Sandals Montego Bay

Sandals Montego Bay

We have admired the culture of the island of Jamaica for years, and after long conversations with a Sandals rep in the uk, their Montego resort in Jamaica seemed like the perfect option for our 2 week New Years trip.. With a great mix of relaxation, activity and leisure, we wouldn t have to put much thought into anything as everything is included.

My husband and I have been putting money aside for this once in a life time trip via our pension for years. We first stared planning our trip to Montego Bay over a year ago. So needless to say we were more than a little excited.

My son got married this September, and my daughter the summer before (and is expecting a baby in the new year!!). So the idea was to organise a once in a lifetime trip as a family to celebrate, and most importantly - totally relax.

Upon arrival it s obvious that the resort delivers on the majority of its description, the beach front property is truly beautiful. However after about ten minutes after our arrival, alarm bells started ringing. A low flying aircraft wooshed overhead.. The planes continued through until 10:45 pm. After a 14 hour journey we were absolutely exhausted and all we wanted to do was sleep! Unfortunately the planes started up again just after 6:30am.. this routine repeated daily throughout our stay pretty much.

Reading online and checking various apps, it seems that there are between 30-40 flights ARRIVING to Montego Bay each day.
My son works in music and sound and used an app to record the decibel levels within his room, apparently one flight registered at close to 100db.. which is what you can expect to hear at a rock concert! This is a detail the Sandals rep certainly forgot to mention! As well as the pollution aspects of course.

Unfortunately this is not where it stopped. My husband and I opted for a room upgrade and paid a premium for a Suite with a butler as a treat. We booked the others a walkout ocean view room with a soaking tub . Our room in particular was not as we had hoped and definitely not worth the extra money. In 2015 we stayed in Sandals Antigua in a beachfront rondel with a butler (which was amazing) With no direct access to the beach, and Inadequate privacy from our neighbours. Our suite was virtually indistinguishable from the other rooms booked which was disappointing. Although the butlers were good.

Unfortunately we felt we had no choice other than to request to move resorts. Although the staff were nothing but polite during our stay, the alternatives offered were completely inadequate. Because of the time of year, we were told that there was no way of moving to any of the other the Sandals resorts in Jamaica immediately, so we had to grin and bear the noise until they found a solution. In the end were offered the option of moving to the Sandals South Coast resort on New Year s Day.. we decided to take this option on the understanding that our rooms would be exactly the same, if not an upgraded quality of room ..We were extremely disappointed to miss the spectacular New Years celebration with fireworks we had thought we would have because of the airport. We d experienced this in Antigua in 2015. Such a shame.

It has to be said that the South Coast resort is truly beautiful. The vibe is much more in line with what we were expecting. This time our suite was close to the other rooms and really luxurious. However, unfortunately this time the other two rooms were a lower grade, and didn t feature the soaking tubs, and beach access that we had been promised. However at this point we were sick of complaining, and really just wanted to get on with our holiday..

I hope this review acts as a warning for anyone travelling to Sandals Montego Bay - if you re after a relaxing break WITHOUT jet engines. Make sure you book one of the other resorts on the island. We have to say though that the staff have been wonderful and are happy and want to make your stay as pleasant as possible. The island of Jamaica is absolutely beautiful. However we wont be staying with Sandals again.