Following is our trip report for Sandals Negril. This trip report is from March 2000. <BR> <BR>We left O’hare right on time (6:30AM) on Air Jamaica. As soon as we were in the air, the crew served us champagne. Breakfast was then served consisting of eggs, sausage, fruit, breakfast roll, juice, and coffee.. After breakfast, we were again treated to as much champagne as we wanted. Flight was smooth. We arrived in Montego Bay, Jamaica 4 hours after takeoff. The flight on Air Jamaica was very comfortable. Your plane out of O’hare is an MD80 which has 3 seats on one side of the isle and 2 seats on the other side. Try to get your travel agent to book you on the side with 2 seats if you don’t want some company in the third seat. <BR> <BR>Once you land in Jamaica, you need to clear immigration and customs in that order. Be sure to have a passport or birth certificate and photo ID with you. If you are a married female who has taken you husband’s name, also take along a copy of your marriage license. We never had to use the marriage license, but they can ask for it so better to be prepared. After clearing both, you will be shown to a bus to take you to Sandals. Our baggage was loaded for us on the bus. The people who load the luggage will demand a tip. About 5 or 10 dollars will suffice. The ride to Sandals in Negril is quite an adventure and is an excellent way to see the island. The road is quite narrow though they are building a new one. The road is being rebuilt, but it looks like it will take another few years to complete. Everyone drives in the center of the road and blows the horn coming around any turn. Several times we had near accidents. The ride back from Sandals was much better since the driver was much better. It takes about 1-1/2 hours to reach Sandal-Negril. Once there, be prepared for the time of your life. You may also take an Air Jamaica Express flight from Montego Bay to Negril which takes 15 minutes and costs around $100.00. Depending on your schedule, this may be a good alternative. The downside is you need to take your own baggage through customs on the return trip which Sandals takes care of for you if you ride the bus. <BR> <BR>When you arrive at Sandals, you will be shown to a sitting room adjacent to the pool where you will receive complementary champagne. Your luggage will be carried to your room for you while you are waiting. They will also ask for a credit card to charge any additional items to. If you buy something in the gift shop or use the spa facilities, you can charge it to your room and the credit card will cover it. You will then be shown to your room. The person who showed us our room asked if we wanted anything to eat or drink. We replied yes and he went to get us our choice of drinks and a dinner which he brought to the table on our balcony. The service continued to be superb throughout our entire stay. I cannot say enough about the quality of the service. We have traveled quite a bit and found the staff at Sandals to be first rate. <BR> <BR>There are four restaurants at Sandals: <BR> <BR>The 4 C’s or Coconut Cove Calorie Counter: This is a stir fry restaurant located right off the beach. You choose from chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp, scallops, or any combination of the five and as much as you want. You also choose from a variety of vegetables. You place these on your plate which you bring back to the table. Your waiter picks up your plate and brings it to the chef who is about 20 feet away from you. He cooks your meal and your waiter returns your plate to you. If you like low cal stir fry, this is a very good restaurant. The only dessert is ice cream at the 4 C’s. This restaurant is only open for dinner. Dress is casual. <BR> <BR>Bayside restaurant: This restaurant is attached to the hotel and also right off the beach. Half of the seating is covered by a canopy and half is open air seating. You may eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in this restaurant. Breakfast is buffet style with plenty of fresh fruits, cheeses, made to order omelets, etc. It is a very good breakfast. Lunch is also a buffet with a great assortment including fish, lamb, beef, fresh fruit, soup, desserts, etc. You order dinner off the menu in this restaurant. Wednesday night is a beach party with tables and chairs placed right on the beach. Saturday evening is an awesome buffet with grilled lobster tail, teriyaki shrimp, marlin, swordfish, pastas, vegetables, etc. I love to cook so I spoke with the executive chef. He told me he prepares 3 days in advance for this dinner and it shows. They also have a pastry chef who made some incredible desserts for this meal. Many of the hotel guests never eat anywhere else but here. Dress is casual but you may dress up a little and not feel out of place. <BR> <BR>Sundowner restaurant: Small cozy restaurant also located on the beach. You may eat breakfast and dinner there. Menu is good but portions are small so order the appetizer, soup, salad, and main meal. I would recommend trying this restaurant. It is very laid back, but as I said, order everything because the portions are small. Dress is casual. <BR> <BR>The last restaurant is similar to Benihana’s. It is a Japanese style restaurant where you are seated around the cooking surface with 3 to 4 other couples. You are served and appetizer and soup or salad before the chef arrives. The chef cooks vegetables, pork, beef, chicken, marlin, scallops, and shrimp. Yes, you get them all and you leave stuffed. You need to make reservations for this restaurant. It is open only for dinner. You will probably want to wear something a little more formal than shorts and a T-shirt since it is quite cool in the restaurant. Some of the guests wore dress shirt and slacks or dresses. <BR> <BR>Dining at any of these restaurants is very good. You may eat dinner at one restaurant and go to another for dessert. You can eat at all four restaurants every evening if you wish, there are no limits. <BR> <BR>The beach is a white sand beach which is immaculate. It is hand raked everyday with large areas roped off for swimming. There are plenty of lounge chairs on the beach. There are also a fair number of hammocks in the shade. There are a few grills/bars open on the beach until 4:00 AM. You can get a hamburger, hotdog, fruit plate, pizza, jerk chicken, and whatever you want to eat at these grills all of course included in the price. One of the nicer things we did was to ask the bar tender for a bottle of wine about 5:30 in the afternoon. We would sit on the beach and watch the sun disappear into the ocean. It was beautiful. The sunset in Negril is incredible. When you sit on the beach you face straight west which allows you to see the sun disappear into the ocean. You may also choose to sit in the hot tub and watch the sunset. The beach is guarded at both ends to allow only Sandals guests and adjacent hotel guests onto the beach. <BR> <BR>We did plenty of sailing. They have Sunfish, Hobie Waves, Hobie Cat 16’s, and sailboards for wind surfing. If you like to sail, plan on sailing between 11:00 AM and 3:30 PM. The wind starts to pick up around 11:00 and they like to start bringing the boats back in around 4:00. You may take a sailing lesson there also. You can also use an ocean kayak to paddle around if you don’t feel like sailing. You may water ski first thing in the morning when the water is very calm. <BR> <BR>Snorkeling is very good. They take you to four different reefs. You spend about ½ hour snorkeling on each excursion. The snorkeling trips depart from the far end of the beach at 10:00, 11:00, 1:00, and 2:00. If you like snorkeling, follow the guide around when you jump off the boat. He will take you on a tour of the reef pointing out the various forms of aquatic life. Our guide was Norman. He was excellent. The reef formations are far better than in the South Pacific and the snorkeling is much easier because of the lack of surf. The aquatic life is much better in the South Pacific because it is more numerous, more varied, and much larger. <BR> <BR>If you wish to scuba dive and you have your license, there are numerous trips each day including a night dive. If you don’t have your license, you may take a 1-1/2 hour class. 1 hour of lecture and 30 minutes of practice in a pool. You may then dive each day to a depth of 30-40 feet. You may not dive the day of your arrival or departure. A guide will hold your hand every minute if you wish on your first dive as long as there are not to many people. The 30 foot dive is okay but the 40 foot dives are great. We saw lots of beautiful coral and aquatic life at 40 foot. On our last dive, a large sea turtle swam with us for a while. <BR> <BR>Final comments: <BR>Air temperature was 85 degrees in the day time, 72 at night. Water temperature was around 80 degrees. We were amazed to find the water temperature to be 80 degrees at 40 foot of depth also. <BR> <BR>You will not encounter any total nudity at Sandals, but you may go topless on the beach. The number of topless women you see will vary from day to day. We did encounter some folks who were surprised at this. <BR> <BR>The entertainment is good but not outstanding. It usually starts around 9:00 PM and lasts until 11:30 PM. <BR> <BR>We encountered a great number of people who had been to various resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico. Everyone of these couples said this was the best place they had ever been to. Our best evaluation of a vacation has always been how soon we would repeat the trip. We have been to Sandal’s Negril twice now and plan on going again during January of 2000. <BR> <BR>(Having been to Hawaii a number of times, people often ask how we would compare it to Jamaica. Hawaii has far greater natural beauty than Jamaica. Hawaii’s beaches and reefs are spectacular. If you want to go some place and sit on the beach by yourself for the entire day, Hawaii is the place to go if you pick the right island. Unfortunately, Hawaii is at least nine hours from Chicago, so you waste two days travelling. Jamaica is only 3 ½ hours from Chicago so you can leave at 6:30 AM and be on the beach at 2:30 PM. Sandals Negril is absolutely gorgeous. You may never wish to go anywhere else. The food is phenomenal and the staff is extremely helpful. <BR> <BR>If you wish to purchase Appleton rum(Jamaica’s own and very good) or some Jamaican Blue coffee(the most expensive in the world and taste like it to), the cheapest prices are at the airport so buy it on your way out. The rum is duty free at the airport and packaged for travel. You may take 2 liters per person. <BR> <BR>If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at any time. <BR> <BR>Henry and Debbie <BR>

