at Caribbean resorts of this class. The golf is included, though you have to pay for the caddy separately. The golf course dress code is strictly enforced. We saw people scrambling at the last minute buying overpriced polo shirts at the pro shop.

5. The staff was friendly with a few exceptions and really tried to make our stay there enjoyable.

Like most people say, this is not just the property, food, or service that make your vacation - it's whether you decide to enjoy yourselves. We did and had a very good time!

V & L, Chicago