Hermoder

Review of Sandals Grande Ocho Rios

This was our 1st visit to Jamaica & we got what we...

This was our 1st visit to Jamaica & we got what we thought was a good deal, flying business class from London on BA, staying in the Butler Village at Sandals Ochi, which promotes itself as a couples only resort. Viewing the photos & reading the description on their website persuaded us that we had made an excellent choice.
The BA flight was an hour late in leaving London so we arrived in Jamaica, at 16.30 instead of 15.30. We were shepherded to the Sandals office where we were kept waiting for almost 30 minutes. 12 of us & our associated luggage were then crammed onto a way-to-small minibus for the transfer to Sandals Ochi - a far cry from the comfortable spacious seating promised on their website. The transfer took over three hours, as against the stated 90 minutes.
On arrival, we were ushered into the Butler Premium Lounge & kept waiting for another 30 minutes. Approaching 9.00pm, we were eventually taken to our room by our butler. The butler then spent 15 minutes extolling the virtues of the resort & trying to sell us excursions & Spa treatments. There was a bottle of sparkling wine in the room, certainly not champagne as promised; & no sight of any Bombay Sapphire which we had specified in the pre arrival pack.
The butler disappeared after advising us that our cases would follow. They did. About 45 minutes later by which time we had been travelling for approximately 18 hours & we were too tired to bother with a restaurant. A wasted first evening.
Day 2, & after a very pleasant breakfast, we headed for the beach. It is not obvious from the website but Sandals Ochi is spread over two sites. One site is adjacent to the beach. The other, where all the butler style accommodation is located (& known as the Hillside), is on the other side of Ochi s High Street. Sandals run a shuttle bus every 10 minutes to get from the Hillside to the beach. Now Jamaica is known for its sunshine so, on arriving at the beach, we were somewhat puzzled at the total lack of shade. There were NO parasols or umbrellas. We, like many no doubt, were fooled by the photos of the beaches on the Sandals website where a few mattress covered sunbeds are sparsely spread around the beaches. In reality the sunbeds have no mattresses & are packed tightly together. Furthermore there was loud music coming from the Beach Club. So we sought out another beach. The same packed sunbeds although the loud music at the 2nd beach was coming from the beach bar. On to the 3rd & final beach &, heaven, lacked the pounding music of the other 2 beaches. That is, until the hotel s catamaran returned mid-afternoon, music blaring for 20 odd minutes whilst those on board continued with their revelries. Sandals promotes itself as a couples resort NOT as an 18-25 club & I go on a beach holiday for rest, relaxation, peace & quiet.
The swimming pools were just the same. Music blaring away from 9.00am until sunset.
- On Monday evening we went to the Gourmand restaurant where the waiter asked if we would like a pre-dinner cocktail. We both asked for gin & tonics. My wife s was too strong so she asked the waiter to get some more tonic. He arrived with a glass of liquid which he poured into my wife s G&T. When my wife took a sip she almost spat it out. The waiter had poured in a double measure of gin!
- The Bombay Sapphire we requested in the Butler Preferences Form duly arrived on the 3rd day of our stay. Some service.
- The House Champagne was another Sandals myth. In reality it was Vin Mousseux.
- As part of the butler service, Sandals promises to replenish the mini bar on a daily basis. That certainly was not our experience. Every evening, on returning from the beach, we had to telephone the butler for one drink or another to be replenished.
All in all an experience that was nowhere near our expectations. If Sandals wishes to garner the custom of couples outside the 18-30 age bracket, they need to do a lot more. & they need to update their website photos to reflect the true nature of the resort.