Miriam Soliman

Review of Sandals Montego Bay

I came here extremely excited, I paid top dollar a...

I came here extremely excited, I paid top dollar and was fine with it because of what was advertised. Before continuing to read this post if you're not able to or can't afford to pay for Butler service do not bother booking here. Anyone without Butler service is essentially a 2nd class guest. overall my room was very average and a bit dated. I think a 3 star is more than fair especially since I've been to many resorts and never felt more swindled. Here is my pro and cons list:
Pro:
1.Clean
2. Photo shoot is very reasonably priced
3. Many water activities (including scuba) to choose from
4. Resort was very pretty
5. Several pool options
6. Several beach sections

Cons:
1. Service is mediocre at best. The staff has no issues saying no, walking away, or arguing with you. Finding someone to get you a drink on the beach is very challenging. They seem extremely understaffed.
2. Not everyone can make a reservation at their restaurants and even IF you do they don't communicate it to the restaurant or the restaurant could be closed. We had a reservation for the sushi restaurant and turns out the restaurant wasn't even open that day, no one bothered informing us. Even when we finally got a reservation to a restaurant that was open it was at 9pm which is an hour before they close, when we showed up at 9:07 the host said he cancelled the reservation. Due to the timing some of the dishes were no longer an option.
3. The water activities are on a ridiculous schedule. You can only be given lessons once a day if you can't make it you have to wait for the next day. Their snorkeling trips are 30 mins long and about 50-60 feet from the hotel.
4. The quality of food is about as good as a cruise except you paid way more.
5. The airport is right by the property so you can hear every single plane take off. That by itself should make it impossible for them to be 5 stars.
6. While they have several pool options, only one is heated. Also, it's hard to differentiate between the private pools from the public pools.
7. They use all inclusive very very loosely at Sandals. You have to pay for canabans (approx $200), wine bottles at dinner all came at a separate price ($25-$60/bottle), etc.
8. The check-in process took forever (mind you I checked in online 2 days before arriving). We were herded like cattle from the moment we got through customs. We waited in the sandals reception area and given no information on when we will be taken to the hotel. Finally when it was our turn we were taken to a bus and waited again for the rest of the group. Then when we arrived we all waited again for our names to be called and herded to reception where we you guessed it we waited to be told what room we will be in. We were also told we could make reservations for the restaurants at reception then reception said to call.
9. They only have 1 option for dessert a Parisian cafe with terrible ice cream and decent desserts (the humming bird cake is delicious though).