Rick

Review of Sandals Grande Ocho Rios

At the airport we were taken to a Sandals room whe...

At the airport we were taken to a Sandals room where we were told to make ourselves comfortable for the next 40 mins. Within 10 mins we went to a bus and sat for over 30 mins only to be transferred to another bus where the driver apologized that the turbo doesn't work. The trip took over 2 hrs which should be 100 mins. We could have walked up hills faster then the bus was able to go. The driver made the best of by describing the area. We checked in and tried making restaurant reservations with the concierge. We were told 9 PM was the earliest every night of our stay. It seems like people with butlers were able to get reservations. Kelly Dockside where Daniel the waiter was fantastic. The snapper was the best we ever had. We told the chef who was happy to hear this. Staff at Neptunes were rude and didn't provide any type of service. Breakfast at La Gourmand was good including staff. Tapas staff were great but food is OK for a lunch. We had Thanksgiving at Valentino's where I ordered the Turkey dinner. I received a ham dinner and when I told the waiter he just looked at me and walked away. Bella pizza was quite good. Our room the refrigerator didn't keep things cold and we were told for 3 days they would look into it. We finally gave up. We only had hot water 1 day out of 6 which taking cold showers isn't fun. The toilet seat was chipped and the bathroom had black stains.The place is showing age and needs a good cleaning. Neither whirlpool was working. Staff at the aqua center are rude and seemed to busy socializing when you ask to make a reservation to snorkel. The white night entertainment was good but the chocolate should be in a fountain not a bowl as we lost our fruit trying to dip at the bottom of the pot. Our room had great views but we were over the bar and at 10 PM the music starts until midnight. Stay on the other side of the resort and the music shouldn't be an issue and views will be the same. Everyone responds no problem but nothing is fixed and requests have no response.