Thanks so much for the detailed report. It sounds like a great time ! My husband and I went to Sandals Antigua this past January and loved it. We were trying to decide which Sandals to go to next, and it looks like it will probably be Negril. Thanks again for your info !

Jamie: <BR>Glad you enjoyed the trip report. We talked with many couples at Sandals Negril who had also been to Antigua. Most liked the island of Antigua better than Jamaica, but they enjoyed the Sandals property in Negril more than the one in Antigua.

Is it worth the extra for the concierge service level rooms.....sounds like that is what you had with the check-in...just curious...thanks

In my opinion, the concierge rooms are would not be worth the extra money. It does depend though on what you want from a resort. We get up in the morning for a run on the beach and then breakfast. We go back to our room to change clothes in the evening. Otherwise we are not even in the room so for us, the cheapest room is the preferred room. If you want to spend a lot of time in the room, you may want to go to the next level.

Henry--you didn't mention much about the island of Jamaica---or didn't you explore the area much??

Patti: We didn't get out much except for a trip to Rick's cafe and some shopping. The people were very friendly and vendors were not to agressive. We have some friends who did the river raft ride and trail riding which they enjoyed immensely. <BR>

Have you been to Sandals Dunns River? My husband and i have been to Antigua and St Lucia...now we are trying to decide between Negril and Dunn's River. The quality of the beach is very important to us....loved Antigua! <BR>

We have been to both sandals Negril and Dunns River. They are both great but the beach is much nicer at Negril.

Lisa: the beach is BEAUTIFUL at Negril. We were trying to decide between those same 2 resorts and our travel agent said that SDR is a great property, awesome pool but, if the beach is what matters to you, SN is the way to go. The resort owns a fairly long stretch of the beach, and keep it immaculate. It is groomed every night, there are plenty of lounge chairs and hammocks, both in the sun and shade. We found there was enough beach so there was plenty of room to be apart from other people. You will love SN!!