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Sandals Montego Bay continues to be the resort where young at heart, young clients and return Sandals clients gather to play, especially on 3 – 4 night vacations. The resort has a party atmosphere with the stage in the main lobby. We stayed in a penthouse waters edge concierge room. The room is in the quiet part of the resort and when it rained, we sat on the huge porch, where we enjoyed the warm tropical breezes and calming view of the Caribbean. Over the years Sandals has begun building cabanas. Sandals Montego bay just built 4 and rents the waters edge cabana with a cabana server who serves breakfast, lunch and drinks from 8am to 5pm for $125 per day. Sally loves the shade and I thought I’d surprise her with a one day reservation in the Cabana. She loved cabana so much that I rented it for 3 days. This was probably the best Sandals resort amenity I’ve purchased in a long time. Dewayne, our Cabana boy, couldn’t do enough to pamper us. I decided not to purchase the cabana from 8am-10pm which included the 7 course candle light dinner for $240.00, maybe some day. The second new addition to the resort was the brick oven pizza and jerk chicken grill which is now next to the fire pit and couches. The fire pit is lit at night but it is a popular day location too. I especially enjoyed going to the pub for my wings and Guinness beer.

We have learned a major departure lesson. All Sandals resorts offer free transfers. Sandals Montego Bay is only 10 minutes from the airport.  We were asked to depart 3 hours before departure on a shuttle bus but instead, we left 2 hours before departure and hired for taxi for $10. We had plenty of time to check in and get through security. The culture shock of coming from the Sandals Luxury included concept to a $12 hamburger at the airport taught me 2nd lesson. I will now carry a zip lock bag and pack a sandwich at the resort before I leave for the airport. I can’t wait for my next return trip to Sandals in June!

Peter

We just returned from a site inspection and 3 day stay at Sandals Royal Bahamian. The renovations are still being completed and we were told that most of the rooms will be completed with in a week. The April 2011 Hurricane Irene took out trees through out the resort and destroyed the North Building called the Balmoral. Irene devastated the resort but obviously paved the way to a change in landscape and a improved resort. Construction and renovations are continual but the end appears to be near. I especially liked the walk out rooms with walkways to gardens, fire pits, hot tubs and a larger improved beach. The Beaches. Oh the Beaches. Three years ago, there was no beach at the resort. You had to go to the private island for white sandy beaches. The beach renovations included the instillation of a jetty and imported white sandy. The beach is so large that there are 3 permanent rows of straw umbrella which included 5 Straw platform huts which are offered at no fee, first come occupied basis, like Sandals Grande Riviera. We took a boat trip to the private island. Hurricane Irene caused renovations on the island but there are now improvements including a second jetty and imported white sand. Now there are 2 sides of white sandy beach on the island with multiple lounge chairs and secluded platforms.

We visited 6 newly renovated room categories in the Balmoral tower and I spent some needed time in the gym on the 7th floor overlooking the turquoise blue ocean. All the rooms have new tile and bathrooms. The king size beds are consistent with Sandals and Beaches 4 posted platform Serta mattress comfort and romance.The room renovations are still being worked on with completion by the end of March. The newly renovated rooms in the Balmoral are completed in the 2nd through the 6th floor. Balconies have been added to the beachfront Concierge and Butler rooms and the décor has been increased to the level of Luxury.

The signature Red Lane Spa was destroyed in the Hurricane. They are not working on it yet but I suspect it will be completed by December 2012. The Red Lane spa treatments are still being offered on the private island. The resort has slated renovations of the Spa to be the last item because it is in the basement of the resort. There is no projected completion but I suspect that everything will be completed by October 2012. Jackhammers can still be heard during the day and I overheard a number of clients staying in the lower rooms at the Balmoral asking to have their rooms moved but I suspect that will all improve soon because the New Rugs, decorations and room improvements are wonderful. As for the restaurants and staff. Sally and I have always said that Jamaican’s have the most amazing smile and are always happy to serve. We do not experience the same feeling, all the time, in the Bahamas. Most of the staff are extremely friendly but we do experience the opposite with the wait staff. For the most part, the food was amazing although we had one evening of disappointing service and food. Great news, there is now a brick oven pizza restaurant next to the theater and in front of the fire pits and outdoor couches. Nightly entertainment starts by the fire pit and leads into the theater. There is no comparison to the blue turquoise water of the Bahamas and I look forward to my return and up dated review. Click here to get stated and book your travel today!

Dear Peter and Cook Travel Vacations. We just wanted to thank you for helping us book the most amazing family trip to Beaches Turks and Caicos! When we arrived we were upgraded to the French Villas and were taken back by the incredible customer service provided at Beaches! Amanda and I had a fabulous time horseback riding in the ocean and Scott and Trevor ended up getting completely certified in scuba diving. Beaches experience, it actually surpassed my expectations! I was regularly going on Trip Advisor to read reviews and get tips for about a month before the trip. The customer service, cleanliness and restaurants were fabulous! We were impressed with t the food, particularly at Schooner’s. We ate dinner there twice. The family photos were beautiful and provided a wonderful opportunity to get pictures with the kids. We stayed on the beach or went to the pools at the French Village and Caribbean Village. Even though the Italian Village was beautiful, it felt the most crowded. We snorkeled off the beach and saw so many different types of fish. It was by far the best snorkeling I have done. I truly relaxed this vacation because I didn’t have to think about anything for the whole week. This inclusive vacation was worth every penny. We have to start saving for the next trip.

Our only problem was with the airlines when we were coming home, our flight was cancelled and we were not notifies. American airlines gave us vouchers, but it did not cover all of our expenses and we stayed another day in a hotel near Beaches. We will sort it out between the airline and our travel insurance. We were in vacation mode and didn’t think to check in advance. We have learned from the experience. The hotel we stayed at the last night was the Alexandria. It was one building away from the Italian Village on the beach. We had a furnished 1 bedroom with an ocean view. It was very nice, but could not really compare to Beaches. We were not thrilled with the airline at first since the first option they offered was to send us to Philadelphia. They finally came up with 4 seats on Jet Blue direct flight the next day. American gave us vouchers for the taxi, hotel and food. The food voucher was less than half of what it cost us for breakfast lunch and dinner at the hotel. Also the next day when we took a taxi, the driver refused to take the voucher and we ended up paying cash. We were just so anxious by then to get a seat on the plane. So that was the negative, but we really tried to look at the positive in being able to stay one more day.

Not sure how soon but we will definitely go back to Beaches. Thanks again for everything.

Michele